Levitation

[jesper]

In the last couple of days I have been writing with a guy who insists that he can levitate. Which I have naturally told him is quite impossible. He still insist - so now I have insisted that he do it again while recording it on camera. The recording will then be sent to me for scrutiny - and hereafter I will get to see it in person under conditions set by me.
That will be outside - with him only wearing shorts and me and a couple of friends watching.

Now thats a show I am not going to stay away from.

What do you think?

[IXP]

I think if you spend a little time reading this section of this forum you will have a pretty good idea of how things might proceed.

Have fun!

[Phil]

Originally posted by jesper
. . .

What do you think?

I think you better get him to define "levitate" first.

If his definition of levitate is to be himself unbound by the force of gravity, and he actually is, just give him a shove and he will shoot off into space like a rocket. That'll be cool.

[jesper]

We did actually come to terms with how we define levitation.
That it should be him with no help whatsoever lifting himself of the ground with a minimum of 30 centimeters between himself and the ground and stay levitated for a minimum of 10 secs.

Help being other people supporting him in anyway, any mechanical object of any kind. He is not to know where the experiment is going to take place, only I know that, and if any spectator shows up - the experiment is immediately cancelled.

Thats why I insisted on it taking place outside on a lawn in a remote area, with barely any cloths on. My friends and me would then form a kind of circle around him, so that he would have a distance at about 2 meters from each of us.

Then 2 of us would be filming it, each with our own videocamera.

After these terms were agreed upon I have I am sad to say, not heard from him. And IXP - i think you are right - its more likely i win the lottery than that he actually shows up, or even responds to my messages. But lets see - I will keep you all informed.

[Zep]

How much booze was involved, initially?

[steenkh]

I am impressed that you managed to talk him into doing the stunt outdoors with little clothes on, at this time where there is actually snow in most of Denmark! If he has been doing any experiments himself, he might have got cold feet!

[jesper]

Unfortunately he seems to have vanished -

But yes - lol its bleeding cold outside - i guess he just got mad at me insisting that there was no way in hell he could levitate.

but I am still waiting.

[Zep]

Originally posted by steenkh
I am impressed that you managed to talk him into doing the stunt outdoors with little clothes on, at this time where there is actually snow in most of Denmark! If he has been doing any experiments himself, he might have got cold feet! Da-boom TISH! :th:

[Ashles]

Posted by IXP
I think if you spend a little time reading this section of this forum you will have a pretty good idea of how things might proceed.
Posted by Jesper
Unfortunately he seems to have vanished -
And the life-cycle of JREF claims is once again observed in all its glorious inevitable beauty.

If your friend does ever reappear, add the condition that the levitation must be done with him facing you (some people here will know why, as will David Blaine)

[Carn]

Originally posted by Ashles


If your friend does ever reappear, add the condition that the levitation must be done with him facing you (some people here will know why, as will David Blaine)


Some people don't know.

Care to explain so i'm prepared if i run into a levitater?

Carn

[Bodhi Dharma Zen]

If he ever appears... show us the video!

[Ashles]

Some people don't know.

Care to explain so i'm prepared if i run into a levitater?

Well, without giving too much away, David Blaine's method of 'levitation' only works when he is facing away from you at a slight angle.

And his method is really really stupid when you find out (it is on the internet if you really want to find out, but I warn you, you will say "That's stupid!" out loud when you find out)

[B.S]

Originally posted by Ashles

And his method is really really stupid when you find out
That's a good description. But it can actually work. I have done this for some people (I have no magic training or skill) and, to my suprise, have done it successfully. I am still stunned that it worked.

[thatguywhojuggles]

Originally posted by Ashles
And the life-cycle of JREF claims is once again observed in all its glorious inevitable beauty.

If your friend does ever reappear, add the condition that the levitation must be done with him facing you (some people here will know why, as will David Blaine)

I doubt David Blain could do his levitation trick and get 30 centimeters off the ground like jesper's friend is claiming. In person he levitates about 4 inches off the ground (though somehow in his videos he is much higher.)

[Peter S.]

Originally posted by Ashles
Well, without giving too much away, David Blaine's method of 'levitation' only works when he is facing away from you at a slight angle...

Mike Bent's Zero Gravity (http://www.magicshopm.com/catalog/zerogravity.html) , which is based on the Blain, (Balducci), levitation has much better angles.

Mike is also a friend of mine and a very cool dude.

[webfusion]

though somehow in his videos he is much higher.

On the ABC TV special Blaine: Street Magic (his most famous filmed performances), the producers pulled a little trick of their own. They set up a separate harness/wire-levitation scene which lifted David quite high. This was cut into the final broadcast video, although the effect actually seen by the onlookers was the basic technique.


This explanation is acknowledged in many websites that review the entire Blaine act.

[IXP]

I read up on the Balducci levitation on the web and thought I would try it on my wife. She gasped, and said "what was that about?" A few seconds later she said "you were standing tiptoe on the other foot, weren't you?". Tough audience.

[Temporal Renegade]

Originally posted by jesper
In the last couple of days I have been writing with a guy who insists that he can levitate. Which I have naturally told him is quite impossible. He still insist - so now I have insisted that he do it again while recording it on camera. The recording will then be sent to me for scrutiny - and hereafter I will get to see it in person under conditions set by me.
That will be outside - with him only wearing shorts and me and a couple of friends watching.

Now thats a show I am not going to stay away from.

What do you think?

Well, of course levitation is possible.

....it just depends on how high you can jump--you start the timing from when your feet leave the ground until they touch down again.

[TheBoyPaj]

Amazingly, I've managed to fool someone using Blaine's method.

(Why have the mods left that magic secret intact, lame though it is?)