If I wanted to bend a spoon "using my mind"

[Crossdress]

Where would I look to begin my "training" ?

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by Crossdress
Where would I look to begin my "training" ?

Here! (http://www.skepticreport.com/psychics/urispoon.htm) :D

[Crossdress]

Originally posted by CFLarsen


Here! (http://www.skepticreport.com/psychics/urispoon.htm) :D


so you have to have an accomplice ?

how did randi do it ?

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by Crossdress
so you have to have an accomplice ?

Ehhh....do I?

Originally posted by Crossdress
how did randi do it ?

Dunno. Ask him.

[Crossdress]

Originally posted by CFLarsen


Ehhh....do I?



Dunno. Ask him.



what I mean is, do you have to have another person with you or can you bend the spoon on your own ?


is there video of randi doing it ?

[Pyrrho]

Originally posted by Crossdress
Where would I look to begin my "training" ?
Look up "Guy Bavli" on the Internet.

http://www.magictalk.com/cgi-bin/reviews.cgi?read=164

[Quinn]

Originally posted by Pyrrho
Look up "Guy Bavli" on the Internet.

http://www.magictalk.com/cgi-bin/reviews.cgi?read=164

A better source, IMHO, is the video Psychokinetic Silverware by Banachek, aka Steve Shaw, one of the spoon benders in Project Alpha. You should be able to get it from any magic dealer, or you can order it directly from Banachek at:

http://www.magicinspirations.net/

Quinn

[Jeff Corey]

Right here is a spoon that was not only bent, but actually dissolved into two pieces by Randi at an annual meeting of the New York Area Skeptics about ten years ago. My wife, Ellen, served as his "girl assistant". He bent it above her head, so she couldn't observe the moves. We have a bad video (fixed camera, too far away) around here somewhere.
P&T in "How to play with your food" have a hint: Bend it when nobody's looking.

[Crossdress]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
Right here is a spoon that was not only bent, but actually dissolved into two pieces by Randi at an annual meeting of the New York Area Skeptics about ten years ago. My wife, Ellen, served as his "girl assistant". He bent it above her head, so she couldn't observe the moves. We have a bad video (fixed camera, too far away) around here somewhere.
P&T in "How to play with your food" have a hint: Bend it when nobody's looking.


I'd really like to see some vid of randi's bending style.

freestyle.

[Jeff Corey]

Originally posted by Crossdress
I'd really like to see some vid of randi's bending style.

freestyle.
I was in the front row center seat and and had a closer view than the video camera, which was more than 10 rows back. There is nothing to be seen on the video that I was not better positioned to see.
It looked like magic to me.

[Voob]

A better source, IMHO, is the video Psychokinetic Silverware by Banachek, aka Steve Shaw, one of the spoon benders in Project Alpha.

Indeed, I just got mine a few weeks ago, and it's great. And quite easy.

[volant]

I always enjoyed Ben Harris' Gellerism Revealed."

[Peter S.]

The Banachek video is fabulous!! Get it.

[Brian]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
Bend it when nobody's looking.

That's not a hint. That's it. The skill is making sure nobody's looking.

[Jeff Corey]

Technically not true. If you prep it beforehand, somebody could be looking, but they might not see.

[Brian]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
Technically not true. If you prep it beforehand, somebody could be looking, but they might not see.

Ok. True. But it could be said that's all that's required to perform the trick.

[Diogenes]

Originally posted by CFLarsen


Here! (http://www.skepticreport.com/psychics/urispoon.htm) :D


What I like from your video: ( paraphrased )

" If he can bend it with his mind, why does he need to hold it in his hand/s ? "

[homunculus]

Try Ben Harris' Gellerism. Never read it myself but it is reputedly very good.

Paul.

[homunculus]

Oh, and it's a lot more difficult than "bend it when no-one is looking". Geller himself is a lot more subtle about it than this. His best spoon bends appear to happen right there between his fingers. He lets spectators "feel" the metal becoming soft...

This kind of bend needs some preparation, though. Nothing that takes very long.

Paul.

[Ian Rowland]

Forget 'Gellerism Revealed'. Approaches metal bending the way a close-up magician would approach it as a magic trick. Probably doesn't teach you what you want to know.

Forget the Guy Bavli video. Not the best you can buy.

The Banachek video is the best by far, but it won't do you any good unless you are willing to put the time in to learn to do this stuff properly and present it well.

[clusterm2]

Originally posted by Brian


That's not a hint. That's it. The skill is making sure nobody's looking.



How does this explain the well documented cases of the spoons continuing to bend after being handed over to say, a journalist?
Some sort of chemical? Admittedly the spoon was one of Gellers own but still........pm me PLEASE:(

[Quinn]

Originally posted by clusterm2
How does this explain the well documented cases of the spoons continuing to bend after being handed over to say, a journalist?
Some sort of chemical? Admittedly the spoon was one of Gellers own but still........pm me PLEASE:(

Well documented by whom, exactly? By the journalist holding the spoon, who had just had his mind sent into a minor tizzy by witnessing something that seemed impossible? Possibly corroborated by other journalists witnessing the scene, who were in a similar state and were all saying things like, "Oh my God, it IS still bending, look!"? And let me guess, the documentation was based not on verifiable physical evidence, but on the sworn statements of these reputable, professional journalists who were absolutely sure that they really saw the spoon continuing to bend, and there's no way they could be mistaken about such a simple matter?

Entertainers and frauds alike feed their families on the basis of such well-documented cases.

Quinn

[homunculus]

How does this explain the well documented cases of the spoons continuing to bend after being handed over to say, a journalist?

If you watch a Geller video, it's actually pretty obvious he's cheating if you start with that assumption. Suddenly, you can see how he does it, and it really isn't that hard to do...

Anyway, a very Geller-sque bend is being exposed on the TV show "Pyschic Secrets Revealed" here in the UK. Friday, 8.30pm, Channel 5. Not sure wether it is being exposed this week, or next week, but it will be.

The magician on the show uses two different techniqes. The first bend really does look like the spoon is curling before your eyes - but it is actually already bent, under cover of misdirection. It's an optical illusion created by subtle handling.

The second uses a pre-prepared spoon, and is exactly how Geller has done it on TV. This is where he lets a spectator hold the spoon handle as it becomes soft whilst they are holding it.

The spoon is fatigued almost to breaking-point already, which is why for the denoument, the end falls off.

As for spoons "continuing to bend", I would chalk that off to suggestible minds, and fertile imaginations.

This has never been replicated under controlled conditions, which leaves us with some anedotal reports. If that is all we need, then presumeably the Lock Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and every other mythical creature ever claimed to have been spotted, must also exist?

Paul.

[clusterm2]

So there is absolutely no other method ie chemical than physically bending the spoon however it's done?

[richardm]

Originally posted by clusterm2
So there is absolutely no other method ie chemical than physically bending the spoon however it's done?

Why do you think there might be?

[clusterm2]

Originally posted by richardm


Why do you think there might be?

Haven't got a clue, that's why I asked. I NEVER presume that I know all.:rolleyes:

[richardm]

Originally posted by clusterm2


Haven't got a clue, that's why I asked. I NEVER presume that I know all.:rolleyes:

Fair enough. Since you said "i.e." I assumed that someone had suggested to you that chemical forces were at work, and that you were trying to verify it.

[epepke]

Originally posted by clusterm2
So there is absolutely no other method ie chemical than physically bending the spoon however it's done?

Maybe I can get away with writing this because none of the actual tricks I've heard of involving spoon-bending use this technique.

You could always cast a spoon out of Woodsmetal. It's an interesting alloy that is quite solid at room temperature but melts at a very low temperature. That and a small heat source and, well, you figure it out.

Of course, it's much more fun to give someone a really hot cup of coffee and a Woodsmetal spoon. You have to watch to make sure they don't actually drink it. But then, you want to watch anyway, don't you?

[Brown]

It seems to me that I once saw an apparatus advertised in a magic magazine along these lines:

BEND KEYS!
SPOONS! NAILS! EVEN COINS!
ABSOLUTELY UNDETECTABLE!

The ad naturally did not disclose the nature of the apparatus, but it's a good guess that it involves applying some degree of leverage to the item. Even if you don't have a special leverage apparatus, you can sometimes find such apparatus on the spur of the moment. Mr. Randi's "The Truth About Uri Geller" gives some examples of impromptu leverage apparatus (and how one piece of apparatus was hazardous to Uri's trousers).

[epepke]

Originally posted by Brown
The ad naturally did not disclose the nature of the apparatus, but it's a good guess that it involves applying some degree of leverage to the item.

:rm: Eeeurgh! Must! Not! Violate! Group! Charter!

I chafe at this, though. Perhaps this magical secrecy stuff was valid when interested kids could buy a magic trick for a nickel at the drug store. And I'm willing to go into a magic shop and pay big bucks for a really nice set of well made Chinese rings or some stripper decks. But when a kid is expected to shell out $20 bucks for a badly xeroxed piece of paper and a piece of badly sawn metal, it bugs me.