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[Tamanon]

"uh, yeah, ok...but uh, when there's a clear window, with nothing on it, right? and then the guy puts the "forced card" back into the deck and blaine whips the deck at the glass window, where nothing was before mind you, the card appears right away, stuck INSIDE the glass. not on the outside where blaine threw the deck. on the inside of the glass, where nothing was before."

Someone was inside the diner or whatever who had a duplicate of the forced card. Probably you could't see him put it there cause of all the big exploding cards everywhere... or maybe something else, I dunno.

Actually I've seen how the trick is done, was pioneered by a German magician. Oddly enough, it involves magnets, construction paper and can only really be done at night.


blaine is a good presenter, but nothing he does is too complex as far as actual Magic goes, but in the end, simplest is usually the best for mensch Ask a real magician what they think of him, and look up Paul Cummings if you want to see some innovative card tricks. Unless of course you want to delve into the basis for modern cardistry, then look up The Professor.

 

[Guzim]

George Oscar Bluth > David Blaine

 

[Ghost]

Derren Brown is great to watch, though he's SO good that finding out that his stuff is either tricks or fake is kind of a blow.

Except one time he opened the show flashing faces across one part of the screen or something, and you had to pick one to remember. Some thing like that, I really can't remember the specifics of the trick. Anyway, halfway through this, this guy just walks onto the screen on the other side, then walks off again. Basically it went something like this:

Derren Brown: What you're about to see will amaze you. I want you to watch these faces flash up on screen and choose the msot distinctive to remember.

*faces start flashing up*

*guy walks on screen, guys walks off screen*

(Me thinking) Why did that guy just walk on screen?

*faces stop flashing*

DB: Did you pick this man?

Hey, that's the guy who walked on screen

DB: Most of you will have. But did you notice that this very man walked on to your screens while the faces were flashing past?

Yes

DB: Well you're not alone. You were concentrating so hard on finding the most distinctive face that you didn't notice him come on.

Ermm...

DB: Your subconcious noticed him though, leading you to pick his face from those flashing by.

I'm going to bed

DB: A simple trick that-

*turns TV off*

I dont think his stuff his 'fake' exactly, but he sets it up so he knows exactly what will happen, like for the thing he did this week, prooving evangelism, dream reading etc were fake by going to supposed leaders in the field and tricking them...for the evangelism he lead a meeting and made one woman believe in god by taping her on the head then pulled another guy to the ground without touching him while his eyes were shut, then pushed over everyone in the room in the same way....it's all in the advertising, he makes sure the people that turn up are extremely impressionable and so easy to read/force.

Same thing with his trick where he phoned up random phone booths and made whoever picked up the phone fall asleep by giving them a load of orders really fast then saying sleep at the end, he knew that the only people that would answer the phone would be incredibly impressionable people.


His stuff is 90% psychology 10% presentation, which is cool


Maybe you are talking about the Russian Roulette thing? That was confirmed 'fake' in that he used blanks, supposedly because the Jersy police wouldnt let them bring live ammo onto the island, but Browns people said if he'd shot a blank with the gun pointed at his temple he would have died anyway.

 

[Mama Smurf]

No, it wasn't about the russian roulette thing, I think it might have been before that even.

Wish I could remember which paper it was in. Basically he said almost all the stuff we think is psychology isn't, in the same way that magic isn't actually used by magicians.

I'd prefer to believe he was real myself too, but the article was pretty convincing.