Anyone else more than a little freaked out/turned on/fucking totally amazed at the "illusions" performed by magician David Blaine? I only just found him a week ago: His show STREET MAGIC was playing on TLC, and my neighbor implored me to come over and watch it. While some of his "tricks" seem like they definitely could be slight-of-hand, or carefully placed camera angles and/or editing, other things he does are just beyond comprehension. In fact, they're almost downright fucking miraculous.
My introduction to this amazing magician happened to coincide with an intense 24-hour period of deep research into psychic phenomenon, theories of the Christ principle, and various other, seemingly related paranormal occurances, practices, people and institutions. Needless to say, my viewing of the David Blaine show happened to fit almost perfectly in with this flurry of information, and seemed to be the universe's way of winking at me: "Yes, you're on the right track. Keep digging, keep watching, keep practicing, and everything you hope for will come true" it seemed to be saying, no, SCREAMING in my ear.
This David Blaine cat could be the real deal. What better way to exhibit your ultra-normal "psychic" (though what he does goes far beyond reading your Tarot cards)ability than on a nationally broadcast syndicated television show?
So I went ahead and ordered his DVD, FEARLESS. It contains three of his shows; Street Magic, Magic Man, and the special where he freezes himself in a block of ice. The first show, Street Magic, contains the levitation tricks. I say tricks because even though he performs this incredible stunt a number of times, only twice does the camera capture anything close to a full-body shot, sans editing or shaky camera. So even though at heart I'm a believer, the media-savvy skeptic in me can't help hold just a smidgeon of doubt. But the two shots that come closest to revealing a full-body shot of David as he "levitates" are disturbing and exhilerating indeed. He literally rises about two feet off the air, for about two to three seconds. He does this in broad daylight, in front of spectators he's picked off the street, without lights or stage or assistant. The man levitates.
In the other two specials, he continues to boggle the mind with tricks that no matter how you cut it, can't be easily explained away. In one bit, which he repeats a couple of times for a few different folks, has him eating a small strand of string. He balls it up and swallows it; then he opens his mouth to show the audience that the string isn't hidden in his mouth. Then he lifts his shirt, drawing attention to a tiny piece of hair coming out of his stomach, next to his belly button. But when he pulls on it, we see it's not hair, but the STRING; We see him literally pulling the string through his skin. He does this a couple of times, and each time the camera goes in for a close up, so that there's no mistaking it: This string is being pulled through his skin. How do you fake that?
Not to mention his levitating a small leaf for a number of South American tribal children, or levitating a dollar for a tribes woman, who cackles and points at his head, saying in Spanish "Very smart, very smart, good brain." Or the time he asks a blond woman on a NY street corner to visualize a name, a name of someone important, and only a second later a cab drives by with that very name (DAWN) seemingly spray-painted on its side. Sure, the car could have been painted by an assistant, then thrown into traffic to drive by in the background at precisely the right time. In fact, almost every one of his tricks can be explained away somehow; But it's the unedited, most genuine reaction of his audience that is the biggest selling point. There's no faking their amazement and utter awe at what's happening right before their very eyes.
What does he do and how does he do it? Is he an incredibly gifted psychic, who's chosen to share his abilities with the world? And why?
I find his big Houdini-esque stunts the least interesting: Being buried alive, being frozen on a block of ice, standing on a pole for 3 days...Sure, these are all amazing stunts. But they're more on the level of Evil Knieval than an Indian Swami manifesting gold rings in the palm of his hand. I prefer the street-level feats of pure wonder, like when he's in Haiti and makes 12 balls appear in a little boy's hand, where only seconds ago there was only one. The smaller he gets with his tricks, the more powerful he is. I'm more blown away and impressed when he's dazzling the South American native tribes people than when he's squinting under the harsh kleig lights during a media blitz at Times Square. Let's hope he stays down on the streets, avoiding the Vegas-style claptrap of most magicians these days; Magic needs to come back down from the sequin-lined polished stage shows and in front of the common folk.
My introduction to this amazing magician happened to coincide with an intense 24-hour period of deep research into psychic phenomenon, theories of the Christ principle, and various other, seemingly related paranormal occurances, practices, people and institutions. Needless to say, my viewing of the David Blaine show happened to fit almost perfectly in with this flurry of information, and seemed to be the universe's way of winking at me: "Yes, you're on the right track. Keep digging, keep watching, keep practicing, and everything you hope for will come true" it seemed to be saying, no, SCREAMING in my ear.
This David Blaine cat could be the real deal. What better way to exhibit your ultra-normal "psychic" (though what he does goes far beyond reading your Tarot cards)ability than on a nationally broadcast syndicated television show?
So I went ahead and ordered his DVD, FEARLESS. It contains three of his shows; Street Magic, Magic Man, and the special where he freezes himself in a block of ice. The first show, Street Magic, contains the levitation tricks. I say tricks because even though he performs this incredible stunt a number of times, only twice does the camera capture anything close to a full-body shot, sans editing or shaky camera. So even though at heart I'm a believer, the media-savvy skeptic in me can't help hold just a smidgeon of doubt. But the two shots that come closest to revealing a full-body shot of David as he "levitates" are disturbing and exhilerating indeed. He literally rises about two feet off the air, for about two to three seconds. He does this in broad daylight, in front of spectators he's picked off the street, without lights or stage or assistant. The man levitates.
In the other two specials, he continues to boggle the mind with tricks that no matter how you cut it, can't be easily explained away. In one bit, which he repeats a couple of times for a few different folks, has him eating a small strand of string. He balls it up and swallows it; then he opens his mouth to show the audience that the string isn't hidden in his mouth. Then he lifts his shirt, drawing attention to a tiny piece of hair coming out of his stomach, next to his belly button. But when he pulls on it, we see it's not hair, but the STRING; We see him literally pulling the string through his skin. He does this a couple of times, and each time the camera goes in for a close up, so that there's no mistaking it: This string is being pulled through his skin. How do you fake that?
Not to mention his levitating a small leaf for a number of South American tribal children, or levitating a dollar for a tribes woman, who cackles and points at his head, saying in Spanish "Very smart, very smart, good brain." Or the time he asks a blond woman on a NY street corner to visualize a name, a name of someone important, and only a second later a cab drives by with that very name (DAWN) seemingly spray-painted on its side. Sure, the car could have been painted by an assistant, then thrown into traffic to drive by in the background at precisely the right time. In fact, almost every one of his tricks can be explained away somehow; But it's the unedited, most genuine reaction of his audience that is the biggest selling point. There's no faking their amazement and utter awe at what's happening right before their very eyes.
What does he do and how does he do it? Is he an incredibly gifted psychic, who's chosen to share his abilities with the world? And why?
I find his big Houdini-esque stunts the least interesting: Being buried alive, being frozen on a block of ice, standing on a pole for 3 days...Sure, these are all amazing stunts. But they're more on the level of Evil Knieval than an Indian Swami manifesting gold rings in the palm of his hand. I prefer the street-level feats of pure wonder, like when he's in Haiti and makes 12 balls appear in a little boy's hand, where only seconds ago there was only one. The smaller he gets with his tricks, the more powerful he is. I'm more blown away and impressed when he's dazzling the South American native tribes people than when he's squinting under the harsh kleig lights during a media blitz at Times Square. Let's hope he stays down on the streets, avoiding the Vegas-style claptrap of most magicians these days; Magic needs to come back down from the sequin-lined polished stage shows and in front of the common folk.
posted by morphitologist at
9:03 AM
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