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The performer is viewed from the side. The performer's legs are commonly covered for a moment at the beginning of the effect, perhaps by a jacket. The performer's whole body is clearly visible. The performer suddenly appears to levitate a few inches above the ground. Both feet are clearly seen to be
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The trick was done by having the assistant rest on a flat board concealed inside her dress, connected to a metal bar going out the side into the backstage which was hidden by the assistant's dress and the stage curtain. The other end of the bar was connected to a machine which could raise and lower
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The trick is performed by removing the shoe furthest from the audience, and turning that foot 90 degrees away from the audience, with the empty shoe clamped between both feet. When the performer stands on the tip of the hidden foot, the two shoes are raised together, and the audience assumes that
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has performed an illusion in several magic shows since 1992 in which he appears to fly on stage for several minutes, while surrounded by audience members. During the trick, Copperfield flies acrobatically on the stage, performs a backflip in midair, and then has spinning hoops passed around him,
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A trick in which a cigarette floats around the performer, moving from hand to hand before suddenly dropping down near the floor. As it moves up again it passes through a ring formed by the performer's fingers, as proof that there is no external support, and ends up in the performer's mouth.
207:, who described how the trick works in US Patent #5,354,238. The illusion utilises a series of wires controlled by a complex computer-controlled rig above the stage. In the glass box demonstration, the top of the box is threaded between the two sets of wires in a vertical position.
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Various methods are used to create such illusions. The levitation of a magician or assistant can be achieved by a concealed platform or hidden wires, or in smaller-scale illusions by standing on tiptoe in a way that conceals the foot that is touching the ground.
231: – was produced and illuminated in Blackstone's hands with no visible means of power. The bulb would then be extinguished and levitated into the air, where it would be illuminated again, before being floated out over the audience, still lit. Dutch magician
442:...see, e.g., John Gaughan, Levitation Apparatus, U.S. Patent No. 5,354,238, Oct. 11, 1994 (patenting a levitation illusion designed by John Gaughan but famously performed by David Copperfield). Gaughan reportedly filed the patent against Copperfield's wishes.
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The performer stands at an angle facing away from the spectators and appears to levitate a few inches above the ground. The effect generally does not last for more than five seconds. The performer's feet return to the ground, and the effect is complete.
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performed a trick where his assistant, introduced as a Hindu princess, was brought onto the stage apparently sleeping on a couch. He would then levitate her, passing a hoop back and forth along her body to show that she was not being suspended.
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In Asrah levitation, an assistant lies down and is fully covered with a cloth. The assistant then appears to levitate beneath the cloth, before slowly floating down. As the magician pulls the cloth away, the assistant is seen to have vanished.
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by making an object or person float in the air. The subject may appear to levitate unassisted, or it may be performed with the aid of another object (such as a silver ball floating around a cloth) in which case it is termed a "suspension".
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The trick is performed by standing on the front of one foot, while raising one foot and the visible part of the other foot, blocking the view of the front of the supporting foot with the other foot and the rear part of the supporting foot.
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the woman. To allow Kellar to "prove" with the hoop that she was floating, the bar was formed as a rough "S" shape, which would allow him move the hoop through the length of her body in either direction.
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The trick uses a structure of thin wire that is placed over the assistant at the same time as the cloth. The wire structure can be raised while the assistant escapes unseen.
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The Hummer card is a levitation trick in which a regular playing card floats, hovers, spins and flies around the body of the magician in a seemingly impossible manner.
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supposedly to prove that he is not suspended by wires. Copperfield then descends into a glass box, which is covered with a lid, and continues to float inside it.
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wrote that the levitation was a marvel of the twentieth century and "the crowning achievement of Mr. Kellar's long and brilliant career."
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Loshin, Jacob (2010). "Secrets revealed: Protecting magicians' intellectual property without law". In
Christine A. Corcos (ed.).
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The chair suspension is an illusion where a person appears to float in midair, supported only by the back of a fold-up chair.
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Kellar supposedly developed this trick by abruptly walking onto the stage during a levitation show by
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was famous for performing a "Floating Light Bulb" illusion, in which an illuminated
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became the custodian of the illusion after the death of
Blackstone, Jr.
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Levitation: Physics and
Psychology in the Service of Deception
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in the air. The levitation usually lasts just a few seconds.
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Illusion is one in which a person appears to float in the air
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and was first performed with his wife as assistant in 1902.
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This illusion is also known as the King Rising levitation.
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Chicago Magic: A History of
Stagecraft and Spectacle
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illusion is one in which a magician appears to defy
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281:. University Press of Kentucky. p. 285-288.
423:. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic. p. 130.
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515:"Award too late to help magician Hans Klok"
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142:these are both of the performer's feet.
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391:"David Copperfield—Flying (Levitation)"
363:Jim Ottaviani; Janine Johnston (2007).
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791:Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic
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417:Law and Magic: A Collection of Essays
111:This illusion was first described by
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191:David Copperfield's flying illusion
185:David Copperfield's flying illusion
157:"The Levitation of Princess Karnac"
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115:in 1974. Its inventor is unknown.
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492:. The History Press. p. 37.
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216:Blackstone's Floating Light Bulb
308:. Ridgeway Press. p. 229.
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459:"Fly like David Copperfield!"
302:Booth, John Nicholls (1986).
77:This illusion is credited to
767:The Expert at the Card Table
751:The Discoverie of Witchcraft
253:Fearson's floating cigarette
247:Fearson's floating cigarette
783:Thirteen Steps to Mentalism
227: – supposedly made by
18:Levitation (disambiguation)
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203:The method was created by
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369:. G.T. Labs. p. 69.
332:Gibson, Walter B (1966).
520:Las Vegas Review-Journal
278:Secrets of the Sideshows
93:The Balducci levitation
832:Hugard's Magic Monthly
488:Witter, David (2013).
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970:Levitation (illusion)
903:Films about magicians
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275:Joe Nickell (2005).
171:John Nevil Maskelyne
16:For other uses, see
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874:Smoke & Mirrors
513:Weatherford, Mike.
127:The King levitation
99:Balducci levitation
85:Balducci levitation
562:Magic and illusion
161:American magician
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239:Hummer card
113:Ed Balducci
964:Categories
881:The Sphinx
743:Guidebooks
714:Levitation
707:techniques
705:Tricks and
671:Mathemagic
661:Escapology
646:Children's
630:techniques
576:Assistants
457:Loy, J.J.
262:References
211:Of objects
40:levitation
908:Magicians
799:Conjuring
636:Cardistry
342:Doubleday
233:Hans Klok
225:lightbulb
195:Magician
55:Of people
923:Timeline
860:Magigram
839:The Jinx
681:Platform
591:Exposure
435:Archived
937:Related
913:Museums
867:Mahatma
778:(1928–)
640:history
621:Bizarre
569:General
473:Sep 15,
396:Jan 29,
44:gravity
928:Tricks
802:(1992)
794:(1975)
786:(1961)
770:(1902)
762:(1876)
754:(1584)
696:Street
686:SĂ©ance
676:Mental
666:Gospel
614:Genres
596:Stores
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350:358950
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891:Lists
853:Magic
825:Genii
691:Stage
581:Clubs
438:(PDF)
421:(PDF)
656:Coin
626:Card
494:ISBN
475:2009
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463:Make
425:ISBN
398:2012
371:ISBN
346:OCLC
310:ISBN
283:ISBN
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