Levitating Magic Trick

November 27, 2010 2:58 AM

How does a magician levitate a person?

I'm trying to figure out how a magician can place a board across the top of two chairs, have a person lie flat on the board and then remove the two chairs leaving the person "levitating". The magician walks around the person with a large ring to show that it's not connected to hidden wires or any supports. I've seen a magician use a fake leg to disguise a metal frame that supports the person but this trick shows the magician walk around the levitating person!

posted by boby to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer contains some interesting chapters on the history of this trick and various ways in which it can be done.
posted by dogsbody at 3:42 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think one of the versions of this uses wires and a trick ring at the final stage. The trick ring doesn't go all the way around but has a small cut at the top, through which the wire can pass.
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:04 AM on November 27, 2010

I have seen one version of it explained before (in video form, probably a long time ago on tv, can't find it now) that the bed is raised from the side by an S-shaped rod. The hoop is passed around the "levitating" bed by following the S shape, so it looks like it has given the bed a full, clean pass.

Here it is explained that way, so at least I know I didn't make it up.

There's also the made-famous-by-David-Blaine Balducci Levitation, if you're into that. Good for fooling small children and people in front of a camera.
posted by phunniemee at 7:38 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

One version I've seen demonstrated had a bar with an S-shaped kink in it inserted into the back, allowing the ring to go around the "floating" board, without actually passing through the bar.

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posted by Kattullus at 7:39 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Or what phunniemee said.
posted by Kattullus at 7:39 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: There was a show on TV that showed how they did several different well known magic tricks. It was VERY interesting. From what I remember, they did this trick too. The plank or whatever that the person layed on had a steel bar that came out of the back side and went though a whole in the curtain. The hula hoop thing is a simple illusion. They showed how it looked like it passed all the way around the plank, but it never went completely around the back side.

Ha, I found it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAHsY_w4lcM
posted by NotSoSiniSter at 8:40 AM on November 27, 2010 [2 favorites]