Copperfield's Flying
Jaxterz
Art Begun
Black art is used to hide the bats.
Jaxterz wrote in message
<199808031327...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
Tilman Hausherr
(Jaxterz) wrote:
>Any tips or insight to how he executed it?
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From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: repost: DC's "Flying"
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 22:21:48 GMT
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Here is my collection of many "worthy" posts about DC's "flying".
Please remember that everything "technical" is pure speculation
how it "might" be done. Also note that the first two were made
independently from each other, on the very early days of the group.
From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Flying: hoops and glass box
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 1995 21:16:19 GMT
HLB:
: Flying is the simplest and stupidest trick there is. It is not
: magic, it is stage performance.
The most amazing performance I've ever seen on TV.
: Flying is done the same way that Peter Pan flew in his stage
: production or any other stage production which a person
: is made to fly. It is with wires. DC is hooked up like a puppet.
: He leaves the stage and get into a rigged harness.
The most important question is not answered: how do they do it with the
hoops and how does he fly in the glass box when he is wired ?
Hoops:
In both cases, they never go above him. This is somewhat difficult to
explain, so it would be good if you have the video while reading this.
The first time, both helpers seem move the hoops around. The audience
sees it this way, because it looks to the whole picture. If the audience
would follow each hoop separately, they would not be fooled. The hoops
are moved under him, the air above is safe.
The second time, the helpers turning the double-hoop move suddenly
forward, so that they move it under him (and not above). It is difficult
to see because the hoops are moving, so the 3D-algorithm of your brain
fails, and your brain cannot "decode" which part of the hoop is before,
and which one is behind him. So you simply "assume" that he got thru.
Glass box:
While the camera turns, notice that the lid is too small, so that there
is space on the long edges. (Thanks to the AOL guy who told me this last
year !) Also notice how the helpers place the lid over the box - they do
it very carefully, coming vertically from the small side (because DC's
wires are on the long side).
The girl:
As has correctly been posted here, she's a plant. An ordinary girl could
get scared when DC flies away, and would then sue DC for a zillion $.
About the guy who thought about magnets: he is probably a troll. What
about people wearing pacemakers ?
Tilman
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: br...@phoenix.phoenix.net (Bryan Shelton)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Here it is: HOW DAVID FLIES! (re-post)
Date: 13 Jun 1995 06:13:16 GMT
GREAT SECRETS REVEALED: THE ART OF "FLYING"
HOW DAVID COPPERFIELD DOES IT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello, everyone. As I promised, here is my explanation of what is the
most beautiful and awe-inspiring illusion I've ever seen. I was so
struck by it when I saw it on David's TV special that when I heard
shortly afterward that he was going to be performing it at Caesar's
Palace, I immediately booked a couple of seats and headed for Vegas
with my friend Blake Wilfong (see his post elsewhere in this group).
After paying a sizeable tip, we got to sit RIGHT NEXT TO THE STAGE
and we experienced this incredible illusion in all its glory. Yes,
as Blake said in his post, he actually brought a compass along with
him and at a critical moment when David was "floating" right near us,
Blake had the presence of mind to whip the thing out and do some quick
testing for any powerful magnetic fields. There were none. There was
no response whatever from the compass. I can assure you that magnets
are NOT involved in this trick, as one poster suggested. However, from
our combined experience of seeing this in person and from studying the
video-tape of the TV show (often frame-by-frame with the "pause" key
and slow-motion effects!), and thanks to a wonderful key observation by
my brother-in-law, we feel we have pieced together the essential "modus
operandi" of this charming illusion.
A strange irony of this is that just recently one of my co-workers
got to meet the man who actually designed this trick; he lives here in
Houston. My friend said, "So how does it work?" and the fellow simply
laughed! That's all right; while I don't claim to know all the nuts
and bolts of his entire apparatus, I think I know all the general
principles.
It is with a rather heavy heart and a feeling of guilt that I
begin this explanation. I feel that I'm ruining this fantastic trick
for others but perhaps it's time for the secret to come out. If you
have changed your mind about this and you've decided you don't want to
know, then
STOP READING NOW!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The key to this trick is: THINK SIMPLE... No giant magnets, no neutron
beams, no anti-gravity waves. David was simply suspended by a couple of
very strong, very fine wires or filaments of some very strong space-age
material. This is hardly the first time that such wires have been used
for a "levitation". I see him wearing a strong harness under his loose-
fitting sweat-shirt at his center of gravity; the wires are attached to
the sides of the harness, allowing him to be drawn up and down and back
and forth by a crane-like device out of sight near the ceiling. During
the performance in Vegas I bent forward and peered up at the ceiling
over the stage but of course my vision was cut off past a certain point
by some carefully placed curtains. But in this way he can "fly" all
around the stage and even perform those mid-air somersaults by carefully
avoiding the wires with his arms as he turns over. Yes, this trick
required a great deal of practice, I'm sure!
Right about now, people jump up and say, "But what about the
HOOPS?! They passed all those HOOPS over him!". This was the key
observation by my brother-in-law that caused the pieces to start to fall
into place: they did NOT pass any hoops over him!! The first pair of
hoops, one a bit smaller than the other so it could pass inside the
other, were drawn across David by two assistants, but as they almost met
together in the middle part of David's body, the assistants executed a
twisting motion on both hoops, tilting the top part *back* and the
bottom part *forward*, swinging both hoops *around* rather than *across*
David's body with the clever result that NO PART OF EITHER HOOP actually
crossed over the top of David's mid-section where the wires were
supporting him! This is difficult to describe in text but if you look
at a video-tape of it, in slow-motion if necessary, you will see it
immediately. The second pair of hoops was even more clever and
convincing. These were held at right angles to each other, one inside
the other, and the assistants spun them around and around as they passed
them over David's hovering body, giving the impression that he had just
passed through a veritable *web* of spinning hoops! Sorry, but if you
look at this again on video-tape VERY CAREFULLY, stepping it along frame
by frame, you will see that once again NO PART OF EITHER HOOP actually
passes over the top of David's mid-section where the wires are
supporting him! The hoops are spun very carefully *around* him so that
nothing strikes the wires. In fact, at a critical moment, the
assistants alter the angle of the hoops relative to each other for a
fraction of a second as they're sliding around David, and then they're
squared back up again, helping to reinforce the optical illusion. This
is very difficult to describe in print, but this is ABSOLUTELY what
happened! A very clever effect that convinced us all (*almost* all!)
that he was floating without support!
Next came the wonderful glass box. How did David float while
sealed inside that box? Simple. He wasn't sealed. The top lid of the
box was a bit narrower than the box itself, allowing a slight space on
either side (the narrower side, of course) for the wires to hang down.
This way David could still be lifted up and down and moved left and
right by the crane even while "sealed". Remember, think simple! And
remember the girl who walked across the top of the lid while David
walked upside-down across the *bottom* of the lid, following her own
foot-steps? If *you* were walking along a high, narrow path like that,
wouldn't you carefully (and nervously) walk along with your arms
out-stretched to help keep your balance? If you go back and look at the
tape you'll see that the girl keeps her arms right down at her sides as
she walks the whole distance, because directly underneath her is David
and his supporting wires are shooting straight up the sides of the lid
and right up beside *her* body, so she has to keep her arms out of the
way! Another beautiful effect, though.
Finally, as my friend Blake mentioned, the girl supposedly from
the audience that he "flies" with is a plant; I recognized the very
same girl from the TV show as the one in VEGAS!
So this, in a large nut-shell, is how it was done. Again, I
don't know all the details of the machinery needed to pull this trick
off, but the principles involved are as I have stated.
Bryan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: br...@phoenix.phoenix.net (Bryan Shelton)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: has anyone seen wires in "flying" :-)
Date: 12 Jul 1995 08:21:04 GMT
Out To Lunch (nels...@gold.tc.umn.edu) wrote:
: In article <3tp78c$g...@unlisys.unlisys.net>,
: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr) wrote:
: >: When he is rising from the glass box (arms extended, he is like a
: >: resurrecting Jesus :-) I can see something glittering briefly on the
: >: right side of his head. It might be a wire or just a reflection from
: >: the curtains behind him.
: >: Can't tell for sure.
: >
: >I looked it again - can't tell it either.
: >
: Yes, I have seen them. At two separate times. Once on the original TV specil
: with James Earl Jones, and the other live. Both times, I could see the wires
: against the stage.
Well, I thought I'd put in my two cents' worth here, too. As I
indicated in my original post, I already had gone over the entire
illusion, from start to finish, frame by frame on my VCR looking for the
wires and other things. I never found any, to the best of my knowledge.
I went back to my tape again tonight and looked once more at the areas
mentioned: where DC rises from the glass box, and, as another poster
mentioned, at the very beginning when he first rises up. Sorry, but I
cannot see any hint of the wires, either! The only place where I've had
some slight suspicion of seeing them is when he does the backward flip
in mid-air. I kind of think there might be a brief glint of the wires
at a certain point in that move, but it's really hard to tell against
that glittery, waving curtain background. BTW, as I posted before, my
friend and I saw the trick live in Vegas and we were sitting right at
the stage; DC was like REALLY CLOSE and STILL we couldn't see the damn
wires!! A fellow I work with thinks the wires are made of Kevlar, the
stuff they use to make bullet-proof vests. He says that Kevlar does
indeed have the tremendous tensile strength that would be required to
hold a human being, even when stretched fine enough to be invisible.
And he says that if they're painted or coated black, no one is going to
see any kind of a glint, metallic or otherwise. Anybody know any more
about Kevlar?
Also on the subject of the wires: after my original post another
fellow replied to me, criticizing my explanation, saying that the moves
executed by DC were *impossible* using my hypothesized harness and two
wires. I'd like to give him credit for his remarks now, but I didn't
save his post and now I don't remember his name! Anyway, I went back
and studied the tape some more and realized he was correct! I have
now refined my explanation: I now feel that almost certainly there are
TWO pairs of wires supporting him, one just above and one just below
his center of gravity, with one pair (the upper one, I believe) spaced
a bit narrower than the other so that the two pairs can pass by each
other when DC does moves like the backward flip. With this arrangement
DC essentialy becomes a marionette, and I feel that EVERY SINGLE MOVE
he makes during the illusion can now be accounted for, assuming the
TWO pairs of wires. The other objection my critic had can also now be
answered: DC doesn't sway back and forth because now his weight and
body position is held and securely controlled by FOUR wires altogether.
My critic was *wrong* in one thing, though: he said, how can DC float
*on his side* if he's suspended by wires at his sides? Answer: my
critic has a faulty memory. DC NEVER EVER floats *on his side*!
I even think I have a pretty good idea now how that crane is built;
pulleys that draw all four wires smoothly up and down (the two pairs of
wires move independently of each other, of course); the two pairs of
pulleys themselves move back and forth on a linear track, one inside the
other as I mentioned, for the flipping moves; and the whole damned
thing is mounted on a turn-table so that DC can be turned around in
mid-air. I'm sure everything is under computer control, so individual
moves are pre-programmed and all pulleys and motors run smoothly and
properly.
I've spent a great deal of time watching and studying this lovely
illusion; I feel I have a still better understanding of it!
Bryan
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: MRC...@prodigy.com (J Lesser)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: How does DC "Fly" ???
Date: 13 Sep 1995 00:19:21 GMT
Hey guys, thanks for explaining the hoops. I just went to look at
the videotape and I agree, the hoops never pass over him, they just flip
back at the same time, what a beautiful illusion! That was the part I
couldn't ever figure out until now. I suppose I will toss in my two
cents worth on what I know about DC's flying:
The following information comes from stagehands that have worked in
theaters where DC's show has run been but obviously, I can't name those
names here..
The fly system is made by a rigging company that I can't name, but
if you do your research, you'll figure it out. They are the biggest
rigging company in the free world. The rigging system is a module that
is flown on portable hoists, and it is completely computer controlled.
The wires are made of surgical string, top of the line wire. Multiple
strands are used per point, for safety purposes as the strands wear out
after a while and strands will break from time to time. All four
points are completely computer controlled, and preprogrammed for each
venue as stage sizes vary across the country. If a strand breaks,
servos are automatically programmed to retract the broken strand so fast
that it a human eye will never see it. Servos are also in his body suit
to retract any broken strands on his end at the same speed. Servos
detach him from radio remote control. What I haven't seen anyone
comment on is lighting. My sources tell me that the lighting system that
tours with DC is preprogrammed to track David as he flies, removing
shadows as needed, and adding distraction as needed. Obviously, they
rehearse the flying in each venue, and preprogram lighting cues to
remove and touch up reflections. Remember, lighting is like a crayon,
and with computers, you can put light , whereever you want, whenever you
want it. And lastly, the lighting system and rigging system is
integrated into the same computer. It all happens at the same time,
perfectly and without a flaw.
And that is all I know about that...
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From: schiller <schi...@prl.philips.nl>
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Is David Copperfield flying with a magnet?
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 11:25:40 GMT
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With some physicist friends we studied the flying trick of David
Copperfield in detail; I saw him in London in January. A number of magnet
experts have plunged into the details. All seems consistent with the idea that
he is moved by a large magnet behind the curtain. (DC always flies in front of
a curtain.) There are magnets which can attract objects and keep them at a
distance. It seems that he has a steel belt - or even a magnetic belt - under
his pullover. The system is similar to those used in certain (but not all)
magnetic levitation trains, in particular the german Transrapid project.
We estimated the size (1-2 m^3) and cost of the system (300 k$), and its
development time (1-2 yrs).
This is compatible with what DC says about it in interviews.
BTW this is a real nice feat, and the engineers who did that deserve
substantial praise. The system is unstable, and the magnet has to be
regulated continuously with several feedback loops, to avoid DC to fall.
In his show, DC flies through aluminium rings and inside a closed
transparent plastic box - always very near to the curtain.
He also always keeps the same side of the body towards the curtain.
All this is consistent with the magnetic suspension.
In the show one also can see when the magnet is switched on -
DC gets a small jolt at that moment.
Furthermore, he shows a second trick which uses a magnet: he levitates
a heavy table - with help from the public - from below a wooden floor.
Are there any other people which have already thought about this ?
Cheers
Christoph
P.S. I speak for myself, and not for my employer. I am interested in levitation
from a physical point of view, and by chance stumbled on this pretty example...
P.P.S. I already heard from a troller claiming that he flies suspended on
strings. What other explanations are put forward in the press?
--
Any simple man can ask more questions than seven sages can answer.
Electronic mail address : schi...@prl.philips.nl
Postal address : Dr. Christoph Schiller, Philips Research Laboratories,
Building WY 41, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656AA Eindhoven, The Netherlands
tel +31-40-743360 or +31-40-743235, fax +31-40-743478
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From: br...@phoenix.phoenix.net (Bryan Shelton)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: Is David Copperfield flying with a magnet?
Date: 15 Aug 1995 03:48:40 GMT
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schiller (schi...@prl.philips.nl) wrote:
: With some physicist friends we studied the flying trick of David
: Copperfield in detail; I saw him in London in January. A number of magnet
: experts have plunged into the details. All seems consistent with the idea that
: he is moved by a large magnet behind the curtain. (DC always flies in front of
: a curtain.) There are magnets which can attract objects and keep them at a
: distance. It seems that he has a steel belt - or even a magnetic belt - under
: his pullover. The system is similar to those used in certain (but not all)
: magnetic levitation trains, in particular the german Transrapid project.
: We estimated the size (1-2 m^3) and cost of the system (300 k$), and its
: development time (1-2 yrs).
: This is compatible with what DC says about it in interviews.
: BTW this is a real nice feat, and the engineers who did that deserve
: substantial praise. The system is unstable, and the magnet has to be
: regulated continuously with several feedback loops, to avoid DC to fall.
Sheesh! Mr. Schiller, I mean no disrespect, but I can assure you that
magnets are NOT used in this illusion. Please read my two articles of
explanation that Tilman just re-posted in a separate thread. I explain
in quite some detail all about the hoops, the glass box, the confederate,
etc. etc.
I'm very serious when I say that I saw the illusion live in Las Vegas with
my friend Blake Wilfong; we got to sit right at the stage! And Blake
really truly brought along a magnetic compass just to test this theory;
at one point in the illusion when DC was "floating" very near us, I was
totally dazzled and amazed and had forgotten all about the compass, but
Blake whipped it right out, nudged me in the ribs, and showed me that
there was no response whatever from the compass needle! I find it amusing
that even physicists and engineers such as yourselves can be fooled, just
like the rest of us, into hypothesizing some enormously complicated and
unlikely mechanism as an explanation for what really is a fairly simple
and straight-forward trick but perfectly executed by David Copperfield!
I would like to take a moment to say this: I was also VERY VERY SERIOUS
when I previously posted that I know the name of the gentleman who designed
this trick. We both live here in Houston; thanks to the Houston telephone
book, I know where he lives and what his phone number is. There's been a
lot of interest and discussion in this illusion the past couple of months;
I'm half tempted to give this fellow a call and express my admiration for
what I consider to be the most beautiful and awe-inspiring illusion I've ever
seen. And yes, I might even tell him that I know how it's done and offer
to describe it to him! (Although I'm sure he won't confirm or deny it!)
I've heard from a fellow I work with who has met this guy that he is a
very nice and genial person and would love to talk to me about it. What
do you all think? Should I call the fellow and then post a synopsis of
our chat? Give me some reasonable questions you'd like me to ask him...
Bryan
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From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: Is David Copperfield flying with a magnet? Not!
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1995 19:58:18 GMT
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Reasons why I think that DC is not "flying" with magnets
- I'd like to see the magnet the keeps stuff "at a distance"
horizontally. It might be possible to do this when the magnet is
above something (with a careful feedback loop), but it is very
dangerous. If the loop gets out of control (software bug <g>), DC
either slams at the ceiling or falls.
And what about a power failure ?
- Magnets are used to hold particles in the middle of them, e.g. in
nuclear fusion. But the amount of particles is very tiny, and the
magnets are around the particles.
- One guy was there with a compass. The needle didn't move.
- The magnet stuff was posted by Bob "Moolah" in the early days of
alt.magic.secrets. Bob was a troll.
- Magnets work only at short distance. There is a logical reason for
this, that you should ask your physics buddies, but here is how I
understand it: the further you are away, the more is the surface that
a given magnetic field has to cover around the magnet. So the
"magnetic power" at a far place is much much weaker, and the change
is worse then linearly.
- DC doesn't fly near the curtain, this is only done in the glass box.
But why isn't the lid totally closed, and why is the lid carefully
moved from above ? Couldn't this be because the wires are on the
sides ?
- even magicians have laughed at DC's declaration that no wires are
involved.
- with magnets, the trick could be more perfect: the hoops could be
taken around his body, which is not done on TV (it might look like
this, but this is an optical illusion that doesn't work when viewing
it again on the VCR).
- the jolt doesn't prove anything. Same could happen with wires.
- DC certainly has a special belt. For the wires.
- DC does *not* always show the same side to the public. I just watched
the video. Since you say that he's wearing a metal belt, this doesn't
play any role in your theory.
- the german transrapid exists and even works sometimes, but the
magnets are there and not meters away behind a curtain, and I am sure
that gravity plays a role too.
- using magnets for the levitating table might be a good idea if the
table is very light, and if the people have the magnets under their
arms.
Notice to the readers:
BTW, the "troll" mentioned at the bottom of the message is me <g>. If your
newsreader displays full headers, you can see the "X-URL" line that he's at
the web page that explains how to get access to this group when your news
provider is not carrying it. I pointed him to it, after we had a few e-mails
discussing his theory, of which I was not convinced. I explained him the
"troll" phenomenum on the usenet (especially on this group), and suggested him
to post his theory here.
Tilman
--- Tilman Hausherr
biz: <til...@sietec.de> <URL:http://www.sietec.de/> (company page)
home: <til...@berlin.snafu.de> <URL:http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/>
Praise Xenu! Praise Mozilla! Praise "Bob"!
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From: Jason Vorpahl <copp...@netnet.net>
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: DC on Flying
Date: 12 Mar 1996 04:59:20 GMT
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cse...@dtc.net (Chris Sells) wrote:
>In article <4h8290$o...@elaine21.Stanford.EDU>,
>ajbr...@leland.Stanford.EDU says...
>>
>>In his flying special a few years back, David Copperfield apparently
>"flew"
>>outside the MGM Grand.
>>
>>Someone please explain this one to me.
>>
>>
>DC can "fly" inside or outside a theatre, becuz the rigging is the same
>as the studios use for Superman, etc.
>
>Starr
>
Before you read this, I would like to say a few things. The first is
that some of the information in this document was not provided by me. I
choose not to reveal the people's names who contributed to this because
of the controversy of revealing magical secrets. The main reason I am
posting this is because of the trouble (it was fun, but exausting) of
finding out how David Flys. If people have a better understanding of
magic they will appreciate more when they see it because they know the
work that goes into creating such a spectacular effect such as flying. I
hope you enjoy.
-Jason Vorpahl
DAVID COPPERFIELD'S
FLYING
The thought of David Copperfield and his flying trick has both
interested me, and frustrated me. After 4 years of work on this
illusion, I have finally figured it out, or I think I have. The first
time I ever saw this trick I thought it was a giant electro magnet (how
stupid). I really didn't think about the effects of a magnet on the
audiences. If people have medical devices like pace makers, what would
happen? They could fail because of the strong current and kill some one
(too risky). Plus at a show in Las Vagas, some man, I am not going to
reveal any names, pulled out a compass as David was flying right next to
him. Nothing happened. That left only one thing, wires.
WIRES? HOW?
Well it is a very simple idea. Remember, think small and practical.
Not big like magnets, anti-gravity waves, ect....... I really don't know
for sure exactly what the wires are made of, but I am positive there is
wires. I believe these strings are called warren ropes. They are
invisible and can stretch up to 100% of it's lenght. These ropes are high
quality and I belive they were invented by a man named Walter Mcizic. You
can get them by ordering them personally from him. You cannot by them at
your local Magic shop.
BODY HARNESS
The harness has four main wires connected to it. Two at the lower
chest area, and two at the waist area. They are connected to the sides
of the harness. Multiple strands of wires are used per point, for safety
purposes because the strands will wear out or break from time to time.
All four points preprogrammed before he starts his show at each place
because of the stage sizes ect......... If one strand breaks, the
computer is automatically programmed to retract the broken strand so fast
that human eye can not detect it. The wires on the lower chest area are
narrower than the ones on the waist area. That allows David to do the
flip in air. The harness fits snugly under his baggy shirt.
THE STAGE RIGGING
The fly system is made by a rigging company that I won't say,
but if you do some research, you can figure it out. They are the biggest
rigging company in the free world. The rigging system is a module that
is flown on portable hoists, and is completely computer controlled, and
preprogrammed for each venue as stage sizes vary across the country. So
David really does nothing, he just makes it look real by the hand
motions. The whole rig can spin in a 360 degree circle, permitting him
to spin around. Now you probably say, what about the hoops and girl.
HOOP PASS 1
The first hoop pass is pretty simple to understand. You may want to
have the video of Copperfield flying on to fully understand what I am
talking about. In both passes the hoops really don't go over him. For
the first pass, one hoop is slightly smaller than the other one, so it
could be passed inside the other. The assistant make a twisting motion
on both hoops, tilting the top part back and the bottom part forward,
swinging both hoops under him. Watch the video in slow motion to see
this is needed. (When I refer to video, I mean Copperfield flying)
HOOP PASS 2
The second hoop pass is very, very good. The hoops are spun very
carefully around him so that nothing strikes the wires. At the critical
moment, the helpers alter the angle of the hoops relative to each other
for a fraction of a second as they are sliding around David, and then
square them back up again, helping reinforce the optical illusion. I
know that part was confusing but I will try to sum them up in other
words, the helpers suddenly move forward, so that the hoops move under
him. It is difficult to see because the hoops are moving, so the 3-D
algorithm, the thing that detects 3-D in your brain, fails, and your
brain can't decode which hoop is before him, and which is behind him. So
you simply assume it goes over him. Watch this part, you can't tellwhen
the hoops go over him because of the angle. But then put it in slow
motion and you can see what I mean.
THE GLASS BOX
About this point you say what about the glass box. That is the
simplest thing in this whole illusion. As the camera turns , notice that
the top lid of the box is a bit narrower than the box itself, allowing a
slight space on both sides of the box for the wires to pass through. In
this setup David can still move up and down, and spin
around. And remember the girl who walks across the top of the lid while
David is walking upside down with her. If you were walking on that high,
narrow path, wouldn't you stretch your arms out to balance. The girl
does not. Her arms are straight down against her legs because underneath
her is David floating and his wires are shooting straight up the sides of
the lid and right up beside her body.
THE GIRL
I firmly believe that the girl that David flys with is a plant. I
have one major reason to believe this. Now a days everyone is sueing
everyone for doing nothing at all. What would happen if David flys with
the girl, and she gets scared. Or something would happen with the rig
and it would break and they would fall. The girl could very well sue for
any reason. Would David want to take this chance? I think not.
Now you know the secret for David's favortie trick to preform. It is
amazing to watch on stage and tv as any other trick ever devised in the
history of magic. I give credit to David for comming up with a trick
like this one. Any comments about this article e-mail me at
-Jason Vorpahl
http://netnet.net/~copper96
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From: dra...@skypoint.com (David Rafner)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: DC on Flying
Date: 13 Mar 1996 07:38:54 GMT
Organization: SkyPoint Communications, Inc.
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In article <4i30b8$g...@laslo.netnet.net>, Jason Vorpahl <copp...@netnet.net> says:
> I believe these strings are called warren ropes. They are
>invisible and can stretch up to 100% of it's lenght. These ropes are high
>quality and I belive they were invented by a man named Walter Mcizic. You
>can get them by ordering them personally from him. You cannot by them at
>your local Magic shop.
>
>copp...@netnet.net
>
>-Jason Vorpahl
>http://netnet.net/~copper96
>
>
I would say it is very unlikely that someone would seek to use a
fiber that would stretch for "flying". Materials that stretch 100%
are usually in the same class as rubber bands. Using such material
would make it quite close to impossible to manage oscillating motions.
W/ computer controlled motion, completely inelastic material would
be the first choice. Most people have experience with fishing line etc.
and thus associate stretch with strength. Such lines are engineered to
absorb shock, not promote positional stability. As ropes, this class
of material is excellent for breaking falls (like bungy jumping),
i.e. dynamic loading, but are inappropriate for static loading
(when G forces are low (or consistent) and under control).
While I have no knowledge of what is actually used,
Kevlar is well known for its inelastic properties. One reason it is
still expensive to make Kevlar products is that conventional yarn
mandrils cannot be used as simply applying tension does even-up the
lengths adequately. For those with a material science background
Ref: meta bonds. Other potential comercial fibers include lineated
polyethylene. (sold as Spectra). There are a few truly exotic materials
which I’ve not heard of being sold commercially but if one has enough
money and needs only small quantities, are not out of the realm of
possibility.
However, the laboratory stuff should be unnecessary as tensile
strength should not be as important as one might guess.
Acceleration against the lines can be _precisely_ controlled, to stay under
say, 1 1/8 of a G, and the mass of the flyers is somewhat less than 135Kg
(or 85K when flipping, which he does alone). Leaving room for momentary
imbalances within the harness, each line wouldn’t be expected to experience
more than about 45-50Kg. Of course, one has to leave some room for
safety. However, if those values were written into the design spec,
it would be fairly straight forward to build strain gauges into the pulleys
and then feed that back to the servos to imperceptibly tighten and
slacken the different lines to equalize loading. This can be done in
tens of milliseconds with good gear. Note that this is another
reason why inelastic lines would be essential. In materials like Kevlar
and Spectra, strain waves move very quickly, allowing fast accurate
measurement of forces. (...actually I'd have to look up the values to
see if one could really get response time that fast with 10M of line
in between...but it sounds right.)
My guess regarding the computer controlled rigging is that it evolved
from the gear used to precisely move movie cameras on multiple mat
shots. Some of this gear was pioneered during the making of the original
StarWars filming. I’ve seen pictures of early gear that used fairly standard
industrial robotic linear actuator technology to create a gantry that could
move a camera about 20 feet horizontally and 6-8 feet vertically.
Positional accuracy/reproducibility of a few 100ths of an inch or better
would be standard. Unless you’ve worked in a factory with robots, you’d
probably be quite startled by the speed at which these systems can move.
David Rafner
dra...@capitalism.com
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From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Technical aspects of DC's flying
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 19:02:29 GMT
Organization: Xenu's Ranch
Lines: 72
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I received this. It has to do with the technical aspect of DC's flying.
Tilman
==========
This information comes from my engineering training and a good eye, not
from being backstage with DC, who I think is getting sloppy and
depending on the looks of the girls he works with too much, also too
much big scale stuff and not enough small scale or slight of hand, which
baffles the audience enough so the big scale stuff works better as they
are still trying to figure out what they saw before.
What makes DC look so good is what is called a P.I.D. controller, or a
computer running a bunch of PID programs. In the light shows we use
small galvanometer assemblys to drive mirrors really fast and we measure
their position with a sensor and take the integral of the position and
the derivative of the position and sum them and scale them as feed back
to prevent the mirrors from over and undershooting the desired position.
DC's computers do the same thing , by making assumptions about his mass.
Notice how DC always acclerates slowly and decelerates slowly, and when
he moves from one position to another he accelerates for half the time
he's moving and then decelerates for half the time, except when he moves
all the way across the stage. This fits the physics for best
controllable move time from point a to point b. If he did a quick
sudden movement the PID control computer not be able to do handle the
data rate and do the calculations in time (there has to be several
computers, including one for safety) This is a dead give away for the
PID system.
DC's movements are limited by the fact that there is no way to damp
side to side pendulum motion without messing up the servo system, notice
that he tends to make moves that are counter balenced, and when he lifts
the girl he is on tip toes so the servo can calculate the new strain,
and slowly take him up. Note that movements of him with the girl are at
about half the speed of him free floating. If he took up a girl who was
not a plant, her sudden moves would cause a pendulum oscillation and the
system would do a embarousing halt for safety
Note also that he can't whip his arms/legs around or he would induce
oscillation Hence the slooooooooow motion turns etc. On a recent
Siegfried and Roy TV special here in the states Siegfreid did a right
angle turn from the vertical into a horizontal tube without touching the
walls, indicating that sideways motion using strands coming down from
angles of the top of the stage is available in a more adavanced version,
but the vertical to horizontal transition had to be done much slower so
it did not llok quite realistic, they eye is quite good at detecting
jerky motion, perhaps as a survival mechanism.
I would also agree on a four point attachment, (four cables coming down
from the corners of a rectangular frame) for DCs harness. With swivels
on the mid waste attachment and possibley a cable to the legs, for doing
the flips without causing a sudden jerking motion or oscillation. I
doubt there is anything other then attach/disconect fittings on the
harness, as man capable servo motors in the harness would require a
tremendous power source, batteries probably can't do it, and kevlar is
non conductive, and Ohm's law would require that such a thin wire would
melt with the level of current required, unless a very high voltage
employed.
It looks like there are still some bugs to take out of the robot
system, Ie realistic flight moves, DC looks like he is riding a elevator
mounted on a gantry crane. You gotta give the system engineers credit,
and also DC for the physical musscle control and practice required would
be a real strain on most people. But it remains a cool illusion, but not
for long as it is beginning to appear in other places.
--- Tilman Hausherr [KoX]
biz: <til...@sietec.de> <URL:http://www.sietec.de/> (company page)
home: <til...@berlin.snafu.de> <URL:http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/>
All flames gratefully accepted: I learn new words this way!
[reib...@dma.org]
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Path: unlisys!usenet
From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Technical aspects of DC's flying
Date: Sat, 04 May 1996 13:28:33 GMT
Organization: Xenu's Ranch
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Xref: unlisys alt.magic.secrets:3260 sci.physics:112642
Someone, posting thru me:
>What makes DC look so good is what is called a P.I.D. controller, or a
>computer running a bunch of PID programs. In the light shows we use
>small galvanometer assemblys to drive mirrors really fast and we measure
>their position with a sensor and take the integral of the position and
>the derivative of the position and sum them and scale them as feed back
>to prevent the mirrors from over and undershooting the desired position.
>DC's computers do the same thing , by making assumptions about his mass.
>Notice how DC always acclerates slowly and decelerates slowly, and when
>he moves from one position to another he accelerates for half the time
>he's moving and then decelerates for half the time, except when he moves
>all the way across the stage. This fits the physics for best
>controllable move time from point a to point b. If he did a quick
>sudden movement the PID control computer not be able to do handle the
>data rate and do the calculations in time (there has to be several
>computers, including one for safety) This is a dead give away for the
>PID system.
I asked him what PID stands for. The reason was that he sent me a
message after which I suddenly suspected him to troll me. The reason is
that I have read this technical stuff only superficially, and since I am
not an engineer, it would be easy to troll me :-)
Tilman
====
PID stands for Proportional Integral Derivitive. This comes from servo
theory in control systems in electrical engineering. "If a object is in
motion It will tend to remain in motion unless acted upon by a external
force" Newtons Law Part I So when DC is flying, say he wants to stop in
mid air. He is hanging by cables, and moving horizontally. If we just
suddenly stop the gantry crane or trolly system up in the stage, he
would continue to move by his inertia according to Newtons first law. So
if we just slam on the brakes, he would swing as far forward as the
cable would let him. Because the cable would limit his forward motion,
the stored energy in his body from the motion (Force = Mass times
Acceleration) would have to go somewhere, it would add to the force
holding him up (Forces add as vectors, not scalers) and would result in
his swinging up and then back and forth like a pendulum out of control.
So to stop this from happening to get from point a to point b as fast as
possible and as smoothly as possible you have to go full acceleration to
the halfway point of your motion then deaccelerate at a equal rate over
the remaining half of the trip. The problem is the flexibility of the
cables, this half and half acceleration would work just fine if you are
riding in a train. But since DC is hanging there and he has own inertia
because the cables effectively isolate him from the moving apparatus up
in the stage, some mathematical magic must be applied to compensate and
make him look like he is really flying, So we know about what speed he
is moving, so we apply a opposite force of the same magnitude to slow
him to a stop, that is the proportional part of PID, But then he is
going to swing back and forth because of the inertia. So mathematically
we do integration of the position signal. This gives us a term for
inertia to add to the proportion signal so he doesnt swing.
But there is one more problem, since we have tried to bring him to a
stop, his body is hanging at the end of a sting like a pendulum. If you
have a grandfather clock or have looked at a swing on a playground, you
will note that when it is stopped the slighest motion or vibration will
cause it to oscillate back and forth.
When DC is brought to a stop, there is a problem with the integral in
the mathmatics, it will only be a approximation of his inertia, which
will not be totally canceled out by the faulty math, so he will have
some remaining energy that will cause him to swing back and forth at a
frequency proportional to the length of the wires. So we add a sudden
spike of energy exactly opposite to the remaining energy picked up by
sensors. This is mathematically a Derivitave function. It is a strong
force of short duration equal to the period of oscillation but exactly
180 degrees out of phase with the oscillation, which will slam any
oscillation to a stop in a few periods of the oscillation, but since DC
is on such a long pendulum, the period of the oscillation might be one
or two seconds, which we would notice if the derivative term wasnt
there. The oscillation really shows up when he first picks up the girl
and the system has to learn how to compensate. The first few seconds
when he picks her up are really slow while the system adjusts, on my
tape he spends it whispering in her ear, and the audience thinks he is
making small talk with her and making her laugh.
Notice that when DC preforms this there is either a moving projected
background of clouds, or when I saw him in the states, a blue curtain
covered with thousands of tiny little blue sequins that reflect sparkles
of light. The curtain moved in small waves, like it had air blown
against it. Against such a field of sparkles your eyes would have a hard
time picking out two things, the wires, and any oscillating motion cause
there are no fixed object to compare two except the wide borders of the
stage, and who is going to notice one or two periods of oscillation on a
seventy foot wide stage when you are totally concentrating on DC.
As you can tell this is dry boring technical stuff and thats why I
did not put it in the origional document.
I did not intend to "Troll" you. You can check this out with a
mechanical or electrical enginner who does motion systems. Most
engineering students dont take the course in that much detail. This is
also used in advanced heating systems as the retained heat acts just
like inertia. I was mad cause "fakermage" tried to troll you by just
adding on stuff. The barbie doll was for him to try so he would learn
about motion control.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Path: unlisys!usenet
From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Technical aspects of DC's flying
Date: Sat, 04 May 1996 16:42:18 GMT
Organization: Xenu's Ranch
Lines: 158
Message-ID: <318b5dfd...@news.snafu.de>
References: <3173d6ed...@news.snafu.de> <4la72i$k...@tribune.concentric.net>
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Xref: unlisys alt.magic.secrets:3263 sci.physics:112666
[read the quoted part if you didn't get it last time]
In <4la72i$k...@tribune.concentric.net>, Ncc...@concentric.net
(Fakermage) wrote:
>til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr) wrote:
>
>>I received this. It has to do with the technical aspect of DC's flying.
>>Tilman
>
>>==========
>
>>This information comes from my engineering training and a good eye, not
>>from being backstage with DC, who I think is getting sloppy and
>>depending on the looks of the girls he works with too much, also too
>>much big scale stuff and not enough small scale or slight of hand, which
>>baffles the audience enough so the big scale stuff works better as they
>>are still trying to figure out what they saw before.
>
>>What makes DC look so good is what is called a P.I.D. controller, or a
>>computer running a bunch of PID programs. In the light shows we use
>>small galvanometer assemblys to drive mirrors really fast and we measure
>>their position with a sensor and take the integral of the position and
>>the derivative of the position and sum them and scale them as feed back
>>to prevent the mirrors from over and undershooting the desired position.
>>DC's computers do the same thing , by making assumptions about his mass.
>>Notice how DC always acclerates slowly and decelerates slowly, and when
>>he moves from one position to another he accelerates for half the time
>>he's moving and then decelerates for half the time, except when he moves
>>all the way across the stage. This fits the physics for best
>>controllable move time from point a to point b. If he did a quick
>>sudden movement the PID control computer not be able to do handle the
>>data rate and do the calculations in time (there has to be several
>>computers, including one for safety) This is a dead give away for the
>>PID system.
>
>> DC's movements are limited by the fact that there is no way to damp
>>side to side pendulum motion without messing up the servo system, notice
>>that he tends to make moves that are counter balenced, and when he lifts
>>the girl he is on tip toes so the servo can calculate the new strain,
>>and slowly take him up. Note that movements of him with the girl are at
>>about half the speed of him free floating. If he took up a girl who was
>>not a plant, her sudden moves would cause a pendulum oscillation and the
>>system would do a embarousing halt for safety
>>Note also that he can't whip his arms/legs around or he would induce
>>oscillation Hence the slooooooooow motion turns etc. On a recent
>>Siegfried and Roy TV special here in the states Siegfreid did a right
>>angle turn from the vertical into a horizontal tube without touching the
>>walls, indicating that sideways motion using strands coming down from
>>angles of the top of the stage is available in a more adavanced version,
>>but the vertical to horizontal transition had to be done much slower so
>>it did not llok quite realistic, they eye is quite good at detecting
>>jerky motion, perhaps as a survival mechanism.
>>
>> I would also agree on a four point attachment, (four cables coming down
>>from the corners of a rectangular frame) for DCs harness. With swivels
>>on the mid waste attachment and possibley a cable to the legs, for doing
>>the flips without causing a sudden jerking motion or oscillation. I
>>doubt there is anything other then attach/disconect fittings on the
>>harness, as man capable servo motors in the harness would require a
>>tremendous power source, batteries probably can't do it, and kevlar is
>>non conductive, and Ohm's law would require that such a thin wire would
>>melt with the level of current required, unless a very high voltage
>>employed.
>
>> It looks like there are still some bugs to take out of the robot
>>system, Ie realistic flight moves, DC looks like he is riding a elevator
>>mounted on a gantry crane. You gotta give the system engineers credit,
>>and also DC for the physical musscle control and practice required would
>>be a real strain on most people. But it remains a cool illusion, but not
>>for long as it is beginning to appear in other places.
>
>
>Same as above but use eight point and an infrared controller to allow
>for spot changes. The part I like is the box- eight point works better
>and allows for smaller Kev-line.
>
>FakerMage- It's not magic, see here is the on/off switch. I flip this and....
Here is what the original (anonymous, except to me) poster e-mailed me
two weeks ago (I was too busy):
====
As a certain famed starship engineer once said, "Captain, I can't defy
the laws of physics"
Write your own durn postings and back it up with a technical
explanition or a good critique. Prove it. What the heck are you babling
about with the IR spot remote, can't be for the intelligent lighting
system that makes the illusion look so good, that would be controlled by
a 250,000 BAUD serial signal called DMX512 (theatrical lighting control
standard) which would be generated by the same computers that control
the flying moves which probably know the cable positions to say .01 inch
or better. (sorry dont know what that is in metric)
To fakermage, Part II. Try the following. Punch four holes in a say 30
cm by 30 cm piece of wood or cardboard, tie 8 stings at the center of
gravity of a Barbie Doll(tm) or for more realism use Ken(tm) and also at
knees, head , nose, feet etc run the strings through the four holes and
try to do flips and loops with them. see what you discover. There can be
only four, because in the rigging in the stage grid, there are four
parallel rails, like on a roller coaster, but with a additional pair in
the middle of the outer tracks, one set attaches at say the waist, or
wherever the center of gravity is located on a guy like DC, these go to
trolleys and winches hanging on the outer tracks, another pair at say
the hip level or shoulder level, depending on where the things work best
and these go to wenches on trolleys on the inner tracks. Try four stings
on on your plastic girlfriend and it works. The whole set of tracks
hangs on a small platform, and that is hung on even more mechanic any
more strings then four and you run into a problem with the strings
looping around each other and tieing up things permanently.
Too bad the guys/gals who designed this dont get any credit.
I pay a lot of money two or three times a year to go see DC and get
thrilled, I religously try to see other Magicians/Magic specials and
contribute some funding to the magical arts, I suggest others do that as
well. I could spill the beans on a lot of other illusions, but many of
them are so go as they could not be improved and are thus best kept
secret.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Path: unlisys!usenet
From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: DC flying / Graffiti, early message
Date: Sat, 04 May 1996 20:17:40 GMT
Organization: Xenu's Ranch
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Reply-To: til...@berlin.snafu.de
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Here an e-mail I received in 1994 from J.R., when I was a "bad boy" in
alt.magic for a few days. At that time I didn't keep the video. But that
message helped me a lot the day I got the video. At that time I also had
a wrong idea about the grafiti, because I thought I saw a black spot in
the curtain, that could be used as pass-thru.
[posted and e-mailed to him: if it works, please come to
alt.magic.secrets]
Tilman
============
Well, about the flying I don't know which tape you have of the FLYING
trick. I have the original FLYING special, well the camera rotates
arround the box as he is in it. As the camera rotates, the camera is
angled ind upwards so you can see him, and the lid, at 2 points in the
cameras 360 degree rotation around the box you can see about 1inch-2inch
gaps in both sides of the lid. This could not be detected when off of
the box because the box is oversized (width),not length so the lid can
lay on the box!
As for the Graffiti is not the way you say it happens. I have gone over
the video many times! When he cuts the envelope down off the lamp that
is holding it, then he goes over to the WALL, now watch when he steps
up, and he places the envelope against the wall, there is someone behind
the wall placing the GOOD SHEET against the back of the envelope, it is
slight of hand, very unnoticeable!!! Very quick. then when he goes over
to pull out the sheet watch how he does it, he pulls from the very back!
Check it out.
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From: til...@berlin.snafu.de (Tilman Hausherr)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: DC flying outside
Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 08:04:31 GMT
Organization: Xenu's Ranch
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I was asked to post this:
====
Yes he flies outside I have it on tape, but the camera never pans up to
the night sky all we see is building walls, which he is only two to
three meters away from at all times, so they moved him outside and hid
the rigging, and used 20-30 plants from the local chapter of SAM (The
society of insecure birthday magicians)
This occurs at tail end of "FLYING" network special, does not look like
a "ChromaKey" effect it looks like they rigged a outrigger from the
building as the camera angle is very controlled and he flys out of
picture at the end as if he flying away.
Our regional library which serves 1/3 of the state switched to a new
computer system. When I handed a printout of magic books from the old
system to the head librarian she was amazed at how they had all
dissapeared, including the ones in the childrens section. I suggested
she look for magicians on the staff. 20+ books gone, included the three
poundstone books which I had not seen yet. Same story at a bunch of the
branch libraries around the state.
Wonder how low they'll go, stealing childrens books is a major sin in my
book.
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From: atta...@aol.com (AttahC Him)
Newsgroups: alt.magic.secrets
Subject: Re: (fwd) repost: DC's "flying"
Date: 15 Oct 1996 22:07:53 -0400
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I have been a Stickler for Finding out Davids tricks, and to the past
posts, yes, they alld o follow what I thought happened. I am 14 years old,
and I was sitting in my chair at the Orpheum theatre in Minnesota laughing
at what I saw.
1)notice the pretty glittery background. IT ALWAYS STAYS MOVING. When it
moves, it is hard to detect the 4 (yes, there is 4 all together) wires.
2)Notice the girl he floats with. After he drops her off, she puts on this
VERY fakey fainting act, so a stage hand comes out to help her off the
stage. Notice the stage hand holds in her back hand a black handkerchief.
I must say I wouldn't have noticed if she didn't drop it at the
performance I was at (there goes one stage hand). The stage hand wraps the
handkerchief arround a knob on the girls back as she is leading her off
the stage. She them takes the 'knob' with her backstage. (probably a
pully)
That is just my 2 cents on the DC Flying trick. If you have any other
questions about DC tricks, I know a bunch, and post them here.
Jordini~
JoeJoeInMB
I just spent quite some time reading over the posiable explainations to
"Flying", and I just wanted to add my 1/2 cent:
a) The "wires" holding Daivd could not stretch... you simply don't use elastic
thread on a thread reel now do you?
b) David is not suspended at his "center of gravity"... that would make it
awkward to flip and such, but by suspending him above the center of gravity he
would have more control over the center of gravity (if you can follow that)...
I suspect he might even have some sorta of weight system under his
loose-fitting sweat shirt that could change the center of gravity while in
mid-air?!?
c) Lighting is the real secret here
Flying Squirrel
does it.
David is inside a big plexiglass box for some of the flight...this rules
out wires (as far as i'm concerned)
Tilman Hausherr
<flu...@geocities.com> wrote:
>David is inside a big plexiglass box for some of the flight...this rules
>out wires (as far as i'm concerned)
Please read the text again. It is explained. (The lid!)
--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX]
til...@berlin.snafu.de http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/
Charles Terry
--
Charles Terry
Studio37 FX
"Where Fantasy Becomes A Reality"
Come Visit Us On The Internet At: http://www.Studio37fx.com
Magicmal
entire plans for this. Search for the us patents site (If you have real
problems email me and i'll try and find the url for you.
JoeJoeInMB
It basiclly points out that the lid to the box is shorter than the box... thus,
the "wires" can enter the box at it's sides...
An interesting point for magicians: I saw the plans to a floating lady illusion
in an old "Linking Ring" (?!?) in which the girl was suspended on piano wire...
does anyone know anything about piano wire?!?
yodaboy56
Magicmal <magi...@aol.com> wrote in message
199808050924...@ladder03.news.aol.com...
>Sometime back someone posted the url for the patents site which holds the
>entire plans for this. Search for the us patents site (If you have real
>problems email me and i'll try and find the url for you.
Where is it that one look once you find the site?
chad s.
I believe that is what is used most often now.
Chad
Tilman Hausherr
<CTe...@studio37fx.com> wrote:
>Where's the txt explaning it. I would like to see it.
It is in the same thread. Click on
news:35cdf150....@news.snafu.de
--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX]
til...@berlin.snafu.de http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/
KmagicK
wire. Both are very strong and invisable. The only logical explanation for
his flying is with strings. I mean come on, magnets, i think that the magnets
would have to be pretty strong to fly David which would make it near impossible
for the assistants to lift the rings. Strings Strings Strings, but remember,
it is all in presentation, not the secret. So why is everyone concerned if
someone uses stooges, as long as the show is good.
RMCOAD
instead of piano wire.
CCC
SmarTop
>instead of piano wire.
>
It's "aircraft cable."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SmarTop~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is not intended to be legal advice. I am not a lawyer, but a hard-working
law student. For legal advice consult a local attorney who specializes in the
type of law pertinent to your situation.
PathFind11
naaa- it is a nuclear device
EvM
Fernlund
Duh! IT's not god, Yoda, Airline Cables, or an anti gravity device...
It's his hot hair balloon. yup he squeezes his fist to open the gas valve,
and the hot air balloon hidden in his hair raises him.. :-ş
LTek1
I remember seeing a photograph taken by some malicious roadie durring a
copperfield performance.
It clearly showed an area backstage not visible to the audience. And, there,
standing in plain view, was none other than the Jedi Master Yoda.
:Lee
FETT117
I saw that picture, too. Wasn't it in the book, "Star Wars Trivia to All
Things Known and Unknown to Man" where George Lucas revealed that Yoda is a
real person hired by David Copperfeild to do his levitation, and he gets a lamp
for every show? Maybe I was dreaming,...nevermind. ::going back to sleep::
Magic Fett
Psalm 117
JoeJoeInMB
No, No, No... the ballon is not hidden in his hair -- he sallows it before the
Flying Illusion... It takes him awhile, which is why he has you watch that
video first...
FETT117
Magic Fett
Psalm 117
JoeJoeInMB
No, the bird is for misdirection... the hair is a finishing touch just to
throw-off magicians...
LTek1
>It's his hot hair balloon. yup he squeezes his fist to open the gas valve,
>
I'll withdraw my previous "Yoda" post. I have come to a much more feasable
solution, which, ironically, I haven't heard anyone mention yet:
"Magnets"
:Lee
P.S: I'm grinning madly as I type this....
LTek1
in front row seats blamed it on baked beans...
:Lee
XWiLd420x
PathFind11
Yes.. darn it ..you gave it away!
He uses sub atomic rare Earth electromagnets
Under the stage he has a 15 million dollar
nuclear reactor to power the electromagnets
which are north poles.
Embeded in his head,shoulders and knees
are north pole rare earth magnets.
Upon starting this unit. it thrusts him into the
air.. flying like a birdie!
Regards
Path
FETT117
Magic Fett
Psalm 117
LTek1
A little known fact is that this is also the secret as to how REAL birds fly..
"flying like a birdie" is rather right on the mark. Birds have natural
magnets. Their hollow bones actually act to funnel the Earth's natural magnetic
force. The flapping of the wings, contrary to popular belief, has nothing to do
with the movement of air. Indeed, the movement of the wing bones acts to "pump"
the magnetic force (those broad wings make great field collectors) to the
center of gravity. It's all rather basic physics, yet was only recently
uncovered by those seeking to determine how different creatures fly. I, for
one, never believed all the people when they were quick to say "magnets." But,
in light of this new scientific theory, it looks as though I've been wrong all
along. :-))
:Lee
Boots2u
SMagic15
supermodels...
Dan
JoeJoeInMB
David turns on supermodels? I had no idea...
LTek1
You're right. There is absolutely no place for humor in the Magic world.
Path, we had better stop now.
:Lee
FETT117
Magic Fett
Psalm 117
Boots2u
PathFind11
Lee:
Yes we better stop indeed! hahahaha
We do not want the Storm troopers
kicking in our doors!
It is a International crime to..eww..make
a joke.
If they get the broomstick out of their butts
they would enjoy life for once,
These two groups contain to many Anal Retensive persons.
But like the Deer said as she staggered out of the
woods...I'll never do that for Two bucks ever
again!
Regards
Path
PathFind11
Hey Boots2U!
Stop being such a heel!!
You need to get a better soul!
Eyelet you tell jokes anytime!
As long as it is not Lace related!
Regards
Path
PathFind11
He uses a magnifying glass that is
what does it
Boots2u
to the other and says,
"Does this taste funny to you?"
Boots
WhyNoT
WhyNot
Fernlund wrote:
> Duh! IT's not god, Yoda, Airline Cables, or an anti gravity device...
>
> It's his hot hair balloon. yup he squeezes his fist to open the gas valve,
> and the hot air balloon hidden in his hair raises him.. :-ş
PathFind11
There you go boots <SMILE>
hehehe
Path