criss angel - walking on water

[Banana Balls 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif I've already explained the pool one. He is walking on polycarbonate / plexiglass supported by thin columns. Note that the people don't stand up in front of him. There is a hole cut out where he drops his shoe in. Again, the audience is COMPLETELY in on it, and he openly admits it on the penn and teller radio show. He has no magic powers, just cheap illusions and camera editing. Link me to the fireball one.

I guess I'll have to watch it again. I thought they were walking all around him.

Take your pick for the bike one. I can't verify which video because I can't view videos at work.

http://www.google.com/search?q=criss+angel+jumps+bike+into+fire&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLD

You have to accept that magic is merely a ruse, and often a very expensive one when you have to pay off people to not reveal your secrets. Any time a magician does a transportation illusion where they reappear amidst the crowd, it is always in a similar location and note that the people are rarely screaming. Most people just aren't good actors. Trust me, magic and illusions are as simple as you think they are, which is part of their mystique.

I do accept that it is always a ruse, but I don't see Angel doing shitlike pulling cards out of his ***. I see him tieing himself to railroad cars and as they pass through his body, all of a sudden he's in the railroad car.

I see him making entire elephants dissapear.

"He must be using wires"Almost always true

"There must be a body double, but it looks so similar!"

Again, Angel even uses doubles, which he also admits in this video

Why such distaste? What makes him different than the last one?

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

I guess I'll have to watch it again. I thought they were walking all around him.
Take your pick for the bike one. I can't verify which video because I can't view videos at work.

http://www.google.com/search?q=criss+angel+jumps+bike+into+fire&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLD

I do accept that it is always a ruse, but I don't see Angel doing shitlike pulling cards out of his ***. I see him tieing himself to railroad cars and as they pass through his body, all of a sudden he's in the railroad car.

I see him making entire elephants dissapear.

What do you mean street magic?

I just find it hard to believe that Angel is using the obvious methods for his trickery.

Why such distaste? What makes him different than the last one?

There is very little new magic being invented today. All the card tricks and what not that you see were pioneered about a century ago by people like Dai Vernon, S.W. Erdnase and other card manipulators. It's all in the way you present it. Think about this: if Angel didn't "meditate" and have black hair and simply laid down in front of a steam roller and ate a hamburger, you'd just call it a cheap trick. The fact that he's screaming and laying on sugar glass to make it seem worse are what make you believe in it.

Street magic is close up magic being performed in front of small groups of people. It requires a extremely high proficiency in sleight of hand, something which Angel cannot do effectively.

Yes, he is using the most obvious methods you can think of, but they're just different to suit his performance character.

I have such distaste because he is ruining magic. Angel does a trick and you only believe it because he acts like he's got some devilish powers. Most magicians act as though they're normal people, and the effect is that much greater because you think they're just ****ing around and not calling on demonic forces to execute a trick. He relies entirely on his cameras and "audiences" to make things seem real, since the magic itself isn't that spectacular. Notice that when he does an illusion NO ONE is ever screaming and crying to the point of hysteria or silence like they are with a Blaine or Copperfield. They're always like "wow, he just walked on water". If you saw that shit in real life, you would be ****ing going insane, not just being amazed.

 

[Banana Balls 5,000+ posts]

There is very little new magic being invented today. All the card tricks and what not that you see were pioneered about a century ago by people like Dai Vernon, S.W. Erdnase and other card manipulators. It's all in the way you present it. Think about this: if Angel didn't "meditate" and have black hair and simply laid down in front of a steam roller and ate a hamburger, you'd just call it a cheap trick. The fact that he's screaming and laying on sugar glass to make it seem worse are what make you believe in it.

Don't get me wrong man, I'm not challenging you. I jsut want to understand.

Street magic is close up magic being performed in front of small groups of people. It requires a extremely high proficiency in sleight of hand, something which Angel cannot do effectively.

50% of every show of his I've seen is of him walking through Vegas doing exactly that.

Yes, he is using the most obvious methods you can think of, but they're just different to suit his performance character.

I have such distaste because he is ruining magic. Angel does a trick and you only believe it because he acts like he's got some devilish powers. Most magicians act as though they're normal people, and the effect is that much greater because you think they're just ****ing around and not calling on demonic forces to execute a trick. He relies entirely on his cameras and "audiences" to make things seem real, since the magic itself isn't that spectacular. Notice that when he does an illusion NO ONE is ever screaming and crying to the point of hysteria or silence like they are with a Blaine or Copperfield. They're always like "wow, he just walked on water". If you saw that shit in real life, you would be ****ing going insane, not just being amazed.

You have an excellent point there. Something I never thought about. But I take his demonic 'gimmick' with a grain of salt. That is what makes him more enjoyable to me than his competition. Everyone has a gimmick. I mean look at Penn and Teller. Penn talks, and Teller doesn't. How gay is that?

BTW, how do people dissapear halfway in the air like he did on the bike. I still want to see a cheep method for pulling that off.

 

[Fine Vol 10+ year member]

Tell us how to do the standing levetation.

 

[_DjScrew_ 5,000+ posts]

omg teach me magic! i wanna learn magic too!!!!

/sarcasm

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Okay, just watched the bike video. Him reappearing in the crowd is not him, it's a replacement. Note that the guy is shorter, thicker and they NEVER show his face fully. It's always a jumpy camera shot and when he does seem to face the camera, they cut angles.

Now the jump itself is quite clever, but in typical angel fashion. Note the strobe in the bottom left corner and the fireball. When the bike gets close to the fireball, it gets DARKER. Note that the hotel behind the fire gets brighter, so why doesn't the bike? Also note that the hotel behind the strobe gets brighter when the bike approaches, but not once it's near the fire. There are two separate shots from the same viewpoint, one of the jump complete, one of just the fireball. They are edited together to make it seem like the same shot. Also note that the lighting on the bulding behind the fireball in the alternate view STROBES, even though it should be lit by the fireball. That's because there is no fireball when that shot was taken.

There's probably some explanation video out there somewhere, but this is typical Angel bullshit.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Tell us how to do the standing levetation.

Which one, the one over the buildings, or the one indoors?

 

[Fine Vol 10+ year member]

omg teach me magic! i wanna learn magic too!!!!
/sarcasm

GOOD DO A DISAPEARING ACT

 

[Fine Vol 10+ year member]

Which one, the one over the buildings, or the one indoors?

ON THE STREET JUST STANDING THERE.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

ON THE STREET JUST STANDING THERE.

Video me, he does a few different ones, some cheaper than others.

 

[Banana Balls 5,000+ posts]

Okay, just watched the bike video. Him reappearing in the crowd is not him, it's a replacement. Note that the guy is shorter, thicker and they NEVER show his face fully. It's always a jumpy camera shot and when he does seem to face the camera, they cut angles.
Now the jump itself is quite clever, but in typical angel fashion. Note the strobe in the bottom left corner and the fireball. When the bike gets close to the fireball, it gets DARKER. Note that the hotel behind the fire gets brighter, so why doesn't the bike? Also note that the hotel behind the strobe gets brighter when the bike approaches, but not once it's near the fire. There are two separate shots from the same viewpoint, one of the jump complete, one of just the fireball. They are edited together to make it seem like the same shot. Also note that the lighting on the bulding behind the fireball in the alternate view STROBES, even though it should be lit by the fireball. That's because there is no fireball when that shot was taken.

There's probably some explanation video out there somewhere, but this is typical Angel bullshit.

Dammit, now I'm going to have to watch this one when I get home again.

If he really is all just camera trickery and fake crowds I will be extremely disappointed. When someone says that the camera shot will be complete and there will be no cut aways, I expect them to be legit. Especially in the field of magic.

BTW, I bet a Penn and Teller radio show would be boring as hell since only one of them talks. lol

 

[Fine Vol 10+ year member]

Video me, he does a few different ones, some cheaper than others.

I know one guy who does card tricks for partys. He finds you card on the other side of the bar, pretty cool.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Dammit, now I'm going to have to watch this one when I get home again. 

If he really is all just camera trickery and fake crowds I will be extremely disappointed. When someone says that the camera shot will be complete and there will be no cut aways, I expect them to be legit. Especially in the field of magic.

BTW, I bet a Penn and Teller radio show would be boring as hell since only one of them talks. lol

I told you he's a two-bit magician, and he has very little respect among other magicians as a real artist, but he's accepted because he gets people interested in the art. For that, he's perfect.
And no, don't ever believe something is one complete shot, or that something is a spectator cam, or whatever bullshit he uses. It's all just misdirection to make you think what you're witnessing is actually real.

edit: The bold part is exactl why you don't reveal others' illusions and effects. The audience, no matter how much they say "do it again" or "how'd you do that", they do NOT want to know how it's done, they want to believe that you're legit. And once you see how simple and cheap the trick is, you're disappointed and think "well that's pretty stupid now that I see how simple it is".

 

[twisztdauthorit 10+ year member]

what about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXOUVDRMK0g&feature=related

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

what about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXOUVDRMK0g&feature=related

I will not say how this is done, because it's an illusion made by david copperfield called "Death Saw" (youtube it) nearly 20 years ago. So sorry, no can do.