Bound And Gagged!

.:207/365: The Cardboard Box Illusion:.

This illusion looks positively dangerous, but unlike the ill-fated bullet catch routine, so far, no casualties have ever been recorded, although I’m sure getting this routine wrong would really hurt in the morning.

Most effects of similar ilk tend to use conspicuous props like a wooden trunk or something equally reusable, but the visceral nature of utilizing a very and obviously disposable cardboard box for the illusion really does add an air of legitimacy to how the routine is performed.

Personally, this is one of those routines that I definitely would love to perform, as it’s a classic, and is actually relatively easy to perform once you figure out the motions and the showmanship required to make this come off as nothing short of a miracle. Nonetheless, there’s something eerie about how the illusion works, that gives a very dangerous vibe as it’s being performed. Thankfully, those who know how it’s done know better than to actually make any fatal mistakes with this routine, which is why this particular illusion has gained quite a following, and continues to mystify a lot of people.

You know what gets me, though? I’ve seen the legendary Lou Hilario perform a variation of this illusion, and it involved a child volunteer. The child never even knew what happened as she apparently just lay in the box as Tito Lou got to work.

What makes this positively amazing is that most versions of this illusion require an assistant, not a volunteer, for very obvious reasons…

I guess some magic secrets still remain as secrets in this day and age…

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:206/365: Chung Ling Soo:.

Obviosuly, no video of the ill-fated bullet catch would exist at this point, but Chung Ling Soo, the man known in real life as William Robinson, was a stage magician who, after discovering that calling himself “Robinson, Man Of Mystery” didn’t appeal to his market, decided to turn to the mysterious Orient as his resource for his onstage persona, Chung Ling Soo.

As Chung Ling Soo, he took most of his repertoire and even his name from a legitimate Chinese magician in America, Chin Ling Foo, which sparked a feud between the two of them, which may have been manufactured to mutually promote them. However, Soo became famous for his illusion, “Condemned To Death By The Boxers,” which pretty much involved being shot at by a gun, and then catching the bullets which were marked afterwards. The reason why it’s easy to decode how this routine is done is because there is no need to switch for anything: without completely revealing the method lest I encourage people to try this routine for themselves, the bullet simply never even gets to the gun, allowing Soo to casually reveal the bullet after being “shot” at.

Throughout his career, Chung Ling Soo maintained kayfabe at all times. He portrayed a Chinese man onstage and even in front of journalists and regular people, keeping his Western identity a secret only among fellow professional magicians and his closest friends and family. This was a man who truly lived out the concept of “The Prestige,” as we have seen in the film.

Unfortunately for Chung Ling Soo, he didn’t count on his gun actually firing a real bullet. A technological mishap occurred that resulted in his death.

Or did it?

To this day, conspiracy theories abound that Chung Ling Soo’s death was not a misadventure, but possibly murder. His wife, Dolly, loaded the guns each time he performed, and he allegedly was having an affair with another woman. Many conspiracy theorists believe that his wife, on that fateful night of his death, loaded the gun with a real bullet, and this resulted in both his death and the one moment he broke character onstage, as he shouted “Oh, my God. Something’s happened. Lower the curtain,” upon realizing that he was hit with a bullet for real.

Perhaps we will never truly know the secret behind his death, for apparently, it could very well have died with him. Nonetheless, Chung Ling Soo’s story is a cautionary tale for anyone who wishes to perform dangerous stunts in magic: something could always go wrong, so it never hurts to take as many precautions as you can when you perform.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:205/365: The Bullet Catch:.

This version by Penn and Teller has got to be the most head-scratching routine I’ve ever come across. According to Banachek, he was the one who created this routine, and Penn and Teller purchased the rights from him.

The Bullet Catch is an amazing effect, truth be told, but also one of the most dangerous things ever, because something can always go wrong. I don’t care if Penn and Teller use fake guns or whatever other methods, if one of them one day decided to use a real gun and off their partner, there go all those safety precautions they took to ensure it wouldn’t be a problem.

Many magicians have performed a variation or two of this routine, but Penn and Teller’s version stands out because they go through extraordinary lengths to emphasize that switching the bullets was not going to be an option. Having said that, Banachek did emphasize that his method, barring real intent to murder, was not the least bit dangerous. In the world of bullet catches, this is arguably the safest yet most amazing version of the routine ever, and I’d love to tell you how it’s done, except I haven’t the foggiest idea how they do it, which, to me, really cements Penn and Teller as my personal favourites of all time, because no amount of decoding on my part has ever allowed me to figure out how it works. You could use stooges for mind-reading, elaborate props for illusions, but this particular one seems to negate any of those possibilities altogether.

Many have indeed performed this in the past, but several magicians have met untimely deaths for one reason or another. Tomorrow, we will talk about the most infamous casualty of the bullet catch illusion.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:Starstruck At The Disenchanted Kingdom!:.

ZOMG!

Ladies and gentlemen, as a person who has met a lot of people over the years, who has interviewed the great Mick Foley himself, as the guy who has encountered so many celebrities in his life (without being one himself), it takes a lot for someone like me to get starstruck. I tend to just really look at them much in the same way I look at anyone else, although few exceptions immediately come to mind, such as Gary Valenciano and of course, Mick Foley.

When I dropped in this morning for the second straight day on the Disenchanted Kingdom, I certainly did not expect to meet the lovely, funny, smart, and sassy Ms. Rhian Ramos. We were a packed house that morning, with the official trio of Marf, Cleo, and King DJ Logan, and the unofficial trio of myself, Ana, and newbie Lucio. I was stumped, as at that moment, Rhian was all by her lonesome on the couch, and I deigned not to just sit beside her, since, yanno, celebrity and all, and I was promptly starstruck.

I’ve heard my friends who’ve met her all gush about her, but seeing her in person made me realize what it was all about: she was stunning, and she was so witty, and as Logan introduced me to her while I stood in the booth, she asked me to sit beside her on the couch, and I gingerly did, as Logan explained to her that I was called “Plant Man” because I don’t respond unless I’m ruffled. She took that as her cue to ruffle me, and I was playing it off like nothing was happening, but Marf pointed out I was turning a bright shade of red.

Anyways, as the show went on, we talked about things you didn’t expect to hear from a 19-year old like her. It was naughty but classy how she proceeded to nimbly and coyly play her way into getting a perfect 10 on Por-No, Por-Yes, and everyone listening must have been suitably impressed by how she pulled it off. Personally, I was most impressed with the way she thinks, and that was really what made me take notice of her, more than anything else.

.:The Street Magic Tour!:.

Just came from my first day of my street magic tour for Disney’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, and it was a blast in SM North!

I’ll be performing this Sunday in SM Megamall around 2,3,4, and 5 PM, either at the Cinema or Foodcourt area in fifteen-minute burts. Next week, I’ll be doing more of the same in SM Manila and Mall Of Asia.

Pretty exciting time to be a magician, eh?

Project 365 brush with celebrity, disenchanted kingdom, magic, magikel, radio

.:204/365: Vanishing The Statue Of Liberty:.

Arguably the most legendary illusion of all time, David Copperfield’s vanish of the Statue of Liberty has always been a full-fledged display of what it is about him that made him a household name in magic: the man knew how to create a spectacle, and he knew how to really get people talking about him, as this routine continues attracting discussion and wide speculation, decades after it has been performed.

What made this routine amazing was that it was done with a live audience witnessing the entire thing. It wasn’t a case of paid actors pretending to be an audience, but a genuine gathering of people who were fortunate enough to witness a historical event.

Copperfield’s script for the vanish was very simple: the Statue was bathed in a circle of lights, and hidden behind a curtain. Once the curtains go down, the Statue was gone, and the searchlights passed through the entire thing, with nobody the wiser what happened to the Statue. The curtains go back up, and boom, the Statue was back before everyone knew it.

Whenever a magician makes something appear or reappear, spectators tend to assume that there is something peculiar or pre-set about the item that vanished that allowed the magician to make it disappear. The reason this particular vanish really got everyone’s attention was the fact that it seemed logistically impossible to move the Statue of Liberty from one place to another in a flash without it requiring massive machinery to pull off, but Copperfield did it with just a few magical gestures and a curtain.

For me, this is one of the most pivotal moments of magic, because it made people believe that there was something really amazing about Mr. Copperfield, and this awe and wonder extended to a lot of his contemporaries by sheer virtue of the notoriety the illusion has gained. Half the people who talk and speculate about this particular illusion have never even seen the actual illusion in question, which just makes the whole thing hilarious.

Ask any person over the age of fifteen what is the most striking magic trick they have ever seen or heard of, and a significant number of them will respond with this one. I’m almost willing to bet on that.

.:205/365: The Chair Suspension

There are a million and one versions of levitation effects out there, but personally, this has to be one of my favourites, and not simply because it’s part of my repertoire.

The script is rather simple, and if you noticed the video I showed last July 1, the Boa levitation works on the same principle: essentially, you have one person who lies down across a board supported by two chairs. You remove one of the chairs while holding up the board, then you remove the board, and lo and behold, your assistant, or even volunteer, remains hovering in the air, instead of falling to the floor.

Very simple, very effective, and has relatively portable materials. As a levitation routine, you definitely can’t ask for much more if you’re searching for portability, although I still believe that the Abnormal Lift routine has this beat by a mile, simply because unlike most other levitations, the Lift involves levitation as performed by your very own audience, which just heightens the effect, more than anything else.

.:206/365:Levitating Over The Grand Canyon:.

Apparently, not only Criss Angel can use some camera trickery to get away with an act completely unperformable live, but I’m willing to cut David Copperfield some slack because Bonnie Tyler is in the clip, singing “Holding Out For A Hero”. That makes up for everything. Everything, I say.

This effect is arguably the most eye-popping levitation effect you will ever witness, although I doubt you will see it live. Despite that, this is merely an extension of Copperfield’s amazing stage magic routine called “Flying”, where he really does fly all over a stage area with audiences watching him, and for a clever little convincer, they even show him flying inside a glass box, as if to taunt the people who believe it’s the work of invisible wires.

This routine just ups the scale of that act by making Copperfield fly all the way across the Grand Canyon with the wind blowing through his hair, with no green or blue screen to back him up, at that. Needless to say, he stunned a lot of people with this one, and definitely got everyone talking yet again.

Am I a fan of this routine? Well, not really. I prefer his routines that can be performed live, but I watch this video less as an actual magic act and more as a music video, in all honesty.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:203/365: Siegfried And Roy:.

Pardon the misnumbering yesterday. It’s not such a big deal, I hope.

Undoubtedly the second most popular magician tandem in the world next only to Kel and Jay, I mean, Penn and Teller (Either way, I’m biased. LOL.), Siegfried and Roy are two of the most recognizable names in magic of all time, and have been the cash cow of the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas for over a decade, until Roy’s untimely severe injury involving one of his white tigers.

A typical Siegfried and Roy show combined illusions (As performed by Siegfried.) with exotic animals (As trained and handled by Roy.), resulting in a unique show that nobody can quite hope to duplicate, especially when coupled with the breeding program Siegfried and Roy utilized to have a steady supply of white tigers for their shows.

Due to an injury suffered by Roy in 2003, the tandem unfortunately had to retire from active performing, and only in 2009 did they come out with their swan song: a special show as a send-off and a definitive end to their storied careers as performers who have wowed generations of audiences who were wowed by this amazing combination of magic and trained wildlife.

Unsurpisingly, Siegfried and Roy came out of the closet recently, admitting that they used to be a couple, but over time, their partnership became more of a professional relationship in concert with a very deep friendship. In contrast to Penn and Teller, who insist on remaining as separate entities offstage and stick mostly to a purely professional relationship, one could say that the way Siegfried and Roy interact as longtime partners is a lot more conventional than Penn and Teller, sans the romantic relationship, of course.

I’m not that big a fan of Siegfried and Roy, but they have had an excellent career spanning nearly five decades. Needless to say, I hold them and their contributions to magic in very high regard.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:202/365: Herrmann The Great:.

Nowadays, many people have a pre-conceived notion that a magician is always bedecked in long tails, has a twirly moustache, flat, heavily moussed hair, and a top hat. This man was the one who gave birth to all these conventions, and is considered a part of the “first family” of magic, the Herrmanns.

As the youngest of a brood of 16, it was unquestionable that Alexander Herrmann was born to extraordinary circumstances, even in his own time. His father, Samuel Herrmann, was a part-time magician and a physician, and has gained a lot of popularity in his time, even being summoned to perform by the Sultan of Turkey numerous times (Or at least, this is the claim made by the family.). All throughout, it was only a matter of time before the magical tradition would be passed on to Samuel’s sons, beginning with his eldest, Compars, whom others fondly referred to as “Carl.”

Unlike his father, Compars devoted himself to magic, rather than also becoming a physician. As a performer, he was very happy to discover that his youngest brother, Alexander, was, at the tender age of eight, already expressing an interest in magic. At a very young age, he toured with his elder brother around Europe, and learned everything he could learn from his brother, who eagerly mentored him in the arts of magic. Over time, as Alexander’s skills developed, a mild rivalry arose between the brothers, which set them on their separate ways.

From here, Alexander would tour all over the world as one of the most well-loved performers of all time. In a performance in St. Petersburg, his captivated audience dubbed him as “Herrmann The Great,” in stark contrast to his brother’s title, “The First Professor of Magic in the World.” Although they may have been professional rivals, it could not be said that they were ever at odds with each other on a personal level.

As Alexander took the United States by storm, he became generally known as the King of Magic in the United States, after Robert Heller passed away. His closest rival, Harry Kellar, was a constant thorn in his side, and for many years they would have a storied rivalry that thankfully ended in a truce rather than a drive-by shooting.

It would also be interesting to note that Herrmann The Great was one of the few people who dared to perform the bullet catch illusion. This very routine was learned by his assistant, Billy Robinson, who later became known as Chun Ling Soo, or, for those who don’t recognize the name, the man who became best known for fatally screwing up the bullet catch illusion.

Herrmann The Great’s legacy as a magician certainly lives on to this day. His amazing accuracy with card throwing has given him worldwide notoriety, as he was the first one to make it a significant part of his act, thereby becoming the predecessor to the likes of Jeff McBride and Ricky Jay.

Project 365 cards, magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:201/365: Crossing The Great Wall Of China:.

I believe you’re bound to see a lot of Copperfield this month, since most of the most popular illusions of all time were made famous by him. This particular illusion that he performed was one of the most impressive bits of showmanship I have ever seen.

Penetration effects tend to be impressive because of the sheer mechanics involved in actually making a very convincing penetration happen. Whether it be something as simple as a pen that goes through a bill of money, or David Copperfield walking through the Great Wall of China, these illusions tend to really catch attention for being a flagrant defiance of physics. David Copperfield’s showmanship turned something already stunning in premise alone into a spectacle for the ages, being talked about to this very day even by people who weren’t even born during Copperfield’s heyday, talking about his amazing illusion in a breath of wonder that matches or at times eclipses that wonder surrounding David Blaine.

These larger-than-life performances were what really put Mr. Copperfield over the top, making him the most profitable magician of all time, having grossed over a billion dollars in ticket sales alone. His flair and panache set him apart from other performers like him, who were, admittedly, small-minded, or at the very least, not blessed with the resources at Copperfield’s disposal. I’m sure that the brainstorming process for this illusion must’ve been quite a doozy, and it certainly paid dividends for the man.

Amusingly enough, what caught my attention while looking for a video of the illusion was that there were so many commenters on YouTube screaming that this bit of magic was “fake.” Really? You mean to tell me you were willing to drink the Kool-Aid otherwise? Because, seriously, magic is about entertaining people, not converting someone to a new religion. Of course it’s fake! That’s the whole point of the exercise, and if you can’t appreciate the art form, then do everyone else a favour and shut up, because nobody really cares about your smug self-importance at insisting “you were not fooled.” Nobody cares if you believe in people who can walk through walls or not. In fact, Copperfield couldn’t care less if you believe. All that he cared about was if you were entertained. Now, if people demonstrating apparent powers does not entertain you, why don’t you just do what normal people do and tune out, rather than pop a vein, insisting it’s all fake?

The Great Wall of China is an amazing marvel of architecture that has stood in place for centuries on end. David Copperfield, through his amazing brand of magic, has made this marvel an even greater spectacle than it already is.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:200/365: The Indian Rope Trick:.

And now, we hit 200 days of this Project 365. It’s almost done! Unbelievable!

This video, taken from Penn and Teller’s Magic and Mystery Tour mini-series, shows a modern performance of a legendary bit of stage, or arguably street magic that has been, at least prior to modern attempts at duplicating the apocryphal descriptions of the routine, a hoax, to begin with.

Historically, the story goes that the Indian Rope Trick consists of a performer who makes a rope go up high into the sky as though it were a pole, while the rope merely comes from a basket in the ground. This rope is upright enough for a young boy to climb up this rope, then disappear from view because of sheer height. From this point on, the performer becomes enraged that the boy doesn’t come down, goes up the rope with a sword, then proceeds to chop the boy into pieces, letting the pieces fall to the ground, and the bloodied performer puts the pieces back into the basket, and from there, miraculously restores the wayward boy, completely unharmed.

Now, the description alone boggles the mind, and bereft of the stage setting in India, it seems utterly inconceivable how this particular illusion is performed – except in time, people discovered that it wasn’t performed, or at least, not at the time, and even in subsequent attempts to duplicate the illusion as described, certainly not in the same manner above.

People never really discovered that the original account of the Indian Rope Trick as depicted by one John Elbert Wilkie in the Chicago Tribune in 1890 was, in reality, a figment of the writer’s imagination. That this routine was described so fantastically certainly elicited a lot of publicity for the paper, but when it turned out that the Indian Rope Trick as described was nothing but pure fabrication, the retraction that followed was not paid much attention to.

Sometimes, it’s good to know that mere ideas for a magic effect become not merely urban legends, but inspirations for industrious magicians to bring the idea into the real world. The Indian Rope Trick holds the reputation of being the world’s best magic trick, even though it didn’t exist at the height of the interest that surrounded the trick in question.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010

.:199/365: The Ever-Famous Sawing In Half Illusion:.

Watching this video clip, I realize more often than not how funny David Copperfield actually is. It’s not really something he’s well known for, but his comedic timing is top-notch and definitely adds a level of intimacy to his performances, even on a stage setting.

Anyways, according to Wikipedia, despite the fact that arguably the most popular illusion of our time is the illusion of sawing a woman in half, this particular illusion is actually a fairly recent invention. It’s rather disputed heavily when this particular piece of magic history first became performed for the adoring public, particularly because Jean-Robert Houdin, in his memoirs, mentioned this illusion being performed as early as 1809, although no official record of it exists.

The first historically recorded instance of this illusion being performed was as late as 1920, not even a century ago, and this was performed by a magician named P.T. Selbit. Jim Steinmeyer, in his book “Hiding The Elephant,” made it pretty clear that this particular illusion is quite young in contrast to other classics in the magic world, and even the first version of this illusion was admittedly crude and required hiding the entirety of the woman’s body from view while it was being sawed in half.

Over time, more and more variations of this illusion have been performed, including a variation that utilizes a clear box, one that appears completely bare of boxes (Also performed by David Copperield.), and even one that employs a whole lot of shock factor by using blood and guts to demonstrate that the sawing in half was anything but successful, as performed by Penn and Teller. With each iteration of the illusion, the classic script has admittedly turned tired and cliche’d for a bored audience who all seem to be saturated with stage magic, which is, to me, a crying shame.

I think what I find rather sad is that stage magic is often looked down upon by the average layman even more than street magic is. Everything is attributed to trapdoors, smoke, mirrors, and whatever else, and as such, it doesn’t seem impressive any longer to do a standard illusion for what it’s worth. There always has to be a twist, and there always has to be a way to step the illusion up and send it “to the next level”, whatever that means. As a fan of magic and its history, I find this a crying shame, and one of the main reasons why I understand how magicians could hate Valentino for divulging some of the best-kept secrets of the industry for decades. In my estimate, it’s not even the exposure itself that flummoxed me, but the smugness of Valentino to insist that he is justified in forcing the industry to “innovate” more. Who is he to impose such a challenge to the industry as a whole? Were these secrets his to give away? Clearly not.

Despite my very lax stance on exposure, one might say that my disdain towards Valentino is brought about by his attitude, more than anything else. However, lest we get too sidetracked, this discussion is about the sawing in half illusion, and keeping all of this in mind, this is a very cherished classic, and is a classic for a reason. It doesn’t matter how many variations people can come up with this illusion: it will always hold a special fancy to most everyone who has ever seen or heard of it.

I certainly agree with Mr. Steinmeyer when he says this illusion was a turning point for magic, historically. This heralded the beginning of sensational performances over the more subdued magical acts prevalent in the 1920’s. Nowadays, it’s almost a stereotype, no matter how misogynistic it may seem, that the lady is often tormented or victimized by the magician for his act. Prior to this illusion, though, this clearly was not the case. Indeed, the birth of the sawing in half illusion was a turning point in the world of magic and has definitely changed the way magic is perceived in general.

Project 365 magic, magikel, project 365 2010