Magic!
Magic, magic tricks, magic cards, magic bunnies, magic pigeons, Magic Johnson, Christmas magic... all of them. Why, you ask? Because magic is fake.
Explanation: Since Criss Angel is not Jesus, obviously the people you see in the pool staring up at Criss Angel aren't the only ones in the pool. There are others as well: ones who hold their breath while he body surfs on them. They float around just underneath the water surface, and Criss walks on their hands. These guys never run out of breath, so obviously they are trained Shaolin monks.
Explanation: This is by far the simplest trick. Surely everyone knows of Abiogenesis, the spontaneous creation of life. The fact is that if you mix the right chemical in the right proportion in the appropriate conditions, you can create any plant or animal. That's how they are created in nature, girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. It's called evolution, go read a book.
Now this is a neat trick, I have to give Copperfield that much credit. When I saw this the first time, I was as stumped as you probably are right now. So I watched it again and I caught the trick. You see it only for a brief second but if you watch carefully where I tell you you'll spot how he does the trick.
Magicians do tricks.
And that's it. When someone makes the Taj Mahal disappear, it's not like he really does it. Since I'm the Man, and I'm in a bad mood, I'm going to take the top magic tricks of all time and expose their trickery.
1. Criss Angel - walking on water
What he does: That's what the title is for.
Explanation: Since Criss Angel is not Jesus, obviously the people you see in the pool staring up at Criss Angel aren't the only ones in the pool. There are others as well: ones who hold their breath while he body surfs on them. They float around just underneath the water surface, and Criss walks on their hands. These guys never run out of breath, so obviously they are trained Shaolin monks.
Either that or he is walking on a transparent plexi-glass platform.
2. Lance Burton - creating doves
What he does: makes them clean a lot of magic pigeon poop
Explanation: This is by far the simplest trick. Surely everyone knows of Abiogenesis, the spontaneous creation of life. The fact is that if you mix the right chemical in the right proportion in the appropriate conditions, you can create any plant or animal. That's how they are created in nature, girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. It's called evolution, go read a book.
So Burton's act probably takes great care and preparation: he has lots of assistants who make many ampoules of the chemical mixtures of pigeon seed. And when the time comes, he pops open the ampoules and out comes a pigeon. I cannot understand why that would deserve any applause whatsoever. It's just basic science.
Some people do claim that Burton keeps all those doves wrapped up in different places inside his suit, bringing them out one by one, but that's just a stupid explanation.
3. David Copperfield - Death Saw
What he does: Cuts himself in half and then rejoins the parts
Some people do claim that Burton keeps all those doves wrapped up in different places inside his suit, bringing them out one by one, but that's just a stupid explanation.
3. David Copperfield - Death Saw
What he does: Cuts himself in half and then rejoins the parts
Now this is a neat trick, I have to give Copperfield that much credit. When I saw this the first time, I was as stumped as you probably are right now. So I watched it again and I caught the trick. You see it only for a brief second but if you watch carefully where I tell you you'll spot how he does the trick.
So he cuts himself in half, right? Then at 4:50-4:53, you see the trick. He does a sly hand gesture that no one in the audience sees. And then (the camera sees it only fleetingly, but try to notice carefully) the clock ticks backwards. He turns back time!!! The camera moves away quickly, but now it's plain. He simply turns back time! Obviously in doing so, his body goes back to being whole again and then he comes out unscathed. But what did you expect? It's like saying he comes back from the dead by going back in time to when he was alive. Real magic would be to restore his body without going back in time. This, obviously, is not real magic, just basic high school science - time travel.
At least the above tricks required some training and high school level science. Some tricks, though, are not even worth explaining.
At least the above tricks required some training and high school level science. Some tricks, though, are not even worth explaining.
I mean, David Blaine was televised and applauded for staying 44 days without food. Seriously? More than a billion people worldwide, mostly in India, China and Africa are doing his best magic trick every single month of their lives. And Penn and Teller's bullet catch (where they catch bullets fired from a revolver in their mouths), come on! Indians have perfected that art for centuries now, spearheaded most notably in the last few decades by Rajinikanth, Govinda and dozens of B-grade heroes.
It's like they are not even trying any more, and just doing common everyday occurrences on stage. Next thing you know, they will have a dude eating a sandwich on stage. That's it, applaud everyone, one moment you see the sandwich, the next it's gone!!
To summarize, professional magic is fake and overrated and anyone could do those tricks. If you want to see some real magic happening on stage, check out the theatrical comedy "It's a kind of magic' playing at the Comedy Store, Mumbai, this weekend.
Watch out for Part 2 of this post - Living with a Magician - coming tomorrow.
To summarize, professional magic is fake and overrated and anyone could do those tricks. If you want to see some real magic happening on stage, check out the theatrical comedy "It's a kind of magic' playing at the Comedy Store, Mumbai, this weekend.
Watch out for Part 2 of this post - Living with a Magician - coming tomorrow.
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