David Blane: Street Magic Easter Egg - Hidden "Levitation" Trick

How does he do it though

Unfortunately how he does it: Camera tricks, that is the one you see on TV is camera tricks. Don't get me wrong though, he can levitate, he is one of the best and the one he showed the audience was real, its called the Balducci levitation but is not nearly as effective as the edited one you see on TV. From someone who knows.

What he actually does is left himself up on one foot, keeping the other straight, and from the camera angle you can't see the lower foot.

I should really take this to the message boards, but a friend once showed me how the "levitation" was done, and it's all bunk. It's just an illusion that is done with shadows and masking the opposing foot that is doing the lifting. But the bit done on TV was camera tricks.

Twonk.

Freezy- how do you do it? I don't mind listening to a long explanation.

JC - to perform the Balducci Levitation, you stand with your audience behind you and turn slightly to the left (or right depending how you feel most comfortable - I turn left) so you are now at a 40 degree angle to your audience. They should be able to see part of your left side and your back. With your feet together you then lift your left foot off the floor by standing on your tiptoes with your right foot, keeping the left foot level with the ground at all times. Make sure the audience is a good 6 feet away from you. Too near or too far and they will see how you are doing the levitation. What happens is the audience see your left foot and right heel rise from the floor giving the illusion of levitation. The back of your left leg obscures the fact that your right toes are supporting you. I've done this loads of times and it WORKS! Especially with girls for some reason. They scream and go mad, it's really cool. David Blaine did this in the street and the cameras filmed the audiences reaction, they then edited in shots of him "floating" 4 or 5 feet in the air on wires and spliced in the audiences reaction to the Balducci Lev. But with a bit of practice you can get a good 6 or 7 inches off the floor. One tip though, the Balducci works best without shoes. If you can do it in your socks (I normally say that to get the right lift I need to be in contact with the floor) then your trouser bottoms will conceal the lift even more. Any queries? Mail me.

it is physically impossible to do the balduci levitation as high as they showed on David blaines street magic when he did it in front of the 3 girls unless he used some kind of mirrored gimmicked shoes or edited footage believe me.

David blaine does something called the Balducci Levitation Technique, a technique which has been around for a very long time. The impromptu illusions/tricks blaine does are quite old and have been around for many years. The levitation he does in front of the three girls in the high street has been edited, note that the camera is always on Blaine, and when the girls are shown its usually there backs which are shown when blaine's doing the levitation. Blaine did two levitations, the first being the Balducci levitation, which caught the girls reactions on camera, and the second when he was hooked on a line. The film was edited. I have been working on levitations for a number of years, and i have devised a levitation which is done impromptu. This technique, is guaranteed to lift you at least 6 inches of the ground, and the audience can see right under you. People'll think u've started to dance with the devil. Its good and it works.

Jamil, how do you do your version of the levitation?

I saw a tv show, and apparently you see him do the camera trick version. (If you see the one where he moves his arms to rise.) But the audience are reaction the the 'Balducci levitation trick' that is explained above.

The explanation is explained if you look carefully. In the levitation scene on the boardwalk its clear that they cut and paste scenes. If you look carefully when the camera shows his back right before he levitates there are three people in the background in the far left side. He then rises and after the camera switches back to him those three people disappear. All in the space of about 1-2 seconds. Sorry to burst anyones bubble but its clear they use camera trickery in that one scene at least. I say he just is gifted with the tippy trick. He gets the reaction from the girls..then they cut a scene in where he is probably suspended by wires. Why else cut and paste the scene?

The part where he levitates 3 feet into the air is not done with wires. He is actually being lifted by a pole which at one end has a hook that connects to a harness that he wearing. The other side of the pole is being pulled down by an assistant over an object thats in between them. Think of a see-saw. The assistant and the props are carefully hidden from view by Blaine. Thats why you don't see any wires.

Yeh thats right 'fats' Davaid Blaine can really defy gravity. Who would have thought that Isaac Newton was actually wrong. Along with billions of other great minds and can you believe those 'stupid' scientists who never noticed.

Yes, David Blaine is truly amazing. I bought his DVD and by me doing that he successfuly made my money disappear from my pocket and end up in his.

Well to tell you the truth I think that he might be in possession of some sort. We all know these can work without the new kind but until the last one comes across, no one will really know. If you think that someways are always the right way, you will soon find the other will be the correct method of travel. Thanks for letting me post.