Friday Magic Trick

In honor of Phenomenon and the fun of talking about magic tricks check out Ramana, aka Wouter Bijdendijk who has been doing the levitation trick shown below, only he's doing it in front of the Whitehouse.

Here he is doing a similar piece standing on the side of a building - more performance art really.

I think the only one who can't figure this one out is the current White House resident. It's clearly a terrorist attempt to bring the executive to a standstill as he tries to puzzle it out.

Spoiler below.

This, is of course, very simple. The two clues are that you never see him actually going from the ground to the levitating position, and of course you have that carpet and stick (or in the case of the building that suspicious white canvass). Why if you really are levitating would you need a stick? Or to always be above something other than the solid ground?

You all have it now, right?

More like this

As promised, I watched Phenomenon, and I've got to say, I'm unimpressed. The premise of the show is there are 10 people with paranormal abilities vying for a 250,000 prize (they could make more if they tried Randi's challenge - I wonder why don't they?). The one that impresses the judges - fraud…
So, a funny story about this. I posted a snippet of a fantasy story back in August, and enough people said nice things about it that I actually got off my ass and did some playing around to format the full story as an epub. This was, of course, complicated by the fact that computers are awful, but…
Watching 30 Rock and the Office tonight I kept on seeing this commercial for a new show called "Phenomenon". The story goes: The search for the impossible begins...there are those who claim special powers, but only one can be called the greatest. Now, the mind of Uri Geller, and the mastery of…
Kenny Rogers may have outlined a comprehensive life philosophy in terms of poker strategy, but in his pantheon of axioms, more important than knowing when to hold and/or fold 'em is knowing when to walk away. Unfortunately, life is more often like a slot machine than a game of poker. According to…

For those who didn't get it, the cane is actually cemented (or at least weighted) to the ground, and there is a seat attached to the can upon which he sits, and allows his robes to cover.

for the second version (on the wall, which I must say was a _terribly_ clever variation on this old trick) its likely there is a seat attached to a long pipe which is hidden under the canvas, the pipe then hooks over the top of the building.

~~Joe

All I see is a guy sitting on a platform on a very short pole.

Flagpole sitting was a fad in the late 1920s. He's trying to bring this back? He should research his subject better: it was the height of the flagpole that impressed people. How would pay money to look at eye level to see a flagpole sitter?

By Watt de Fawke (not verified) on 26 Oct 2007 #permalink

The local newscaster here in D.C. area showed this and he was amazed He said things like, "Wow. That was pretty neat. He said he learned this after years in India. Amazing."

I emailed the newscaster with the explanation (they expose this in "GuruBusters"-avery good video.) On the 11pm edition of the news,he showed the guy again, but this time the newscaster said, "I know how he did this, but I'm not telling."

He should have. I guess he felt like a fool.

Boy, I dislike local news, except for the weather, of course.