
Exposing Houdini’s Tricks of Magic (1929) - gruseom
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/exposing-houdinis-tricks-of-magic/
======
dsl
I was once enlisted to help with an illusion a vegas magician was working on.

Everyone I talked to about it (without knowing about my role) would take a
minute to think about the problem, propose a solution, and be satisfied that
they had discovered the method used. In reality that method was discarded
because of a dozen or so complications that made it unworkable that nobody
would have thought of.

I would highly recommend that anyone interested watch the Penn and Teller
british series "Fool Us." The show basically centers around magicians trying
to fool seasoned professionals with new and novel methods.

~~~
rickdale
I have seen the Penn and Teller series and I would say it doesn't really offer
that much in teaching about illusions because the ones that they bust are
usually pretty obvious and if they aren't P&T will just say they know how it
was done and won't give it away.

The tricks street magicians are performing these days are what amaze me.
Dynamo has some stunts that are mind bending. Even watching it on video in
slow-motion its magic. I love how unintuitive magic seems, but I suppose there
must be a logical explanation to everything.

This is a good video that breaks down an easier trick Dynamo and I am sure
other magicians perform:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhYHB_XLuRo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhYHB_XLuRo)

~~~
MrBuddyCasino
That was interesting - not so much the trick itself, but the number of times I
had to watch it before I finally got it. In the end, it seems so obvious - but
human perception can be fooled easily it seems, so we're back on topic. Nice
reference!

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jeroen
The next parts:

[http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-mystifying-magic-
stu...](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-mystifying-magic-stunts-
exposed/)

[http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-master-magic-
tricks-...](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-master-magic-tricks-
explained/)

------
foobarian
I love the linked article on "Magic Tricks For The Amateur Chemist (1936)."
Nearly every trick there involves adding sulphuric or hydrochloric acid to
stuff :-)

------
JetSpiegel
So how did he managed to get an elephant to disappear on stage? Or how he
nearly joined Rasputin?

~~~
alan_cx
Yeah, I was a bit gutted to get to the end, and find a bloody cliffhanger!!!!!
I'd love to read part 2.

~~~
gruseom
Part 2: [http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-mystifying-magic-
stu...](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-mystifying-magic-stunts-
exposed/)

Part 3: [http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-master-magic-
tricks-...](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/houdinis-master-magic-tricks-
explained/)

Their site search is actually pretty good.

~~~
alan_cx
Ah, thank you.

