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Exposing Houdini’s Tricks of Magic (1929) (modernmechanix.com)
86 points by gruseom on Dec 26, 2013 | hide | past | favorite | 11 comments



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.


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


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!


Is this show available for streaming in the US anywhere?


You can easily find full episodes on YouTube.



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 :-)


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


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



Ah, thank you.




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