Hello,

I'm building a routine that at the end I will disappear. Any Idea? I thought of having a platform (witch would be a Dec*ptive Base) that I would go on it, a curtain (shaped like the base) would raise on the rods attatched to the base, then I could install myself in the B*se than, the curtain would fall and... VANISH!

What do you think?

Thanks
Raphael

And...what then? How long do you stay hidden? Does someone secretly feed you through a hidden tube? I think you need to reappear, if not for the sake of your family and friends, then just so you can collect your check and have a life after vanishing.

Lol! Its just for a small routine (the last trick). I thought "Reappearing" backstage . Great! I wanted to keep it simple since I'm building it but I guess I would need to add a dec*ptive steps, if I want to reapear in the last row of the theatre... Wow! Awsome!

Thanks
Raphael

I've found that the problem with asking for advice on a forum such as this is that you tend to get rather negative replys.....

Here's mine.... for what it's worth!

I once read somewhere that "you should never end your act with a vanish". Making something disappear is a bit of a let-down to the audience, they are far more impressed with a production. Also, as it's you that is disappearing, you won't be there to take your applause at the end of the trick, or indeed at the end of your act! You should indeed "reappear" if you can, but you would almost certainly need the help of an assistant to make this happen, unless you intend to leave the audience looking at a bare stage while you get to where you need to be!

Raphael,
would black art work, it would be easier then building
a base.

Is there a reason for the disappearence? Or do you just want to do a "neat" trick? And where do you perform it? Stage? Street? Living room?

PS. No need to type base as b*ase or deceptive as d*ceptive, as neither is exposure and if they were, masking one letter would be pointless...

Thanks and yes, I will reappear in the last rows of the theatre to then come back to the stage.




Hey Cody,

Yes, Black art might work but I don't know black art well, not really shure how it would work with it... And I prefer a base & steps, (maybe if I would know BA better I would prefer BA but wtv...)yes, it is harder to build but with the base, you can perform in almost any condition.

Thanks if you have idea for BA, PM me

The reason for the disappearence is just to finish the routine. And it will be performed on a stage.

Thanks

Okay, I rarely chime in on such discussions but want to add my two cents worth to this one. I always dislike curtains falling that lead to where you are.
The eyes follow it down and there you go. Can it be roller shades that you lower at the beginning and then they release up? Or solid panels that are attached and then fall away? ( Not as good as the blinds, but better than just curtains). Also, what is the time stall for a run-around? Maybe a shadow in the enclosure or hands reaching through slits doing something? Or your dressed alike double emerges with his back to the audience to finish adjusting the platform or blinds. ( Maybe pulling the platform forward past the steps which are then struck from behind).

Lol... ok... #1, you were reading my mind as I was about to start typing...

#2 You should chime in more often because your ideas are great and come from years of performing and building and are a HUGE value to the people on here.

I totally agree about the curtain. It's one of my pet peeves. I always say that the motion of the reveal shouldn't "point to the method". It's like you're being compacted into you know where. The other issue is the scaling of the visual elements where you have a base that is... well... big enough to do the job and a small frame and little curtain. After the vanish the only thing left to look at is the base which at this point will seem badly out of scale with what is necessary to support a small frame and curtain. I know, I know... it's black and won't look that big. It's still not the best choice.

Black art is a choice but it's not the best for a vanish as you can't really end clean. If you use a BA vanish... I trick I've done is to set the lights as bright as you can for the BA to work, then start with everything down about 30% for the routine. For the reveal, bump the lights to the original setting for the vanish. It's an interesting psychological trick that makes it seem more fair.

There has been a lot of discussion on the psychological reasons not to end with a vanish... especially of the performer... but you have to figure out what works for you. If you're doing a run around... (which is the only really good reason to close with a vanish) then you need to accommodate and justify the time kill by some means.

Craig's other ideas are great. Any would be a good choice to follow.

Good luck!

Craig and Ray offer really good tips there.

Like allready mentioned, you should re-appear. Just disappearing is an anti-climax, it sort of leaves things hanging in air. I have personally made dancers appear in the very beginning and vanished them at the very end-there's a sort of dramatic arc there.

Base/steps is propably not the best way. Of course that depends, mostly on how you play with time. Moment when you get out (whatever the method) versus the moment the audience thinks you disappear. The further they are apart, more impossible is the re-appearence. Of course, that's with the assumption you do re-appear(which, again, would be wiser).

What if you did a transpo, much like in "things that go bump in the night"? People think its you on stage and just as its revealed its someone else, you could appear in the audience.

Ok, Yes, I will reappear, in the audience. And for the curtains I have a new Idea: about having like white shades and after the steps are taken away (Peoples who know deceptive steps work know what I'm talking about) at the last minute, a light lights and reaveal that I'm still inside (you can see the shadow) then it goes of f and the shades rolls back up. And then, I reappear in the audience.

What do you think? And what kind of roller shades do I need? I need to see the shadow of the person inside when the light behind is on. Like a little bit like the material/fabric of shadow box but in roller shades. And Craig, what do you mean by blinds? Could you give me a link of what you mean and what I would need?

Can just someone give me a link to show me what should I need. I'm a little confused!

I still want to keep it simple please,

Thanks

By "blinds" Craig means roller shades. You just need ones with no stoppers so they go all the way when released. You can customise roller shades to do that. Depending on the light source, you can have a shadow effect on most fabrics (not the aluminum backed blinds obviously!).

You must also consider the amount of time it takes for your shadow double to get to where ever he goes. If you have a live person (and not a projection), that moment is dark (meaning no shadow). If its too long, it diminishes the effect.

You could use steps and for the shadow double, black art. It would be very very fast (almost no dark time) and as you appear in the audience, it makes everyone focus at you and takes heat away from stage. Timed right, that would be a killer.

that's what I want to do! But can you clarify the Black art for the Shadow double, and would I still need the deceptive base? PM is anything is secret.

And thanks a LOT for making the "blinds" thing clear for me.

I'll shoot you a PM once I get to the office a bit later today.

Here is a couple of suggestions:

Abbott's Girl Vanish Illusion, if you have time to build it it comes with the deceptive steps plans.

Abbott's Vanishing Girl Illusion.

Both set of plans sell for about $5 each.

Go to http://www.abbottmagic.com and search there illusions, they also have a downloadable catalog.

Thanks everyone!

IMHO One of the best methods for such an effect is the 5 assistants on stage / sneak away method. I know this was revealed on TV years ago, but hardly anyone remembers it. I use it to this day, and it still amazes. I hope you all know of which method I speak of, I do not want to go into to much detail about it on this forum. The best thing about this method is that you use a box and that's it! Extremely inexpensive to build. It can rest on a super thin platform, and regardless of whether the shades fall up or down, your gone! With plenty of time to retreat to the back of the theater. Although, I do want to mention that I do agree with curtains falling down. It's like coming out of SB base in an upward motion, absolutely horrible.

I once saw this done with a video camera as the "time waster". The camera had been in use at times throughout the show to broadcast close-up handling like the broken and restored thread onto big screen TVs.

Then, when time came for the vanish, it seemed only natural for the camera man to climb a step ladder and shoot down into the screens. The audience never suspected they were viewing a prerecorded shot of the magician struggling with his shackles. This requires having good video man, but it was very effective from the audience's viewpoint.