Could someone recommend a levitation/suspention type thing that would be suitable for outdoors street performing?
What I am looking for is a way that I can "sit" in mid-air.
I would like to sit there on the street performing contact juggling and XCM (xtreme card manipulations) , but to do so in some kind of suspended position.
How possible and workable would something like this be?

-eriK

It is possible but not angle free. Please do not believe what Chris Angle did on TV is possible in real life. He used camera tricks and stooges to pull off some of his suspensions.

Every kind of suspension involving a person requires some kind of support. It's up to the performer to determine how it is to be done. Read the book The Encylopedia of Suspension and Levitations for more information and concepts on how to do this.

It's very possible. You only need somebody who can digitally remove the suspension apparatus and a bunch of people to stand around going..."OOoooohhh....Aaaawwwww" and you're floating in mid air!

Best,

Tim

Something to consider, and something I've seen recently (but don't know the name of) and was very effective was a gimmick that was the reverse of "The Lean".
Instead of going forward, the magi simply sat back onto......AIR!

It was very effective, and got a gasp from the specs.
Your feet are still on the ground of course, but an actual off the ground levitation as you've requested
would be.........well, it would be magic!

Maybe some folks on the Café would know the name of this item.

It would be best to completely forget about what you've seen on TV....there's way to much "video stooging" going on, and you can't duplicate that.
All the "non-video stooged" levitations you've seen on TV are angle sensitive beyond words, and rarely will you have all the specs in the right place to make any of them work.
Waiting around for hours in a sparsely populated part of town until one or two people walk by from the right direction to do a levitation might get boring.

MMMMM, I wonder why David Blaine didn't do a levitation in the middle of Times Square at lunch, but rather during the dinner hour off on some sidestreet in Hell's Kitchen (or Clinton if you must)?........

Anyway, good luck, and keep looking until you find what you want!

Icarus Effect allows a backwards, leaning effect. Maybe that's what you were thinking of, Silverking.

Nick Fox

Hi Nick,
It was a chap whose name escapes me.....he was on the recent (as in currently touring) west coast leg of Murray Hatfields "Magic and Miracles" tour of Canada.

He did a brilliant routine of quickchange and advanced manipulation.

He did a bit where he simply sat down, almost reclining, he got in and out of the effect so quickly that I was more instantly amazed at the brilliance of the gimmick than I was watching (I gotta stop doing that).

If the Icarus Effect will allow that speed in and out of the effect, then that was probably what it was. Also, when he was walking about the rest of the routine, there was absolutely no indication of anything....he was as comfortable as I was sitting in the house.

I have played with a "barstool" style "levitation" that can be done surrounded, on the street of you like. The effect is simply that of sitting on a bar stool (you can get on and off it during your routine and have an audience member sit on it as well for your tricks). At any point you can be sitting on the bar stool and (in the sitting position) rise up a couple feet off the barstool. You would be "sitting" in midair above the barstool.

Hi,

take a look at http://www.di-design.nl/index_bestanden/Page338.htm
Scroll down to the illusion called "Yoga".

Regards from Germany

Chris

You still have the bar stool under you. It is a good method, expensive, and requires some physical strength. It is not a "mid-air" suspension or levitation.

Yea, that "levitating yoga" looks real good. that's pretty much what I had in mind.
Also, Silverking's idea about sitting back but with your feet still on the ground sounds okay too. Does anyone know where to find that?
The other one is the barstool thing that MAGICofSeth mentioned. I'd like to know more about that one.

It is not really essential to be completely floating in mid air. Some visable means of support is okay, especially if that would make it viewable from all angles (and it still looks magical).

I am contacting the company that makes the "levitating yoga". Any other ideas or suspensions similar to that would be appreciated. Does anyone know of other companys that make those types of suspensions?

Thanks,
-eriK

P.s. This has nothing to do with Chris Angel or David Blane's tricks. I have not even SEEN those, believe it or not. (lol) I don't watch much TV.

The chap in question is Danny Cole. I doubt his illusion is available.

Best,

Tim

Thanks Tim,

Danny's bit was simply amazing, without missing a beat, he simply sat down on.....AIR!

I'm guessing based on your comment Tim that he developed this illusion himself, for his own use?

Maybe someday he will put it out there, because it's an exciting, visual and very surprising illusion. It's one of those effects that I'd just rather not know the details of, I'd rather be mystified.

I did read a thread here recently about a "reverse lean" that may do what you're seeking eriK, do a search for "lean" and "reverse lean" and see what you come up with.

You know what, that "levitating yoga" is not for sale anymore. I am really trying to find something similar to that.

I'm not sure if Danny invented this but its my guess he did. It was part of a very clever act. For those of you who haven't seen it...keep your eye out for it if Danny performs near you.

Best,

Tim

Don't know if you found what you were looking for, but here's the Barstool Levitation by Kerry Pollack that CAN be done surrounded!

http://www.wirelesswizardry.com/barstool.htm

Click on the video link. This prop is expensive, but might be worth it? Anybody own one care to comment?

I remember something that gave support if you wear tail coats. That could be done surrounded in the streets.

Isn't that YOGA levitation... really a Suspenstion?

I don't think somthing like that would be hard to build. But I could be wrong.

The only issue I see is getting into and out of the "Levitating" position with people around.

Jacob

Hello!
This "Yoga Levitation" (yes, actually, Yoga Suspension)
is really based upon an old yogi method of levitation
used since god-knows-when in India and the East in general.

You can find old woodcuts in very old magic books,
and you can actually find plans to construct it in some books.

This was the style of lev...sorry suspension...
that Robert Houdin borrowed his ideas from when he set his son in the air,
and the method was pretty old then (the yogi's used a walking stick or cane).

And it's not too distant a cousin to the ubiquitous broom or sword suspensions.
The only outdoor problem is how to hoist and mount yourself on the gimmicks,
and then climb to earth again, all without spectators.

The version on the Dutch Illusion site looks beautifully constructed!

Magically,
Walt

There was a show on the BBC tv named "Secrets of Levitation" where they showed how to do this lev-suspension. A guy from India did on the show.

Best

Las

There is a great picture of the old "Yoga" levitation in the book, "Cyclopedia of Magic" (edited by Henry Hay), in which the performer sits cross legged with his one elbow alone supported by a stick and the other held off to the side. The stick is horizontal and is attached to a vertical pole on a small wooden stand.

This is perhaps one of the earliest levitations (or suspensions) that I have read of. It was from this effect that magicians began to invent ways to do away with (or hide) the stick with mirrors, hanging fabric etc. What makes the original so amazing however, is that it was actually said to be possible to hold oneself in this position without extra support. I wouldn't think however, that you couldn't hold such a position for very long.

If you COULD do this effect naturally it would be one heck of an effect...You would have nothing to hide.