David Blaine is at another level (1 Viewer)

[chet]

On Fallon last night.

No idea how he did any of those tricks unless the deck was marked in the first trick.  But then he still had to figure out what card Jimmy chose.

 

[Willie Neslon]

The extra 3, then extra 7 cards the guy is holding at his heart trick is easy to see.

Spoiler

Blaine counts out 10 originally (and awkwardly to get you thinking the trick is there) but then makes a switch when he hands the "10" cards to the guy who holds them at his heart. He really handed him 13 cards. He has him count cards and flip them but the 11th card had already been flipped in the 13 he handed when he made the switch. The guy thinks he's counting 10 but he didn't count the extra 3 because cards 11-13 were already flipped upside down.

 

[AAABatteries]

The card tricks are great but the human aquarium

 

[Willie Neslon]

Getting Fallon to choose the 3 is a move most seasoned magicians can do with relative ease.

 

[Willie Neslon]

The extra 3, then extra 7 cards the guy is holding at his heart trick is easy to see.

Spoiler

Blaine counts out 10 originally (and awkwardly to get you thinking the trick is there) but then makes a switch when he hands the "10" cards to the guy who holds them at his heart. He really handed him 13 cards. He has him count cards and flip them but the 11th card had already been flipped in the 13 he handed when he made the switch. The guy thinks he's counting 10 but he didn't count the extra 3 because cards 11-13 were already flipped upside down. He does it again for the 20.

Spoiler

He's palming the next 7 cards when he taps the deck (at 7:11) and says "10 is the original number" when the cards to heart guy is counting out the 13.

 

[AAABatteries]

Willie - how's the human aquarium done?

 

[Willie Neslon]

Willie - how's the human aquarium done?

My guess:

Spoiler

The trick is in the glass.  It looks like a clear glass of water.  He shows you an empty glass first, then a different glass with water to get you thinking they're the same. The frog is hidden in that 2nd glass of water, you just can't see it because it's a trick glass. Notice the way he drinks the water in stages.  The first drink probably contained the frog, who may have been slightly frozen and "brought back to life" via the water and warmth of Blaine's mouth. (He's done a trick before where he brings back flies from the dead but they're not dead, just frozen.) Then he actually swallows (and kills) the frog.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Blaine has done many regurgitations in the past. They're real. IIRC, one of the dead masters he reveres was famous for it and learning his methods was an homage and part of his zen.

 

[The General]

Willie dropping knowledge in here. 

 

[chet]

Is Willie Nelson a magician?

 

[Willie Neslon]

Is Willie Nelson a magician?

I think he's just a musician.

 

[AAABatteries]

Blaine has done many regurgitations in the past. They're real. IIRC, one of the dead masters he reveres was famous for it and learning his methods was an homage and part of his zen.

Yeah - I think Willie has the card trick but the glass was my first thought too on the aquarium trick.  I watched it several times and it sure looks like a normal glass - you can see his hand through it, not sure how that's possible with a trick glass.

 

[In The Zone]

Can't most of those tricks be set up ahead of time?

Fallon seemed to be doing some bad acting to me.

 

[johnnycakes]

Is Willie Nelson a magician?

Are you referring to the musician or to the FBG Willie Neslon, chet?  Gotta watch those typos!!     

 

[AAABatteries]

Can't most of those tricks be set up ahead of time?

Fallon seemed to be doing some bad acting to me.

I had this thought too - the only danger with that is trusting the other people.  Doesn't seem like something Blaine would do.

 

[Willie Neslon]

Can't most of those tricks be set up ahead of time?

Fallon seemed to be doing some bad acting to me.

First deck is marked, second trick deck is set with the 3 upsidedown cards and the 7 Blaine palms.

 

[In The Zone]

I had this thought too - the only danger with that is trusting the other people.  Doesn't seem like something Blaine would do.

Yeah, I can see that. It just didn't seem genuine to me but I don't know jack about how magic works.

I can juggle a little though. 

 

[Willie Neslon]

Yeah - I think Willie has the card trick but the glass was my first thought too on the aquarium trick.  I watched it several times and it sure looks like a normal glass - you can see his hand through it, not sure how that's possible with a trick glass.

The frog has to get into his mouth somehow. I can't say for sure how he does it. He's showing that first glass for a reason and my guess is it's because he wants to make you think the 2nd glass is identical except for having water in it.

 

[AAABatteries]

The frog has to get into his mouth somehow. I can't say for sure how he does it. He's showing that first glass for a reason and my guess is it's because he wants to make you think the 2nd glass is identical except for having water in it.

I may be about to ask something stupid but could the frog not have been in his stomach the whole time?

 

[Willie Neslon]

I may be about to ask something stupid but could the frog not have been in his stomach the whole time?

I would think gastric acid and the gasses in there wouldn't be a great place for a frog to hang out. If he takes acid reducers and fills his stomach with water could a frog survive in there? I can't imagine for long. It would eventually be crushed no matter what. Maybe it's somehow possible but it'd be much easier to just put the frog in your mouth before you spit it out.  Why does he show two glasses? watch how fast he starts drinking from that 2nd glass when he pulls it out. Almost instantly.

 

[wikkidpissah]

I may be about to ask something stupid but could the frog not have been in his stomach the whole time?

Ya. He either covered this on his ABC specials years ago or the 'how they do it' reveal shows on Fox inspired by Blaine's success showed how. It was goldfish then - the frog/toad's more impressive, but i think willie's right about the freezing/tranquing. it was pretty slow coming around.

 

[bigbottom]

Getting Fallon to choose the 3 is a move most seasoned magicians can do with relative ease.

What would the technique be?  I can see how the seven would be manipulated, but the three?

 

[bigbottom]

Svengali deck. He switches it in for the trick. Every other card for much of the deck is a 3. They're cut slightly shorter on one axis,  so when you drop them like that you always drop one on top of the pile no matter where they stop. 

Interesting. 

 

[Willie Neslon]

What would the technique be?  I can see how the seven would be manipulated, but the three?

Watch him riff the deck, he tells jimmy to say stop at any time. When Jimmy says stop, Blaine stops the riff but not before dropping that final stack of cards that has the 3 on top. The 3 is likely smaller than the other cards so it's easy for Blaine to know where that break in the deck is.

 

[otello]

It's svenjolly

 

[Willie Neslon]

I take back what I said about the first deck being marked. The deck likely isn't marked but the deck isn't really being shuffled either. It's a cold deck. Jimmy takes the 5 cards out of it and all Blaine has to do is look at the remaining cards of the deck he's memorized (at 1:26) to see which 5 Jimmy has removed.

 

[McGarnicle]

It's genuine witchcraft imo. No tricks or fake decks. He's a demon.

 

[culdeus]

Explain cold deck

 

[Willie Neslon]

Explain cold deck

pre set

 

[Willie Neslon]

When he's shuffling the cards in the air there he's not really shuffling them. Maybe some at the bottom portion of the deck but not the top where jimmy will be choosing.  When Blaine looks at the cards he looks right in the area of the deck jimmy pulled from.

 

[otello]

The extra 3, then extra 7 cards the guy is holding at his heart trick is easy to see.

Spoiler

Blaine counts out 10 originally (and awkwardly to get you thinking the trick is there) but then makes a switch when he hands the "10" cards to the guy who holds them at his heart. He really handed him 13 cards. He has him count cards and flip them but the 11th card had already been flipped in the 13 he handed when he made the switch. The guy thinks he's counting 10 but he didn't count the extra 3 because cards 11-13 were already flipped upside down.

the switch is at 5:42

 

[Willie Neslon]

the switch is at 5:42

Yes. I like how he says "put them upside down on the bottom, like a real count."  That's a real count?  huh?

 

[culdeus]

Well its still cool AF imo.  

 

[Willie Neslon]

Well its still cool AF imo.  

For sure.

 

[bushdocda]

I am entertained by this thread. 

 

[cockroach]

Golden Magic Rockers

 

[Tick]

A magician once told me, "Magic on TV is like ventriloquism on radio."

 

[Fariq]

It's genuine witchcraft imo. No tricks or fake decks. He's a demon.

Yes, it is real magic

 

[shuke]

Fallon seemed to be doing some bad acting to me.

First time watching Fallon's show?

 

[kutta]

So how did he do the nine of diamonds trick? That one makes no sense.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Hey @Willie Neslon do you know any magic that would make @cstu appear with $2100 $2200?

 

[El Floppo]

It's genuine witchcraft imo. No tricks or fake decks. He's a demon.

Yes, it is real magic

but...?

 

[shuke]

Anyone watch the special tonight?  He did the frog trick a few times without drinking from a "special" cup.

Bullet catch stuff is unreal.  Not sure if this guy is a master illusionist or some next level stunt man.

 

[Softballguy]

I take back what I said about the first deck being marked. The deck likely isn't marked but the deck isn't really being shuffled either. It's a cold deck. Jimmy takes the 5 cards out of it and all Blaine has to do is look at the remaining cards of the deck he's memorized (at 1:26) to see which 5 Jimmy has removed.

Knowing the five cards is the easy part. But I've never seen that trick done like that... think of any card. It's a 7, so that's possibly part of it, but the (crappy) methods I'm aware of wouldn't work reliably enough to use here.

And that 9d trick is pretty crazy. Makes the invisible deck look like garbage.

 

[Willie Neslon]

So how did he do the nine of diamonds trick? That one makes no sense.

Persuasion techniques. He's forcing that card on him when he fans the deck in his view (starting around 3:50) and there is likely more than one and as many as ten 9 of diamonds in the deck.  The likelihood is fairly high he's going to pick that particular card. Blaine probably has one in first position on the bottom and another in second position on the top so he asks Jimmy to flip the deck when he chooses second as to have the 9 in 2nd position. He has other back up plans in place should Jimmy not choose the nine.

 

[Softballguy]

Persuasion techniques. He's forcing that card on him when he fans the deck in his view (starting around 3:50) and there is likely more than one and as many as ten 9 of diamonds in the deck.  The likelihood is fairly high he's going to pick that particular card. Blaine probably has one in first position on the bottom and another in second position on the top so he asks Jimmy to flip the deck when he chooses second as to have the 9 in 2nd position. He has other back up plans in place should Jimmy not choose the nine.

That was my best guess, but he doesn't really fan the deck out in Jimmy's line of sight much. And if that is the method, there's a serious gamble in doing that live (as opposed to the normal method of riffling through the deck). At least for most performers there is.

 

[Willie Neslon]

That was my best guess, but he doesn't really fan the deck out in Jimmy's line of sight much. And if that is the method, there's a serious gamble in doing that live (as opposed to the normal method of riffling through the deck). At least for most performers there is.

So many magicians do/have done the choose any card in the deck trick.  There are different variations and different contingency plans but I think Blaine was pretty confident he could pull that trick off. He shows jimmy the deck as long as he needs to in order to plant the seed. Watch fallons eyes. He's looking right where Blaine wants him to look and chooses the exact card Blaine wants him to. He's doing things with his words and gestures as well.

 

[Jayrok]

I chose the 3 of clubs when he did the 9 of D trick, and chose second.  

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

That was my best guess, but he doesn't really fan the deck out in Jimmy's line of sight much. And if that is the method, there's a serious gamble in doing that live (as opposed to the normal method of riffling through the deck). At least for most performers there is.

The "back up plans" Willie mentioned are really the key though.  We don't know the rules of the trick ahead of time.  After Jimmy picks a card, Blaine can pivot to whatever he wants.  Jimmy says "nine of diamonds", Blaine says "first or second."  Jimmy says "seven of clubs", Blaine says "pick a number from 1 to 10."  Jimmy says "King of hearts", Blaine opens the deck to reveal it's not there at all, and then asks Jimmy to check his pocket.  Whichever card Jimmy picks there's some way for Blaine to make it look like he knew it ahead of time.  This one actually seemed the least "magical" to me out of all the tricks in the clip. 

 

[Softballguy]

The "back up plans" Willie mentioned are really the key though.  We don't know the rules of the trick ahead of time.  After Jimmy picks a card, Blaine can pivot to whatever he wants.  Jimmy says "nine of diamonds", Blaine says "first or second."  Jimmy says "seven of clubs", Blaine says "pick a number from 1 to 10."  Jimmy says "King of hearts", Blaine opens the deck to reveal it's not there at all, and then asks Jimmy to check his pocket.  Whichever card Jimmy picks there's some way for Blaine to make it look like he knew it ahead of time.  This one actually seemed the least "magical" to me out of all the tricks in the clip. 

Right, hasn't he done this same exact trick on other shows recently though? I swear he has.

The "first or second" question is definitely a bit out of place, which is always where the "magic" happens. So I'm sure he has the top and bottom cards loaded. I suppose he could create a situation for any card... I just swear I've seen this live before and it was basically the same trick.