David
Blaine Levitation
Before
Blaine released “Street Magic”, many people
thought of magical levitation’s as illusions
which utilised large gimmicks in stage shows.
To lay persons, performing levitation in a
real life situation would seem impossible and
impractical.
This
exact reason was what spurred the interest
of millions across the globe, resulting
in shock and major interest in
amateur magician, David Blaine. Countless people referred to him
as “Satan”,
people genuinely separated his levitation away from his magic –they
were that intrigued.
In
all reality, David did not possess any
magical powers whatsoever, he simply took
advantage of the wonderful Balducci Levitation. Many believe the method behind
the Balducci was first released in a 1974
issue of the Pallbearer’s Review. The
name of the effect arose as it was credited
to Ed Balducci in the particular magazine.
However, Ed explained that the method
was taught to him by a man named Erwin
Levine.
Interestingly
enough, Erwin had no idea on who the genuine
originator was. This may be one mystery
which cannot be answered. From this knowledge,
you are left asking how long ago the effect
was actually created. Maybe it rooted
from thousands of years ago, and could
have even been created by our own tribal
ancestor (who knows?).
To
clear things up, David did actually perform the Balducci to his spectators,
but on a few occasions during “Street Magic”; the end result was different. The
footage of David Blaine levitating several feet off the ground has it’s own explanations – and
is not a marketed effect. However, the Balducci levitation is found to
be sold in many places, and often in packages. Ellusionist’s “How
to do Street Magic” is highly recommended if you are new to magic and
would like to learn the
Balducci and many other fine effects.
|
