Walking on Water!, page 1

LoL! I don't know why we're debating this. I was giving my opinion - I have no evidence whatsoever that it's either a cable or glass or anything else. (We now have a fellow member, JebusSaves, who says he has witnessed this stunt and that it is indeed glass/Perspex/plastic/whatever.)

But just for kicks we'll continue this.

Originally posted by d1k
Watch the woman swimming under him closely, the bubbles do not hit anything at all. Watch the camera when the camera man puts the camera directly under him, you see nothing at all. Watch the camera Chris is holding when they go to it's shot, you see nothing at all under him.

Yes, I've watched the video a couple of times by now. As JebusSaves pointed out... The woman swimming under him let's out bubbles (I hope from her mouth! Don't they look odd? They don't break the surface, do they?) Also you repeatedly say, "you see nothing"... Isn't that the whole point? A see-through or "perfectly clear" material that would allow camera shots from several angels without revealing its presence. The fact that there's water just adds to the "invisibility" effect. Now, I would agree that it cannot be one solid piece of plastic as at one point there are people right in front of him. Thus it must be more than one piece that is used. Or there were some video editing, i.e. more than one different set-ups - but edited so it would look like one scene. (That is if the "plastic theory" is the one used...)
There is no camera angle that disproves a suspension, is there?

Originally posted by d1k
You also get a wide angle shot with a good 10 foot view above him as well where you see nothing like a cable or wire. Also the many side shots of him walking where you see no wire coming off him.

Ah. The Indian Rope trick/illusion is one of the corner stones of magic. That was done with a cable/rope "invisible" to the audience. The method has since been used umpteenth times to awe crowds. Are you saying that there couldn't possibly be a rope/cable longer than 10 feet? Do you expect a 3-inch thick cable dragging him across the water? Many shots... Shouldn't that tell us that there was at least some video editing?

Originally posted by d1k
Yes you do see him stepping IN the water not on it and the way he walks does look awkward. We can guess all day what he could be doing but we'll never know. There is nothing in the video (the show) that will show us or even give us a hint at how he did it, the editors would not leave it in if they did catch something on camera.

Point is that the illusion is not beyond explanation...

Originally posted by d1k
I've seen this guy do some crazy things in his video that are very hard to explain, plus why is there no other magician that can do stunts of this caliber?

Err... David Blaine. David Copperfield. Harry Houdinni... They were all great illusionists in their own right. They need to create illusions of their own to attract their own audiences.
Many moons ago I thought David Blaine was from another planet as well. That was until I read an E-Book "Magic Revealed" and was disappointed to see how David Blaine manipulated me into believing that he could actually do magic. Now if you want to see some stunning illusions... Go see David Copperfield's flying illusion.

Originally posted by d1k
It would be much easier to use lights, shadows, smoke and mirrors to hide the statue of liberty to an audience that is sitting x number of miles away from it then some of these tricks Chris Angel does. Plus they call Chris angel a mentalist...why is that? I've never heard of any magician being called a mentalist. How can you explain the show where he walks up to people on the street, asks them a fear they have then "conjure" that fear out of the very hat the person is wearing (a huge spider). I'm not one to believe in voodoo and magic and all that but I seriously think this guy is not normal, either that or he is leaps and bounds beyond anything anyone else can do.

Have you seen David Blaine's street magic? It's all the same kinda stuff. Street magic that targets "random volunteers" with "amateur" video footage is a cool effect. It gives us a sort of "real" feel. That doesn't mean that it isn't staged or that there aren’t video tricks involved. I want to tell you to go and read a couple of books on "Magic", i.e. illusions. It's astounding what they do. But on the other hand - if you still believe in Magic (illusions being more than illusions) then don't spoil it for yourself. It's no fun knowing all the tricks in the book (Not that I know all the tricks in the book). It's like finding out Santa Clause is not real. I hate to be the one to tell you it's all tricks, but if that's what it takes to end this?

Mentalist? "Magic of the Mind". That doesn't mean anything. You can call me Bill Gates but that still wouldn't make me the richest man on the planet.