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Couch Levitation Trick
One of the
most startling effects in magic has always been the levitation.
Whether you levitate an assistant, a horse or a car, getting something
to float has always pleased the crowd.
I
will explain the illusion in terms of floating a woman, but the
principle will work with any object, big or small, male or female.
Effect: The assistant
is brought up to centre stage. She is placed in a reclining position
on a couch. Then covered with a large cloth.
She
is commanded to rise. Once she has risen to a height of one foot above
the couch, the couch is taken away and the performer walks all around
the floating woman.
She
continues to rise until she is well over the head of the performer.
Then she slowly descends until she is level with the performer's head.
Again she begins to rise. This time, the performer takes hold of the
cloth and while she is rising, the cloth is whisked away. The woman is
gone, vanished right in front of the audience.
The secret: The secret is in
the couch (remember the couch from the above trick description?) and
the rest of the effect depends on a mesh-like screen which is shaped
like the assistant's body. As soon as the assistant lies down on the
couch, the performer picks up the cloth which will be used to cover
her. While this is taking place, the body mesh or screen is lowered
over the assistant. Since the body mesh is clear, it is not seen by
members of the audience. This movement is done by someone behind or
off in the stage wings.
The
body mesh is molded to resemble a woman, it is attached by four
strings of invisible thread to a location controlled by another
assistant. When the performer covers the woman with the cloth, it is
the screen which is really being covered.
As
soon as the woman is fully covered, she secretly slips into a hidden
compartment in the couch. After the couch is removed to a backstage
area, the woman gets out of the couch. Because the couch has played
such a small role in the effect, most people forget about it.
The
shape of the screen leads everyone to believe that the woman can still
be seen from the audience. In reality, the trick is already done. Now
the performer merely plays out his or her part.
The
off-stage assistant watches the moves of the performer, lowering or
raising the cloth covered screen as per the performer's commands. When
the cloth is whisked away, the invisible screen can't be seen by the
audience.
The
body screen seems invisible for a couple of reasons, first the back
ground or back drop is dark. Black is best. The mesh is made of a
nylon material which can also be black or transparent. Either way the
audience is unable to distinguish the mesh from the dark background.
It
is usually a good idea to have the off-stage assistant raise the
uncovered screen completely up out of view anyway at the conclusion of
the trick, this keeps the stage area clear.
This
effect is difficult for television, because the television eye can
often pick up the movements. But this effect is great for a full stage
presentation. |
