[Matos] Lévitation carton

Eflamm CAOUISSIN · 8 décembre 2011

Un texte de Pendragon sur le carton volant, qui m'a été transféré par un ami :

Thought it possible for me to have done this without a gimmick during my early years as an illusionist; it's doubtful. The ease of the lift is THE selling point and I never could have accomplished that without help. The method in most of these illusions (but not all) is some form of a SuperX style support. Herein lies the rub. Was Ali the first person to use this principle (unweighting)? No. Was Ali the first person to use this method? No. Was Ali the first person to use this method to accomplish this principle? Possibly. I say possibly because, contrary to my reputation (I sold my Apple stock in 96), I don't know everything. The most primitive method that could be recognized as a SuperX style support is lost to history with descriptions of Fakir suspensions dating from 14th century, it's actual invention probably being several centuries later. DeKolta devised a method to unweight a prop (with a person inside) in the 1800s; the same method would be used later to levitate a person. And there are other methods.

The "Box with no name" has appeared in many variations. Lately it has appeared all over the YouTube world, as if by magic (or more"Jane, you ignorant slut!"

This effect has been kicked around for more than a century, but I digress. We are confronted by the omnipresent "chicken or egg' question that is used to claim "originality' or to under-mind another's claim: the question of effect VS method. The principle being employed is "unweighting" a prop to make it seem much lighter to the audience than it's contents would allow. The effect, from the audiences point of view, is that an empty (inferred) box is suddenly full of objects. I am sure some would have t likely because the effect is intriguing and the prop is relatively cheap to build). In most presentations the effect is a production. Others have choreographed elaborate vignettes that include effects such as, and in no particular order, animation-anthropomorphism-stretching-suspesnion-levitation-production and bending a pencil in a glass of water.

Ali Bongo, Andre Kole, Andrew Mayne and the incomparable JIm Steinmeyer have designed illusions that are related but not identical. In forums such as Magic Café, sujets like this attempt to identify an illusion's pedigree, caveat emptor. A book that once claimed to identify who invented what, gave credit to the French magician Mouchoir Diablo for inventing the Devil's Handkerchief. Invariably such histories are more complex than most can imagine. The psuedo-builders so many of you complain about use misinformation to steal the work of magic's best inventors, like Jim. Curiosity prompted my research into the history of this effect, the same curiosity that fueled many of you to do the same. But, there is another element, as a performer/inventor who cares about ethics, that fuels my search which transcends mere curiosity: the need to know whom I am indebted to.