Is David Blaine a Fraud, a Super Trickster, or...

[HighwayMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLAs11gkqKE

Just two, but much more highly amusing stuff on the "Beyond Magic" ABC show this year and past. You really need to watch a good bit of his videos to see his range, from physical to mental feats.

So...is it all a Hollywood show, all the celebrity actors, random passerbies (amateur actors? maybe) are in on it, everything is CGI, stage camera trickery?

Is he simply the best in his line of work, so highly advanced and good at all his tricks, an expert at endurance/body manipulation, that no one can figure them out as of yet?

or is there a third explanation?

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Hes a good magician. Though hes really become more of death defier/stuntman so to speak. Like when he was in ice for so long. That was more based on him talking to scientists, medical advisers...etc. Overall hes just good. BUT.... his "tv specials" I never fully trust. Its one thing if you do the tricks in front of various audiences. But when you do a trick ONLY once in front of a single audience ON tv... then its silly because they can fake anything and the audience could be in on it. Like when he made the statue of liberty disappear years ago. People from NYC said it didn't go anywhere, it was just the audience who "couldn't see it".

And yes, part of magic is deceiving people. But to me setups are not magic, its just acting and silly. But sadly MANY people believe some magicians have actual powers. Such as on this years Americas Got Talent. The "Clairvoyants" were in the top 3 spots. Many people online believe the couple were actual clairvoyants. But they were not. She had a hidden ear piece in her ear. And he used a device in his shoe to tap. So they sort of used a magicians "morse code" to to speak to give her the answers.

Many still don't believe thats what they did despite the fact you can see the devices online and how to make them or even buy them. Just as some magicians will actually have people in the audience as plants. So when someone comes up and they guess for example their grandmothers birthday, its because they planned it ahead of time with that person.

 

[Winken]

Highly trained showman. It would be interesting to learn how many hours, days, weeks, months he spends figuring it all out.

 

[Imagican]

Actually it was Copperfield that did the illusion with the Statue of Liberty. And YES, it was an illusion that even some of the live audience PROBABLY caught.

Blane is just a 'weird dude'. For some reason audiences now days seem to LIKE 'weird people'.

He is not 'great performer' nor is he an overly 'gifted magician'. Mediocre at best.

But there is just 'something about his weirdness' that people seem to 'dig'.

Blessings,

MEC

 

[SeventyOne]

He's an entertaining illusionist. I don't think too deep when watching his tricks, just like I suspend a lot of critical thinking when I watch a movie, simply because I'm watching to be entertained, not spot issues or plot holes.

I already know how some of the tricks are done, but half the fun is watching him pull them off and the response of his audience, especially when he does his "on the street" illusions.

 

[Winken]

He's an entertaining illusionist. I don't think too deep when watching his tricks, just like I suspend a lot of critical thinking when I watch a movie, simply because I'm watching to be entertained, not spot issues or plot holes.

I already know how some of the tricks are done, but half the fun is watching him pull them off and the response of his audience, especially when he does his "on the street" illusions.

Teach us all how to do "some" of the tricks. We can go out proclaiming the Gospel and while doing that we'll point out how easily folks are deceived.

 

[SeventyOne]

Teach us all how to do "some" of the tricks. We can go out proclaiming the Gospel and while doing that we'll point out how easily folks are deceived.

If you want to know how many of his standard tricks are done, YouTube is your friend. That said, the guy is incredibly entertaining for me to watch. Saw some clips years ago where he supposedly pulled off a chickens head and put it back on, the reactions by the people on the street were priceless. Of course, chickens and pigeons are jointed in such a way that their heads can be pulled to the side of their body without injury, and the separated head was a palmed fake.

 

[ALoveDivine]

David Blaine is a good magician. Magicians use natural means to create the illusion of supernatural phenomena. Its an art and a skill that requires a great deal of knowledge, practice and showmanship. He also uses a great deal of mentalism, which is the art of manipulating the five senses to create the illusion of a sixth. He's quite good at what he does but there are better illusionists out there.

One thing is for sure, absolutely nothing he does, or anything any magician does for that matter, is in any way supernatural. This goes for all the mediums, psychics, etc as well.

 

[Imagican]

David Blaine is a good magician. Magicians use natural means to create the illusion of supernatural phenomena. Its an art and a skill that requires a great deal of knowledge, practice and showmanship. He also uses a great deal of mentalism, which is the art of manipulating the five senses to create the illusion of a sixth. He's quite good at what he does but there are better illusionists out there.

One thing is for sure, absolutely nothing he does, or anything any magician does for that matter, is in any way supernatural. This goes for all the mediums, psychics, etc as well.

 

[Imagican]

Well now, It seems that you would dismiss what we are offered in the Bible. Familiar spirits, sorcerers, witches, etc. If these didn't exist, the information certainly wouldn't be in the Bible. And if there were noting 'spiritual' about such practices, surely you don't believe God would instruct the Hebrews/Jews to stone them to death?

Blessings,

MEC

 

[Celestial Warrior]

David Blaine is a Kabbalist Jew and that is basically a religion that deals in demons. He is not doing tricks, what he is doing is supernaturally being done by demonic entities. In the Kabbalah which is the Jewish book of mysticism, you are required to do a series of trials - (remember his trial of being encased in ice?) If you pass these trials, the demonic entities help you further in whatever endeavor you wish. If you look back at some of his "shows" such as "street magic", "Magic Man", etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blaine

If you notice in these shows, you will catch him talking to something, although most people think he is just talking to himself, but it is demons he is talking to . What he does is no hoax it is supernaturally being done by demonic entities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLAs11gkqKE

Just two, but much more highly amusing stuff on the "Beyond Magic" ABC show this year and past. You really need to watch a good bit of his videos to see his range, from physical to mental feats.

So...is it all a Hollywood show, all the celebrity actors, random passerbies (amateur actors? maybe) are in on it, everything is CGI, stage camera trickery?

Is he simply the best in his line of work, so highly advanced and good at all his tricks, an expert at endurance/body manipulation, that no one can figure them out as of yet?

or is there a third explanation?

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

^ the Kabbalah was what was cleansed from Spain during the inquisition to cleanse the church.

 

[Celestial Warrior]

What do you mean, I'm confused?

^ the Kabbalah was what was cleansed from Spain during the inquisition to cleanse the church.

 

[Paul Yohannan]

David Blaine is a Kabbalist Jew and that is basically a religion that deals in demons. He is not doing tricks, what he is doing is supernaturally being done by demonic entities. In the Kabbalah which is the Jewish book of mysticism, you are required to do a series of trials - (remember his trial of being encased in ice?) If you pass these trials, the demonic entities help you further in whatever endeavor you wish. If you look back at some of his "shows" such as "street magic", "Magic Man", etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blaine

If you notice in these shows, you will catch him talking to something, although most people think he is just talking to himself, but it is demons he is talking to . What he does is no hoax it is supernaturally being done by demonic entities.

I rather highly doubt that. Most of his stage magic is rather lame compared to, for example, Penn and Teller. If Kabbalah is useful merely for generating entertaining spectacles it is even more of a dreary system of self-delusion than I had anticipated.

Well now, It seems that you would dismiss what we are offered in the Bible. Familiar spirits, sorcerers, witches, etc. If these didn't exist, the information certainly wouldn't be in the Bible. And if there were noting 'spiritual' about such practices, surely you don't believe God would instruct the Hebrews/Jews to stone them to death?

Blessings,

MEC

The idea that David Blaine is an actual sorcerer perorming real magic is entirely devoid of credibility.

Although you do raise a potentially interesting criticism of Kabbalah.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

What do you mean, I'm confused?

Look it up. It's a fact. The Spanish inquisition was about cleansing the Jews from the church. Propaganda..

 

[Paul Yohannan]

Look it up. It's a fact. The Spanish inquisition was about cleansing the Jews from the church. Propaganda..

Enh, more crypto-Jews, crypto-Muslims and other conversos and also various random heretics. It was not exclusively anti-Semitic. That said I am in no sense a fan of it; it was diabolical.

 

[HighwayMan]

Well, the thing is, not that I demand to know every detail, but when some things look completely impossible, I do become very curious to find out how they are done. Most of all, in a number of his performances, he simply straight out appears to read people's thoughts. Like the Margot Robbie episode in his latest show, but there are many others, with both celebs and random street people. He's not deducting things, he's not leading them on to pick something in their minds, I mean he just straight out *seems to* stand there and read what they are thinking. Maybe people are smarter than me, but if it's not all staged -- or supernatural as some are saying above --- I just can not imagine how it's a trick of some sort, and what his methods are. I am mystified.

As to his religion - to my knowledge he does not talk about these things publicly, but he has a giant tattoo of Jesus on the cross on his back...

 

[Paul Yohannan]

Well, the thing is, not that I demand to know every detail, but when some things look completely impossible, I do become very curious to find out how they are done. Most of all, in a number of his performances, he simply straight out appears to read people's thoughts. Like the Margot Robbie episode in his latest show, but there are many others, with both celebs and random street people. He's not deducting things, he's not leading them on to pick something in their minds, I mean he just straight out *seems to* stand there and read what they are thinking. Maybe people are smarter than me, but if it's not all staged -- or supernatural as some are saying above --- I just can not imagine how it's a trick of some sort, and what his methods are. I am mystified.

As to his religion - to my knowledge he does not talk about these things publicly, but he has a giant tattoo of Jesus on the cross on his back...

These tricks are known as "mentalism" and it is not genuinely occult, but a performing art.

 

[HighwayMan]

These tricks are known as "mentalism" and it is not genuinely occult, but a performing art.

Right, there's been people before Blaine, but you know, if it's not supernatural magic, then at the end there has to be some logical explanation. He led them on with some obscure hint that psychologically prompted them to imagine in their minds what he wanted them to imagine - something of the sort - or it's all staged, a show where everyone is on it. But for Blaine, if it's the former, then I am just deeply curious to find out what it is that he does...it's not just numbers or cards, it's words and memories...how does it come to him?

 

[Paul Yohannan]

Right, there's been people before Blaine, but you know, if it's not supernatural magic, then at the end there has to be some logical explanation. He led them on with some obscure hint that psychologically prompted them to imagine in their minds what he wanted them to imagine - something of the sort - or it's all staged, a show where everyone is on it. But for Blaine, if it's the former, then I am just deeply curious to find out what it is that he does...it's not just numbers or cards, it's words and memories...how does it come to him?

Cold reading, force, collusion, suggestion, any number of other techniques. Mentalism is well documented.