Dynamo: magician impossible

[estebanrey]

Well stop talking **** and actually say them then? Might be a good idea.

Say what? I don't KNOW how this effect was achieved so anything I say will be pure speculation, my point is using a stooge is not the ONLY option. It is spoffle that is making definitive claims of how it's being done, not me.

The easiest non-stooged explanation would be a switch coupled with some clever video editing. Whilst it looks like one continuous shot there are quite a few edits and camera changes. It looks like Dynamo attempts it immediately after the black guy, but it's possible he tries later after his audience is misdirected and the weights are switched. For example look at 1:49 in the top left hand corner, the guy is standing up and has been up til that point, the camera angles changes for 2 seconds then when it changes again to Dynamo he is sitting down. Sure he could have dropped down at the exact moment the camera was off him but it seems cut to me.

Electro magnets would be another feasible (if expensive) way to do it. Magnets under the carpet tiles on the floor are turned on for the black guy and turned off for Dynamo if using a light weight, or using reverse polarity you could do it with heavy weights and get assistance from the magnetic force.

I'm not suggested either of these were how it was done, I'm not saying it definitely isn't stooges. All I'm saying is the idea that because you can't explain something doesn't mean you should automatically leap to the conclusion of a stooge.

Furthermore even if the black guy was in on it, I would argue he was more of a confederate than a stooge. And yes there is a difference, Paul Daniel's wife Debbie McGee for example wasn't a stooge, she was a confederate. To be a stooge, you have to playing the part of a member of the audience.

 

[spoffle]

Say what? I don't KNOW how this effect was achieved so anything I say will be pure speculation, my point is using a stooge is not the ONLY option.

The easiest non-stooged explanation would be a switch coupled with some clever video editing. Whilst it looks like one continuous shot there are quite a few edits and camera changes. It looks like Dynamo attempts it immediately after the black guy, but it's possible he tries later after his audience is misdirected and the weights are switched. For example look at 1:49 in the top left hand corner, the guy is standing up and has been up til that point, the camera angles changes for 2 seconds then when it changes again to Dynamo he is sitting down. Sure he could have dropped down at the exact moment the camera was off him but it seems cut to me.

Electro magnets would be another feasible (if expensive) way to do it. Magnets under the carpet tiles on the floor are turned on for the black guy and turned off for Dynamo if using a light weight, or using reverse polarity you could do it with heavy weights and get assistance from the magnetic force.

I'm not suggested either of these were how it was done, I'm not saying it definitely isn't stooges. All I'm saying is the idea that because you can't explain something doesn't mean you should automatically leap to the conclusion of a stooge.

But we've already established that the first guy lifting it is also fake.

The bar is definitely the same on both lifts, it behaves the same, it isn't switched and they are both fake weights.

The first guy is definitely 100% ACTING as if it's heavy. They try to cover this up with camera angles so that the views can't see it as easily, so because of this all the other people there watching it WILL also be stooges because they will see that he's definitely acting.

 

[estebanrey]

But we've already established that the first guy lifting it is also fake.

That's your opinion. You may well be right. You may be wrong too.

The bar is definitely the same on both lifts, it behaves the same, it isn't switched and they are both fake weights.

And you can tell all that from a poor quality video that has been filmed off someone's TV?

The first guy is definitely 100% ACTING as if it's heavy. They try to cover this up with camera angles so that the views can't see it as easily, so because of this all the other people there watching it WILL also be stooges because they will see that he's definitely acting.

I'm not arguing about this anymore. You keep trying to force a solution I've already said could be right. I just don't agree it's the only possible solution.

I guess we'll never know unless Dynamo himself reveals it.

 

[FARGO]

The one thing I can't work out is what an earth led me to read this last page

 

[Philtor]

He doesn't have much of a personality tbh but some of his tricks are quite cool.

 

[Mason-]

Care to suggest a method of doing that without a stooge/actor?

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

Seriously?

I had a magician for my 10th birthday (many years ago) - he used magic to cut a woman in half in a box - are you saying that it wasn't real magic but must have been fake, like it was all just a trick or something?

You bugger, I've just spit my tea.

 

[Landy]

The walk on water trick he did had a massive thread on another forum i use, where one of the "police men" in the boat was actually a well known extra/advertisment actor and was proven aswell, ill have to see if i can find it, it's obvious it was perspex.

The phone in a bottle is just slight of hand, he picks the person with whichever phone he already has in a bottle, just as he does the "BOOM IN THE BOTTLE IT GOES" bit, he actually throws the phone into his pocket, can't remember how he changes the bottles so quick though.

and there was one where he was in America and he had one of those machines that fire the balls at you really quick, he got a couple of people to sign a ball and with slight of hand put it in his pocket and while the balls were firing at him he quickly pulled the ball back out of his pocket, making it look like he caught it mid-air.

There is also one in South America i think were he "magically" makes some Sweets appear out of nowhere from some silly vending machine thing, why that got let into the show i'll never know because the little girl was so unconvincing at her astoundment it made me laugh.

 

[estebanrey]

The walk on water trick he did had a massive thread on another forum i use, where one of the "police men" in the boat was actually a well known extra/advertisment actor and was proven aswell, ill have to see if i can find it, it's obvious it was perspex.

The phone in a bottle is just slight of hand, he picks the person with whichever phone he already has in a bottle, just as he does the "BOOM IN THE BOTTLE IT GOES" bit, he actually throws the phone into his pocket, can't remember how he changes the bottles so quick though.

and there was one where he was in America and he had one of those machines that fire the balls at you really quick, he got a couple of people to sign a ball and with slight of hand put it in his pocket and while the balls were firing at him he quickly pulled the ball back out of his pocket, making it look like he caught it mid-air.

There is also one in South America i think were he "magically" makes some Sweets appear out of nowhere from some silly vending machine thing, why that got let into the show i'll never know because the little girl was so unconvincing at her astoundment it made me laugh.

What's your point? That he's not really capable of supernatural acts?

It's a shame magic has fallen from grace like it has. When I was a kid Paul Daniels and David Copperfield both had prime time TV shows, not now though.

We've become spoiled by technology and too many know-it-all smart-asses around nowadays. So now we only really have Derren Brown who has to pretend he's doing all his tricks using psychology and NLP to make it seem pseudo-scientific and thus acceptable (most of what he does is classic magic twisted to look like psychology) and Dynamo who gets slated because he can't actually perform wizardry.

What happened to appreciating the art, skill and beauty of well performed routine? Most people know how coin magic is done but it doesn't detract from the skill and beauty of seeing a good coin artist perform. It's not about just shouting "yeah I know it's sleight of hand and fake coins, rubbish!"

I was out with mates a year ago or so and a table magician came up and did a little routine. As a bit of a magic fan I thought he'd done pretty well and despite me being the only one who actually knew how he did everything I was also the only one who appreciated it, the rest of my mates were all saying stuff like "I know how that's done, he just did this or that etc etc" and they were usually wrong.

For some reason our psyche has changed, we used to be fine with being fooled, in fact we liked it. Nowadays there's too many people that think "nothing gets past me" and just can't be seen to have been duped.

Shame

 

[ianh]

Our psyche hasn't changed, we've always wanted to know how they do it. Only now with the whole world infront of us via the internet we can find out without having to be magicians ourselves.

 

[Craterloads]

That's your opinion. You may well be right. You may be wrong too.



And you can tell all that from a poor quality video that has been filmed off someone's TV?



I'm not arguing about this anymore. You keep trying to force a solution I've already said could be right. I just don't agree it's the only possible solution.

I guess we'll never know unless Dynamo himself reveals it.

Are you arguing for the sake of arguing? spoffle's pretty much 100% bang on. That is not an illusion, or anything remotly close to being an illusion, in the sense of your traditional illusionist.

 

[antijoke]

"Dis guy must be a alien or sutin" ... another Never Mind The Buzzcocks classic

That is awesomely funny. I cry with laughter every time I see it.

 

[iviv]

Personally, I disagree with you estebanrey. I know that magic tricks are done using sleight of hand, distraction, and other methods. But I still enjoy magic tricks that are done well, even if I'm sure that I know how it is done, because that magic provides a suspension of disbelief. And part of the act is the showmanship as well.

Stuff that Dynamo does just doesn't hook me because he simply goes too far. The suspension of disbelief is ruined because things are too obvious. It isn't anything to do with the internet, he is simply a poor magician because he doesn't enable me to suspend my disbelief. The walking on water mentioned earlier is a prime example. And I agree with Spoffle about the weightlifting. It is clear that the first guy is not lifting 150Kg, while he is clearly pretending it is. Looking at the weights on the bar, if he knows anything about weightlifting he should have a good idea about how much it weighs, and he will also know how much he can lift. If he lifted it really easily then it would obviously not be 150Kg, but he is pretending to struggle in lifting it so it clearly does not weigh 150Kg. Regardless, this argument will continue to go around in circles, so allow me to post a video instead:

You can see exactly how it is done (obviously) but they have the personality to bring you along. Even with the clear balls, while you can see how they perform the trick, it is still easy to be led in because of their personality. You get sucked in and they perform the trick well. That is the sort of magic I like because it isn't something huge and obviously fake where the only way to carry out the trick is with plants/stooges. It is simply moving faster than the eye can see, something that takes real skill, and playing to an audience. To me, that is what magic is.

 

[Fenris]

I've gone from enjoying magic as a result of big/amazing tricks to enjoying the skill of the magician to distract the audience and manipulate his props.

Dynamo avoids both of these skills by using camera angles and actors to achieve most of his tricks.


Now don't get the wrong impression. Dynamo may for all I know be a great magician, unfortunately I've never seen him do anything which isn't obviously staged. I have the same issue with David Blaine, or rather David Blaine before he got all wierd and decided standing on a pole for days on end was in some way interesting.

If anything my issue is with any kind of televised magic.

 

[Craterloads]

I've gone from enjoying magic as a result of big/amazing tricks to enjoying the skill of the magician to distract the audience and manipulate his props.

Dynamo avoids both of these skills by using camera angles and actors to achieve most of his tricks.


Now don't get the wrong impression. Dynamo may for all I know be a great magician, unfortunately I've never seen him do anything which isn't obviously staged. I have the same issue with David Blaine, or rather David Blaine before he got all wierd and decided standing on a pole for days on end was in some way interesting.

If anything my issue is with any kind of televised magic.

David Blaine still does/did some remarkable stuff, even the newer weirder Blaine's stunts are amazing in the sense of patience and durability he displays, not that anyone actually cares anymore, but i think he lost a few stones in bodyweight in his last stunt. Plus watched him take a full force punch (non setup) from Kimbo, which again was impressive.

On the other hand this dweeb dynamo or what ever he's called is not different from me lifting up a bunch of paperweight and getting my mate/paying for someone to say wow, that is heavy really.

 

[estebanrey]

Our psyche hasn't changed, we've always wanted to know how they do it. Only now with the whole world infront of us via the internet we can find out without having to be magicians ourselves.

It's not that easy to find how tricks are done. Sure the classics are explained but newer tricks aren't that easy. A lot of the stuff Derren Brown does for example. I have all his old books that explain exactly how some of these effects are achieved and yet I see people on forums claiming he did it this way when I know he didn't.

Speculating how the trick was done, and full step step explanation aren't the same. It's rare you'll find the latter without paying for it.

Personally, I disagree with you estebanrey. I know that magic tricks are done using sleight of hand, distraction, and other methods. But I still enjoy magic tricks that are done well, even if I'm sure that I know how it is done, because that magic provides a suspension of disbelief. And part of the act is the showmanship as well.

I was speaking generally. I too appreciate the art of a great performance.

Still though magic shows rarely get high ratings so the public is obviously turning off magic. I thought Fool Us for example was great but it flopped in terms of viewing figures and it's unlikely we'll see another series.

Stuff that Dynamo does just doesn't hook me because he simply goes too far. The suspension of disbelief is ruined because things are too obvious. It isn't anything to do with the internet, he is simply a poor magician because he doesn't enable me to suspend my disbelief. The walking on water mentioned earlier is a prime example.

The only reason the walking on water thing was pant was because Kris Angel had already done it and his method had already been exposed.

I've gone from enjoying magic as a result of big/amazing tricks to enjoying the skill of the magician to distract the audience and manipulate his props.

Dynamo avoids both of these skills by using camera angles and actors to achieve most of his tricks.


Now don't get the wrong impression. Dynamo may for all I know be a great magician, unfortunately I've never seen him do anything which isn't obviously staged. I have the same issue with David Blaine, or rather David Blaine before he got all wierd and decided standing on a pole for days on end was in some way interesting.

If anything my issue is with any kind of televised magic.

Can you give me an example of what you mean by 'staged' and an example of David Blaine doing it? The only one that you could described as 'staged' was his levitation, where he mixed videos of reactions to simple levitation (standing on one foot) over video of him being lifted by a crane so it looked they were seeing him completely rise off the ground. Most of everything else though is genuine magic (by which I mean he uses magic principles not that he is a real wizard).

 

[Craterloads]

It's not that easy to find how tricks are done. Sure the classics are explained but newer tricks aren't that easy. A lot of the stuff Derren Brown does for example. I have all his old books that explain exactly how some of these effects are achieved and yet I see people on forums claiming he did it this way when I know he didn't.

We've become spoiled by technology and too many know-it-all smart-asses around nowadays. So now we only really have Derren Brown who has to pretend he's doing all his tricks using psychology and NLP to make it seem pseudo-scientific and thus acceptable (most of what he does is classic magic twisted to look like psychology) and Dynamo who gets slated because he can't actually perform wizardry.

WTF, are you dim or something? Dynamo gets slated because what he is doing isn't even a trick, doesn't take any skill what so ever. Even with some tricks that you know how they are done, you can still appreciate the skill needed to pull it off convincingly.

Picking up fake weights, obvious OBVIOUS fake weights, with a room full of paid actors takes no skill and is in fact what is killing the industry, not smart arses.

 

[estebanrey]

WTF, are you dim or something?

Starting off with an ad-hominem? I can just tell this post is going to be well thought out and articulate....

Dynamo gets slated because what he is doing isn't even a trick, doesn't take any skill what so ever.

Are you basing this off ALL of his material or just a few that you've seen? If you think Dynamo has no skill you clearly know nothing about magic. I'd love to see you attempt one of his card tricks, even with a full explanation and all the moves explained.

This aint a trick, but as you think he has 'no skill' I'd love to see your attempt at this...

Even with some tricks that you know how they are done, you can still appreciate the skill needed to pull it off convincingly.

Picking up fake weights, obvious OBVIOUS fake weights, with a room full of paid actors takes no skill and is in fact what is killing the industry, not smart arses.

You make it sound as if Dynamo's whole repertoire consists of that weight lifting trick. He did it once, you didn't like it (nor did I really) but are you going to base your whole opinion on one or two tricks?

There are tons of brilliant British magicians and they rarely get on TV at all. I don't think you put magic's fall in popularity down to one kid from Wigan (or wherever he's from). Especially as it started way before he came about.

 

[Craterloads]

Are you basing this off ALL of his material or just a few that you've seen?

No, basing it off the trick you've actually been tirelessly, pointless and needlessly arguing for the best part of the thread. He's getting slated in this thread because of this particular trick being discussed. And in general because of many similar, crappy tricks he tries to pull.

You make it sound as if Dynamo's whole repertoire consists of that weight lifting trick. He did it once, you didn't like it (nor did I really) but are you going to base your whole opinion on one or two tricks?

No, it's a trick that's being discussed in this thread, hence why it's getting attention. In general he has done similar, staged tricks.

There are tons of brilliant British magicians and they rarely get on TV at all. I don't think you put magic's fall in popularity down to one kid from Wigan (or wherever he's from). Especially as it started way before he came about.

And its not just one kid (from Bradford BTW) who is attempting to pull crap like this unfortunately, its becoming common practice among a lot of the top "magicians", and i think people have had enough of it.

 

[dowie]

Picking up fake weights, obvious OBVIOUS fake weights, with a room full of paid actors takes no skill and is in fact what is killing the industry, not smart arses.

wouldn't have to be a room full of paid actors when only him and the black guy touched the weights.... would only require one stooge

the 20lb weights were already on the bar and would be the fakes... they then chucked on a few real weights each side (the 5lb ones etc...)

alternatively you could do this sort of trick by switching the weights after the black guy had a go - it wasn't a continuous shot or anything... could easily condition the small audience to accept the breaks - production crew doing a few initial shots, clips where they chat to people, footage that doesn't get used etc.. faff with the lights, faffing about with equipment "right lets take a short break for lunch guys".... when they come back in the production crew have switched the weights for the fake ones and dynamo takes his turn