Just an idea for potential improvement:
After she rests on the middle silk, switch the air to the right silk on again (the green one under her neck) , move her back to that silk and then switch the air to the middle silk off.
I admit, it is more complicated, but I am also sure an excellent builder like Craig can do such a construction.
Just have to think about whether such an addition would improve the effect enough to justify the additional cost.

I guess that's my point...the only criticism of the illusion thus far has been the inability to remove the last "support"...but is this criticism warranted, given the examples in my previous post? jcmagicman mentions the water levitation...but are we to take Craig's new illusion as a full-blown levitation, or rather a suspension (with movement)? I think that how we choose to define the illusion dictates whether or not we need to justify the remaining support in our presentation.

In any event, I think Flutter is wonderful...and it certainly has me considering replacing my classic three sword suspension.

Wonderful!

Its more a suspension than a levitation

Personally, I think the illusion totally makes sense. As others have stated, it's not a levitation, it's magically suspending a girl on nothing more than a fluttering silk. The rationalle is that if the last silk were removed, she'd fall. This to me, takes the sword suspension up several notches, much as Hans Moretti did with his paper tree broom suspension- you're doing the effect with an object that's impossible from the beginning.

I agree it is a nice effect.

I don't think they are turning off the air for the silks - he is merely moving his hand over them to push them out of the way. agreed I did not like the fact that he did not remove the middle silk however agreed that many other suspensions leave one piece "thus the suspension" the idea here is that she is suspended by the silks.

I do think the silk thru silk is a good idea however needs to be a bit cleaner or more visual in my opinion - assuming this was more of a demo video then the final rehearsed production.

I really like the girl being moved off centered this I think is the strongest point of the illusion as the base does not look Bulky or heavy at all.

very nice and a serious consideration.

good job

oh and I wanted to know if this could be modified to have her rise up to that level verses being "put" there.
and did I not see some thing like this by magic unlimited or some one a while ago not with silks but the same illusion different look? meaning how old is th is concept as its been out there before although this routine makes it fun to watch.

sam

Keith, to answer your question,with another question; I think the difference is he is passing through the center (3rd) silk, where you are not passing through a broom, pole, sword etc in the other suspensions, so from an audience perspective why not remove the third silk completely then? In the other suspensions it appears that the girl is suspended or magically balanced onto a broom, sword etc, so there is a reason why its not removed from an audience perspective, but with this, Craig is attempting to show no connection between the girl and middle silk, so again why not remove it like the other two? I still personally think all 3 silks should remain, and the performer should use the 4th silk to pass through all of the silks the same way, so that there is consistency in how the performer is demonstrating no connection between any of the silks. But again a matter of personal taste I guess in how one would perform the illusion.

One more brainstorm about removing some of the silks: the ability to move the girl off center is wicked!!! So an additional idea would be to pass the 4th silk through all 3 silks in the same way, then move her off center first, off an end silk, then remove that end silk so now she is floating atop just 2 silks. Don't know if it's possible, but if you could then move the girl off center in the other direction then you could move her off the other end silk then remove that one and as the final kicker she is seen floating atop the last and single silk. That to me would make more sense in how to remove the end silks, but only after the fourth silk is passed through all 3 in the same way to start. That's how I would like to it, but it's just my personal preference, and perception of how to tell the story with it, but what do I know?!

Killer illusion Craig! Love it! I'm currently designing a new touring show for 2013 and while it will consist of mostly original illusions to me, I will certainly consider this illusion also, as I think it's very fresh!

I am lovin all the ideas guys! In the 2 years that this sat in my shop being developed, visitors would offer their suggestions and input. Jim Steinmeyer, Don Wayne, Mark Kalin, Don Bice, Chuck Jones, Alex Ramon, Ed Alonzo. All had their take on what they would do with it. Before construction began, I met with Chuck Jones. He has an impaling/ sword combo with multiple hook-ups. Turns out, for this application it would be extremely difficult to do that ( Don Wayne suggested the same thing but realized quickly the problems). Peter-- you and Mark Kalin think alike! Mark felt no silks should ever be removed and the "slide" be an oscilation on their points. With the proper lighting, all the silks could be individually pulled from the girl. The quick pull of the silks in the demo is meant to suggest this possibility. Hans Klok wondered if the girl could rise to the tips. We experimented and found that you lose the flutter effect on the silks and it looks too mechanical.
This illusion was created to add to the short list of practical 2 person effects that can easily be themed to any act since it uses a staple-- silks. Hook-up had to be workable for just the performer and any girl ( up to 130 pounds) had to able to pull it off without extreme abs. There is a removable slide-out leg support to aid those unable to maintain the position. The price had to be competitive with Origami so it would be within reach of most who save up for that one big illusion.
I planned on doing the demo at the Castle, but the fire negated that for now.
Remember that this is just a dressed up demo, not a performance. I gave a lot of thought in how clever to be on this and finally decided to show the stripped down basics so the performer could interpret or adapt this to fit their own styles. Unlike so many effects that can only be done one way, this offers many possibilities and the discussion here excites me that you see that!
All the best!

Such great ideas here!

I agree with what Keith said earlier about the last support piece in any suspension. In my opinion it’s about having a support piece that looks innocent. The difference between this suspension and any other suspension is that the last piece holding her up is a silk, that just a moment ago you were pulling through your hands and watching it flutter in the wind. Most other suspensions have hard, solid objects that could easily be tampered with but this silk looks so innocent! That’s what sold me.

During a performance, under the right conditions as Craig said the last silk could be removed which was the first thought that came to my head. As for the movement of the girl, I would create a way of having her move without me touching her. Looks more magical this way. I’m not talking about any new engineering but rather simple staging or a simple rig, that anyone could make at home.

I think this suspension is the answer to the question we get a lot on The Café. This is a portable, visual, surrounded, unique suspension/levitation that works anywhere.

Just my thoughts.

Lucas

I think this is a great suspension effect .. and that the coulored silks flatering is an eye candy .. the sliding of the gorl is so sturdy and make sense unlike other similar effects wich could be a give away . great work .

Peter...I totally get your points--very good thinking.

I think I was reacting to the "Yuck" comment from a previous post, which was a bit out of line.

Very - very - nice. I could imagine a cirque type costume on the partner with silk wings / skins between the arm and the body to merge with the other silks - I really like the cloud like movement of her body to and from the sides - it really looks magical. Great work!

MM