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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » New to magic? » » How to make small objects disappear like in the video? (1 Likes) Printer Friendly Version

Vegas_Ray
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In an old SNL Penn and Teller video Teller makes these small objects disappear in an amazing way.

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

He makes the little jet disappear, he makes the statue of liberty disappear and that mini empire state building. How in the world did he do this? Is this some advanced stuff? There are things like the French drop but the way it is presented on here seems to be impossible. Hopefully someone has insight into this.
JonHackl
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Have you watched the video all the way to the end?
"Magic is the only kind of entertainment where 90% of the audience is trying to ruin it for themselves." - Pete Holmes

https://www.lybrary.com/ivy-p-925586.html
Vegas_Ray
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Yeah I don't see how being upside down would make a difference? I considered that maybe they were falling but I didn't see anything fall. It is an explanation but I just never saw anything fall.
JonHackl
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Notice what is and is not in the camera frame at the moment of the vanish. It's the combination of the camera zoom and gravity that makes the vanish look so clean. If you were in the studio, you'd see exactly what's going on Smile
"Magic is the only kind of entertainment where 90% of the audience is trying to ruin it for themselves." - Pete Holmes

https://www.lybrary.com/ivy-p-925586.html
Vegas_Ray
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Oh yeah I see it now. Now another question I have is how do I get rid of an item after I make it disappear? Like lets say I French dropped an object like a ball. Is there a guide where I can get rid of those items without anyone noticing?
landmark
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What you're talking about is called "a complete vanish."

"Small objects" for the most part are covered in the coin magic world. David Roth and Michael Ammar videos are a good place to start. Slydini books for the more advanced stuff.
PhantomStranger
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Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo is a great resource.
TKD27
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Quote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Vegas_Ray wrote:
Oh yeah I see it now. Now another question I have is how do I get rid of an item after I make it disappear? Like lets say I French dropped an object like a ball. Is there a guide where I can get rid of those items without anyone noticing?


This is where misdirection comes in to play. Suppose you perform a french drop and are now holding a object in your left hand when the audience thinks it's in the right. If you immediately reveal the object isn't there, the obvious thought for anyone in the audience is, "oh, it must still be in the other hand."

So a small amount of time misdirection cures this. A simple thing to do is to have something in your pocket that you need to use to "do" the magic. Perhaps you say, "now, the secret is that the object disappears when a little heat is applied." Still concealing the hand where the object is thought to be, you reach inside your pocket with the dirty hand (the one that has the object concealed in it) and ditch that object in your pocket as you also retrieve a lighter. Now you bring out the hand with the lighter (having fully ditched the object in your pocket) and use it to pretend to warm the air around your hand before revealing that the object is gone.

And it doesn't have to be a lighter. You can go for imaginary pixie dust (nothing, you just mime sprinkling it on your other hand) or a magic wand (or magic marker that you use in place of a wand, for example).

This is just a simple method and there are far more advanced ways to do this kind of thing, but it gives you the general idea.

The key thing to learn here is that, like the video you linked to above, it's not about what the audience ACTUALLY sees. It's what they REMEMBER seeing. In the french drop example, the object is out of view and your hand goes to your pocket. It's easy to deconstruct. But the audience's mind will often misremember that object wasn't in full view the whole time because your language and body language never betrayed the fact that your hand was empty.

This is why learning magic is so much more than just learning sleight of hand. It's truly about the psychology of how people experience things and how the remember the things they have experienced.
jimhlou
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Look at pulls and items like the Gecko. A French drop with a magnet under the edge of your jacket can make a miracle vanish - the key is how to get rid of the “evidence” after the magic has happened
MGordonB
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Boy do those guys look young! What a blast from the past.
danaruns
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A topit is a great vehicle for ditching small objects.
"Dana Douglas is the greatest magician alive. Plus, I'm drunk." -- Foster Brooks
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