| [Ben]: | Mindfreak - Arm Through Man | Discuss This [0 comments so far] View Comments | Another amusing trick that was on Mindfreak featured Criss Angel in the hallway of a casino or hotel. He was performing for a small audience arrayed around him when a black guy starts to walk through the circle. Criss tells him that they're trying to film a scene but the black gentleman isn't impressed. Criss casually walks around behind the guy, bares his arm and appears to thrust it all the way through him, hauling him bodily off the ground. Watch the whole trick here.
Looks painful, doesn't it? While it was well performed, there were several giveaways on this one. One issue is that the black guy's right hand never leaves his pocket. He waves his left arm a bit, but never so much as moves his right arm, even while suspended with another person's arm through his chest.
The illusion begins to fall apart if you pause it as the victim pitches forward.
The next frame is even more obvious, as you can see. I've helpfully identified the incriminating evidence. Clearly, either Criss has a very long right arm, what you see is not his real arm.
Finally, Criss begins to extricate his hand from under the guy's jacket as the victim continues to collapse.
I think I've got a pretty good handle on how this one was done. The victim was clearly an accomplice. He was intentionally presented as black because it would add to the illusion that the white arm protruding fro his chest could not be his. My bet is that he was a white guy in blackface. Underneath his jacket, he wore a harness with a handle in the back. His right arm was a fake and was tied down to his pocket so it wouldn't stand out.
When Criss came up behind him, he thrust his arm underneath his cohort's jacket and grabbed the harness. Simultaneously, his "victim" pushed his arm through the front of his shirt. Once Criss had a good grip on the harness, he lifted the guy up and held him for a moment. As the "victim" pitched forward, he withdrew his hand and let Criss catch him, then ran off.
Simple, really. |
| 2008-08-23
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