Tags
best magic show, corporate shows, Filipino magician, IMC, Inner Magic Club, Leodini, magician in the philippines, Manila, Pinoy magician
Let me share with you a YouTube magic performance of a trick that ends in an apparent severe injury to, or even in the death of, one of the performers.
The video went viral over the weekend, racking up 2.2 million views on the views meter.
It shows two German kids—Michel and Sven—performing a magic trick (actually the tablecloth stunt) that ends badly when a bookshelf falls over and (apparently) crushes one of them.
The tablecloth stunt is not, of course, the performance. It is only the story that the presentation of the real trick—that of a child getting crushed by a bookshelf— rides on.
Like any good magic performance, it shocked and awed millions of viewers. It may even have made some armchair magicians chuckle at the ridiculousness of the scene, were it not for the tinge of alarm they might have felt when they realized the deadly seriousness of the accident.
Not to worry, though. The video was staged, not real. Michel and Sven are all right. Their performance is part of a viral advertising campaign for a German variety show called GOP Varietéshow. The campaign is called Stoppt Die Show.
On the campaign’s website is an explanation in German, which roughly translates to the following:
“Do you believe everything that you see on the Web? No psychological or physical harm has come to any of the guests of GOP vaudeville shows. Michael and Sven are enjoying perfect health and their mother, Mrs. Boeckel, is an enthusiastic supporter of GOP.”
I share this video to my readers so they can dissect it and find what magic principles are at work that make it convincing, amazing, and even entertaining to 2.2 million (and growing) viewers.
If a magic performer can find those principles, then he can put it to good use in his own shows to stage his own convincing, amazing and entertaining performance.
Here’s the video clip.
Stay magical,
Leodini
Related articles
- Viral Hoax: Magic Trick Ends In Death (socialtimes.com)
- When Comedy is the Least Option (innermagicclub.wordpress.com)
Thanks for the low-down on this video. I just saw it today and wondered like everyone else if anyone had gotten hurt.
LOL, my son and me were debating it – good info, thanks!
there are so many instances like these wherein the performers seem to get hurt, just like the woman sawed in half act where the woman’s head was allegedly cut in reality due to a glitch in the communication between the woman and the magician. The chainsaw used was also real and the only thing that we aren’t sure of is to whether the woman lives or not. Hoax or real it may be, we magicians are thankful to know that trick, and we ourselves also take great caution in every performance that we do to make sure that nothing would go wrong or bad. The safety of the audience and the magician himself/herself is of utmost importance than everything else. Because after all, magic is there for us to be entertained.
Stay magical…
great website i like it
wow…I think that is taking something to the extreme level……
The stunt was done so well many magicians think one of the boys was killed.
Stay magical,
Leodini
yes, they did a really good job with that effect
ivonne