Earlier this week I came across this crazy magic video online – Look how fast everything is done!
While there are some tricks you can kind of figure out (especially if you look at the comments), it’s still amazing to me to see all the crazy quickness with which it’s done! I love magic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFilLZIDJak&feature=player_embedded
Speaking of which, a few months ago I got the great luck of being able to go to a magic show in Calgary called Selinger’s Wonder Event (intro video, for the curious: http://vimeo.com/28700481). It was a fantastic experience and I wish I knew of more local illusion/magic shows! Even if you later have an idea of how something’s done, it seems to be worth it to be able to suspend your disbelief for just a little while and be able to imagine that maybe, just maybe it’s real. Because that would be so cool.
Also, while I’m at it, I strongly recommend the movie The Prestige (don’t read the plot summary beforehand though!). It’s about two rival illusionists who go to extreme lengths to try to get the best trick, and it’s a very intense movie. It’s also set about a century ago (it involves Tesla) so the costumes are pretty cool – alone they’re worth the watch.
It’s a bit dark and tends to deal with death, thus earning it a 14A rating. It’s a great movie though to see how putting too much of yourself into your work can have consequences in your personal life that you wouldn’t expect, and how dedicating your whole life to something that can fall apart makes you unstable. All in all, it gave me lots to think about afterwards.
It stars Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Scarlett Johansson. It’s directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception, and the new Batman movies) so you know it’s pretty good. Watch it with some friends and let it blow your mind!