Here are 3 of the greatest video illusions! Includes David Copperfield sawing himself in two, hiding the statue of liberty and Thomas Blackthorne swallowing a jackhammer!
1. David Copperfield Sawing himself in two
Performed by David Copperfield, the Death Saw is presented as an escape gone wrong. The performer is secured to a table beneath a large buzzsaw or blade, which is set to descend upon them under the control of a timing mechanism. The performer is enclosed in a box. The saw is then set going. After a while the sides of the box fall away to reveal the performer struggling to escape the manacles. Finally the saw drops before the performer has time to escape. The blade slices right through the performer's body. The two halves of the table are rolled apart so that the performer is clearly separated into two sections. The performer then appears to command the whole process to reverse: The body halves go back together, the saw rises, the box closes. Finally the performer emerges unharmed from the box.
2. Vanishing the Statue of Liberty
Making the Statue of Liberty seem to disappear on live television (in 1983) is the creation of Jim Steinmeyer and Don Wayne, and it is still unpublished. In the illusion, Copperfield raises a giant curtain on Liberty Island before lowering it again a few seconds later to reveal that the space where the statue once stood is now empty. A helicopter hovers overhead to give an aerial view of the illusion, and indeed the statue appears to have vanished and only the circle of lights surrounding the statue remain. To prove that it is really gone, Copperfield then passes two searchlights through the space where the statue stood, to show there is nothing blocking the way. A live audience sits in an enclosed viewing area, and most of the camera shots are from the same area.
3. Thomas Blackthorne Swallowing a Jackhammer
Swallowing a sword is pretty amazing itself but how about swallowing a working drill? Thomas Blackthorne did just that. During a tv show he swallows a running jackhammer, his signature act. This went live on the successful German TV show "Clever! - Die Show, die Wissen schafft" presented by Barbara Eligmann and Wigald Boning.
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+5#82 of the Greatest Illusions on Video! —
Thomas Blackthorne2010-09-18 11:50
Actually, swallowing the jackhammer was not an illusion. It was a genuine sword-swallowing stunt performed as a Guinness World Record. However, I am flattered that you found it so incredible that you not only assumed it was an illusion but even consider it one of the three best illusions on video. Thank you, TB
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However, I am flattered that you found it so incredible that you not only assumed it was an illusion but even consider it one of the three best illusions on video.
Thank you,
TB
TB, that was awesome!
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