Hello everyone, how you all doing? My name is Fernando, this is the first Q&A (finally)
This is going to be a third attempt, I though is going to be too easy
I guess it is not, one of the issues is when I was watching myself in the video
I was looking quite often over here on the screen
I'm gonna have to keep looking at the screen because I don't have the camera right there
So I'm gonna have to read the questions and then look over here and
doesn't matter, who want to watch me anyway? I'm going to put over here on the video
(in the side) some performances in case you want to watch some magic tricks overhere
on the side, while I'm answering some questions so it doesn't get too
boring
My English is not the best, is not my first language actually is Spanish
okay so my apologies. I'm gonna try to add the closed caption
so you can also read in case you don't understand what I'm saying
and even my accent in and of itself is kind of heavy (so my apologies right there)
Anyway, at the end of these Q&A, I'm going to explain in every
Q&A I'm gonna try to explain one of the big illusions people quite often ask me
(you know) and this time I will explain the 13
David Copperfield 13 people from the audience
vanishing ok, so if you don't want to know
I mean that's the point of these channel, educating people and not just for
entertainment the magicians (or illutionists), but also for the education of
the laymen, that's why I have this channel. So if you don't want to know how 13
people from the audience disappear
I don't want to spoil it for everybody so I'm gonna tell you ahead a time
right before i started speaking about it but I happen to know several people
that happens to participate in that the illusion
so this is not going to be
So this is not going to be just a personal idea. Anyway, let's begin with
the Q&A so it doesn't take too long. How long I've been doing magic tricks
Well...
I've been doing magic tricks for about maybe 20 years
I don't really count. In those 20 years I don't really a practice illusions
in each and every year
is just that maybe in those 20 years
I can... and I don't practice that much anyways so I don't think it really
matters
for how long we'll be practicing illusions. But if I had to say an average
I would say 20 years
Some people ask what do I use for my hands in case i perform magic tricks? And
I have it right over here, this is a hand lotion they didn't pay me or anything
I'm just... not really promoting anything Golden touch
lotion, this is what is called "Golden touch lotion"
This is not a as tacky as I wish it would
But it gives you a nice grip when you put it on your hand
it doesn't really feel as tacky as your saliva
some people lick their fingers and I don't recommend people to lick their
fingers
This is how much i use and that's it
not too much and then I just apply it on the front
I don't apply it on the back because in one of the hand lotion it actually
irritates me in the back of my hand between fingers so I don't really
recommend you and to put it on the back and you don't need to do the back of the hands
anyway, but is gonna be up to you, but this is one of the best
I tryed other ones, but I don't really want to get into each and every one of them in
this Q&A, that's the overall product that are really
like the most ok. So the next question is how often do I practice
magic tricks?
I don't really practice that much because I do have a full-time job
but this is a hobby, my second main hobby. My main hobby...
my hobby number one is theology. I study a lot of theology and theology is in
inescapable
subject when we discuss this kind of issues about magic tricks because a lot
of people often time confused or relate magic tricks to wizard, oracle,
witchcraft, white magic, black magic and that's why I don't really want
to use that term magic
even though i put in more for my video titles because magic is the most
well-known term so that's why I don't consider myself a magician
I rather call myself an illusionist because I just do illusions and I get that
terminology is more straightforward and those are the main questions that are a
lot of people ask. Also other people ask me illusions from other magicians
which is okay
there is no problem you know. I want to discuss how 13 people disappear from the
audience, now you probably may be wondering what's the point of explaining
illusions that a lot of people even magicians or laymen won't
perform and a lot of those techniques
even if we don't perform those big stage illusions, the principle is the main
concept, the main thing that matters to apply that principle into many other
situations it can be in the small tricks as well. So the performance in this case
Ulises Hondru was the illusionist or the magician that
I happen to talk, and he participate when David Copperfield went to Mexico
he participate, he was there and he was outside because is not really
13 people, it is 15 people. But two of those 15 people happens to be
David Copperfield assistent and he was outside and taking care that
nobody goes in and out (sort of speak) but they were actually
escaping, which i will explain. I will give you some images
I don't want to get too technical into the light situation but I did speak
with somebody that was present at the TV show the "tornado of fire". That person...
If you search for David Copperfield fans
some of those fans happened to be in the live TV show
This TV show special (even though you see people in the back)
a lot of people will assume that he couldn't used that technique
because it was people in the back, but actually because it was people in back
the main concern for magicians are too fool
TV audience more than pressing people. In the "tornado of fire" was tricky
according to one of the the present fans. It was tricky because between all those
camera cuts
it wasn't just one shot, it took several days and when they finish the
performance they take everybody (that's why is part of the last performance)
because everybody that participate are taken backstage and then they talk to
them and Ulises told me that they encourage them not to tell anybody and
Ulises told me (in a sarcastic way)
who's going to do that, obviously they don't do it in public but they will
tell their family members the way they get "vanish"
Now, this is a very old principle. Even if the performance is
original from somebody (whoever created it maybe from the David Copperfield)
The principle and the technique is really old
So I'm going to show you some images. In this images (as you can see) it is a
compartment coming from the back and in some cases they use mirrors, in those
compartments so it reflects the sides of the wall, so nobody can really see who
is going in and out of the special box in the middle of the stage. So, that's the
same principle that is used in the 13
there is a big compartment in this case. You know I always like guessing by
myself
you may come up with something better or something worse
regarding techniques. I was trying to come up with my own ideas and I share
those ideas with Ulises and he asked me how did I know? and i guess because it is
an old concept, old principle and you know common sense they cannot go up, down or the
sides, the only invisible part of that box
it is in the back, so they have to go through the back. You have to disprove
a technique that you are actually using (if possible, if not well that's fine)
But in some cases I went through myself and trying to disprove (in other videos)
the technique that I actually use
so in this case they just go through the back around the stage and
then they end up behind the audience. When i was there in the
show in the year 2000
I wasn't expecting the audience to appear in the back, so the second time
that I went
(maybe next year or two years later) I was ready, I was expecting and I was
trying to watch. The problem is that was audience in the back and I don't want to
be too distracting, but I really want to watch so I was trying to take a peek
behind me and then other guy behind me was also looking in the back because
I guess i was looking to the back and then we can see (or I can see) how the
assitent was putting the 13 people in position before they disappear from the cage and
there is one person already at least inside the cage. Ulises also happens to
see that closer, and it was one person at least controlling those lights.
When David Copperfield revealed the empty cage, the guys hide
inside (at the bottom of the platform) so everything goes down
they are conceal at the bottom of it. I probably go through more technical
issues in another video. The reason I like the Q&A
I don't have to go through the whole animation process using this character Mr. Voy
which explain a lot of stuff in great detail, but these Q&A are
more relaxed. If you have any questions about a magic tricks, about theology; feel
free to post the questions and in the second Q&A (if possible) i'm gonna try
to respond
all those questions. For any other magic trick, I'm gonna try to do a quick
animation and then explain it as visual as possible. And right before I end up
with this video (finally). I have an illusion that I created and I will
explain it in detail (for all of you guys) before I explain the video, or before you
watch the tutorial I always ask some people questions how do you think it is
done, and in this case if you want to guess
feel free, I really want to hear your thoughts before you see the tutorial of
this performance. You can freeze the shuffle right at the selection and
unfreeze it at any moment, that's what I like about this performance
this is not using the frozen waterfall technique
This is a new method that I came across that you can unfreeze the shuffle
as well, that's what I like about this technique. And I hope you have
enjoyed this Q&A