|
I agree with the subliminal part. Magicians, mind readers, hyprotists, con men, and illusionists of all sorts use all sorts of little subliminal tricks to mask what they're really doing so you don't catch on to their trick. That's why hypnotists usually start the show with a magic trick of some sort, which has nothing to do with hypnotism. It's to get people believing he really does have supernatural powers so they're more likely to follow his suggestion. I'm usually pretty good at seeing through this sort of thing, but it's hard since the illusionists every movement is designed to throw you off from what he's really doing. I'll be there early to get a good seat, and watching his every move like a hawk.
I don't buy the electric charge bending spoons bit for a second. That part is just a bit to make it more fun for the audience, even if the audience is just a few people sitting around the table. But since not knowing how a trick is done is half the fun, read at your own risk:
Spoiler: Any school boy knows how to do the rubber pencil trick, where it looks like the pencil is bending but it's not. There's a way to do this that it looks like you're just doing the rubber pencil trick, but you're really bending it back and forth just a little bit with your fingers. Since we're all familiar with the rubber pencil trick, we assume that's what he's doing, so we don't notice how much pressure he's really putting on it. Bend a cheap piece of metal back and forth enough times and it will eventually break. At this point, he holds the spoon tightly, so the two haves don't come apart, and slowly lets go so it looks like it's melting at his fingertips.
Of course, there are other ways to do it, that's just the one I know, and is the one he used this afternoon. I'll be interested to see what other tricks I can catch on to when I see the rest of his show this evening.
|