Has Anyone Worked On These Shows

[Wuddy]

Let's face it the whole of theatre is an illusion from the slipper in Cinderella to Sweeny Todds' barbers chair and it's all a closely guarded world, even dressed and made up actors haven't to be seen other than on stage and nobody wants the punters to know that the wonderful set or props are just paper and string. So yes it's not surprising the workings of the more intricate and spectacular illusions are kept hidden.

 

And even when you think you know how it works, do you really?

 

I had a magician acquaintance and people would come up to him and say "I know how you did that so-and-so trick" and he would say "go on then, tell me" and they would explain what they thought and he would verify their theories, knowing that yes they'd worked a bit of it out but there was 90% they had got totaly wrong but the punter would go away happily thinking they knew the secret of the magician.

[Shez]

"I'm really embarassed but I'm afraid she won't let you onto the stage. Company rule that no-one who isn't crew is allowed on stage in case they see how the flying car works".

 

I worked on the Chitty out at the Hippodrome. During some of the downtime, I spent quite some time examining exactly how the flying mechanism worked. No NDAs or anything there, but so as not to spoil the illusion, I'll refrain from elaborating... :)

 

(I'd seen the original show twice at the Palladium so wasn't too surprised. Having an interest in mechanical engineering and magic helps.)

[indyld]

I totally agree with the sentiments expressed about keeping the illusion secrets to yourself. After all, the more people that know how these things are done, the the more pointless the whole trick is.

 

I have been lucky enough to LD really good illusions, the best ones being "black on black" tricks and Pepper's Ghost which are really good lighting challenges. I never even tell the missus how these things are done, but not because I like to feel smug or that in some way, only I deserve to know.

As we are all in the entertainment business, it seems right to keep the facade up, even to other technicians. When a technician that I know has seen and enjoyed the trick as a punter, I don't have the heart to ruin the whole thing. After all, we all know that it is not magic but not exactly knowing keeps your interest as a viewer.

 

And not letting on enables those who are "in on it" to enjoy the spectacle via the audience's wonder.

 

The fact is that every trick I have ever worked on is so obvious and mundane that, once you know the secret, the whole thing becomes a bit of a disappointment. Far from being particularly clever or involving much in the way of technological wizardry, many illusions are so "un-magic" and work using the same old magicians principles that fool other humans into thinking that they saw something, or didn't. Even the magicians who pretend to let their audience know the secrets are actually fooling them too.

 

Good luck with the research but I am not sure how easy it will be.

[simoncarter]

Hello again, thanks to all who have posted, I have taken on board all that has been said, Including Spelling and Grammar, I have decided to stick with this subject but focus on "Phantom of the Opera", as 3 shows would just be to difficult. Once again thank you for all your replies and I hope this has not put a bad impression on me.

 

Thanks

Simon

:)

 

[Jivemaster]

The way to get a magician to expose the trick, is to have a trick of value to them to exchange.

 

They will usually clam up tight if they think you will publically expose the trick. So you are embarking on a tough challenge to get the inside info to publish on your project.

[ceecrb1]

for the phantom's dissapearance my father told me when I saw it at 8yrs old (19 yrs ago) about the "star trap" and the use of 3 lights to guide the actor to the exact position on stage.

I remeber him explaining the design of the trap was much like a compact camera shutter (not SLR) and the lights were in a triangle but thats all.

 

I was 8 and cant remeber more than that.. but my dads the kinda person who has all the right friends in the right places.. I'll prod him to see what he remebers and where his info came from, then get back to you via pm.

Knowing him, he'll have some phone number of the guy who designed it or something...

 

(due to a lifetime in the industry (in many forms) hes one of these guys who has a stack of "famous" phone numbers etc but never uses them, or more truthfully, never remebers where they are HAHA).

Eg.was told an eppisode of dangermouse was outlined on our kitchen table... and when I was a baby, neil armstrong was in the house for a meeting before a conference or something.

(ironic as I visited his house in Ohio in '97, now a musem)

[thebigcheese]

The main illusions I was looking at were in Phantom of the Opera.

• How did the Phantom disapear at the end of the show with his mask left on the chair.
  
• The projection of the Phantom pulling his cloak over the cast on the gauze,
  

These maybe obvious answers but not everything is as it seems.

 

Number 1: The chair has 'depth' to it. The Phantom sits on the chair, he covers himself up, pulls a handle in the side of the chair and 'slides' back into the depth. He then pulls a blind down from above to make it look like the chair backing.

 

Number 2: Simple back lighting.

 

Any others and I will try and remember

 

(And imo as long as the meaning is clear, SPAG don't really matter)

[Jram]

As far as I remember, Paul Daniels designed all the illusions for 'Phantom.'

 

There isn't much new in magic - most of the new stuff is clever reinterpretation of the old, so to find the really up to date stuff do a search on victorian illusion - Maskelyne, Devant and the like.

 

As for the above post about the use of a star trap, I'm told they are now illegal on health and safety grounds. I did, however, find an incredible article online about a performer, a star trap and four technicians in the substage - the performer was catapulted through the stage and FOURTEEN FEET into the air, before doing somersaults and landing.

 

Also, google Vampire Traps.