|
|
Steve Knight Elite user Oxford U.K. 479 Posts |
I have only seen this illusion once, on the "Paul Daniels Magic Show" many years ago when it was performed by Jeffrey Atkins as one of his "Magic of the Masters" presentations.
For those who haven’t seen it, the basic effect is: a sarcophagus is standing on the stage, it opens to reveal a woman who then floats forward in a vertical position, stops, does some revolutions in the air before being handed a hoop with which she skips in mid-air! She then floats back to the sarcophagus. According to Peter Warlock in the "New Pentagram" this illusion was patented by Carl Hertz who featured it as "Areolithe" before being passed to Carmo. Apparently Rameses also performed it, billed as "Ayesha, the bride of the air". Does anyone have any more information on the history of this illusion or know if it’s still being performed by anyone? I hope it is as it’s too good an illusion to be lost to history. |
Jeb Sherrill Inner circle Elsewhere 1161 Posts |
Man I've never heard of it, but I'd sure like to see it in action. If you ever track it down, please drop me an e-mail.
Sable
I don't believe in reincarnation, but I may have in another life.
|
Chad Sanborn Inner circle my fingers hurt from typing, 2205 Posts |
Sounds fantastic.
Chad |
tony parx New user u.k North east 3 Posts |
yeh great, send me the tape!!!!
|
Steve Knight Elite user Oxford U.K. 479 Posts |
While I have lots of tapes of Paul Daniels shows from the '90s (sad really) this illusion was shown sometime around '83 so I've only seen it once myself.
Someone suggested in another forum that this illusion might be included in Bruce Armstrong's "Encyclopedia of suspensions and levitations", perhaps someone could check? Just to whet your appetites further here's a full description of the illusion from John Fisher, taken from "Paul Daniels and the history of magic": "In Carmo's presentation, known as "The Mummy", the stage revealed an upright sarcophagus. The lid slowly opened like a drawbridge. First a bat fluttered out, and then a girl, swathed in silk, literally walked forward on the air, rising simultaeneously to a position about four feet away from both floor and tomb. After pausing briefly in this position, she would make one-and-a-quarter spins on her own axis, leaving her upright with her right side towards the audience. Tilting backwards to a horizontal position with her face upwards, she gyrated under Carmo's spell without any possible means of support. Carmo passed a hoop over her to prove this, whereupon the girl made a simultaeneous quarter-spin and quarter-revolution bringing her to a position facing the audience again but now upside-down! After another pause a further half-revolution brought her upright and able to take the hoop herself with which to skip in mid-air. Handing the hoop back to the magician, she refolded her arms and made a half-spin to bring her face to face with the tomb, into which she now floated back gracefully. No sooner had she reached the sarcophagus than she turned and walked down the sloping lid to take her applause with Carmo." Different! |
Geoff Akins New user 64 Posts |
Resurrecting a very old post because I found a link to the illusion in question! https://youtu.be/nqxmXzO6g04
|
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Great find, great illusion, Thank You!
Just think what the great builders of today and with all the modern mechanics could do with this Grand Illusion. How did Copperfield miss this one. |
FrankFindley Inner circle 1028 Posts |
Wow! That is gorgeous. The staging, the choreographing, the music...it all blends beautifully. Even the facial and hand gestures add to the impact.
The hoop concept is also very interesting and deceptive. Thank you for sharing. |
RVH Magic Special user 877 Posts |
Quote:
On Apr 21, 2018, Bill Hegbli wrote: Copperfield did a version of this on "The Magic of ABC Starring David Copperfield (1977)" Also Doug Henning performed a version of this illusion on his TV show ( World of Magic IV in 1981) And John Gaughan performed "Astarte" at the Conference on Magic History 4 years ago |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Grand illusion » » Carmo’s (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |