How To Levitate

By manipulating your audience's perception, you can persuade them that you are levitating in the air. But, there's more to it than just hiding your secret setup--the effect must be just as psychologically convincing as it is visually convincing. Here's how to combine showmanship with preparation for the optimum illusion.

Step 1  

Build up your presentation. Don't announce your intention to levitate because it will arouse their suspicion and they'll watch you very carefully. Instead, tell them that you're going to "try" something, and it doesn't always work. Make them curious, then surprise them with the actual levitation.

Step 2  

Control what your audience can see and, more importantly, what they can't see. For example, with the Balducci Levitation, the trick lies in standing at an angle where the audience can't see the toes of one foot--that is the section of the foot that is then used to "levitate" the entire body without the audience ever knowing.  

• Some levitations are more angle-specific than others. The more angle-specific the trick is, the more careful you have to be with how you position yourself in relation to the audience. Sometimes, angle specific levitations can only be performed on stage, where the audience's view can be completely controlled.
• You can also deliberately block the audience's view as is done in the Sooperman or King levitation, where you place a jacket in front of your feet while setting up the illusion.

Step 3  

Act as if the levitation is difficult and intense. Mimic the expressions you would use when lifting a heavy object with your muscles. Have a look of concentration on your face. Use body language to further convince them that the levitation is both a mental and physical exertion on your part.  

• Widely known magician David Blaine even pretends to be sick after performing the levitation, further convincing the audience that he exerted tremendous energy during the trick.
• Pretending to be surprised or shocked that the levitation worked can also be convincing.

Step 4  

Exaggerate the extent of the levitation. Land with a hard thump on the ground and bend your knees as if you hit the ground from a greater height than what you are leading the audience to believe. Subconsciously, this will affect how they perceive the extent of your levitation.

Tips

• Videotape yourself performing the levitation, with the camera positioned where the audience will be and at their eye level.
• Wear wide-leg pants that come down to your ankles, which will help to obscure the activity at your feet.
• Limit your audience with more angle-specific tricks. The more people in your audience, the more likely there will be someone in it who's not at the right angle and will see what you're up to.

Warnings

• Don't repeat your trick. Whether you tell them that you're too tired and shaky to do it again, or you act freaked out about it, don't let anyone see you levitate twice.