Author: DavidKenney
Date: 03-16-05 16:52
Spoon bending is a classic example of mind over matter - or, more truthfully, of a magic trick pretending to be mind over matter. The performer selects a spoon, taps it on something to show that it's real, and then makes it bend and finally break into two with just the power of his mind.
Except, of course, it's not the power of his mind at all. The host wonders, "How did the phony psychic pull off this scam?" The spoon is actually pre-cut, though the audience can't see it. The performer uses the pressure of his thumb to finish the break and then merely pretends it is bending as he releases the pressure on the joint.
That is the old fashioned ? ?old school? way ? and since then there has been so many improvements on the effect.
Spoon bending is usually done by misdirection. Get everyone to look away while you bend the spoon. Geller has even been known to hold up a bent spoon and say "its bending, it?s bending" while gradually revealing more of the bend between his fingers.
What's especially good about Banacek's stuff is his routining. He knows where to misdirect and exactly how much to misdirect. He's also a master of the equivoque, subtle force, and subtle anything. His mastery absolutely dazzles me.
And at the end of his video, he actually lists other sources for silverware bending--as I recall, maybe 15 other sources.
As I recall, the Bavli videos got some bad reviews in the magic magazines, although those reviewers are famously not practitioners of psychokinesis, so I don't know what to make of that.
Listen to what Magician James Randi has to say on the subject:
?How do you bend a spoon? Well, any ninny can do that, as well as he can break a wine-glass or tear a page from a book. Takes no intellect whatsoever. But the magicians do such a thing as if it?s being done by the power of their minds, by some sort of mental gift they?re exhibiting. Only a rather slow person would accept this claim, but there seem to be a fair percentage of slow folks out there.
Magicians often ask me how to bend a spoon to make it look like a miracle. I tell them they won?t be happy with the answer, because they expect a complex "move" or some sort of secret device or chemical ? but it?s all expressed in these seven words: Bend it when no one is looking. Yep, that?s the secret, complete, unvarnished, and direct. The obvious next question is, "How do you make sure they?re not looking?" Here?s how.
You have lots of opportunity to move around. Excuses like, "Let?s go over here," or "I need to be near the window," will enable you to put a 30-degree bend into any spoon, since everyone?s involved in moving to the new location, and a quick move simply bends the utensil. You may not think that people will excuse your holding the spoon in both hands ? as shown in the illustration ? but they actually will. I?ve often wondered why some spoon-benders need to carry a single spoon in both hands, when I, at the advanced age of 72, can carry as many as a dozen spoons in one hand! Really!
Of course, as soon as you?ve accomplished the bend, as yet unrevealed, you have to conceal that fact. Get bossy. Tell people where to stand, and keep on talking. Cover the spoon with your hands so that they can?t see the bend, and finally ask one of the victims to hold one end of the spoon ? as if that gave him/her any control over it! ? while you stroke away and gradually reveal the bend that you insist is psychically appearing. And always attribute the success of the miracle to the subject?s presence and involvement, of course! In recounting it afterward, you specify that the spoon was being held by another person while it bent. And yes, that will be believed, because it?s almost true.
But the best is yet to come. Before you rush on to another demonstration of (as I always say) "a semi-religious nature," give the spoon a quick further bend, and discard it. As soon as it?s out of sight, casually remark that often the utensil you?ve affected will continue to bend by itself. When the spoon is retrieved later, lo! It?s bent even more, in compliance with your prediction!
There is currently available on the market a fork that can be freely shown in an unbent condition, then placed down in full sight while it literally arches up into a 45-degree bend all by itself, and can be thoroughly inspected immediately afterward. This is a pricey "prop," and well beyond the amateur budget.?
Some other great resources are:
Mind Bender DVD - Chad Sanborn
Psychokenetic Silverware Video
Guy Bavli videos
Parik Kuffs
Richard Osterlind 4 DVD Set - Mind Mysteries
David Kenney Magic
Davidkenneymagic@aol.com
http://dkmagic.blogspot.com/ - New effects every week!
FOUND THIS VIA GOOGLE, I DONT KNOW IF THIS WORKS
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