Looking for an Appearing Motorcycle Illusion.

[Robert//Livingston]

Hey everyone, it's certainly been a while since I've posted on the forums here. Anyway, I'm looking for an appearing motorcycle illusion to be used on stage in an auditorium.

I've looked at a few but I just don't know if they would be worth getting. I'd like to have everyone looking at an empty stage, then two assistants walk on with a sheet, hold it up and I start revving the engine being appeared instantaneous.

Any ideas?

 

[YRAMagicMan]

Illusions FX by andrew mayne has a mini moto appearance on it, the concept would work for much larger productions if you wanted to produce a full size bike, though the published method would take some modifying if you wanted to produce a full size bike.

 

[Craig Browning]

What exactly are you looking for? There are several versions available that can be made for cheap-- Ray Pierce had one of the neatest I've ever seen, it was all fabric -- a set of "bars" made of vinyl I believe it was. It was raised up and in a puff of smoke, the bike & rider appear.

My "Car from a Square Circle" or "Temple Screen" would be your least expensive option. . . and yes, I'm talking about a standard sized production chamber prop via which you produce the vehicle. I've used it out doors without any black-art or lighting support and roughly 2/3 surrounded and blown minds. So if you have a decent production prop of that kind that method might prove the most practical (it would certainly be one of the more unique versions in that only one other act currently has the rights to do it).

You can literally make a cardboard frame (painted) for said production but we're talking lots of black-art top make it work.

I have another version that mixes something Ken Whitaker and I played with back in the days of Creative Illusions. . . you have a raised platform, dancers play with a large cloth showing the area clear, etc. the cloth then lowers down onto the platform and visually takes on the shape of the rider & bike even though nothing can be seen... the cloth is whisked away and voila! bike & rider are there.

If you can fly the unit, you have a simple framed cabinet with a glass front, back & ends. A cloth is laid on the floor of this "box" and after being proved empty, it is raised into the from the platform... suddenly the cloth begins to move and raise from the floor, first as a formless blob and ultimately, taking on the shape of bike & rider... unit is returned to raise platform, cloth removed and voila! Again, this is something I've come up with based on a Ken Whitaker idea.

If you are new to the illusion world and seeking to have something different but affordable, feel free to give me yell and we'll see what we can do.

 

[Robert//Livingston]

CRAIG!!!

That was my shout for you, haha. I'm very new to the illusion world and am very eager to start performing illusions. I'm mostly a close-up parlour type guy, but want to branch out into illusion as it's been one of my dreams forever.

So all of those appearances sound great, I saw Reva on YouTube doing this production - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a73gqHDeRPQ and it looks beautiful.

I have another version that mixes something Ken Whitaker and I played with back in the days of Creative Illusions. . . you have a raised platform, dancers play with a large cloth showing the area clear, etc. the cloth then lowers down onto the platform and visually takes on the shape of the rider & bike even though nothing can be seen... the cloth is whisked away and voila! bike & rider are there.

This also sounds very interesting! I don't have a HUGE budget, but it is there. The Ray Pierce build sounds very promising also.

I'm currently in the planning process of getting a stage (illusion) show together for a local small theater around here, and have bought a couple books on building illusions. Alas... I still feel like I'm wandering without a direction. I do know that I would like to start the show off with my entrance being an appearing motorcycle/rider.

Thanks for the help! Hope to hear from you soon.

 

[j.bayme]

What you've got in mind isn't easy, but hardly anything easy is worth doing. I performed a motorcycle appearance to kick off my theater performances up until 2007. It was an original illusion and method fabricated by William Kennedy. If you're unfamiliar with Willie Kennedy's work, he is incredible - the right hand for many years to another magician you may know a bit better: Doug Henning.

In a theatrical setting, deceptive appearances on this scale are not easy to pull off. Aside from Copperfield, I have rarely seen truly deceptive appearances on that scale, ever. Perhaps he set the bar too high. One of my most memorable words of advice as a stage performer came from Chris Kenner. It was the first night I met him. He watched a video of my (very, very, very rough) stage show. And his advice was two-fold: get rid of the boxes, and bring everything WAY closer to the audience. If you're performing at the back of the stage, your audience loses that intimacy that makes live theater... live theater. Years later, Chris's words could not have rang more true. Notice how in Portal, Copperfield isn't just CLOSE to the audience: it's standing over their heads.

Logistically, modern stage illusions pose many challenges. You have differences in angles, lighting, wing space, and a host of other factors to run with. To add to that, the safety requirements baked in. In my own performances, we used a real Ducati. It weighed about six times more than I did. If it was moving, I was coming with it. The result - hours and hours of rehearsal - was an effective illusion with a lot of punch. My best advice to you would be to research as much as you can, and study what the greats - Copperfield, Henning, more - have already done. Then figure out how to make it your own.

 

[Robert//Livingston]

J.B - Thank you so much for your post, and your advice.

What processes did you go through to start your first (rough) stage show? Did you have a set budget? Did you already have contacts with other magicians that you borrowed props from?

Also, I love the Motorcycle Appearance as well as the Ducati haha. Do you still perform?

Thanks again J.B!

 

[Craig Browning]

The Reeza piece is a fairly stock set-up, without the bike you could probably buy the completed piece from someone like Bill Smith for somewhere in the $8-10k area. You could build something similar for a about a third of that cost.

Understand, big illusions of most any type a bloody expensive now days. My first illusion show didn't cost as much to build as a single effect seems to run currently. As someone just getting started I suggest you keep adjust your visions to what's practical currently.

I'll send you a pm