16 August 2012

"Invisible chairs"

The two most reasonable explanations are:
1) A support inside their pants which flexes 90 degrees only.  It would have to interface with some anchoring point on the floor.

2) Wire supports from above connecting to a body harness.  Other "flying" performers raise this possibility.
Any other ideas?  It seems to have been filmed at a live performance, so presumably there is no green screen video editing.

Via Nothing To Do With Arbroath.


  1. I think your first explanation is right, at around 1:05 you can see them looking down and slotting their feet into something on the stage. Pretty cool!

    1. And it certainly would be the more stable alternative when they move their bodies with the bowing of the instruments.

  2. Similar to this trick


  3. and something like this: http://twentytwowords.com/2012/07/21/the-shoes-that-made-michael-jacksons-anti-gravity-lean-possible/

  4. Fun to see.
    Those people wouldn't know the reference, of course, but that background set made me think of the old Time Tunnel TV show.

    1. I see images of Doctor Who (Daleks), Stargate (ciphrons), and The Time Tunnel.

  5. Note that the bells that they play in the opening are levitating a few inches below the support beam. Since they slide the yellow cloth between the bells and support before playing them, I think in that case it is magnets.

    As for the invisible chairs, I think at about 4:28 in the video you can see a row of spots on the floor, probably where the supports have lowered to be flush with the floor.

    This magician has used the trick and similar ones for advertising campaigns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGpKlfuqhsA&feature=related

  6. Cyril does this well:




  7. At the one minute mark, as the male dancer performs in the front providing a magician's distraction, watch the pipa players in the background. You can see one of the ladies glance down to find her mark, and then you see them lock their right heels into the floor before carefully sitting.

    Later in the video, as they scan the violin players, you can see a compression where the support in their pants is pressing against them.

    So, your first assumption is likely the correct one, that they have braces hidden in their pants.

  8. Along with the observations above, I'll point out that when they "sit", a portion of their pant leg extends out behind the knee, which is a pretty clear indicator that there's some kind of rigid device setup beneath their pants, arcing across from the foreleg to the upper leg to create a complete support system. I'm guessing that there is a bodice of some sort with an undercarriage that bends as they "sit" to actually provide them a sitting platform that's connected as well to waist area so that they'll be able to move their arms and play the instruments without causing themselves to sway about in the process, potentially losing balance. Whatever it is, it's ingenious.

    1. Couldn't be happier about finding a site as I am with this one.

      I kept watching for a twitching in some thigh muscles and didn't catch all the other signals. It was spell binding and there was too much to take in. Thanks so much for your astute awareness and ingenious minds to
      figure out the miraculous.
      I sort of wanted to believe in magic and iron thighs.
      I will now watch the film over and maybe over.


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