David blaine card shattering trick

[John B.]

So a friend of mine says he saw in one of Davids specials a card routine where at the end it shattered. I was trying to find it and neither of us can. Help please

Why was this moved to the magic section? this is not discussing how the trick was done but simply the video? something that even laymen can watch?

[Don Boyer]

I moved it because it's about a magic trick, that's why!  We don't actually explain details of how tricks are done here, since to the magicians creating them it's part of their bread and butter, but we talk about tricks (like this) and cardistry moves on this topic.  Tips, sure, but no reveals here.

Search for "david blaine card shatter" on Google and you'll get a number of hits for the video in question.

[Curt]

I don't remember seeing this trick... granted I haven't seen a Blaine special in a while. I'll take a look and see if I can find a video and then post a link, if someone doesn't beat me to it first.

And yes John, this section of the forum isn't really about revealing tricks, just talking about magic and cardistry in general.

EDIT: Found the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG2zRr8Zz84

[John B.]

ok, I just know that this board is for magicians only so fiuged in the talk park others could see it.

[Curt]

"What a name for a board, right? Anything related to cardistry or magic belongs in here. No laymen allowed (this is an offence punishable by death)"

There is some sarcasm in that statement. Anyone can ask questions and post in this board, it just has to be magic or cardistry related

:p

[Nurul]

This trick is pretty sweet. It's clear he uses a force. The Houdini trick deck uses the same principle for forcing a card. The bit with the glass shattering was such a good touch.. Wonder if that can be bought 

[Don Boyer]

This trick is pretty sweet. It's clear he uses a force. The Houdini trick deck uses the same principle for forcing a card. The bit with the glass shattering was such a good touch.. Wonder if that can be bought 

I've never seen it offered.  Apply a little science and it's not impossible to work it out.  Create a glass-like card, thin and loosely adhered to a real card.  The force is achieved using a variant of the trick called "Get Sharkey", sold by Card Shark in Germany - it allows the forced card to seemingly vanish from the deck.

[Anthony]

All I know is I like it, very cool trick 

[Nurul]

This trick is pretty sweet. It's clear he uses a force. The Houdini trick deck uses the same principle for forcing a card. The bit with the glass shattering was such a good touch.. Wonder if that can be bought 

I've never seen it offered.  Apply a little science and it's not impossible to work it out.  Create a glass-like card, thin and loosely adhered to a real card.  The force is achieved using a variant of the trick called "Get Sharkey", sold by Card Shark in Germany - it allows the forced card to seemingly vanish from the deck.

Without giving too much away, the force I'm on about is part of the Houdini deck trick with the handcuffs that you feed through a hole. Those who own it know what I'm on about, there's a little snap you here when you riffle through the cards, that's the cue to stop.
Also, I believe the trick is a variant of David Harkey's "Petrified" which can be found in his "AH-HA" book

[Don Boyer]

This trick is pretty sweet. It's clear he uses a force. The Houdini trick deck uses the same principle for forcing a card. The bit with the glass shattering was such a good touch.. Wonder if that can be bought 

I've never seen it offered.  Apply a little science and it's not impossible to work it out.  Create a glass-like card, thin and loosely adhered to a real card.  The force is achieved using a variant of the trick called "Get Sharkey", sold by Card Shark in Germany - it allows the forced card to seemingly vanish from the deck.

Without giving too much away, the force I'm on about is part of the Houdini deck trick with the handcuffs that you feed through a hole. Those who own it know what I'm on about, there's a little snap you here when you riffle through the cards, that's the cue to stop.
Also, I believe the trick is a variant of David Harkey's "Petrified" which can be found in his "AH-HA" book

"Get Sharkey" - again, without giving away the full-blown secret - uses a principle very much like the Svengali deck, but does so in a very clever, different way that allows for making the deck searchable.  The force cards in that deck never appear when the deck is searched, and unlike a Mirage or Invisible deck, there's no roughing spray used.  The cards simply "aren't there".

Riffle-forcing a card is the easy bit.  Making the card appear to no longer be there after the force - that's the hard part.  But as I said, there's ways to do it if you get creative.

The card that shatters is the harder part, though it's not impossible.  Obviously there's something glass-like on top of a card that conceals the card and makes it appear to be a different card.  Candy glass would be a strong contender - it's cheap, safe and can actually be made in the home; it's essentially a very clear, shaped piece of rock candy, you could eat it if you wanted to.  The glass in this case doesn't need to be clear - it needs to look AND feel like the surface of a playing card, and it needs to be exceptionally thin.  Remember, in the trick the prediction card is held by a spectator face down, meaning the "glass" side is in contact with the skin of the spectator's hand.  There's probably some form of light coating on the card to create the pasteboard look and feel on the card's face - the back is simply the back of the actual force card, the "real" prediction card.

It's a damn clever trick.  Some of the best magic out there uses some pretty cool science.

[Nurul]

We never really see the full picture. I reckon the spectator is holding an ordinary card. While all the heat is on the deck, blaine could easily have used a gamblers cop to pull out the glass from his pocket. Or, because it's a clear piece of glass, it could have been stuck on the outside of his trousers, palmed the glass and apply it to the card that the spectator is holding.

Keep in mind, this is just a theory I have

[Don Boyer]

We never really see the full picture. I reckon the spectator is holding an ordinary card. While all the heat is on the deck, blaine could easily have used a gamblers cop to pull out the glass from his pocket. Or, because it's a clear piece of glass, it could have been stuck on the outside of his trousers, palmed the glass and apply it to the card that the spectator is holding.

Keep in mind, this is just a theory I have

A card switch is the more logical answer, I believe.  It's surprising how often the simple answer is the correct one.  Hundred times easier to do that, and he doesn't even need to cop the card the spectator held on the switch - he could crumple it into his palm and pocket it as the glass is shattering.  Everyone would be so busy staring at the "shattered card", he'd be able to walk an all-gorilla marching band past them without them noticing...  The soon-to-be-shattered card could even be hidden at the bottom of the deck in his right hand at the start of the trick, couldn't it?

[Nurul]

I say it's stuck to the outside of his trousers, only because when the shot is zoomed out, DB has his hands by his side, in what seems to be him patting his thigh. But, like you said, the simplest answer is most the time the correct answer. No matter how it's done, it's his audience management skills and misdirection that make the trick what it is