Uglified Optical Illusion

This is a strange optical illusion based on focusing on the cross in the middle. The usually "beautiful people" seem to become disfigured.



Jason Tangen, Sean Murphy and Matthew Thompson won second prize in the Eighth Annual Best Illusions of the Year contest sponsored by the Vision Sciences Society. This team from the University of Queensland in Australia discovered "the flashed face distortion effect".

The optical illusion , which works on non-celebs' faces, too, was discovered by accident by Jason Tangen, Sean Murphy and Matthew Thompson of the University of Queensland in Australia. Dubbed the "flashed face distortion effect," it won second prize in the eighth annual Best Illusions of the Year contest, held each year at the Vision Sciences Society meeting.

The researchers explain, "By aligning the faces at the eyes and presenting them quickly, it becomes much easier to compare them, so the differences between the faces are more extreme. If someone has a large jaw, [the effect makes it appear] almost ogre-like. If they have an especially large forehead, then it looks particularly bulbous. We're conducting several experiments right now to figure out exactly what's causing this effect."

Apparently, it works with normal faces, but there is no way I'm putting up my mug.

Posted By: gdanea - Thu Sep 13, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand

Sebastian the Bullet Catcher

Edward Sebastian Adriani, who went by the stage name 'Sebastian,' was a magician who specialized in catching a .22 caliber bullet between his teeth. He even had steel dental plates put on his teeth -- to help him better 'catch' the bullets. Other parts of his act included placing a concrete block on his wife's stomach and pulverizing it with a sledgehammer. Read more about him here.

Posted By: Alex - Wed May 23, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Theater and Stage

Follies of the Mad Men #139

[From Life magazine for October 18 1948.]

Leave it to rich people to shrink down their servants and stuff them like genies into bottles! Note cute name of bartender: "Hugh Bline" = Heublein.

Anyhow, who would want to drink out of a liquor bottle that had a little man in it performing his necessary sanitary functions?

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 28, 2011 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Body Fluids, 1940s

Floram Marchand

As magic tricks go, the "I can vomit wine" claim has died a deserved death. One imagines that neither David Copperfield, nor even Penn & Teller, will be reviving the spectacle of Floram Marchand any time soon.

Floram Marchand: The Great Water Spouter

In the summer of 1650, a Frenchman named Floram Marchand was brought
over from Tours to London, who professed to be able to 'turn water into
wine, and at his vomit render not only the tincture, but the strength
and smell of several wines, and several waters.' Here - the trick and
its cause being utterly unknown - he seems for a time to have gulled
and astonished the public to no small extent, and to his great profit.
Before, however, the whole mystery was cleared up by two friends of
Marchand, who had probably not received the share of the profits to
which they thought themselves entitled. Their somewhat circumstantial
account runs as follows.



More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 07, 2010 - Comments (5)
Category: Entertainment, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Body Fluids, Europe, Seventeenth Century, Alcohol

Beach Magic just in time for Christmas

When it's cold outside, what could be better than a day of magic at the beach?



Any ideas about how it is done?

Posted By: gdanea - Tue Dec 15, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand

Optical illusion

Another great optical illusion -- but does this still work if you are colorblind?



Any explanations why this works?

Posted By: gdanea - Wed Nov 11, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand

Making an Invisible Statement

Liu Bolin, a young Chinese artist, has found a unique way to protest the government's decision to close his art studio in 2005. He paints himself to blend into the scenery, like a chameleon. There is no trick photography involved, and he doesn't use photoshop. Instead, he spends about ten hours studying a picture and painting his body so that people don’t even realize he is there until he moves. The Telegraph online has a pretty good gallery showcasing his images, but you can easily find more thanks to Google.

Posted By: Nethie - Wed Nov 04, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Art, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Body Painting

Street Magic—Woman pulled in half

I love street magic, especially when the participants get freaked out.



Any ideas how this is done?
Little people? Animatronics?

Posted By: gdanea - Thu Jul 23, 2009 - Comments (12)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand

How to Hack Your Brain

The Boston Globe awhile back posted an article on how to fool your brain without having to take hallucinogens. Apparently, the human mind is addicted to sensory information and you can put halved ping pong balls on your eyes while listening to static and see some pretty interesting things. There are a few other techniques too. This is probably why people can see images in the clouds and in stains, it's the mind trying to make something of the chaos. I haven't tried any of them yet, but am looking forward to soon. If anyone tries any of these out let me know, because I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Posted By: mdb777 - Sun May 10, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Brain

Cobra Woman

I saw Maria Montez's COBRA WOMAN about a year ago. But I had to buy an all-regions DVD player and order the DVD from England, since it's unavailable here. But the expense was worth it, as I think you'll agree after you watch the trailer.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 16, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Movies, Pop Culture, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1940s