Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Project 365 (214/365): The Transported Man

Lest we forget, I'm guesting tomorrow, gais! Channel 7, Unang Hirit. :)

.:Project 365 (214/365): The Transported Man:.



This magic routine of fictional origin (That has since been duplicated several times over.)is visually stunning and has achieved a lot of infamy in the non-magic world, all the way down to the term "The Prestige", which, in reality, is not even a term that is actually used by magicians, to begin with.

In its fictional history, the act was originally performed by Borden as played by Christian Bale, wherein through two doors, he tosses a red ball that bounces and then gets caught by himself through the other end of the stage. It was an illusion that defied logic and baffled people everywhere, more so in an age where sawing a lady in the half was still an impossibility.

As his rival, Angier, as played by Hugh Jackman (Yes, Batman vs. Wolverine.), found himself frustrated with discovering the secret, he figured out his own way of duplicating the illusion, and in doing so, he found an unsavory solution that seemed lacking in elegance to him: he would use a double to carry out the illusion, and never once be able to bask in the applause of the illusion as he falls through a trapdoor set up in the stage.

At some point, this plan is upset when Borden manages to expose the fact that Angier uses a double, and in doing so, infuriates Angier even more. At this point, the story takes another dark turn, and Angier ends up discovering another method to the Transported Man: a cloning machine. Unfortunately, he also has taken to murdering each of his clones upon each performance to prevent an overpopulation of Angier clones.

In the end, the reveal comes that Borden actually had a twin brother, thereby allowing the only living twin a chance to finally commit the crime he was sentenced to die for: murdering Angier, who actually merely set up one of his clones to be drowned in the presence of Borden.

A chilling illusion with a chilling history, but believe you me, the secrets of magic were guarded so well in the past that people did have to resort to blackmail and theft just to get what they wanted.

Thankfully, though, this illusion has had creative performances at present, and even at our show, "Bound and Gagged", I did a sort of similar thing, where I ended up at the balcony after being locked up in a trunk. Went pretty well, actually.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Pledge, The Turn, The Prestige are real terms in magic, BUT modern day magicians and illusionist barely use it or have knowledge of it's existence, these terms have been used by magicians in the past and are real terms.
Just wanted to clarify that up, if you think about it, every magic act, does indeed exhist out of 3 parts, i'm an Illusionist myself, and I use these terms to build my own illusions every time.

Kel Fabie said...

I'd take your word for it, but in modern times,the Prestige seems to apply mostly only to stage illusions.

Closeup magicians rarely do anything beyond the Turn, which is why I was inclined to believe the first person to tell me that "The Prestige" was merely an invention by writer Christopher Priest to make for a riveting book.