8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

1/7

INSTRUCTIONS FOR T X THURSTON METHOD OF THE A S I A LEVITATION

The l a t e Howard Th urston ? re f aced t h e Asra I l l u s i o n by f i r s tdoing t h e Aga. As most magicihns know, i n t h e ga Le vi ta t i on ,t h e g i r l r i s e s from a c ouch, o r s l e v i t a t e d f rom a couch , andhoog i s nassed over he r . Sne then descends t o th e couch , sde -h yy o t iz ed? and ta ke s a Sow. Thurs ton aga in hypn o t iz est h e young lady , and , ju s t a s she s f a l l i n g i n t o t li e arms of ana s s i s t an t , t n o more a s s i s t a n t s en t e r w i th an onened-out s h ee t an d,t im in g s sucQ t h a t t h e s h ee t ap aea r s t o b e thyown o v er t h e g i r l ,when ac tu al ly she makes he r get-a l~vay through a t r a p on t h e s tag e.I n p l ac e of u si n g a s t ag e t r a ~ , h e same e f f e c t raay be accom-p l i s h e d by u s i n g a s o e c i a l l y made t a b l e , i n which t h e g i r l c on-c e a l s h e r s e l f .F ig u re shows an o rd in a ry s t ag e b a t t en w i th an ad d i t i o n a lscrew-eye a t each end , co r respond ing screw-eyes i n t h e s t age .Af t e r ro n es ha.ve been f a s t e n ed t o t h e s crew-eyes, t h e b a t t en i sou l l ed t a u t , th us n reven t ing any sway o r movement i n ba t te n asi h e i l l u s i o n s presen ted .F i g u r e 2 shows the offs tage hookup w i t h d o u b le p u l l ey f a s t en edt o t h e s t a ge and two s i n g l e pul.leys, ( i n l i n e , ) f a ~ t e n e d o t h eb a t t e n . The t h r e a d s , c on ne ct ed t o f i g u r e , a r e t i e d s e c ur e l y t o

t h e tllio ropes t h a t a r e bound toge ther . The oper a to r o f fs ta ges imply moves th es e ropes up o r down, accord ing t o t he ac t i on re -~ u i r e d .F i g u r e 3 shons th e kno t te d ends of th es e ropes sec ure l y boundw it h e l e c t r i c i a n ' s t a pe .F ig u re 4 shows t h e t h r ea d fas ten ed t o movab le arm and th re adt o t h e he ad of f i g u r e .F i g u r e 5 shows t h e b ack s t ag e view o f t h e i l l u s i o n i n o pe ra -t i o n .F i g u r e s 6 and show t h e con s t r uc t ion of th e wi re f rame. Th isi s made ou t of p iano wi re : 24 gauge f o r th e sp ine wi re ; 2 0 gaugef o r b ot h o u t l i n e s ; 1 4 g au ge u s ed f o r t h e c r o s s r e i n f or c e m e n ts ofone o u t l i n e a c r o s s t h e s p i n e p i e c e , a t l e a s t f o u r c r o ss - br a ce sof 1 4 gauge o ve r t h e body o u t l i n e , d i r e c t l y i n t h e c e n t e r ; 9g au ge f o r t h e r e s t of t h e b reces o ve r t h e body. The r a i s i n g arme f f e c t i s n o th i ng , m ore o r l e s s , t h a n a n i e c e of l i g h t ga uge v i r ea t t a c h e d l o o s e l y t o t h e s i d e of fr aine s o t h a t t c a n b e r a i s e do r lowered wi th a thread.. The thread . , of co urs e , ?a ss es througha h o l e i n t h e s h ee t .A f t e r t h e o u t l i n e h as been s t a ol e d t o t h e f l o o r , t h e n t h e

s p i n e r s i r e s t r e a t e d t h e same way. N ex t, t h e f a c e o u t l i n e m i re .and th e n , a s t h e b r a c e w i r e s a r e ad de d, t h e s e t o o a r e s t a o l e d

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

2/7

PAGE 2t o t h e f l o or . V h il e i n t h i s p o s it i o n, a l l p oi n t s a r e s old ere d.The ta ck s a r e then removed, t h e excess pieoes of wj re a r e outo f f , th e ends f i l e d down, and a l l soldered par t s and a l l pa r t st h a t cr os s each oth er a r e bound secure12 with 10 gauge *ire.

To d i sco lo r f rame b tack , t he whole f r a ~ e s immersed i n asolu t i on as f o l l o ~ s : oz. Ni t r ic Acid, oz. of Copper Sulphate,lb . I ron Chloride , 4 oz. Hydr ochl oric Aciri, and g al lo n ofwater. Place frame i n above solut ion fo r 15 minutes , then l l o wt o d r y severa l hours; p lace i n so lu t ion aga in f o r 15 minutes ;remove and dry 10 hours; pla ce i n boi l i ng water f o r hour.Dry and o i l l igh t ly .Af te r th i s , any sharp po i n t s a re bound wi th e le c t r i c i an rs tape .The sheet used i s of heavy s i lk , s ize 4 x f e e t . ( 1 t i svery important t o keep t h e weight of th e shee t an t h e mire framedown t o a minimum.An i roning board i s placed di re ct ly under t he bat ten , mhioh

s lowered i n t he se t t ing- up process . The frame i s olaced onth e i roni ng board , th e two overhead threads being gassed throughtwo h o l e s i n t h e s h ee t , and t h e ends of t h e t h r ead t i e d t o t h ewire f r ane .

When a l l th reads a re i n wos it ion , th e ba t ten s drawn ur, intoth e f l i e s , the two over heac' th reads a re t i e d t o th e pu l ley ropes ,and the arm and head t h r e ad t ak en t o t h e wings on t h e o ~ ~ o s i t esid e. Two {nore le ng th s of thr ea d a re used, one t i e d t o th e headand one t i e d t o t h e f e e t . These thr ea ds a r e long enough t o reacht o t h e baclc edge of t h e sh eet when h e l d by a s s i s t a n t s .Now, t h e ir on ing board, wit h frame, i s t aken o f f t o th e ropes id e , an a s s i s t an t o p e ra t i ng t h e ro pes t o a ll ow s u f f i c i e n t s l a cki n t h r e ad t o do t h i s .I n t h e p r es e n ta t i on of t h e i l l u s i o n , t he g i r l s hypnotized,and, immediately she i s p laced on t h e t ab l e , t h e a s s i s t an t swalk on quic kly wi th t h e opened-out shee t. Two a s s i s t a n t s a r enecessa ry f o r th i s . The ir l e f t s ides a re toward the aud ience,th e foremos t as s i s t an t ' s l e f t hand ho lds the head th read andcorner of th e shee t , the r i g h t hand holds t he sheet back towardsthe second as s i s t an t . The second as s i s t an t holds th e fe e t threadand corner of sheet i n r i g h t hand and t h e edge of she et towardst h e f i r s t a s s i s t a n t i n t h e l e f t hand. The as s i s tan t o f f s tagemanipu la tes the ropes t o s ee t ha t the re s s u f f i c i e n t s l ac k i nthe thread .Under cover o f t h e s h ee t, t h e g i r l g e t s i n t o t h e t ab l e , t h eframe taki ng h e r wosition.The nece ssary pass es a r e made by t h e magician, th en , adethe

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

3/7

PAGEform r i s e s from t h e ta bl e. -?hen t i s c l e a r , t h e t a b l e i s nushedoffstage and form s the n tak en up, hig h enough f o r t h e raagi-c ia n t o walk under from th e back t o t he f ro n t . The f i gu re thenf l o a t s a c r o s s s t ag e . T hi s s done by t h e a s s i s t a n t on t h e he adthread. The f igure s then al lowed t o go back to or ig i na l posi-t i on , and the magician walks t o the back of t he f i gu re , as t slowered t o about wais t high.

The magician th en nlac es h i s opened hands between t h e th rea ds ,engaging th e threac? between t h e second and t h i r d f i n g e r s of eachhand. He, then walks forward t o the fo o t l i gh t s , a s s i s t an t s o ff -st ag e playing out th e slack thread. Magician then backs up th re eo r fou r f e e t and tu rns , so th a t h i s back s toward the audience,a s he p r o p e l l s t h e f i g u r e back t o i t s o r i g i n a l f l o a t i n g p os it io n.The aes i s t an t on th e head th read pu l l s f i gu re back t o t he o r ig -i n a l n o s i t i o n .Figure i s aga in e leva ted to about s i x f e e t , mag ic ian saying ,Fernando, r a i s e your r i g h t arm . This i s done by pulling ont h e arri thread. The magician then sta nds cl os e t o f i g u r e , g r i p sa co rner of sh ee t i n each hand, and je rk s t h e sh ee t downwards.The as s i s t an t , opera t ing ropes , ~ u i c k l y u l l s t h e f i g u r e t o t he

f lo or . This ac t ion breaks th e t i ireads .A s th e magic ian walks for nard wi th th e she et i n h i s h an ds ,t h e t a b c u r t a i n s a r e al lo we d t o c l ose .

~ a t t e r n e d a rpe t s necessary on the f lo o r , but i n p laceof t h i s , any far~ cy re tonne m i l l do.The l i g h t s a r e dimmed to hi de t h e th rea ds , however a babys p o t l i g h t s k ep t on t h e f l o a t i n g f i g u r e a t a l l ti me s. Caremust be ta ke n t h a t t h e sp o t l i g h t s manipula ted so tha t t doesno t show above th e body, where th re ad s a r e atta che d.

ABBOTT Y MAGIC HOWLTY CO.Colon, Uichigan

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

4/7

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

5/7

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

6/7

-- BpI f rizr4 b7-

G 55 7 h5515TpIgT o ~ F ~ T ~ G E

~~~~~ A D PEP.ATEUDY A551Cjrqir OFFSTAGE

./ 2 b

~ Q V A ~ L ERM O A L I O I C NC ~ ~5 F FORM

8/13/2019 As Rah Thurston

7/7

W IRE5 RE RCC~FD

ro FoRA

B

ov ORW COLO~