The Instant Babe illusion revealed is based on my own speculation, from watching the YouTube video clips.
Besides the videos, I also sought out help from some websites.
Probably this so-called Instant Babe illusion secrets exposed is the first of its kind.
I do not own this Instant Babe illusion apparatus, and I do not know how the trick is done.
After watching various video clips by different illusionists, I think I know where the girl hides in the prop and how she can make her lightning fast appearance.
I would accompany the reveal with supporting visuals captured from the video clips and also pictures from different websites
As I have just mentioned, the revealing of the secret working of this illusion is based on watching some blurry video clips and together with my two-cent opinion.
Anyway, this is an old (probably 2005) stage appearance illusion designed by Daniel Summers.
Effect:
The illusionist steps on top of a specially-designed platform or a low table.
The illusionist picks up a fairly wide piece of cloth.
Next, he slowly lifts the cloth until its bottom hemline reaches around his knee level.
Then he lowers the cloth, and as he whisks it away, a female assistant instantaneously posing next to the illusionist.
To the audience, it seems the girl pops out from nowhere.
Watch the Instant Babe illusion act below:
The prop is simple and the performance is short, yet the effect is never short of amazement.
This Instant Babe illusion apparatus is ingeniously designed.
It doesn’t come with built-in tall wide panels to shield the appearance effect, except for the wide piece of cloth.
Both the illusionist and his assistant have to work hand in hand adroitly making all the secret moves to achieve the quick-appearance effect.
Two key factors are: timing and pacing.
I believe it takes a lot of practice and rehearsal to achieve this sleek appearance illusion.
The female assistant should be fairly nimble to rush up quickly and then make the sudden emergence.
As for the illusionist, it is his polished showmanship or presentation skills in executing this simple but not easy stage illusion.
RELATED: Here are four free books to improve or excel in your magic performance.
2-Inch Base Instant Babe Illusion
Now, let’s take a good look at the deceptive apparatus or prop.
As advertised on its website, it says the table is mere 2-inch thick.
But logically, we know for sure there is no way to hide an average sized person in a 2 inch deep space.
So where does the female assistant hide?
Normally illusionists will spin or turn the prop around to show the audience that there is nothing dubious about it.
But for this Instant Babe illusion, you don’t get to see the back side of the apparatus at all.
The illusionists misdirect your attention to their frantic flapping of the huge cloth.
In other words, there must be some kind of secret lurking behind the prop.
Or to be precise, underneath the prop.
It would be revealed soon.
Another suspicious feature of this apparatus is the two side steps.
Why does this low apparatus need side steps?
I reckoned they are there to conspire with the deceptive base in helping to hide the female assistant.
If you check out the apparatus of Instant Babe in Daniel Summers website, you would see nothing unusual or dubious.
To find out exactly where the girl hides in the prop, I have to seek help from elsewhere.
Instant Babe Secret Hiding Place
This is where I think the secret hiding place is in the prop.
As I have already indicated it is underneath the platform.
There is a slit opening on top back part of the platform.
This is a close-up picture of the secret exit for the girl to sneak out.
How do I know there is this camouflaged slit opening where the hidden girl can slip out?
Look at this picture of the platform closely and you can see the notched edge as indicated.
Now, let’s look what is underneath the back of the prop from what I have gathered from various sources.
Here is another image taken from the China website, Alibaba.
Now you know why they never turn the prop around to show the audience.
After watching a few videos, I noticed there is a dark area stretches across underneath at the back of the platform.
One more thing, this illusion is usually performed in semi-gloomy stage distracted with flashing and sweeping stage lights.
Some even enhanced it with dry ice fog effect.
So I suspected something shady about this Instant Babe illusion prop.
For instance, this act by French illusionist Kamyleon, I can see a dark color area under the back side of the prop, just the beginning of the act.
You can see two short white lines on the left hand side.
Now look at the same spot of the platform, when the cloth is raised, just before the girl emerges.
You can see there is no more dark area, and the two white lines on the left are now longer, because there is no blocking.
Check out these two freeze-frames taken from Hans Klok’s 5-Minute Illusion Challenge performance.
At the beginning of the act, you can see clearly the dark area under the platform.
Now look at the same spot of the prop, after the cloth is raised by Dutch illusionist Hans Klok.
There is no more dark area at the back, beneath the platform.
NOTE: The center black piece is actually the secret hiding place for the girl, which I will highlight to you later in the post.
Here is another scene taken from the world’s fastest magician Hans Klok performing at The Ellen Show DeGeneres Show.
Before his female assistant appears, you can see the back area below the platform is black in color.
After the sexy lady appears beside him, look at the same back area below the platform.
The black color is gone and this is what you see.
Here is another video of Canadian magician Ryan Joyce where you can see the same dark area under the platform, at the beginning of the trick.
Now look at the same spot, after the cloth is raised by Ryan Joyce.
There is no more dark area beneath the platform.
This is from the late Michael Gile‘s performing Instant Babe Illusion from Masters of Illusion 2014.
Now, look at the same area of the prop. There is nothing underneath.
Check out his young magician’s prop. The dark area is there throughout the act.
First I thought it is a shadow, but when the illusion is over, the stagehands push it out, I notice it is no shadow from 0:25
You can clearly see there is a black color area at the back below the platform.
Here is another two scenes taken from a show by a Chinese magician.
This is when the girl is still hiding beneath the platform.
This picture is after the girl has already come out from the secret hiding place.
The Dark Secret Of Instant Babe Unveiled
So what exactly is that dark secret beneath the platform or table top?
It is the place which holds the hidden girl from the start of the act.
The hiding area below the Instant Babe Illusion prop platform is similar to the “Dress Box Illusion” by Belgian magician Servais Le Roy.
The way of hiding the girl under the base of the apparatus is revealed in the book “Conjurers’ Mechanical Secrets” in Samuel Henry Sharpe‘s book.
You can see the illustrations under “Split Compartment of Concealment by Distribution” on page 17.
Read the book free from any of the links below.
Conjurers’ Mechanical Secrets By S. H. Sharpe
Click on any of these: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
RELATED: You can read more about hiding places in stage illusion apparatus, and basic hiding position for your assistant and deceptive detailing from these two books:
Illusion Systems Book One: Begin To Build Your Own Illusions By Paul Osborne
Click on any of these: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Link 5, Link 6, Link 7
The Seven Basic Secrets of Illusions By Eric Van Duzer
Click on any of these: Link 1, Link 2
Once the girl has sneaked out from this hiding area, this particular fabric automatically hides away under the platform.
From the Hans Klok video, I noticed after the girl has appeared, a hidden contraption or device under the back of the platform snaps open at 1:32.
As I have admitted, I do not know precisely the design or the working mechanism of this secret hiding area under the prop.
But this is where the female assistant hides, before she slips out through the slit on top of the platform.
RELATED: Check out these free books on building stage magic apparatus with thin deceptive bases.
Wide Cloth To Hide Instant Babe Illusion Secrets
When I viewed the act from YouTube videos, my first question is why do they need an extremely wide piece of cloth.
For a normal appearance illusion, the magician just holds up a cloth which is slightly taller than an average person.
The girl carefully creeps out from the hidden base and stands behind the cloth.
Then the cloth is dropped or whisked away to reveal the girl.
But for this Instant Babe illusion, it even needs two supporting rods on each side to extend the width of cloth, which makes it look like a hand glider.
Interestingly, its website just specified the cloth is about three feet tall.
The fact is the height of the cloth has little to do with the trick.
It avoids mentioning the width of cloth, which actually is the important part to this illusion.
To perform this Instant Babe illusion successfully, it requires this super wide cloth, which is actually a three-sided curtain screen.
It is to block off the female assistant who is secretly hiding behind the illusionist just before the cloth is whisked away.
Yes, the girl is already on the platform with her illusionist, just before she appears.
The moment when the illusionist brings down the cloth touching the platform, she is already hiding behind the cloth with him.
Watch this video of magician Ted Bravo and his assistant.
She dashes out from his back and steps out beside him at: 1:14-1:15.
And because of the sudden movement, she needs to hold on to him for support.
Slow down the YouTube video playback speed to 0.25, and view it.
You can see the shadow movement of her right foot just below the platform.
I will explain more in detail about the girl hiding behind the illusionist, before she steps out to make that sudden appearance.
Ironically, the vigorous swaying of the cloth by the illusionists before the trick, can actually distract the audience from focusing on this enormous piece of fabric.
They make the lively swaying and swinging of the cloth as part of the whole high energy dramatic routine.
Furthermore, this fast waving movement enhances the perception of speed and swiftness of this production illusion.
But in fact, the sequence of handling the cloth by the illusionist before the abrupt appearance of the girl, is slower than you are think.
Actually, there are four key steps in the sequence, before the girl appears.
I will explicate on this sequence later.
Instant Babe Female Assistant
There are two tasks which the female assistant of Instant Babe illusion has to do.
First she has to come out from the hiding place at the bottom back of the prop.
Then she has to deftly hides herself behind the illusionist just before the final emergence.
Instant Babe Illusion Revealed
Let’s talk about the first part which she has to sneak out from the hiding place of the platform or table base and hides behind the illusionist.
The truth is she has enough time to get to the back of the illusionist.
Watch the sequence carefully, how the illusionist handles the cloth until his female assistant appears.
This is the whole secret of this Instant Babe illusion.
It is well choreographed with definite moves.
First he spreads out the cloth, then deliberately drags it up slowly as if some kind of a dramatic act.
Actually, the illusionist is providing time for his female assistant to get come out from the platform and hide behind him.
When the cloth is raised momentarily, the girl is already standing on one leg behind the illusionist’s back.
She stands on her right leg exactly behind the illusionist’s left leg, while her left leg is raised and bend.
She lowers her head to about his chest level, low enough to be blocked by the cloth.
Because of such an unsteady position, she holds on to him for balance.
Here is a scene captured from the video, where you can see her legs behind the illusionist.
You can see all the girl’s right leg is always behind the illusionist’s left leg.
When the illusionist pulls off the cloth, she does this in one quick move:
She lowers her left leg, lifts up head, steps out her left leg and poses beside him.
This swift movement will make her looks like she appears like magic.
Similarly, you can see this female assistant’s right hand holding onto the performer’s right shoulder at 0:06 to 0:07 from this video clip.
Focus on these two spots as pointed out in the picture below:
4-Step Instant Babe Appearance
Now you will find out why earlier, I called this illusion as the sleight of his hands and her body.
I will explain it step-by-step, just like a slow-motion movie scene.
This is the most crucial part of this illusion.
The movements of the cloth by the illusionist and the timing of the girl to appear as if she just become visible from nowhere.
Both of them, the illusionist and his assistant have to work in sync, just like dancing.
If it is well coordinated, it seems the girl appears out of thin air.
Let’s focus on the illusionist first.
Remember, the illusionist doesn’t rush when he makes the final magic moment.
There are four key steps which he has to do.
Step One: He purposely lifts up the cloth slowly and looking at it, as if some magical thing is going to happen.
This is to give the girl time to sneak out to his back.
Step Two: He continues to raise the cloth slowly until somewhere at his knee level.
By this time the girl is already hiding behind him with one leg.
He pauses for about two seconds.
As I have said, it’s all about timing and pacing.
Step Three: He lowers the cloth down to the platform.
Now the girl who is getting ready to come out from his back.
Again, the illusionist pauses for one or two seconds.
He does not immediately swirl the cloth to reveal the girl.
Step Four: This is the make or break sequence of this illusion.
Assume the girl is going to appear on his left hand side, his left hand will still hold up the cloth, while his right hand will turn or swing the other side of the cloth over to his left side.
That means now the two ends of the cloth are together on his left hand side, where the girl is in the midst of making her appearance.
See the image below and you can still see the girl’s left foot.
By shifting his right hand side of the cloth over to his left hand side, is just to hide the girl as long as possible.
With this little extra covering time, it helps to make the effect of her instantaneous appearance more convincing.
It is because she has ample time to step her feet out and acts as if she just surfaces there and then.
This is how Hans Klok does the Step Four move in the 5 Minute Illusion Challenge show.
Among the video clips available, I notice only the French illusionist Kamyleon who does it amazingly well.
Their coordination is superb.
He does not even do the Step Four manoeuvre, of bringing the two cloth ends together over to the hidden girl on his left side.
Both her feet are already away from him, and the only thing I managed to see his left hand brushes against her face.
See the visual below.
Now let’s check out the girl’s moves.
Step One: Once the cloth is slowly raised, she slips out from the bottom of the platform and hides herself behind him on one leg.
Step Two: When the illusionist raises the cloth to his knee-level, she gets ready to appear.
Step Three: Once the cloth is lowered, she has to make that one swift move as explained above.
Step Four: This is the most vital part for the girl.
When he brings his right hand side of the cloth over to his left hand side, she has to follow the movement of the cloth closely.
She immediately straightens up her body and acts as if she is appearing from the thin air.
You can see all the girls lifting up their heads in the videos.
This scene is from this video at 0:10.
It is because the girl lowers her head to avoid being exposed as I have mentioned above.
This is a scene of the girl’s head in the midst of lifting up from Michael Gile’s performance from Masters of Illusion 2014.
Here is a scene captured from the video of Hans Klok’s act in The Ellen DeGeneres Show taped in Las Vegas 2007 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
It is at around 0:36 from the video clip.
Again slow down the playback speed to 0.25 and you can see the scene as shown below:
This is another scene at 1:31 from Hans Klok’s 5 Minute Illusion Show, where you can see the girl’s hair next to his left arm.
This is from Hans Klok’s Circus Hurricane show where you can see the lady’s hair above the cloth.
It is because she is in the midst of straightening herself up from behind him at 11:49-11:51.
The Girl Hiding Behind The Illusionist
What makes me think the female assistant conceals herself right behind the illusionist?
Firstly, it the quickness of the girl’s appearance, her uncomfortable movement and the swinging of her head upward.
Then I saw the shadow on the platform from Hans Klok’s performance.
In the beginning of the act, I see there is NO shadow next to his left foot.
This is when she is just about to appear next to him.
I can see the shadow next to his left foot.
Then when she appears next to Hans Klok, I notice it is indeed her shadow.
Here is another snapshot taken from the Chinese illusionist video found in Alibaba site.
You can see the girls’ leg next to the illusionist’s left leg, and you can even see her shadow as highlighted in the picture.
Instant Babe Holding For Support Not Posing
The pose of holding the illusionist is a bluff.
With such an abrupt rush from an unstable position, the girl naturally needs to steady herself by holding onto the illusionist, under the pretext of striking a pose at the finale.
Watch carefully the fake posing, and you will notice the girl’s right leg is still behind the illusionist’s left leg.
It is because with such a speed, she has to maintain her footing for balance.
This is another scene taken from the Chinese illusionist’s performance, where you can see the girl or female assistant’s right leg behind his left leg.
For ease of fast movement, this female assistant goes barefoot, just like this girl doing the same illusion.
To make it looks like she magically appears, she just steps her left foot out and smiles.
After watching all the available video clips from YouTube, I notice all their appearance movements and positions are the same.
This Instant Babe illusion revealed and explained in detail how to create such a speedy appearance illusion.
Related: Franz Harary Time Travel Illusion Exposed And Explained
Free Books Online
Sleights; Being A Number Of incidental Effects, Tricks, Sleights, Moves And Passes, For Purposes Ranging From Impromptu To Platform Performances By Burling Hull
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The Magic Book: The Complete Beginner’s Guide To Anytime, Anywhere, Sleight-Of-Hand Magic By Harry Lorayne
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Sleight Of Hand: A Practical Manual Of Legedermain For Amateurs And Others By Edwin Sachs
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Now You See It, Now You Don’t!: Lessons In Sleight of Hand by Bill Tarr
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Slow Sleights By E. Brian MacCarthy
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Showmanship For Magicians By Dariel Fitzkee
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The Trick Brain By Dariel Fitzkee
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Magic And Showmanship: A Handbook For Conjurers by Henning Nelms
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Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz
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The Base Book By Rand Woodbury
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Base Work By J C Sum
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You can also find information about building magic prop bases in Illusion Systems: Begin To Build Your Own Illusions Book One By Paul Osborne.
The three chapters are: Hiding Places, Beginner’s Base and Bevel Base.
You can more tips and ideas in these big collection of free Paul Osborne Stage Illusion Plans.
DISCLAIMER: I do not publish or host any of the books here. They are copyrighted to their respective owners. All content cited is derived from their respective sources.