I have this Nick Einhorn In-Flight Illusion secret in my old file some ten years back.
By the way, it is the In-Flight 3.0 Special Edition design.
In fact I have published it before together with Paul Daniels Levitation Box article in another different post.
It is lost inside among many other trick secrets in that article, so I had it removed.
Now I have rewrote it, and also included the psychology behind this levitation effect.
No one has ever exposed this self-levitation trick in video or detailed written content.
This is the very first time the method of the In-Flight levitation stage illusion is fully explained.
This is another post from the Info Ruckus Magic Trick Secrets Revealed series.
The In-Flight Illusion by Nick Einhorn is very identical to the Paul Daniels Levitation Box.
Both self-levitation illusions used the brown cardboard box with cut-out holes.
The difference is the box of the In-Flight Illusion is lower and has the four-flap cover, and four cut-out windows.
Effect:
The magician shows an empty cardboard carton, with the top four-flap cover flipped open.
The four sides have cut-out windows, so you can see his legs through them.
He stands inside the box, then lifts up the cloth curtain around him.
Magically, he appears to soar up, as if he is now floating above the corrugated carton box.
So how do Nick or Dave seem to lift off from the cardboard box?
I would be using two performances to explore and explain how the Nick Einhorn In-Flight Illusion is done.
The creator himself Nick Einhorn and magician Magic Dave.
Watch Nick Einhorn in his demo video:
Watch Magic Dave entertaining his audience.
Nick Einhorn In-Flight Illusion Secret
Let’s get behind the curtain, to find out how the In-Flight Illusion is done without invisible strings or supporting arms.
The method is very similar to Paul Daniels Levitation Box or PD Levitation Box illusion.
Similarly, the magician is merely standing on top of the cardboard carton box.
While Paul Daniels stands on a metal plate, placed on top of the box, Nick Einhorn or Dave stands on the one of the flaps that covered the box.
This is the flap cover of the box which Nick Einhorn and Magic Dave stands on, to simulate they are hovering in mid-air behind the curtain.
This is how it looks like when it is flipped back on top of the box, where they stand on it.
Take a closer look at this particular flap at the beginning of the promo demo video, from 0:24.
You notice this flap is on top of the box, and not the other three pieces.
It is because it is thicker than the other three flaps.
This picture taken from Magic Dave video.
This is from the WorthPoint auction site.
This is no ordinary soft floppy carton cardboard box, which UK magician Nicholas Einhorn wants you to believe.
It is similar to Paul Daniels Levitation Box, which is made of metal frames and covered with cardboards.
That front flap comes with a light but durable metal plate concealed inside, that hinged onto the box frame.
How To Perform Levitation Illusion
The magician has to secretly flip or turn that gaffed flap over to the top of the box, so he can stand on it
The Nick Einhorn demo video has edited away that part, so you won’t get to see how he actually lifts up that flap.
But most probably the same as what Magic Dave does it in his performance.
At 5:44, when he picks up the hooped curtain, simultaneously using his thumbs, he lifts up the front flap, and flips it onto the top edge of the box.
That is the front flap concealed with a metal plate, which he stands on to do this levitation trick.
By 6:24. Dave manages to stand both his feet on top of that solid front flap, and starts simulating the hovering act.
After he has got down from the flap, at 6:46, using his right foot, he lifts the flap from the top of the box to its original position.
You can see the movement on the front part of the cloth, when both his bended knee and the flipped flap hit against it.
Likewise, at the end of Nick’s demo act, after stepping down from the flap, at 2:05 Nick discreetly lifts up the hinged flap with his right foot.
Slow down the playback speed to 0.25 and watch the cloth in this short sequence.
You can see the shadow of right foot stepping down from the top of the box.
As he looks down, at the same time he lifts up the flap with his right foot.
Again just like Magic Dave, the flap touches against the cloth.
The key part of this self-levitation trick is doing the floating or airborne effect convincingly.
Magician Nick Einhorn does it gracefully smooth in his demo video from 1:45 till the end of the act.
This is how Nick Einhorn In-Flight Illusion is done, by standing on the flap cover of the box.
Psychology Of In-Flight Levitation Illusion
The main psychology used in this stage levitation illusion are visual perception and misdirection.
The viewers see a normal-looking brown cardboard box, which must be soft and collapsible.
Furthermore, the box has four cut-out holes, which makes it looks even more frail and shaky.
With this visual perception, to the viewers, the magicians could not be standing on top of the box.
The misdirection is in the routine of the In-Flight Illusion performance.
The recorded message together with the humor, to distract their attention from the gimmicked box.
Finally is the skill of simulating the levitation act, that makes it magically plausible.