This is the very first time Jim Steinmeyer Windshear illusion secret exposed and explained in full.
The secret of this illusion is based on my viewing of the demo video clips, and studying the apparatus or prop from various websites.
You cannot find it anywhere in the internet or books/magazines, except here.
It is my original explanations, supported with relevant images, illustration and video snippets.
Welcome to another post from the Info Ruckus Magic Trick Secrets Revealed series.
Windshear is a rather old stage illusion designed by Jim Steinmeyer (with Alan Wakeling), and the first unit was built by Bill Smith.
For those who still do not know the magical illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, then you should know the famous Vanishing of The Statue of Liberty by David Copperfield.
He is the mind behind this amazing magical illusion and many more performed by notable stage illusionists.
I have a quite a number of his books, that include the hardcover “Device And Illusion”, “Hiding The Elephants” and “The Secret History of Magic: The True Story of the Deceptive Art”.
- Find out here where to get free Jim Steinmeyer books online.
The first time I watched this Windshear illusion from a TV show called “World’s Greatest Magic 5”.
The late John Ritter hosted it back in the 90s.
Hans Klok and his assistant Zarina Potapova performed this pass through steel blades illusion.
The routine of this penetration act is the magician turns on a spinning industrial fan.
He covers the top half, but you can still see the bottom half of the moving blades.
He then seemingly pulls his body through the upper half of the whirring industrial fan blades unharmed.
Watch the Windshear illusion:
Jim Steinmeyer Windshear Illusion Secret exposed
To begin with, let’s the metal fan blades are real and they are fixed onto the motor all the time.
At the beginning and the end of the act, the fan is certainly spinning or rotating around.
Windshear Fan Not Spinning During The Penetration
But when the performer pushes his arm and later his body through the black spandex cover, the fan is definitely NOT spinning or rotating.
See the captured image from the video clip.
When the stage illusionist (Kelvin Spencer) pushes his arm through the black spandex cover.
You can see there is no moving blades.
This is another visual captured from the performance by Italian magician Luca Zanetti Lizzi.
Of course the three fan blades are still there, but it is switched off when the penetration act is on.
It used just three blades is because the space between each blade is wide enough for the magician to crawl through.
This vertical fan is secretly switched off each time, just before the magician pushes his arm or squeezes his body through the black spandex covering.
In other words, the vertical fan needs to be temporarily stopped.
So, to convince you the vertical fan is still turning, it shows you the half blurry stroboscopic movement of twirling blades behind the metal grid inside the deep dark duct.
It is trying to tell you the fan is still revolving, when in fact it is not.
Secret Of Windshear illusion Hidden inside The Duct
For the effect to work convincingly, the lighting is crucial.
That is why this stage illusion is usually performed in semi-gloomy stage with dazzling flash lights.
The stroboscopic effect of the spinning blades and the lighting, further enhances the trick; or rather to distract your visual attention.
Then they have a spot light specifically positioned at the blades.
In the art of conjuring, the magical effects are based on scientific principles and psychology, or neuroscience to be precise.
This Jim Steimeyer‘s creation Windshear employs these three basic elements in designing a stage magic illusion:
Lighting, Mirror And Black Art
First, let’s examine the prop itself.
The Windshear is a well-conceived piece of stage illusion apparatus.
But the problem is, it is bulky and heavy, and has a deep or thick base.
Why does this prop need to have such a deep base?
If you know about stage illusion designing, the deep base is meant for concealing people or things.
In this case, it is to store or hide another horizontal spinning fan, besides the battery for electrical power.
Yes, there is another working fan lying horizontally hidden inside the prop base with an accompanied lighting.
Metal Grid Bottom Half Behind Vertical Fan
The metal grid screen laid across the bottom half of the vertical fan, is not meant to be a design or as a safety feature.
It is part of the tricky effect, which I will explain later in the post.
Fake & Real Fan Switches
Yes there are two different switches, but the audience sees only the big conspicuous switch.
And that is actually a fake switch.
When the performer pulls the lever of the double pole knife switch (aka Frankenstein switch) to turn on vertical fan, he is just fooling you.
That obvious looking double pole knife switch is a fake switch.
The real switch is smaller and less conspicuous, is fixed near to the fake knife switch.
This is another set of switches from another Windshear Fan Illusion prop.
Each time, when the magician turns on the fake switch, simultaneously his other hand will rest on the real switch, under the pretext of holding onto the prop.
One of the deceptive principles of the art of conjuring tricks is motion and movement.
That is why when the performer turns on the fake knife switch, he does it with an exaggerated pushing movement.
It is because he or she is trying to convince you, that is the switch that controls the vertical fan!
I have captured this image of Michael Grandinetti’s left hand turning on the fake switch, while his right hand is the one which is turning on the real switch (probably a button switch).
You can see Grandinetti doing it in this video clip when he turns on the switch at 0:19-0:22 and again at 0:45-0:48 to turn it off.
This is another close-up image of Spanish magician Nacho Úbeda caught in the act.
Here you can see at the beginning of his show at 1:33, German magician André Blake using his right hand to pull up the fake switch, while his left hand switching off the real one.
Watch Kelvin Spencer using his left hand turning off the fake switch, while his right hand operating the real switch at 0:56-0:57 and turning it back on at 1:25 in this video.
At his solo-act, Italian illusionist Luca Zanetti Lizzi, at 1:38, you can see his left hand switching on the hidden horizontal fan, while his right hand turning on the vertical fan.
At 1:52. as he slipped the black cover over the top part of the fan, his left hand discreetly turned the vertical fan off.
After finishing his act, with his left hand, he switched it back on at 2:26.
Controlling The Hidden Real Switch
This is an important part of this trickery.
The magician assistant who attaches the semi-circle black spandex cover over the vertical fan blades is the one who controls this secret switch.
Immediately after the spinning blades are shielded, the assistant switches off the vertical fan.
Once the magician is out of the way, the fan is turned on back again, just before the cover is lifted up.
For Michael Grandinetti’s video clip, focus your attention on the female assistant in the tight short dress on the right.
Watch her left hand fingers carefully at 1:27, when she switches off the fan.
Then at 1:47, she turns it back on, just before she lifts up the cover to show the spinning blades.
For this performance by Singapore magician Priscilla Khong, the most obvious scene is when her assistant with the cap on her left, switches the fan back on at 2:16-2:17 for the finale.
This is André Blake’s female assistant who helps with the real switch.
At 2:19, after she has pushed down the black cover, she switches off the spinning blades, so Blake can pushes his hand through it.
At 2:39, again she switches off the spinning blades for André Blake himself to slip through.
At 2:54, her hand is already on switch ready to switch the fan back on again for the finale.
Most of the YouTube clips, you can see the assistant or the illusionist himself operating the hidden switch, if he is doing a solo-act.
For instance, former “Asia’s International Illusionist” J C Sum who performed this blade illusion alone, he fiddled the switch himself.
For easier handling by himself, he attached the real switch inconspicuously onto the circular frame of the fan. (see visual below)
From his video clip, you can see J C Sum secretly controlling the real switch by under the pretext of holding onto the fan frame.
You can see him doing it at 0:45 when he switches off at the beginning of the show.
Then he turns it again at 1:17-1:18 to turn it back on with his left hand, at the same time pull the fake big switch.
Just after he sits down, his left hand slides down the side of the fan frame to switch off at precisely 2:02.
Sum switches it on at 2:32-2:33, just before he lifts up the cover for the finale.
Dutch illusionist Hans Klok when performing during the 5th World’s Greatest Magic Special in 1998, he also controlled the switch himself, except for the finishing act, where his female assistant helped to switch it back on.
This is also captured from the same video clip where you can see the small black switch which is placed on his side of the prop.
Here you can see Canadian illusionist Tristan Court doing the Windshear illusion.
At 1:14 his female assistant turns off the switch for him to go through the apparently spinning blades.
Hidden Fan Inside The Base
Now let’s get down to the Windshear illusion secret in more detail.
The first gimmick is the hidden fan.
As I have mentioned, there is another fan lying horizontally concealed inside the base of the prop, where the duct is.
Only half section of the hidden fan is exposed through an opening covered with the metal grid screen and it is lighted.
You can see the metal grid on the base of the prop inside the duct as shown below:
The second fan is placed horizontally beneath this metal grid screen with an accompanied light.
Hidden Mirror Inside The Duct
The next gimmick is the mirror.
When the show starts, the reflective side of the mirror is lying flat over the metal grid opening on the floor of the base, inside the duct.
The back of the mirror is in matte black to match the interior of the duct.
This is what magicians called black art in conjuring magic tricks.
Black Art Principle In Magic Trick
The definition “black art” in this conjuring magic tricks has nothing to do with occult, necromancy and mystical sorcery.
It is an optical effect, where the dark surfaces can easily hide things where you can’t see them clearly.
In the simplest definition, Black Art is a principle where anything painted black cannot be seen when placed against a black background.
Black on black can become invisible to the eye.
For instance, the use of a black velvet curtain background for stage, the black mat & table cloth for close-up magic or the interior walls of magic trick props.
Setting Up Mirror For Reflecting Hidden Fan
This is the important part during the performance.
Different magicians do it differently.
The common routine is while the magician at the front fixing the L-shaped platform, his assistance(s) at the duct side pretending to help him to hold onto the prop.
But in fact, the assistant is lifting up the mirror and also turning on the hidden lighted spinning fan.
The hidden fan together with the light are automatically turned on when the mirror is lifted up at 45 degree angle inside the duct.
From this video clip you can clearly see the two assistants lifting up the narrow flap on top of the duct, to set the mirror in place, at 0:19-0:20.
This is from Priscilla Khong’s show, which you can see the two assistants at the back of the prop lifting up the narrow flap at the top of the duct to set the the hidden mirror at 0:58-0:59.
For this performance, when André Blake goes to pick up the L-shaped piece, his two female assistants go near the prop, under the pretext of posing next to it.
While André Blake is fixing the piece to the prop, at: 1:47, you can clearly see both the female assistants lean down slightly, as they put their hands into the duct to set up the mirror. (see image below)
Here you can see Taiwanese illusionist Jiang Hao (蔣昊) puts up the black cover first to shield his hands from the audience, when setting up the mirror in the duct at 1:33-1:35.
Watch former Singaporean illusionist J C Sum quickly lifting up the small flap or panel with his left hand at the top of the duct precisely at 1:19.
Then he pretends to adjust the prop.
Here is a image captured from Luca Zanetti Lizzi’s solo act.
This is from Sander & Anderson Windshear performance.
Mirror To Reflect Hidden Fan
When the duct is turned around to face the audience, look carefully inside the duct, especially the two side walls.
You can see the tilted mirror at 45 degree angle, with the spinning blades reflection on it in most of the Windshear video clips in YouTube.
Particularly, those videos with medium and close-up shots of the duct.
If you focus on it carefully, you can clearly see the moving fan blades inside the duct is actually a mirror reflection.
For Michael Grandinetti’s video, there are two parts which you can obviously see the mirror.
Precisely at 1:17, while his assistants spin the prop around and just a second before Grandinetti walks across.
The second time is when the two girls are shifting the prop side to side from at 1:36-1:42.
Look at the black interior side wall of the duct closely and you can see the mirror placed at 45 degree angle.
This is what I think how it looks inside the duct of this apparatus.
Before the semi-circle black cover hides the blades, what the audience is seeing is both the actual spinning fan at the top half, and the mirror reflection of the moving blades inside the duct.
The twirling fan blades at the bottom half are fuzzy, as they are deep in the darkened duct with a weak light.
The metal grid screen causes more distraction to the mirror reflection.
I have noted earlier that there is a tricky reason for fixing the metal grid screen across the bottom half of the vertical fan.
So that the mirror reflection of the lower half blades also has a metal grid screen across in front to match what is behind the real vertical fan. (see below)
This obstructive metal grid screen can further distracts your vision from finding out that it is a mirror reflection.
The use of a spinning fan blades as a gimmick for this illusion is a brilliant idea by itself.
The blurred rotating blades vision is easier to get away from your prying eyes.
It makes use of the this confusing optical illusion know as wagon-wheel effect (aka stagecoach-wheel effect or stroboscopic effect).
That’s why I have mentioned Windshear is a well-designed illusion prop.
Windshear Illusion Real Fan Blades
As I have mentioned above, the metal fan blades are real, but they are not sharp.
Some performers want you to believe they are knife-like sharp.
They seemingly insert a rolled up paper into the spinning blades.
Watch carefully how the magician handles the rolled-up paper and you know he uses a hidden confetti popper.
The magician does not insert the rolled up paper into the moving blades at all.
It is part of the original Windshear illusion act.
Another thing is the ventilation slots or grill are on the both sides of the duct and the L-shaped platform are fake.
You cannot see through the narrow slots.
The use of this feature is not just to give this illusion apparatus an industrial look alone.
It is implying that it is an empty duct, thus it can be viewed from different sides.
But as you know now, the vital secret of this illusion is all in the duct!
The duct it where the hidden mirror with the simulated spinning blades reflection.
Windshear Act By Priscilla Khong
By the way, there was this sloppy act by Singapore magician Priscilla Khong, where it clearly exposed the secret of Windshear illusion.
Before the duct is turned to face the audience, they should have switched on both the fans.
When they assistants just switched on both the fans, you can clearly see the movement of upper half blades and the lower half do not synchronize, at 0:42
This is how Jim Steinmeyer Winshear stage illusion is done with a mirror, and a hidden fan at the base of the prop.