Here you will learn a technique that will convince your audience you can levitate. This is the magic trick David Blaine performed to get his first television special. It is that good!

I will teach you, in step by step detail, how to perform this amazing levitation. I will also teach you how Criss Angel levitates. He uses a different technique which is much more complicated.

How to Levitate – David Blaine Levitation Revealed

Make sure your angles are good
Focus your audience’s attention
Get into position
Position and prepare yourself
Levitate & Land
Recover & Exaggerate

This levitation was not invented by David Blaine. The real name of the trick is the Balducci Levitation, named after the magician who first described it over 75 years ago.

It is best to wear jeans or pants that are a little baggy over your shoes.

Make Sure Your Angles Are Good

The levitation is extremely angle sensitive. This means it looks good only when you see it from the correct spot. I recommend performing this levitation for no more than 1 or 2 people at a time so you can control your angles.

Focus Your Audience’s Attention

Tell your spectators you want to show them something special that they are not going to believe. Don’t tell them you are going to levitate, it is better to catch them off guard.

Position and Prepare Yourself

Start off right next to your spectators, facing the same way as them. Take 2 steps forward, 2 steps to your right, and rotate your body a tiny bit to the right. Your spectators should be behind you looking at you from your back left side.

Place your feet together. They will only be able to see the left side of your left foot and the back of both feet. Look back for a second and tell your spectators to watch your feet.

Levitate & Land

Spread your arms
Bend slightly at your knees
Stand up straight and slowly rise up on your right tippy-toes
Keep your left foot still
Hold this position for 1 or 2 seconds
Slowly bring your right foot back down to the ground
When you land bend your knees and bring your arms back down
Stand up straight

Recover & Exaggerate

You can shake your head as if you were out of it and coming back to yourself. Some magicians like to act as if the levitation takes a ton of energy and drains them. It all depends on how you want to present the trick.

Here is a really strong subtlety I was given years ago by master coin magician David Roth. He is an expert at this trick and actually learned it from Ed Balducci himself.

Turn to your spectators and say “how high did I go this time?” While you say this gesture with your hands held pretty far apart as if that is how high you usually levitate off the ground.

Though you only raise up a little bit this subtlety paints a picture in the minds of your spectators that you levitated much higher than you really did.

Pro Tips

Balancing is kind of hard to do. You will wobble naturally which adds to the illusion. You can raise up on the opposite foot if you want. Just make sure to stand diagonally to the left of your spectators, instead of to the right of them.

I’ve seen some guys rotate in a semi-circle when they are up on their tippy toes. Personally I don’t think it adds much to the levitation. I also don’t think it is worth it. It you rotate too far to one side you risk being caught.

This is the type of magic that should be done once in a while as a special trick, only when the situation is right. I would not rely on it. If your audience is at the wrong angle or they won’t stay in one spot do not perform the levitation.

Some magicians like to include a lot of showmanship and buildup before the levitation. They like to sell the trick as if it is extremely difficult and they have to mentally and physically prepare.

They take deep breaths, do some head rolls, shake out their body, and do a few stretches. I do none of that.

People will beg you to do it again. DO NOT repeat it. Best case scenario you will fool them again, most likely they will catch you. This is the type of trick that gets the strongest reaction when they don’t know what to expect.

Film yourself to see how it looks and also ask someone you trust to help you with the angles. This is not a difficult trick, you can learn it in 20 minutes.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Mind Reading Tricks – Is Mind Reading Real?

David Blaine Television Levitation – Revealed

David Blaine performed this amazing trick on his first television special. The reactions he got from it were all real. The spectators were not in on it and they were truly amazed.

What wasn’t real was the footage of the levitation itself. They used video editing to make it look much better than it is. It seemed like Blaine floated 5 feet off the ground. They combined real reactions with edited footage.

There were definitely times when spectators caught Blaine. Those times didn’t make the final cut. They show Blaine levitating for groups of 5-10 people. There is no way all of them were fooled.

With good camera work and focusing on the right spectators we are led to believe that everyone in the group was fooled. This is fine for television, not for the real world. This is not the most practical trick and should be used sparingly.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: How To Telekinesis – A Complete Guide With Tricks

Criss Angel Levitation – Revealed

Criss Angel performed an amazing levitation on his A & E Series Mindfreak. He floated straight up off the sidewalk onto a ledge right on the streets of Las Vegas. He did the same thing in a bar. It looked incredible!

You can either perform this for one spectator directly behind you or a camera directly behind you. There are no other good angles. If you have a lot of distance between you and your audience you could do it for more than one person.

Angel filmed this with spectators on the sides of him and they seemed to be amazed. This is a complete lie. These spectators saw the method, they were all in on it and faking their reactions.

I will briefly go over the method yet I’ll tell you up front, this levitation is completely impractical. You will never perform it. Like the Balducci levitation it is very angle sensitive. The difference is there is a major setup involved.

You can’t just do it when the time is right. It has to be well planned in advance. This is the type of trick that is great for video.

Clothing Setup

SHOES

Black shoes that you can easily slip in and out of.
Install strong magnets on the sides so the shoes stick together.
Put velcro on the backs of the shoes so they will stick to your pants.

CUSTOM PANTS

Black, baggy, smooth satin material pants with some weight to them.
A carefully constructed slit with an overlap in the front of one leg.
A pair of suspenders to keep the pants up.
A shell to maintain the shape of the pants when you step out.
Velcro on the back that sticks to your shoes.

Put on a pair of black tights under your pants. Put on your custom pants and shoes. Attach the velcro. Put on your suspenders. Wear a loose black button down shirt over it to cover everything.

The Levitation

Stand in front of some sort of raised platform.
Position your spectator directly behind you at a little distance.
Step out of the shoe & pants and plant your foot on the raised surface.
Balance yourself, arch your back, and raise your arms.
Slowly come straight up, sort of like doing a lunge.
Land with your empty shoe under the heel of your foot.
Balance yourself and slip your leg back into your pants and shoe.

At Home Construction

You can construct this whole thing much easier for a one time social media video performance.

Tape or rubberband your shoes together.
Cut a slit in a pair of baggy jeans or sweat pants.
Stuff your pant leg with socks. Tuck your pants into your shoe.

Criss Angel Levitates Shaq

The video shows Shaq being levitated up over his house. Did Criss Angel levitate Shaq? Absolutely not, this is complete nonsense! There is clearly major camera editing going on.

Criss Angel pretty much has no shame in what he puts out. He uses video edits, tons of cutaways, and fake spectators (stooges). When he seemingly levitates someone on the street, they are in on it.

Is Levitation Possible?

No! Humans cannot levitate. Magicians have been coming up with methods for hundreds of years to give the illusion that they are levitating themselves or others.

It makes sense, levitation is a visual and amazing trick. I have also seen some unbelievable Photoshopped photography which would make you swear someone is floating. No matter how good it looks, levitation is not possible.

Levitate Through Meditation

In researching this trick I found articles online where people discuss levitating through meditation. They talk about breathing, focusing, and concentrating. This is complete NONSENSE! You can do all that for the rest of your life, you will never levitate. Sorry!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: What is Mentalism – Detailed Guide With Tricks

Conclusion

Levitation has always been one of the fascinations of magicians. All of the best stage magicians have included some sort of amazing levitation in their show.

The levitations taught here are close up levitations, ones you can perform casually. They are very angle sensitive. Make sure your spectators are in the correct spot before performing the levitation.

Personally, I avoid performing a self levitation. It is too risky to get caught, which will weaken your whole reputation.

How to Levitate – David Blaine Levitation Magic Trick