Our bookSleights of Mind features a wonderful group of French magicians, The Ostrowsky family, who produce a show called "Omar Pasha". Its a wonderful and mystical show in which the protagonist magically manipulates objects and people on stage. Everything appears and disappears to the notes of Bolero. The inevitable decapitations and recapitations proceed seamlessly, and right before your very eyes, as you watch from the audience. To find out more, read Sleights of Mind.
But in the meantime, check out this related new dance video by Fighting Gravity, from their America’s Got Talent! appearance, in which a group of dancer’s uses magical Black Art methods in a new and exciting dance exhibition.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Susana Martinez-Conde
Susana Martinez-Conde is a professor of opthalmology, neurology, and physiology and pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is author of the Prisma Prize-winning Sleights of Mind, along with Stephen L. Macknik and Sandra Blakeslee. Their forthcoming book, Champions of Illusion, will be published by Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
