Issue 30 - Jan. 10
Extreme Human Body
Stunts for Professionals
Luis
De Matos
Available from: your favourite dealer
Price: £120 ($190
Tired of card tricks or weary of close-up? Then here is an
alternative, but only if you are willing to hide the pain and risk the very real
danger of extreme body stunts. These
are the traditional endurance feats, daredevil challenges and publicity stunts
that Indian fakirs and fairground performers having been doing for centuries.
Endurance feats are now enjoying a new lease of life as
popularised by David Blaine and can make great publicity events and reputation
makers. Portugal’s top magician Luis De Matos features many of them in his
television shows and has produced this superb broadcast quality set of four DVDs
covering some of the best known; Fire Walking, Stone breaking on the body,
Frozen Alive and Walking on Broken Glass. If that wasn’t enough, each disc
also contains details of two extra stunts including a blowtorch and fire effect,
metal bar bending and arrow snapping against the throat, tearing
a directory in two, breaking bottles (two methods), the apple tear, and the straitjacket
escape, more than enough stunts for any aspiring showman.
These discs are intended for the serious professional and
are taught by someone who has done them and knows the dangers and risks
involved. This is not a hotch potch of vague historical background. Matos
explains his own stunts and presentations exactly as he performs them with
nothing left out. For one of the biggest names in European magic to expose his
presentations in such detail seems strange. Little is in print about stunts like
being frozen alive or the walking on glass feat and what there is can be hard to
track down. Matos has done us a big favour and not only done the research for
you, but has produced modern day presentations as well.
Each disc is split into sections showing a real
performance, history, procedures, presentation and afterthoughts, plus the extra
stunts making twelve, all shot in superb quality HD. The information and tips
given include everything about the right materials to use, the right wood to set
fire to, the right glass to use, the best boulders to smash, where to find the
right materials and details of how to set up each stunt.
Details of how to build the fire walk, glass walk, ice
coffin are vital and will save you hours of experimenting without which you will
make inevitable and possibly dangerous mistakes. Measurements of things like the
length and width of the fire walk, broken glass walk are all generously
explained and the safety measures for each stunt included.
What is vital to the performance of any of these stunts is
the presentation and here Matos carefully explains his own presentational
methods both outdoors and in a studio and lays bare all that is needed to gain
the best reaction to these death defying feats.
For those not quite willing to go as far as defying death
and serious injury, some of the extra stunts included will still be impressive
feats of strength like the telephone directory tear. The metal bar bending
against the throat is particularly impressive and the bottle breaking might be
the starting point to set you off on the path to attempting more spectacular
stunts. The straitjacket escape from a burning rope gives all the details of the
rope and chain safety features and methods, but does not go into detail about
escaping from a straitjacket.
All of the methods for these stunts are ways of reducing
the risks and dangers of the materials and conditions involved. None are 100%
safe nor are the risks completely eliminated. You will still be at risk of
injury and these stunts will require your respect and courage. At best some of
them can be painful. If anyone suffers for their art, it is the stunt showman.
If you have any doubts, then steer clear. This is for the professional. PP
What’s Hot: superb production quality and valuable
information included
What’s Not: this stuff is dangerous!
Star rating: *****
To find a specific review, just click on the relevant letter for the product name
0-9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
RETURN to the magicseen homepage