This is fantastic.
80 karma · joined November 17, 2011
While a magician of sorts, Apollo's talent is unique from magic in that the secret is just as entertaining as the effect. Our company [http://theory11.com] is a collective of artists in the magic industry, but Apollo's expertise extends much further, to applications in law enforcement and military intelligence.
Apollo practices not only pickpocketing, but also putpocketing, where he plants an object on the spectator (in their pocket, etc). Their reaction, upon reaching into their pocket to discover a random, rubber shrimp, is pretty funny.
Interesting to note is that when Apollo is doing a stage performance, the audience often KNOWS he is a pickpocket. The participant on stage KNOWS he is going to try to steal something. But the more they consciously try to prevent it, the easier he can divert their attention right where he wants.
Most impressive about Apollo isn't what he does, though - it's how he does it, and how deep his understanding is of why it works. If you're interested in that sort of thing, definitely check out the book Sleights of Mind (featuring Apollo's insight on the neuroscience of magic) and the television special Brain Games, with Apollo and David Copperfield. Both are fascinating.
- jonathan bayme
Our company is called theory11 - the largest instructional magic site. We also make really high-end, designer playing cards. Having a crew of magic experts, and friends that work with James Randi, we were asked to collaborate on a viral site promoting the new film "Red Lights" with Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy, and Sigourney Weaver.
The film is about a team of two physicists that defraud fake psychics, who claim to have powers to speak to the dead, cure cancer, and levitate. Our idea was to create a viral site that allowed you to freak out your friends (by secretly being our "informant") while simultaneously promoting the film and reminding people that there's more than meets the eye.
Because this is HN, I wanted to extend huge kudos to MailGun, Twilio, David Kwong, Mark Garity, Millennium Entertainment, and the guys at Les Avignons in Austria for their help with design and development. This was a great challenge that came together in two weeks from start to finish. Very happy with the result!
More Detail: http://www.theory11.com/news/secret-project-simon-silver/
Direct Link: http://www.simonsilver.com/secret/