I don't know the exact specifics, but it's really just incredibly thin non-reflective string. You can tell by the way the stick rocks when he sets it up that it's actually dangling and not standing up from the floor, notice he doesn't actually wave his hand above the first stick like he does the second (which is probably suspended from the first).
Basically hes waving his hands around the objects in ways that look like he's proving there isn't a string but is distracting you from the string actually being attached somewhere else. The ball is attached to his hand somehow so him waving his hands all around would never actually break the line. (edit: it's attached to his eyebrow, he's sticking it there while pretending that's to do his eye thing, he never really completely circles the ball with his hand. That's why he leans outward for that part of the trick) And the reflectivity of the ball makes it hard to tell if it's actually spinning or if it's stable (just like his contact juggling ball)
There is a lot of skill involved in this trick still to avoid breaking the illusion and to manipulate the length of the strings without the viewer noticing. I imagine the camera guy is somewhat in on the trick and that usually the viewers would be standing a bit further back.
Just pay attention to the motions of the ball when it starts to fly away from him and imagine it being at the end of a long pendulum and it sort of makes sense, I actually wonder if that was an accident and he managed to make it look like he meant to do it.(e: not an accident, it's where he is pulling the ball away from his face to unstick it)
Also notice that when he puts the last stick down on the ground that one of the sticks in his pile also moves (he tried to hide this by putting something in the pile at the same time)
I'm not a magician though maybe someone who knows more can be more specific and accurate.
The stick is being anchored by a single string, strung between the 2 balls in either corner. The stick is laying across the top of the string that is holding the stick in place. The string itself is only about halfway up the stick. The string lays loose, and then he places his hand on the ground and lifts the string up with his fingers tips, as he leans forward, at some point when he needs to put the stick against the string. So it would simply look as if he's bracing himself when he leans forward, but the fingers tips of his stabilizing hand will have wiggled under the string laying loose on the ground in front of him.
but they effectively did tell us how it was done, with string, the specifics are pretty complicated I'm sure. you might think everyone knows its string right away but they dont!
It kind of bugs me when people try to downplay the skill. Obviously he doesn’t have magic powers. Its a trick, and its well done. Can we leave it at that?
I mean, he got everything right. He just didn't know the specifics about how the invisible thread was used on the sticks (two threads tied to the carpet, forming a pyramid where two edges are invisible threads). The threads have knots where the hovering stick rests
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u/dkyguy1995 1d ago
Even knowing how this is done, it's still rather impressive to maintain the illusion. Also balancing a ball on his head is not easy