How to Levitate

Levitating has always been one of the most difficult and expensive magic tricks, usually involving a harness and rig. Thanks to the Balducci technique, it's now one of the easiest and cheapest.

Step 1: Wear baggy pants
Wear baggy and/or flared pants. You don’t want anyone to have to clear a vision of your feet.

Step 2: Keep your distance
Make sure you are at least eight feet from your audience.

Step 3: Get into position
Get into position with your back to the audience. The position is critical to the trick—you must have your body at an angle that results in your left foot completely blocking the front of your right foot (or vice versa) from the audience’s vision.

Tip
Experiment with different angles until you perfect this.

Step 4: Divert attention
Lift both arms, as if you’re trying to balance yourself on an unsteady surface. One of the keys to any good trick is 'misdirection'—you want the audience looking at your upper body, not your feet.

Step 5: Draw it out
Close your eyes in concentration. Flex your fingers. Build suspense!

Step 6: Step up
Raise yourself two inches by putting all your weight on the ball of your right foot, and simultaneously lifting your left foot off the ground. Keep your heels together as you go up. Done correctly, you will appear to mysteriously levitate a few inches.

Step 7: Be theatrical
Be theatrical! You’re floating in midair, so throw in a wobble or two. Furrow your brow. Grimace.

Step 8: Land hard
After several seconds, let your left foot and right heel down, landing hard, as if your body has been plopped back to earth.

Step 9: Practice
Practice until you can pull this off flawlessly.

Did You Know?
British and Dutch scientists succeeded in levitating a live frog using a magnetic field.