Michael Jackson’s 5 Greatest Magic Tricks Finally Revealed

Think Michael Jackson’s legendary performances were just pure talent? Think again. The King of Pop was also a master of illusion >> [music] >> who spent decades blending music with mind-boggling stage engineering. He kept secrets that fooled millions of fans worldwide. From gravity-defying leans to impossible vanishings, he treated the entire world as his stage.

Prepare to be amazed as we pull back the curtain on his most brilliant illusions. The anti-gravity lean. When Michael Jackson premiered his 45-degree lean in his 1988 Smooth Criminal music video, he captured the attention of people around the world as his performance looked like magic that was bending the laws of physics. Although the trick had been done with the help of wires, the dynamic performance of this trick involved more engineering genius.

Michael Jackson worked with wardrobe designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins [music] to develop an innovative technique of anchoring himself to the ground that earned them US patent number 5,255,452 in 1993 for their method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion. >> Michael Jackson was a man of many talents including one we bet you [music] didn’t know about.

>> The technique used customized shoes that had ankle straps and V-shaped grooves on their heels. At the right moment, the stage crew would lift metal pegs from the floor after which the performers, including Michael Jackson, could move their heel forwards and rest it on the pegs to create a pivot point to anchor their body weight.

Now it’s time for the special topic. One of Michael Jackson’s most iconic stage moments continues to amaze fans decades later. The image captures the legendary performer leaning forward at an angle that seems impossible, leaving audiences wondering how anyone could defy gravity without falling. [music] For years, countless theories surrounded the illusion, but the secret was far more ingenious than many expected.

Specially designed shoes and hidden pegs built into the stage helped make the famous lean possible, yet the move still demanded incredible balance, strength, and [music] perfect timing. What do you think? Let us know in the comments. Thriller coffin illusion. As a part of the History World Tour in 1996 to 1997, Michael Jackson continuously astonished people in the performance of Thriller using the shocking illusion known as Spiker.

In the finale of the show, Jackson got locked in a wooden box that was immediately pierced by 50 huge steel spikes thrust right into the box. The audience was stunned when the box was opened and discovered that Michael had disappeared completely, only to appear at once on a crane soaring high above the spectators.

This daring trick was developed by the well-known illusion designer Franz Harary, who worked together with Michael for more than two decades. [music] It used extremely complex blind spots and lighting effects that created an illusion of a trapdoor exit to another lift, which [music] transported Michael under the stage to where he could climb up to the crane.

The Rocket Man astronaut. For the conclusion of his tour performances in 1992 to 1993 Dangerous World Tour, Michael Jackson literally shocked the audiences by taking off from the stadium in the grand finale of the performance Man in the Mirror using a jetpack. Wearing an astronaut suit, Jackson seemed to be easily controlling his rocket belt as he glided over the crowd before exiting through the stadium roof.

Nonetheless, this awe-inspiring act of leaving the venue was actually a well-choreographed Hollywood stunt. Whereas Jackson did put on the initial helmet and astronaut suit on the stage, he instantly descended into the stage structure using a secret trapdoor. Then, Jackson was rapidly transported out of the stadium using a getaway car.

At the same time, a seasoned stuntman named Kenny Gibson donned the exact same astronaut [music] suit as the King of Pop. Gibson, who is an expert pilot operating an actual Bell rocket belt, began the countdown and takeoff process. Super Bowl freeze phenomenon. In the historic Super Bowl 27 halftime show of 1993 at the Rose Bowl, Michael Jackson delivered one of the greatest lessons on psychological showmanship and crowd [music] manipulation.

By using coordinated body doubles wearing the same black jackets, fedoras, and armbands, Jackson managed to perform an amazing feat of teleportation. As the lights and special effects distracted the crowd on several screens inside the stadium, Jackson was launched directly out from beneath the main stage. >> [cheering] >> For about 90 long seconds, [music] Jackson remained completely still and silent, keeping 100,000 people in the stadium and 133.

4 million on television spellbound with the anticipation of the performance. The trick was conceived with director Vincent Patterson and proved the theory that withholding performance creates more tension than immediate satisfaction. It paid off as Jackson became the first performer ever to boost television ratings during the halftime break.

The Moonwalk, Billie Jean. When Michael Jackson first showed off his Moonwalk dance move at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television program on March 25th, 1983, He introduced an illusion through dance that would forever change popular culture, the moonwalk. To the astonished viewers at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Michael Jackson seemed to glide backward effortlessly while his legs looked like they were walking forward.

Although many people believe he created the dance move himself, the fact remains that he was actually taught the move back in 1981 by the Soul Train dancers Geron “Casper” Candidate and Derek “Cooley” Jackson. The visual deception is completely reliant on an unusual distribution of the dancer’s body weight. The dancer pops up one foot to its tip position and puts 100% of the weight of his or her body on it while at the same time gliding the other foot backwards without lifting it.

The sidewalk glide. The illusion of frictionless motion during Michael Jackson’s performances was further enhanced by the creation of the sidewalk glide move, which also goes under the name of the side slide. In contrast to the illusion of backwards gliding created by the moonwalk, the sidewalk glide allows for moving horizontally across the stage similar to a puck on an air hockey table.

Having emerged as part of the street dancing and popping subcultures of the late 1970s, the trick is a member of the special family of movements called glides. The mechanics of the move involve the use of a heel-toe combination instead of pivot. This involves forcing the whole body weight to be put on the toe one foot and pushing against the floor to create the lateral motion.

At the same time, the other foot shuffles from the heel to the toe position. The laser shadow play. While performing his HIStory World Tour from 1996 to 1997, Michael Jackson revolutionized the staging of Smooth Criminal through a technologically advanced performance of the laser shadow play. In this performance, Jackson stood against an enormous and backlit projection screen, apparently challenging his own silhouette.

The illusion used a gigantic pre-recorded shadow mimicry routine, where the silhouette of Jackson flawlessly followed all of his famous [music] pops, locks, and spins until he suddenly changed his character. Grabbed a shadow machine gun and started shooting while standing still without any movement capture tracking.

This flawless performance depended on [music] perfect timing instead of motion tracking system, according to the production designs of the tour. The timing system used the audio click track loop that was fed directly to the in-ear stage monitors of Jackson. He hit perfectly choreographed cues for every millisecond of the performance and performed flawlessly in sync with the video projection.

Morphing face illusion. In 1991, the music video for Michael Jackson’s worldwide hit song Black or White broke entertainment ground when it became the first-ever mass-televised photorealistically morphed sequence. [music] In order to create this spectacular feat of visuals, the effects house Pacific Data Images PDI used an advanced feature-based image metamorphosis algorithm created by the scientific minds of Thad Byrne [music] and Shawn Neely.

Rather than relying on elaborate geometric mesh construction, artists hand drew corresponding alignment curves from crucial facial landmarks, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth of totally different individuals. Digital warping and cross-dissolve techniques were used on hair, skin, and body layer components to switch between races smoothly.

When this video was first shown to a 500 million person viewing audience in 27 different countries, the entire Hollywood VFX industry changed [music] forever, showing what digital morphing technology is capable of doing in terms of subverting the human structure and making a bold statement about global racial unity. You are not alone, stage rush.

For his History World Tour in 1996 and 1997, one of the things Michael Jackson did consistently as part of the song You Are Not Alone was perform an intense, highly emotional interlude segment on stage. Although the fans extremely emotional response, where she was sobbing uncontrollably, was very much real, being on stage was definitely pre-planned by her.

Before the performance of the song, head of security Wayne Nagin or any member of the tour crew would pick out an extremely excited yet compliant woman fan from the front row pit. Instead of having security create an appearance of breaking into a breach of the stage security, one of the guards would bring her up on stage openly by lifting her over the barricade and taking her onto the stage.

The crane levitation. When Michael Jackson went for solo tours, his incredible rise above the audience using a mechanical crane made an exciting spectacle of his performances. During the performances of such songs as Beat It and Earth Song, Michael would step onto what seemed to be a dangerously placed metal platform, sweeping right over the crowd in the stadium.

It looked like an extremely dangerous act to pull off to fans, but the secret behind the performance was engineering. Invisible safety straps embedded in Michael’s customized jacket held him firmly against the steel pole on the metal platform, allowing him to lean over the edge without any wires. The reality of the danger, however, hit Michael Jackson and friends during a 1999 benefit concert in Munich when the mechanical bridge broke down and fell 27 ft to the floor below, resulting in Michael getting hurt so badly with a back injury that he had to be admitted

to the hospital. The fainting fan. In his colossal stadium shows, Michael Jackson had a quasi-supernatural ability to influence the audience, bringing about fainting fan collective effect in which the whole group of people in this particular sector fell down, fainted, [music] passed out, or started crying uncontrollably through a look, a gesture, or a simple tilt of his head.

For spectators, it seemed like Jackson was able to use some stage magic hypnosis, but in fact, this occurrence could be explained by scientifically proven cases of psychogenic mass hysteria and extreme physical conditions. Months of emotional buildup, unbearable stadium sound insulation, overcrowding of people, and hot weather leading to dehydration brought spectators to the edge of their physical capacities.

The sensory overload ensured that when Jackson turned his attention to this particular group of people, the release of adrenaline resulted in the vasovagal syncope, turning a natural process into the final proof of his performance ability. Bush costume transformation. In his live tours, Michael Jackson left audiences in awe with his ability to make swift transitions into a totally new set of outfits in less than 15 seconds.

While performing one of his songs in full tempo, Michael would retreat backstage to return after some time dressed in a new set of very elaborate outfits. However, for his fans, it all appeared as magic, but this was due to great costume engineering that was done by Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins, two renowned costume designers who worked together with Michael for many years.

Custom-made magic jumpsuits were used that included strong hidden zippers and special fastening strips using Velcro and elastic seams along the arms and legs. In the darkness [music] of the backstage area, wardrobe assistants quickly pulled away the outer layers of the clothes to put new ones in place in one swift movement.

If you are watching this video, please subscribe our channel and hit the like button. The emotional breakdown. In his live performances, Michael Jackson was able to deliver an amazing emotional climax in his song Man in the Mirror. Getting down on his knees, he used to break into tears during his live performance, seeming completely overwhelmed by the message of the song about changes in the world until finally delivering an amazing dance move.

For the audience, [music] it seemed like an overwhelming experience of a spontaneous spiritual awakening. However, what was happening on the stage was nothing else but an amazing example of emotional projection in acting. Using his personal emotional feelings towards humanitarian causes, Michael Jackson was able to cry every night while performing the song.

It had not only dramatic, but also strategic meaning, since it gave Jackson some time to take a break after exhausting dances. This amazing emotional climax was best shown by Michael Jackson on the Grammy Awards show in 1988. The zombie metamorphosis. In Michael Jackson’s landmark 1983 music video Thriller, Michael Jackson captivated his audience in an extremely frightening transformation into the mythological creature were-cat through visual effects that were completely photorealistic.

Jackson’s face morphed under the full light of a cinematic moon as his eyes glowed yellow and his teeth sharpened into fangs before turning into the king of zombies. For millions of people watching the video, the transformation seemed as smooth as it appeared as pure magic. However, it should be stated that the sequence was created by Rick Baker, an accomplished Hollywood special effects artist who used practical visual effects for the creation of this magical effect.

After creating full life casts in plaster of Jackson’s face, Baker’s artists created progressive stages of customized foam latex prosthetic masks. The visual effect didn’t require the usage of animatronics or pneumatic air bladders, but [music] rather stop-motion replacement photography and cross dissolves in the editing room.

Floating bed illusion. Leave me alone, an iconic song released in 1989 by Michael Jackson, had its music video directed by Jim Blashfield. In this project, Jackson successfully managed to express his anger from gossipers through the use of the amazing visual effects. The entire film was produced without green screens [music] and was based on photo collages and rotoscoping.

The creation of the strange amusement park took 9 months of work of animators, [music] who used a special technique of manual layering of thousands of individual images. Those images were then layered and photographed one after another via stop-motion photography on the glass sheets to create a legendary floating bed illusion of Michael Jackson flying easily past monuments of Elizabeth Taylor and dancing with the bones of the Elephant Man.

Such a mixture of live footage and stacked animations became one of the reasons why Jackson received a Grammy for best short-form music video. Golden statue rehearsal. The teaser for Michael Jackson’s 1995 History album release is known as one of the most expensive and controversial marketing videos in the history of popular music.

With a tyrannical level of grandeur in the video’s direction, the $4 million video shoot took place in Budapest, Hungary, where Michael used real Hungarian troops to march in step in front of a massive 32-ft statue of himself made of steel and fiberglass. These images were not meant to be a mere show, but rather a psychological armor intended to showcase his absolute power [music] in the face of vicious tabloid attacks.

The monument portrayed Michael Jackson in a stiff military uniform and a bandolier that hung across his chest with his [music] hands clenched tightly beside him. Nine copies of the monument weighing 4,000 lb each were strategically released in cities around Europe like London and Berlin by being floated down rivers and lowered by cranes into city squares.

Zero gravity space capsule. Visual effects were redefined through the creation of the music video for the 1995 Michael and Janet Jackson hit Scream, which became the most costly [music] music video ever made with its budget exceeding $7 million. In order to create an amazing futuristic spaceship without any CGI green screen technology, production designer Tom Foden constructed 11 to 13 gigantic physical set pieces occupying three sound stages at Universal Studios in Hollywood.

The zero gravity effect of the two performers dancing around the walls was achieved without physically rotating the sets around. Engineers developed an amazing multi-axis wire flying system, which made it possible for performers to jump horizontally from wall to wall. While the performers performed their dance moves, the cameras used Dutch angles, which tilted the cameras between 45 and 90°.

The effect was achieved by making the tilt of the camera match the position of the performer on the wall. The sand evaporation. Remember the time? The 1992 music video of Michael Jackson with an Egyptian theme was produced [music] by director John Singleton and was one of the most creative visuals of that decade. The music video is well known for its sand evaporation effect, where Michael Jackson appears out of a sand whirlpool and disappears into it again to avoid the guards.

For the viewer, it was truly magical. The power of a pharaoh. In truth, the effect was achieved through the use of some of the best digital techniques available to the visual effects company Pacific Data Images, PDI. This effect had been created way ahead of time when today’s sophisticated digital green screens were prevalent. PDI artists used the earliest morphing software available and their own 3D computer graphic particle system to digitally layer their work with smoke machines and real footage of Jackson.

The beatbox bassline. The capability by Michael Jackson to layer drum, bass, and synth tracks [music] through his voice alone was indeed proof of his natural ability in music creation. For all those that witnessed it firsthand, the vocal arrangement performed by him was simply amazing, a sheer form of magic within the recording studio.

[music] However, what many did not realize is that this particular technique was very much necessary on his part. >> [music] >> Michael Jackson had absolute pitch, but was unable to read and write music on paper. To counter such a problem, he used to compose his songs entirely in his mind.

He [music] would sit at a tape recorder and create an audio arrangement out of all the musical instrument lines that he imagined in his head. These would range from the complicated beats for drums, strings, and synths. His vocal arrangements would be heard by the musicians at the studio for further development. Magic blanket stage vanish.

The magic blanket vanish illusion marks the ultimate climax of the show Thriller on both the Bad and Dangerous tours. To the spectators, the illusion appears totally impossible, and they watch as the monsters surrounding Michael lift up an enormous sheet of opaque material covering the pop star for just one split second, after which they suddenly remove the cloth, and Michael has magically disappeared.

The secret lies in the principle of visual occlusion, in which the short-lived obstacle is used to perform a simple mechanical move. The new twist in the illusion in comparison to traditional gravity counterweights was the innovative use of the pneumatic pistons in the late ’80s to operate the trapdoor hidden under the stage deck, creating an extremely [music] quick opening and closing of the floor.

Because of the fast action, Jackson would fall blindfolded onto a crash mat under the stage to avoid any spinal injuries. Hidden magic rooms. The Neverland Valley Ranch, owned by Michael Jackson, was built to be more than just a regular house. It was meant to create an environment where you could feel as if you are living a fantasy tale yourself.

To entertain and surprise his visitors, Jackson incorporated an elaborate system [music] of optical illusions right into the walls of his main house with tricky doors, movable bookcases, and secret rooms. This wasn’t a mere attempt to play around with some DIY tricks. This was a creation of unique optical illusions that were made for the whole property by the famous professional illusionist Franz Harary.

He worked as Jackson’s special effects expert for a very long time and helped to build all the necessary trapdoors, passageways, [music] and secret compartments. All those optical architectural features helped to turn the ranch [music] into a real house of magic. And that’s the blueprint of the magic. From lightning-fast stage traps to wild digital [music] effects, MJ didn’t just sing and dance, he engineered pure wonder.

It takes a master to blend raw muscle with heavy machinery and make it look as effortless as a stroll in the park. Now, go ahead. Use these secrets wisely and keep the show alive. Which section are we polishing next?