Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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misc:metal_bending [2017/08/08 15:28] denisbehrmisc:metal_bending [2023/06/19 22:16] (current) – headline format denisbehr
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 The gag based on an optical illusion in which a pocket watch, or large coin is apparently bent by flexing the hands back and forth is described as having been taught by Robert Hellis to a student, c. 1873, in //Hellis in Wonderland//, ed. and published by Will Houstoun, 2010, p 97-9. However, its earliest publication is thought to be in //Tricks//, Vol. 1 No. 2, June 15, 1901, p. 15. The gag based on an optical illusion in which a pocket watch, or large coin is apparently bent by flexing the hands back and forth is described as having been taught by Robert Hellis to a student, c. 1873, in //Hellis in Wonderland//, ed. and published by Will Houstoun, 2010, p 97-9. However, its earliest publication is thought to be in //Tricks//, Vol. 1 No. 2, June 15, 1901, p. 15.
  
-Metal bending as a serious "psychic" feat was established in the 1970s by Uri Geller, who appeared to bend keys and silverware by sheer concentration. Geller seems to have been the first to present the effect of bending keys. In the //International Herald Tribune//, Apr. 9 1991, James Randi claimed Geller's feats "are the kind that used to be on the back of cereal boxes when [Randi] was a kid." This may have just been a disparaging remark about the quality of Geller's methods rather than suggesting the exact mechanics had been taught on food items in eras past, but this remains uncertain.+Metal bending as a serious "psychic" feat was established in the early 1970s by Uri Geller, who appeared to bend keys and silverware by sheer concentration. Geller seems to have been the first to present the effect of bending keys. In the //International Herald Tribune//, Apr. 9 1991, James Randi claimed Geller's feats "are the kind that used to be on the back of cereal boxes when [Randi] was a kid." This may have just been a disparaging remark about the quality of Geller's methods rather than suggesting the exact mechanics had been taught on food items in eras past, but this remains uncertain. 
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 +===== Precursor ===== 
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 +Theodore Annemann's "Bending Swizzle Stick", although the stick is made of glass, is often recognized as an early relative to nail and spoon bending; see //[[https://askalexander.org/display/15691/The+jinx+Issue+3/3|The Jinx]]//, No. 3, Dec. 1934, unnumbered third page. 
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