You never know what you’re going to see in Tel Aviv, where out-of-the-ordinary sights have become rather commonplace. But illusionist Hezi Dean managed to turn heads with a hovering magic trick he performed on March 22, appearing to stand mid-air with one hand touching an outer wall of the Dizengoff Center.
Crowds gathered at this major Tel Aviv intersection to scrutinize how the trick is done. Some guessed that Dean was hanging off a metal rod hidden in his sleeve; others declared he was standing on an extremely see-through platform.
The street-magic stunt was a promotion for Dean’s new stage show, launching March 28 in Tel Aviv.
Dean’s public-relations team credits him with bringing the form of “extreme magic” to Israel.
In 2010, the daring illusionist captured a world record after spending 64 hours inside an eight-ton block of ice at Rabin Square, breaking American magician David Blaine’s 63 hours in an ice cube above New York’s Times Square.
The adrenaline junkie also baffled passersby by hanging off burning bungee cords at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Towers that same year.
Dean scored international headlines in 2011, when he stood on a nine-story-high pole at Rabin Square for just over 35 hours.
“It was very hard. I want to tell you only one important sentence: Nothing stands in front of the will,” Dean said upon dismounting.
According to his Facebook page, Dean began his magic career by performing in a shopping mall, then at birthday parties for a paycheck of NIS 50. He’s come a long way since then.
“When we looked for a way to promote my new show this idea came up. I’m not going to break any new records. The idea was to do something that would make people look up and talk,” Dean wrote on his Facebook page, a week before performing the mid-air hover stunt. “So, come and raise your head skywards and be amazed. I’ll be waiting, and I promise to wave hello.”
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