Levitation is a big part of many of the famous magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine. They have fascinated crowds all over the globe by floating off the ground, seemingly without any supporting device, special equipment or wires.

So how is this done?

This form of levitation involves standing in front of a prop, like a metal box, chair, or staircase with your back to the audience. The magician stands approximately one foot from the prop, in this case a metal box. He places his feet together (his shoes are magnetised). He stands so he is in the centre of the spectators. Now while talking to his audience he uses misdirection with his right hand while his left hand opens a panel on his pants that allows his right leg to come out. This is the gimmick, the right shoe is attached to the pants so when his leg is out of the shoe, the shoe will hang.

The critical point is removing the right leg from the slit in the pants. The magician again misdirects as he doesn’t want spectators concentrating on his legs. This is the most difficult part of the trick, actually getting the leg out and firmly planted on the box. Engaging the spectators with speech and hand movements allows the magician the split second needed to accomplish this.

Just before he rises from the ground the magician arches his back looking up, extends his arms outwards and takes deep breaths. This wraps the spectators in anticipation and allows the magician the time to balance himself.

He floats up. His arms outstretched, his eyes gazing upwards. His legs remain straight, heels together, floating two feet off the ground. From this point he can float to the top of the box or float back down. If he floats to the top his foot is placed on top of the right shoe. The exposed leg is then slipped back into the pants and shoe.