The aerial suspension, ethereal suspension or broomstick illusion is an illusion in which the performer appears to be suspended in mid-air for some minutes, with either inadequate support or no apparent support of his or her weight. This trick was first recorded in India in the early 19th century.
This illusion was first recorded by Thomas Frost in Lives of the Conjurors, 1876, as a performance by an old Brahmin in India in 1829. The Brahmin died in 1830 without explaining his trick. He was followed by Sheshal, the Brahmin of the Air, who exhibited the illusion at Madras in 1832, apparently using only a stool, a hollow piece of bamboo, a piece of hide and some beads (pictured). Frost thought that it was "probably not very far from the truth" that there were supporting steel rods concealed within the bamboo and the hide, and that the rods were connected with a seat concealed within the performer's robes. The performer was set in place behind a screen.
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