I love that phrase: Herculean Zen! A perfect pairing -- true and funny at the same time. How many degrees of separation can that be from Christlike vulture capitalism, I wonder?

The showmanship is, indeed, impressive and beautiful. I enjoy all three performances (although I could do without the microphone to catch the golden-diapered performer's dramatic breathing). But I'm deeply cynical about how much concentration is actually required.

Note that the three performances are not just the same sort of act. They use the very same set of palm ribs. (The performers in the two videos to which I linked are father and daughter.) Only the feather is different.

I know from my teaching experience that it takes a long time for kids to achieve the ruler and hammer illusion for the very first time. But if they then mark exactly the right spot to place everything, the feat is easily reproducible, and no less miraculous to the audience.

If the kids were to go so far as to put a subtle groove into the ruler and the hammer handle, so that the string and everything else could hang together perfectly, without slipping from the balance point unless actually jolted--the equivalent of the notches and pegs I see on the palm ribs in this act--it would be even more of a no-brainer.

The slow, tentative, carefully calibrated movements needed the first time would now no longer be needed to manipulate the items themselves; they would mainly be manipulating the audience's appreciation for the near-impossibility of what the performer seems to be doing.

I think the real miracle is that these performers are able to hold the audience's delighted attention for so long. Even mine, when I'm so skeptical of what's going on. Again, a testament to truly masterful showmanship.

Ah....

Nemo

I think "impressive," "beautiful" and "masterful" are quite sufficient, Julie, which leaves me somewhat at a loss to understand your point. Yes, it is a learnable skill using equipment that is well designed to achieve the balance she demonstrates. I would not have thought otherwise. But for me, the idea here wasn't for her to impress us with her unique gifts, but for her to perform something beautiful for us. It's more like a musical performance which is no less impressive simply because the musician is not the only one who is capable of performing the piece.

Actually, that was exactly my point, Roger.

The ability to create wonder is--and should be--more enviable than the ability to destroy it. And the experience of any work of art, including performance art like this, is much more than the sum of its technical aspects.

Likewise, two sonnets may be executed with equal precision from a technical standpoint, but one might stab you to the heart while the other leaves you unmoved, depending on how the artist of each has crafted your experience of each.

I think studying the technical aspects can still be rewarding and wonder-filled, and may even give us a deeper appreciation of the creativity and grace that went into bringing this concept into the material world.