David Bowie fans are only just realising one of their favourite scenes in the Labyrinth film is not what it seems. The realisation has left people baffled and impressed.
We all remember when late musical legend David Bowie donned a pair of extremely tight trousers and performed songs like Dance Magic Dance as Jareth the Goblin King in Labryinth.
The character gives main character Sarah thirteen hours to retrieve the baby from his castle at the centre of an enormous labyrinth, during which time he sets obstacles in her path and tries to entice her away from her quest.
In one scene, Jareth creates illusions and does tricks with crystal balls. While many assume that the talented Bowie did the tricks himself, or it was a camera trick special effect, fans are only just realising it was something totally different.
The tricks were actually created by a juggler.
Michael Moschen, who performed in the first season for Big Apple Circus, was particularly known for crystal ball manipulation.
In Labyrinth, he would crouch behind Bowie, with his arms replacing the actor’s. The illusion made it look like Bowie’s character was performing the tricks. Since Moschen could not see the objects he was juggling, it took many takes to film the crystal ball scene.
Recently, this fact was shared to the X account All The Right Movies. A post read: “Performing the crystal ball trick in LABYRINTH, professional juggler Michael Moschen stood behind David Bowie with his arms in front. He performed the trick blind.”
People have been left stunned by the behind-the-scenes information. One person said: “Funny. Now that I know that, I can sort of tell that it’s not him juggling the balls. Somethings are better left untold.” “Oh, that’s clever,” added another.
“Imagine having to do that scene with them like that and you have to not laugh,” said another left impressed. Another commented: “All this time, I thought that was Bowie! Well, it was still pretty cool.”
“Masterful illusion done completely blind,” another impressed fan said.
Another wrote: “Yep – knew that from way back when I got a behind-the-scenes documentary about it shortly after the movie came out. I watched the heck out of that thing. It was very interesting. I used to be obsessed with this movie.”
While Labyrinth was not an instant box office hit when first released, it has since gained a large cult following. The New York Times reported that Labyrinth had a $25million [£18million] budget, but it made $12.9million [£10million] in the US.
The film whimsical and fantastical world keeps fans coming back, particularly around Halloween, plus Bowie’s unique and memorable portrayal of his character. Since the legendary singer died in 2016, many fans have gone back to watch the film. Bowie was 39 when he starred in the beloved film.