Very cute.

The tilted-table version would be more fun. You can do things like pour a liquid out of a pitcher and have the stream deflect diagonally toward the speaker. Of course, you'd have to adjust the props on the back wall accordingly and use a bit more superglue.

Nice stick. Oops, I meant "shtick"! "shtick"!

Props to Obscurica at #1 for spotting the edge of his platform in the movie.

The rug is nice, too. I think the presence of the rug implies that this guy doesn't need a manhole to plant his rebar-reinforced stick in -- the stick may be welded to a big metal plate that is covered by the rug. It works just like those office chairs that are shaped like a big letter S and have only two legs, in the front -- the plate extends under him on the ground and provides the leverage to prop him up.

The flowers are probably helpful for obscuring any telltale bulges in the ground cloth.

This guy's act looks like great fun. It's more akin to those human statues that you see in public places than to a magic act, because there's not a lot of dramatic intro or exit. I wonder how he gets on and off his platform without attracting attention -- maybe he just sets it up in public and whoever happens to be watching gets to learn how it's done. It's not like it's a very big secret.

The NY levitation is even more fun -- a very elegant effect.

This makes me want to go back to welding class. If you see me doing this in Harvard Square you'll know that I've bought a welder!

Cellania at #3: no kidding. I cannot believe how far a determined mouse can jump.

And that's a gerbil in the picture. The only thing that's keeping that gerbil in there is curiosity. ("Wow, I've never seen one of these glasses before!")

I can't really beat comment #2, but no link to Kanazawa is complete unless it's accompanied by a link to Echidne's four-part epic critique of his, um, work:

http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html#8291138433810237995

Joe @5:

The guy in the hat has appeared before, using a similar style of argument, and this is one reason why it's funny to use him again:

http://www.xkcd.com/169/

Also, XKCD is written by a man named Randall, so having a man deliver the comic's message makes the message stronger. The implication is that the hat-wearer speaks for Randall. He may even be Randall.

By contrast, if the door had been broken down by a team of female Klingons, it would certainly have been funny, but it would have diluted the message, because the author himself would be hidden behind several additional layers of fictional character.

PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT

#16: Zero is an even number. So the first gnome is toast, but every remaining gnome knows that the number is even. Since each remaining gnome sees nothing but blue in front, and hears nothing but "blue" from behind (except for the special case of gnome 100), each gnome concludes that his hat must be blue - otherwise there would be only one red hat, and one is not an even number.