Techno-Mage ... a construction

Techno-Mage ... a construction

There was this magnificent mathematical horse. You could teach it arithmetic, which it learned with no difficulty, algebra was a breeze, it could even prove theorems in euclidean geometry, but when you tried to teach it analytic geometry, it would rear back on its hind legs, kick ferociously,  neigh loudly and make violent head motions in resistance.

The moral of this story is that you can’t put Descartes before the horse.

The Wizard's Tube

An empty tube and then magically produce items such as ribbons or silk handkerchiefs.

Materials....

Two sheets of paper - standard 8.5" by 11" or larger.  Magic tape.

Roll one sheet of paper into a cylinder.

Roll the second sheet of paper into something of a cone, as shown in the picture. One end of the cone should be approximately the same diameter of the cylinder while the other end should be slightly smaller.

Insert the cone into cylinder and trim off the extra edges of the cone that stick out. From the outside, you'll have something that looks like a normal cylinder that's made of paper.

If you like, you can decorate the tube with stickers, markers and more.

The audience will see what looks like a normal cylinder. The opening at the back of the cylinder is actually smaller than it should be - the perspective is slightly off - but spectators won't notice.

The empty tube will now produce items from the 'secret' compartment at the other end... to the delight of the onlookers.

All the best,

Mindmyst

Skulls and Elephants



Hope everyone is having a great, and
magical week!
Here are a couple of recent items from
the news that I had to share for background
inspiration.


Enjoy...

Mummy Skulls


LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian customs agents have seized
four well-preserved pre-Incan mummy skulls, bones and
artifacts that smugglers hoped to ship to Miami, the
government said a few years ago.


The skulls, still with some dark
skin, red-brown hair and teeth, have survived because
the Paracas and Chiribaya cultures, which ruled
much of Peru's southern coast up to 3,800 years ago,
mummified their dead in a ritual intended to protect their
souls. Customs agents made the discovery in a port storage
container near Lima that also housed ancient
bones, ceramic pots and fishing nets.


Smuggling of such objects is rife in Peru, which is rich in
unexplored archeological sites, and many people make a
living as ``treasure-hunters.'' Their finds often end
up abroad in private collections or official
museums, according to the government.


Historically, Peru is best known for its Incan empire, when priests
sacrificed young men and women to their gods
throughout the Andes. Many of these bodies have become naturally
mummified as a result of being trapped in ice on
mountaintops.


The most famous Peruvian mummy is the well-preserved
body and head of a sacrificed Incan girl, nicknamed
``Juanita,'' which has attracted thousands of people to
expositions on tours of the United States and Japan.



Fly Resurrection Magic Trick

Effect: You are walking down the street and casually pick any spectator.
You ask them to come with you to a nearby car or bench, or table and pick a dead fly off the surface. You hold it in your hand do a few passes with the other hand and appear to be really concentrating and the fly slowly comes back to life to the surprise of the spectator.


Preparation: Freeze the fly

Method: You need to catch a fly and freeze it which puts it in a temporary coma, this can be done by swatting the fly hard enough to immobilize it then placing it in a small container in the freezer.


The fly then needs to be quickly taken to a suitable shaded location and placed there.  Mimic the motions of "snatching" it in mid air.
It may be necessary to practice how long it takes for the fly to revive itself.



Runaway Elephant Takes Over Publicity Stunt

MADRID (Reuters) - A publicity stunt by an amusement park company went awry  when a two-ton zoo elephant broke free from
its trainer and rampaged through central Madrid
during the morning rush hour.


The runaway elephant brought cars to a halt, sent pedestrians scattering in panic and knocked down two traffic signals
before being felled by tranquilizer darts at the end of its
500-yard dash down a busy Madrid street.

Clarissa, a 12-year-old elephant, was brought into the city to promote
the stock market debut of Parques Reunidos,
which manages Madrid's zoo plus amusement parks around the
country.


This entertainment should be taken with a grain of salt.




Salty Cards

With nothing more than kicking a deck of cards you can tell which is the chosen card.


How the Trick Works:
A good pinch of salt secretly stored in your pocket.
Have a shuffled deck of cards on the floor. Have a person look through the deck and pick a card. Have him/her place his card on top of the deck. Now have them cut the deck into five piles. (Remember the chosen card is on the top of the first pile.)


Now by pointing to the piles have them put the deck back together in a different order.


The trick is that as you are pointing at the card piles, instructing the audience member to put them back together... you take a pinch of salt and drop it on top of the chosen card as you point to it. (Slick, eh?)


Then lightly kick the deck of cards with your right foot, slide into the cards to make them glide to the left.


Examine the deck; the place in the deck with the most distance between one card and the next is the chosen card.  Reveal the card to the audience in an entertaining way.


Notes: Practice this trick before performing to get a feel for how and how hard to kick the cards, and how to "see" the chosen card.



Leave a comment.
Break a Thread,
MindMyst

Bizarre and Unexplained

Look for Magic in the news... Try not to let these things get away... they are background grist for your magical creative process, and story fodder.


Monster Cyclone on Mars ... well my budget wouldn't be large enough to make magic from this idea.


Dramatic Whale-Hunt Ritual is Successful
"The ancient taste of tradition was brought back to
the Makah Indians on a chilly Pacific beach - the nutty, slightly salty taste of whale blubber, freshly butchered from the corpse of a female gray whale."

Moving the Grand Canyon
Would you believe that, for a moment during
the creative process, the mighty Grand Canyon was moved to Colorado from Arizona?




Unexplained Booms, Bee Collapse, & Ancient Structures:

Recently, an investigative reporter, and colleague, dealt with the bizarre and still-unexplained metallic, jolting booms that have persisted into April 2012, including in three geographic locations from central Ohio to Tacoma, Washington, to San Diego County, California - all within a 24-hour period. In all three cases, there was no military confirmation of sound-barrier-breaking aircraft and no USGS evidence of seismic events.


The Coin

I selected an item similar to these, and from
the back of the room, one of the guys said that he knows someone who told him that I could flip a coin into the air and
cause the coin to land and remain on its edge. I said that this was true, and I hadn't done that effect in years, since it had a "strange" effect on people. 
As is often the case, they asked me... "how did you do that?"
I responded...
"I Shake my foot a little," and look at your foot..."Does it show?"

Effect: 
The magician shows a glass, upside down, and a coin on a sheet of colored paper. 
He puts a handkerchief over the glass and moves it over. 
He pulls the handkerchief off and Abracadabra! the coin has disappeared. 


Supplies: 
A sheet of construction paper,  a clear glass, a handkerchief and a coin. 


Preparation:  
Trace the glass onto the sheet of paper and cut the circle out.  Then tape it to the glass so when you put it onto a piece of paper the same color it blends in.



Secret: 
When you do the above put the glass onto a piece of paper and just basically move the paper covered glass over the coin while the whole thing is under the handkerchief so the glass covers the coin.  Pull off the handkerchief.  The coin will have "disappeared."





These effect ideas add adventure, and anticipation and electricity to your magical environment. Isn't that what you're trying to build?




Yours in Magic, 
MindMyst