Rick Lax - Matchbox Mystery
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00 [music]
00:10 Hey, everybody. It's Nick from P3.
00:12 We want to thank you for purchasing the Matchbox Mystery.
00:16 Now, in your package, you probably came with some paper instruction.
00:19 We thought it'd be cool to include a video
00:22 so that you can see exactly what this looks like.
00:24 Go ahead and grab all your materials and let's learn how this works.
00:29 Okay, so let's take a look at what came inside your package.
00:32 You should have gotten your brass block gimmick.
00:34 I will show you how this works in just a moment.
00:36 A matchbox might look a little different than this one, and a fake match.
00:41 Now, you can also do this with real objects as well,
00:44 and I'll teach you how to do that now.
00:46 Okay, so let's learn how to gimmick up a matchbox.
00:50 You're going to need a ruler or a straight edge,
00:53 the matchbox that you want to use.
00:55 I got this at the grocery store,
00:57 a pencil, and something sharp like a toothpick
01:00 so that you can poke through the box.
01:02 The first thing you want to do is go ahead and open up your matchbox
01:05 and get rid of all the matches.
01:07 I'm just going to dump those over there.
01:09 So you have an empty box.
01:12 What we need to do is find the exact center of each side of the box.
01:18 To do that, it's very easy.
01:20 We're just going to use our ruler
01:23 and make two diagonal lines from each corner.
01:27 So I'm going to go from here to here.
01:30 I'm just going to draw a very light pencil line.
01:33 Actually, I'll do it a little darker so that you guys can see it at home.
01:37 You normally wouldn't want to make it this dark.
01:40 I'm going to make another line here.
01:52 In doing so, the center of the X
01:55 has now found the exact center of the box.
01:59 That's where you're going to want to poke your first hole.
02:02 You're going to take a toothpick or anything else that's sharp,
02:06 and you can just go ahead and poke it right through the center of the box.
02:10 Just like that.
02:14 So there's our first hole.
02:16 You might want to make these a little wider.
02:18 You could use an X-Acto knife or even the tip of a pen
02:21 to widen that hole out, but it only needs to be as big as your match.
02:25 As long as your match can fit through the hole, it's going to be big enough.
02:28 Even using the match itself will widen the hole.
02:31 So you go ahead and you do that on this side as well,
02:35 so both sides of the matchbox.
02:38 Draw your line.
02:49 Remember, these lines are nice and light,
02:52 because you're going to want to erase them afterward.
02:55 You can see the center is right there, so let's poke another hole.
02:59 Right through the center.
03:02 Okay, so this is now done.
03:06 Well, we're going to erase these lines afterward.
03:09 Let's just find the center on the tray.
03:12 So let's draw another line.
03:17 Another line.
03:22 And poke our last hole right through the center of our tray here.
03:28 Cool.
03:30 Okay, so we're almost done.
03:32 The last thing you want to do is go ahead and erase these lines that you made.
03:36 It's not a huge deal if your spectators can see a little bit of it,
03:40 but you do want to get rid of them.
03:42 Mine, of course, were darker for this explanation.
03:45 So erase those up.
03:47 After all those lines are gone, take your tray, put it in the sleeve,
03:51 and you'll see that the holes that you just made line up.
03:55 So if you take a match, you can place it straight through the center of the box.
04:00 Now, you can widen these holes if you like.
04:04 I personally like to have a nice wide hole
04:07 so that the match goes straight through with really no fumbling around.
04:12 Just play with the match going through.
04:14 Find the correct size that you like.
04:16 And that is how you gimmick up the matchbox.
04:19 Okay, let's take a look at your brass gimmick.
04:22 Believe it or not, this brass block has a secret opening.
04:25 I'm going to show you how to open it.
04:27 Sometimes it's a bit tight to open when you first get it,
04:30 but after you use it a little bit, it gets a lot easier.
04:34 Here's how I open mine, and this one still is a little tough to open.
04:37 I place both hands on each side of the long part of the brass block.
04:43 One thumb on this side, one thumb on this side,
04:46 and I pull opposite directions.
04:50 So I pull right apart like that, and you'll see that the gimmick will break open.
04:55 This is what is going to allow the match to pass through the center of the matchbox.
05:01 Fooled me the first time.
05:03 You'll want to open and close this a bunch of times to kind of work the gimmick in
05:08 so it's easier for you to open.
05:10 I've also found that vegetable oil will make it an easier thing to open
05:15 and also won't damage the gimmick in any way.
05:17 But you do want it to be a bit snug, a bit tight,
05:20 because you can hand this out to your spectators for examination.
05:24 You'll notice that the seam that the two halves create
05:28 virtually disappears with the pattern of the brass.
05:33 So that is your brass gimmick.
05:35 Let's go ahead and learn the routine.
05:37 Okay, so here's how you get set up for the routine.
05:40 You're going to need a match, your gimmick matchbox with the hole through the center,
05:45 and your brass gimmick.
05:47 You're going to want to open the gimmick up,
05:50 and then just close it slightly.
05:54 Not all the way.
05:55 You'll see a hole in the center here,
05:57 but it needs to be thin enough so that it fits inside your matchbox.
06:01 And you can see that the hole is right between the two pieces of brass.
06:07 That's what you want.
06:08 So that is how you set up the box.
06:11 You're going to put the sleeve on top of it just like that.
06:15 Then you're ready to go.
06:17 Okay, so bring out the matchbox and the match,
06:20 and look at the spectator and tell them that there is something incredible inside the matchbox.
06:26 Take the match and place it directly through the center of the box.
06:30 You're going to tell your spectator that what they're looking at
06:32 is one of the greatest illusions imaginable,
06:34 because what they are seeing is not possible.
06:38 This can't be.
06:40 They're not going to be that impressed, but you'll show them why in a moment.
06:42 Allow the spectator to remove the match themselves.
06:46 Now you're going to do a little bit of a misdirection move here.
06:49 You need to squeeze this matchbox along the sides,
06:53 because you want to close that gimmick so that it's one piece
06:57 and has no more split down the middle.
06:59 Right now, this thing is open.
07:01 So when they remove the matchbox,
07:04 I make eye contact with my spectator, and I ask them a question.
07:09 In this case, I usually ask, "Do you know any magic words?"
07:12 On that moment when they are thinking, if they do, it doesn't matter,
07:15 I just squeeze the matchbox just like that.
07:19 I use all three fingers along the side, and I use the edge of my thumb here.
07:23 That way I get even pressure on the brass gimmick so that it closes snug.
07:27 Now if you look, this thing is now closed.
07:30 So the spectator pulls the match out.
07:32 You look at them, and you say, "Do you know any magic words?"
07:36 In that moment when they are looking at you, squeeze the matchbox.
07:39 They say, "Abracadabra." Great.
07:41 Have them take the match and try to put it back into the box.
07:45 They won't be able to because the gimmick is now closed.
07:48 Have them hold out their hand, or if there's a table nearby,
07:51 you can do this on the table as well.
07:53 You want to drop this in their hand or on the table.
07:56 This is one of the coolest moments of the routine.
07:59 If your spectator holds out their hand, they're expecting that box to be really light.
08:03 But when it's heavy and it hits their hand, they're going to be totally surprised.
08:07 Same goes with the table.
08:09 It doesn't make a loud noise in this because it has a mat,
08:11 but if you drop this on a wooden table, it makes a really loud noise.
08:15 Try it. You'll see.
08:16 That's one of the most surprising parts about this effect
08:18 and why it's really great is that surprise moment.
08:22 Let them open the box themselves because they can.
08:25 This can all be examined. Don't worry about that seam.
08:29 Let them open the box themselves, and they can remove this from the box.
08:34 Let them examine the box. Let them examine the brass block.
08:38 The funny thing is that the box is one of the things that they examine more sometimes.
08:43 Try to get this out of their hands at some point.
08:46 It doesn't have to be right away.
08:48 Take the gimmick back. Just put it back in the box.
08:52 Leave them with a totally impossible mystery.
08:56 One of the best parts about this trick is that you can use any matchbox you'd like.
09:01 Personally, when I do this, I have a matchbox from a restaurant right down the street.
09:06 They love it. It has a more impromptu feel when I'm out and about doing it.
09:11 People locally know the restaurant, so they recognize the matchbox.
09:14 It's just a cool thing that this trick allows that other magic tricks really don't.
09:19 Also, what's great about this is that it's really small and fits in your pocket really easily.
09:24 It's not a card trick. It's not a coin trick, which I really appreciate
09:28 because it's just something different.
09:30 If you guys like it as much as I do, head over to penguinmagic.com and leave us a review.
09:34 Tell us what you think. I'm Nick from P3, and I hope you enjoy this.
09:38 [music]