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CreativityTranscript
00:00 [SILENCE]
00:11 [MUSIC]
00:21 [MUSIC]
00:46 Let me begin by saying that this course represents the efforts of not one or two or a dozen individuals,
00:53 but of all the magicians who have contributed to the art of magic.
00:57 Now as you study and learn from the course, you will join the ranks of those who know these great inner secrets.
01:06 I hope that you will acknowledge and respect the contributions that have been made.
01:12 Acknowledge by being aware of the countless hours, the effort, the work, the study, the practice of the magicians of the past
01:20 to create the art of magic, and respect for the magicians of today by not revealing any of these hard-earned secrets.
01:30 This course then is dedicated to the magicians of all times and places and their many contributions to the art of magic.
01:40 What is an illusion?
01:42 Boutier Waters, in his book, "The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians," says an illusion is a magic effect that uses a person or a large animal.
01:54 In the past, illusions were performed by magicians who toured from city to city,
02:01 performing the same show basically over and over again for different audiences.
02:06 Now, today on television, one performance of an illusion or any magic effect can reach more people than the masters of the past performed for in their entire lives.
02:19 [Music]
02:23 Oh, Alakazam, zi-dee-dee, Alakazam, zi-doo, we're all combining a magic land we wish you'd all come to.
02:31 Oh, Alakazam, Alakazam, that's the magic land.
02:35 Oh, Alakazoo-zoo-dee-dee, Alakazoo-zoo-zoo, we're on our way to Alakazam, the magic land of fun.
02:45 Disney Life for 90 days now, see me chatting to Alakazam.
02:50 See the magic the animals do, Alakazam, magical tricks for you.
02:55 Laugh with me with a mix of fun, dancing Alakazam upside down, unbelievable Alakazam, look at the magic wishing man.
03:04 Dance the Alakazam, friends, enjoy the fear, just fulfill the trick to make the magic magician appear.
03:12 Oh, Alakazam, Alakazoo-zoo-dee, Alakazam, zi-da-da, the magic land of Alakazam is fun for everyone.
03:22 Brought to you by Kellogg's.
03:25 Thank you, Kellogg's, oh, thank you, Kellogg's, that's cool.
03:30 And now, here's the man with a hundred thousand dollar hands, the master magician of the magic land of Alakazam, Clark Wilber.
03:45 When we were shooting the magic land of Alakazam, we discovered the continuing appetite of a weekly television series required the constant production and creation of new illusions.
04:00 Over the years, we've presented literally hundreds of illusions, most of them built around my beautiful co-star and wife, Nannie Darnell Wilson.
04:13 Here's the charming Nannie Darnell, Alakazammy, and Alakazwell.
04:20 [Music]
04:23 [Applause]
04:35 [Music]
04:45 [Music]
04:53 My beautiful young lady, one, two, three, here she is, Nannie Darnell.
04:58 [Applause]
05:09 Watch, there's Nannie Darnell.
05:15 [Music]
05:37 And there he is.
05:39 [Applause]
05:44 [Music]
05:48 [Applause]
05:56 [Music]
06:01 [Applause]
06:04 [Music]
06:12 [Music]
06:18 [Music]
06:24 [Music]
06:33 [Applause]
06:36 [Music]
06:42 [Applause]
06:48 [Music]
06:54 And I'd like you to meet my insurance and co-star of the magic, Circus Nannie Darnell. Here she is.
07:00 [Music]
07:03 [Applause]
07:09 [Music]
07:17 [Music]
07:26 [Music]
07:30 [Applause]
07:40 [Music]
07:43 Here's the wonderful Nannie Darnell, she's a charming Alakazwell.
07:47 [Music]
07:55 [Applause]
08:16 One, two, three, hut, and let's see what's in fact doing up here is Nannie Darnell, and she can say a little for you.
08:24 [Applause]
08:29 [Music]
08:37 [Applause]
08:43 [Applause]
08:49 So I think it's safe to say that Nannie Darnell has been in and consequently out of more different illusions than anyone in history.
09:00 The lovely Nannie Darnell.
09:03 Well, thank you, honey, and I'd do it again if I had a chance.
09:09 Even if you're not an illusionist, you may sometimes be asked to perform for a large audience.
09:16 So it could be just the thing to have an illusion or two up your sleeve, so you could get that extra booking, expand your reputation, or increase your fee.
09:29 So now I'll teach you some very inexpensive, but very effective illusions.
09:35 Now, these are not just ideas, these are all practical magic effects that I've used on many, many shows.
09:41 As a matter of fact, some of these illusions I've used on shows with much larger budgets where I could have used more expensive illusions.
09:51 Now I will try to give credit whenever possible to those who have created the illusions.
09:57 Now sometimes this is a little difficult because there's not as much literature, as many references on illusions as there are on, say, cards or coins or other forms of magic.
10:09 Some illusions, however, are quite easy to credit.
10:13 For instance, the zigzag illusion, which was created by the great English master illusionist Robert Harbin.
10:22 Now would you put one hand through that hole, one hand here, a foot down there.
10:30 And would you hold onto this handkerchief for me.
10:33 [Music]
10:57 Turn around, bud.
10:59 [Music]
11:19 Wake up.
11:20 Turn around.
11:22 There she is.
11:24 [Applause]
11:32 Here we're performing the zigzag illusion.
11:36 The first time it was ever seen in this country of over a billion people.
11:44 The Chinese were fascinated.
11:55 But Donnie comes out safe and sound, even in China.
11:59 Another great magic inventor is Alan Wakeling.
12:03 I was fortunate to have Alan as my creative director for our organization for some 22 years before his retirement.
12:12 Some of Alan's many creations are recorded in Jim Steinmeier's book, The Magic of Alan Wakeling.
12:19 [Music]
12:42 [Music]
13:06 Another incredibly prolific creator of magic was U.F. Gen Grant.
13:12 A wonderful man that I was privileged to meet, who invented hundreds, maybe thousands of different magic tricks.
13:19 And some great illusions.
13:21 One of those was the Victory Cartons.
13:24 Now Victory Cartons was first explained in his booklet called Victory Carton Illusions, published during World War II.
13:32 It explained how to make magic tricks from cardboard boxes.
13:37 Because wood, metal and other materials were almost unavailable at that time.
13:45 Here's something that's been puzzling me.
13:48 Somebody sent me four shipping crates.
13:52 But they're flat.
13:54 Now if you're going to ship something in a crate, you can't have it flat like this, because that won't work.
14:01 You know, you can't get anything inside.
14:03 You know what, let's open them up, put them together and see what happens.
14:08 [Music]
14:37 [Music]
14:41 One, two, three.
14:43 [Music]
14:49 That's the effect.
14:51 Now here, from our video course in magic, is Gen Grant's method.
14:56 [Silence]
15:04 Now you have to have two cardboard boxes and you can make them.
15:07 One fits inside the other.
15:09 We say that they're both ordinary boxes, and this one is.
15:13 Ah, thank you Michael.
15:15 But this one, this is the tricky one, because it has a hole in one side that the audience never knows about.
15:23 Now so we can explain this to you clearly, we're going to pretend that you are backstage and the audience is out here.
15:31 Alright?
15:33 Now, this box, the one with the hole in it, goes right here, in front, because the audience is out here.
15:39 This is the ordinary box, back here.
15:42 Your beautiful girl assistant, thank you Kirsten, good, is hiding behind the two boxes before the trick starts.
15:51 Of course the audience doesn't know that she's here.
15:53 Alright?
15:54 Now we're ready to perform.
15:56 So, I pick this box up, and I say I have two cardboard boxes.
16:01 Now when I show the box like this, I raise it, but not far enough to show the hole in the back.
16:09 Set the box on the floor, open it up, and now the box slightly overlaps the other box, right?
16:17 That's Kirsten's cue to crawl inside.
16:21 As soon as she's clear, Michael, my other assistant, picks up the second box.
16:26 We show it empty, and we put it on the outside of the box that's on the floor.
16:34 Now, to show it solid on all sides, we turn the box around like this.
16:39 And be careful when you do the trick not to lift the box from the floor, or you show your beautiful girl assistant's feet.
16:46 All that's left to do is to clap your hands three times.
16:51 The young lady appears.
16:53 Help her from the box.
16:55 She bows, and you accept the thunderous applause.
16:59 So now you know exactly how to make and perform this terrific illusion.
17:05 There are no set guidelines as to the size of the victory cards.
17:11 The only requirement is that they be able to fit one within the other,
17:15 and that they be of sufficient size to hide the person who is being produced from the sight of the audience.
17:26 Now that you know the method, let's watch it again in slow motion.
17:30 Now, Nellie and Greg are in place, hiding behind those outside boxes.
17:36 Now, since we're performing this for television, the angles are very good,
17:42 and all the box positions have been pre-marked on the floor.
17:46 So, we show the first two boxes empty, and put them downstage, that is, towards the audience.
17:53 Now, when we walk back to the back, that's when Nellie and Greg are making their secret move up to and into the downstage boxes.
18:04 Now, the victory cartons can be easily personalized for whatever show you have to be doing.
18:10 For instance, if it's a Christmas show, you could decorate the outside of the boxes with gift-wrapping paper,
18:17 or you could paint them to look like chimneys.
18:20 When you put them together, out comes Santa Claus.
18:25 They're great for commercial shows as well.
18:27 You can put the name of the company or their product on the outside.
18:31 You can even use it to produce the company executive.
18:34 You can have his name painted on the back,
18:36 and when you turn the boxes around, they see his name for the first time, and then he appears.
18:43 As you see, the victory cartons are very practical, very inexpensive, very good magic.
19:02 In an illusion, the thing that magically appears, the production item, is usually not a playing card or a ball.
19:10 It's usually a person, and that gives you two great advantages.
19:14 First is the movable person principle.
19:18 That's Kirsten's cue to crawl inside.
19:21 As soon as she's clear, Michael, my other assistant, picks up the second box.
19:27 Second is the secret assistant principle.
19:31 Until that person appears, they can be a secret assistant.
19:36 Now let me show you what I mean.
19:38 Here from one of the Alakazam shows, Rebo and I are presenting the victory cartons with a secret assistant.
19:45 Oh, Rebo, yes, you have balloons.
19:48 What's this?
19:49 Boxes over here. You want to show me the boxes?
19:51 Let's see the boxes.
19:53 Oh, yes, let's see.
19:55 What's supposed to be in these boxes, Rebo?
19:58 Rebo's balloon shop.
20:01 Oh, I see. There's supposed to be balloons in these boxes.
20:04 But they can't be in the balloons in here.
20:07 Let's see. And here's this box.
20:09 And there's another one here.
20:10 I don't understand.
20:11 Wait a minute, Rebo.
20:12 If you're supposed to have balloons, and you've got empty boxes, maybe we better get you some balloons by magic.
20:20 And later on, we're going to go to Rebo's balloon shop and--
20:22 Look, there's a balloon!
20:24 [applause]
20:28 If you've got one of the balloons, pull it. Basil, the baffled balloon.
20:32 [applause]
20:36 There's another balloon, and I'm going to get Nani.
20:38 [applause]
20:42 Of course, Nani carried Basil and the balloons as she moved from one box to the other,
20:48 which is the movable person principle.
20:52 And she released the balloons on cue and handed me Basil, the secret assistant principle.
21:05 Here's an illusion we call the crossover panels.
21:08 We've used it many times for the production of The Magician,
21:12 a corporate executive on television, for a special guest star.
21:16 [music]
21:38 Here is the secret.
21:42 I will run this in slow motion for you so you can see exactly how it works.
21:47 The person who's going to appear walks behind the upstage panel,
21:52 the one farthest from the audience, which now is the one on your right.
21:59 The other thing you must be sure to do is to mark the stage where the person is to stop for their appearance.
22:06 That would be right in the center stage where the two panels cross.
22:10 It's important that the panels continue to roll as they cross.
22:13 Do not stop right there because that will ruin the surprise of the appearance,
22:18 which is one of the main benefits of the effect.
22:22 The cost for the crossover panels illusion is quite flexible.
22:27 They can be made inexpensively from 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of corrugated board,
22:33 or you can build custom-made full-color rolling panels, themed any way you wish.
22:46 In this illusion, the mystery of three,
22:49 the effectiveness of the moving panel principle is increased by the use of a third panel.
22:55 Here it is from the magic land of Alakazam.
23:01 [Applause]
23:06 What's your name? Amy? Amy, we're very glad that you're here today with us.
23:11 Have you ever heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood, Amy?
23:14 Bring me the cards, will you, Mike? Here comes Mike Wilson. Come on out.
23:18 And he's got the cards.
23:21 Thank you, Mike. This is Amy. Say hi, Amy. Hello, he says. Okay, bye.
23:27 Amy, remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood?
23:29 There are three main characters.
23:31 There's Little Red Riding Hood, and there's Grandma, right?
23:36 And there's the big wolf, right?
23:39 Okay, now we've got these pictures, but we also have some bigger pictures.
23:44 Would you bring them out, girls? Let's see.
23:46 Here's Red Riding Hood.
23:48 This is a great big picture of Red Riding Hood, Amy.
23:51 And here she is. Thank you, girls. Fine.
23:54 Now, Little Red Riding Hood, you remember, was going through the forest, right?
24:00 And she was on her way where? Do you remember where she was going?
24:03 Grandma's house. That's right.
24:06 And sure enough, here comes Grandma. There's Grandma, right? Okay.
24:11 There's Grandma.
24:12 And you remember that when she got there, instead of finding Grandma,
24:18 She found the wolf.
24:19 The wolf, that's right. And here is the--
24:23 Oh, oh, don't be scared, Rebo. Okay, here's the wolf.
24:25 Girls, will you take the wolf, please?
24:27 Now, we put the three pictures of Little Red Riding Hood, of Grandma and the wolf,
24:31 in sort of a triangle here on this little house. See, like this.
24:35 Now, we've got the three pictures on there, and it makes a little house.
24:39 And now, we're going to take the house and turn it around here.
24:43 Just a minute. Okay, you guys? There, good.
24:45 Turn it around. Now, here's Little Red Riding Hood, here's Grandma, and here's the wolf.
24:51 Reach out and pick out one of those cards. Just pick out one.
24:54 Now, pick out another one in your other hand.
24:57 Okay, now hand me either one of the two.
25:00 Hand me back one of them. Is this the one you want to hand me?
25:02 You're sure? Okay.
25:04 Now, here's what we're going to do.
25:05 You pick--oh, look, you pick Little Red Riding Hood.
25:09 So, will everybody in the studio audience say the magic word?
25:13 [Audience cheers]
25:16 Hey, look, there's Red Riding Hood, really, and it's Nanny Darnell.
25:21 [Audience applause]
25:28 And her picture vanished, and here she is for real.
25:31 It's really Nanny Darnell, isn't it?
25:32 Yes. Thank you, Amy, very much for helping us with the trick.
25:35 And I'll tell you what we'll do.
25:37 We'll have a special gift for you, this basket, Little Red Riding Hood's basket,
25:42 that you can take with you, okay? Bye.
25:44 Let's give Amy a great big hand.
25:46 Now, we'll be right back to see what happens.
25:48 As always, the Daring Dog, right after this word, from Kellogg.
25:51 The mystery of three is an example of the moving person principle.
25:55 Here's how it works.
25:57 [Pause]
26:02 [Audience cheers]
26:05 Now, the panels are stacked, one on top of the other, upstage,
26:09 where they're held by the two girl assistants.
26:11 Nanny is hiding behind those panels.
26:14 The young lady from the audience is an important part of the illusion,
26:18 as we'll explain in a moment.
26:20 Now, I explain the theme to her, which also explains it to the audience.
26:25 In this case, Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma, and the Big Bad Wolf.
26:29 Now, you can use anything that you want as the theme.
26:33 You can use another fairy story, the three little pigs, or whatever.
26:36 Or it makes a terrific commercial presentation.
26:40 You can use pictures of products, or words, or logos, or whatever.
26:45 In any event, the theme is explained, and the girls bring forward.
26:50 Now, you notice that they tip the panel sideways to show that there's no one behind it.
26:55 All right. The girls put the panel on the back.
26:58 Everything is very open and above board up to this point,
27:01 because the audience doesn't know what's going to happen, because you haven't told them.
27:04 Now, as the girls bring the second panel forward, watch what happens.
27:09 I distract the audience by pointing to the picture on the second panel.
27:13 Rebo moves that back panel, where Nanny was hiding, over, touches the back of the illusion.
27:18 Nanny steps off of the panel and behind the back of the illusion.
27:23 Rebo turns the panel around again, showing that there's no one there,
27:26 also adding some action at that point, distracting the audience.
27:30 The girl is put on, and now the illusion.
27:34 Now, there's something special about the Mystery of Three.
27:36 There's a trap door in the back of that back panel.
27:39 Nanny opens the door, comes through, and steps inside the illusion.
27:43 Notice the people are banging. That's to hide the sound of the trap door.
27:47 Now, because she's inside, we can rotate the whole thing around, adding to the impact of the illusion.
27:54 Now, the reason that the young lady was brought out of the audience is to select who's going to appear inside,
28:01 and we use the magician's choice, one of three, we use the magician's choice,
28:05 in order to make sure that she selects a little red riding hood.
28:09 Now, you don't even have to build the frame for this illusion if you don't want to.
28:13 The panels can be like four by eight sheets of corrugated board held together with Velcro.
28:19 Nanny pushes the sides down, makes her appearance as a little red riding hood,
28:24 and you have performed the Mystery of Three.
28:27 Here's an illusion using a combination of the moving person principle
28:39 and the secret assistant principle called the circus screen,
28:43 which debuted on the magic land of Alakazam.
28:46 Circus, and that's what we have today. I think, let's see, bring it out.
28:50 Let's check and see if it's really a circus.
28:53 The Alakazam, Alakazam circus today.
28:57 Turn it up. The Alakazam circus today, and let's see.
29:00 What do you see in a circus? Why, certainly, you see seals.
29:04 You see trained seals in a circus.
29:06 Now, you may wonder what this seal keeps in this bucket down here.
29:10 Let's look and see.
29:12 Certainly, the seal keeps the ball that he balances.
29:16 Well, you see magicians in circuses.
29:23 Here's the magician's table, and on the table is a top hat.
29:26 And what do magicians keep in their top hat?
29:29 They always keep...
29:35 And what do we always find in open circus remotes?
29:40 Certainly, we always find clowns in here.
29:43 Now, Nani is walking behind the circus screen
29:52 when the two assistants move it on stage.
29:56 You open that front panel of the screen, the one with the seal on it,
30:00 and Nani steps over behind that panel.
30:03 Now, when the screen is folded into a triangle, Nani is inside.
30:09 Of course, Nani carried the ball with her,
30:12 an example of that secret assistant principle.
30:15 And she has a baffling bunny with her as well.
30:19 Now, you can see how easily this illusion can be personalized
30:23 with any of the pictures that you want on the outside.
30:27 The product, the thing you produce, can be the product, the sponsor, or whatever.
30:32 And you can make the whole illusion, if you wish,
30:36 out of three pieces of corrugated board held together with tape,
30:40 as we did on the magic land of Alakazam.
30:43 Of course, there's that big punch at the end when you produce the person,
30:46 who can be, if this was a corporate show,
30:49 that could be the next speaker or the corporate executive.
30:52 The circus screen is a really effective bit of magic,
30:59 which can be easily constructed and personalized to suit your performance.
31:04 In our continuing quest for new material for the magic land of Alakazam,
31:15 we came up with a number of new concepts.
31:19 And this one was used for the first time in an illusion called Mike's Clubhouse.
31:24 You're going to help us with a trick, right?
31:26 Good. Billy, come right up here with me.
31:29 Now, here is a large table.
31:32 And on that table, Billy, we're going to build a clubhouse.
31:35 Have you ever had a clubhouse?
31:37 You have had a clubhouse?
31:38 Good. Well, I'm going to show you our magic land of Alakazam clubhouse.
31:41 It's not too big. Hi, Reba.
31:43 Hey, here's Reba the clown.
31:45 So there goes one side of the clubhouse.
31:52 Honey, you put up the other side.
31:54 There we are. Was your clubhouse this big?
31:57 Was it bigger than this?
31:58 Yeah.
31:59 Billy, it was bigger, all right.
32:00 Now, let's see. We've got the two sides and the back.
32:04 See, it says, "Keep out in private," you know,
32:06 because clubhouses are supposed to be just for the members, right?
32:09 And this is Mike's clubhouse.
32:12 Okay, Reba, you can put the back on. There we go.
32:14 Because this is going to be Mike Wilson's clubhouse.
32:18 Now, let's see. We've got two sides, and we have a back for the clubhouse.
32:23 And, Billy, you've been watching this very closely, haven't you?
32:26 Everything, and you're looking at all the sides of the clubhouse
32:29 because you're acting as a committee for all of the people at home
32:33 to see that there is no skullduggery.
32:35 Do you know what skullduggery is?
32:37 No, you won't know it if you see it.
32:39 All right, and here's the front.
32:40 Reba, put on the front of the clubhouse.
32:42 Get it in. Okay, there we go.
32:50 Now, we'll put these collars up here to hold it together.
32:53 There we are. It's all set.
32:55 Now, we've got our clubhouse built.
32:57 I hope it doesn't rain because it doesn't have a roof,
33:00 but we do have the four sides.
33:01 Turn it around. Let's look at all the sides.
33:03 "Members only," it says.
33:05 That's very important when you've got a clubhouse.
33:07 And there it is, "Private, keep out."
33:09 Remember what we said? Whose clubhouse was this?
33:11 Mike's clubhouse. That's right.
33:13 And sure enough, unless I'm mistaken, let's look and see.
33:17 Because inside, there he is.
33:19 Mike, you appeared magically in the clubhouse.
33:29 Mike, why don't you get a gift?
33:31 And we used that same principle again in reverse
33:35 when Mike took a ride on the invisible train.
33:38 Have you ever seen an invisible train?
33:41 Well, neither have I.
33:42 I guess if you could see it, it wouldn't be invisible.
33:45 But that's what we're going to show you right now.
33:47 And if you watch very closely, I'm sure you won't see it at all.
33:51 But watch.
33:52 First, I want to show you the Alakazam train station, the middle one.
33:56 Open the curtain, please.
33:58 Here's the train station.
34:00 And to go for a ride on the invisible train, here comes Mike Wilson.
34:05 Hi, Mike.
34:06 Ready to go for a ride on the invisible train?
34:12 All right, here we go.
34:15 Turn it around, Mike.
34:16 There you are.
34:17 All right, here's the train station.
34:20 Now, so you can get in, I'm going to take off the front.
34:24 There we go.
34:27 Mike, you got it.
34:29 Right up here.
34:30 This goes on.
34:37 Like that.
34:41 Now, here comes the invisible train.
34:46 Oh, yeah.
34:53 Exactly right in front of the station.
34:56 Mike is getting out and getting on the train.
35:01 All aboard.
35:04 Here we go.
35:06 [Music]
35:12 Mike has gone on the invisible train.
35:15 You think maybe he's still there?
35:17 Let's look and see.
35:18 Here we go.
35:20 [Music]
35:29 Mike has disappeared.
35:31 [Music]
35:37 All right, I see someone thinks that maybe Mike is down underneath.
35:43 Rebo, somebody thinks Mike is down here.
35:46 Well, let's see.
35:47 Maybe there is somebody there.
35:48 Let's look and see.
35:49 Wait a minute, that's not Mike.
35:52 That's not him at all.
35:53 He's right there.
35:54 [Applause]
35:57 I'm sure we got this before, maybe.
35:59 Right after, maybe, in fact, it's all right now.
36:02 Watch.
36:03 And now here's the secret.
36:05 In both Mike's clubhouse and the invisible train,
36:09 the person who is going to appear or vanish
36:12 rides on the shoulders of the person who carries the back panel.
36:17 In this case, Rebo.
36:25 This is a very clever principle.
36:28 Now look, the table that comes out is just a regular table.
36:32 Nothing special about it.
36:33 There's no trap door in it.
36:35 You can even do this by assembling the sides on the floor if you wish,
36:39 but it's better if you raise them off of the ground, I think,
36:42 with something like the table.
36:44 Rebo brings out this first side.
36:46 He drops it a couple of times and then turns around as he's going to put it onto the table.
36:52 Only to show that everything is open above board.
36:55 There's nothing hiding back there.
36:57 Now, I distract the young man downstage,
37:01 which will distract the audience a bit by talking about the clubhouse.
37:06 Rebo brings out the back side, and what the audience does not know
37:12 is that Mike is riding on Rebo's shoulders behind that back side.
37:17 Rebo puts the side on.
37:20 Mike steps off of his shoulders and stands on the back of the table.
37:25 So you must leave a ledge big enough for the person who's going to appear
37:29 to stand on in order to make their appearance.
37:33 Rebo brings out the third, or rather the fourth side, the front side.
37:38 Again, he drops it as he did before and puts it in place.
37:42 Now, as soon as the four sides are in place,
37:45 the person who's going to appear steps through a trap door,
37:50 or an opening that you have in the back, and comes inside of the clubhouse.
37:58 Now, in that way, you can turn the whole affair around as we do here.
38:03 Now, notice as it goes by, you can see that ledge on the back,
38:06 and that window in back is just hinged open with tape,
38:10 and the whole thing is made out of corrugated board.
38:13 So it's very expensive to make.
38:16 Now, here's the reveal.
38:17 We remove all the sides at once for a spectacular reveal of the person who has appeared.
38:24 And there it is, Mike's clubhouse.
38:35 The invisible train can be a really terrific illusion with a great ending.
38:41 Now, we built the train station out of corrugated board, again,
38:45 and it's on just a regular table, if you will.
38:48 There's nothing tricky about the table, except that it has a drape around it,
38:52 so you can't see the table itself.
38:54 We show all sides of the train station, and there's a reason for that,
38:59 which is the ending to make it more spectacular.
39:03 Now, we take the front off.
39:05 The person who's going to vanish gets inside.
39:08 The audience doesn't know that the person is going to vanish yet,
39:11 because remember, you never tell what you're going to do in advance.
39:16 The front of the train station goes on,
39:19 and what's happening now is Mike is going through the back of the train station
39:25 and standing on the ledge, which is necessary on the back of the table,
39:30 for the vanish to take place in just a moment.
39:33 Now, you can see, you can easily personalize this illusion.
39:36 It doesn't have to be its train station.
39:38 It can be anything that you want.
39:40 It could, again, be a Christmas present, if you like.
39:42 You could put an elephant, which would be a good reason for using a smaller person.
39:47 And at the end of the illusion, instead of producing Nani,
39:51 you could easily produce Santa Claus.
39:53 Okay, now the invisible train has come.
39:56 Rebo goes back to the back and takes off the back,
39:58 as I take off the front and the sides.
40:01 And what's happening now is Mike, on Rebo's shoulders, is going off with Rebo.
40:07 I turn the table around.
40:09 This adds to the misdirection, you see,
40:11 because the audience isn't worried about that back going off.
40:14 They think Mike is maybe concealed in there.
40:16 Obviously, I trap him in the table. He goes through.
40:19 But when we pull the outside of the cloth off,
40:23 which is held in with Velcro strips at the top,
40:25 the cloth comes off, revealing Nani.
40:27 Now, if you want a really big ending,
40:30 the person who vanished can run around and appear in the audience
40:33 and come up on stage, because they've got plenty of time
40:36 because of that ending with the appearance of Nani.
40:43 And now here's an example of how you can take a classic parlor magic trick
40:47 and convert it into a very effective, very inexpensive illusion.
41:00 There we are.
41:01 Well, Rebo, what in the world is this?
41:06 Oh, I see. There's a barrel, and there's some fishing poles.
41:14 Fishing poles go in here.
41:19 And what's this?
41:21 Oh, I see. It's a sign. Clay fish pot.
41:24 I see clay fish pot, and you catch things in this barrel. Is that right?
41:30 Well, what do you catch in the barrel? What's in the barrel?
41:33 Well, wait a minute. I don't see anything.
41:35 I don't see anything in the barrel.
41:37 Well, Rebo, maybe, maybe we can catch something anyway.
41:42 Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
41:45 Rebo, I'll tell you what let's do. Let's take the fishing poles.
41:48 Have you got any bait, Rebo?
41:50 [Audience laughter]
41:54 What did you do, Rebo? Oh, here's the bait.
41:56 I see. You knocked the sign down, Rebo.
41:58 Everybody take a pole out. That's good.
42:02 Oh, I see. Here's the bait.
42:05 Worms, it says. Okay.
42:07 Everybody got a pole? All right.
42:09 [Audience laughter]
42:12 Now I'm going to open it. Let's see.
42:14 If you come over and we'll have a little bit of a...
42:16 [Audience laughter]
42:18 Rebo, you did that.
42:23 Well, look, Rebo, we just want to use it.
42:26 We'll just fish by magic.
42:28 I think ladies should be first. Diane, come over here.
42:31 Now stand right here and put your line down in the barrel,
42:35 and let's see what you can catch.
42:38 You feel anything?
42:40 You have to be very patient if you're a fisherman.
42:42 You feel anything? Uh-oh. Let's see.
42:44 [Music]
42:48 Hey, you caught a nice fish.
42:50 I thought maybe you'd catch a fish.
42:52 Let's see. Oh, wait a minute. Look.
42:55 You're the fish, Diane. Look.
42:57 There's water for our fish in the tube.
43:00 [Audience applause]
43:05 Good water, isn't it, Diane? Hold on to that for a minute.
43:07 Who else wants to fish? You want to fish? Come on.
43:10 See what a cub scout will catch.
43:14 Put it in there.
43:19 Let's see what you can catch now.
43:21 You feel something digging on the line?
43:23 Maybe you're going to catch something. I don't know.
43:26 What's this?
43:28 Well, that's a very strange thing.
43:30 Look, this is... Oh, I know what this is.
43:33 This is the famous balloon fish.
43:35 You ever heard of a balloon fish?
43:37 Oh, watch out. He's getting away.
43:40 He's running now.
43:42 And now he's under the weather. We're going to have to throw him away.
43:44 Hey, you want to try? Come on, David.
43:46 Let's see what you can catch.
43:49 David puts his pole in there.
43:54 Hey, I hear something. Wait a minute.
43:57 Hey, what's this? Look. It's the famous man-eating fish. Look.
44:02 You got to be careful with this one.
44:06 Let's see. Everybody's fish but me.
44:08 Now, stand right back over here out of the way because I'm going to try fishing right now.
44:12 Let's see. We don't have any... All right.
44:14 I'll use a special fishing pole.
44:16 Would you bring in my fishing pole, please?
44:22 Now, let's see what I can catch.
44:25 Everybody ready?
44:27 Okay. Here we go.
44:29 One, two, three, pull it up.
44:35 It's not a dart owl. It's a beautiful mermaid.
44:47 Fishing in a barrel is an example of a classic polar trick turned into an illusion.
44:53 Now, the classic, of course, is the square circle.
44:56 This particular prop, the thing that you're looking at right now,
44:59 is an example of how you can make inexpensive magic from things that you've already got in your house.
45:04 The box is made from cardboard, painted and decorated with metallic tape.
45:09 The tube is an old oatmeal box, also painted and decorated with tape.
45:14 Ah, but here comes the magic.
45:16 One, two, three, look. There it is.
45:20 Ah-ha. Okay. Here's the secret.
45:23 The square circle consists primarily of three items.
45:26 There's the outer box, which is the square,
45:30 a tube, which is the circle,
45:32 and a secret tube that the audience never knows about, which is the gimmick.
45:38 Now, to perform the trick, you put the production item into the secret tube.
45:43 The regular tube that they see goes on the outside. That's the circle.
45:47 And inside of all of that goes the square.
45:51 Okay. Show the square empty, and then show the circle empty.
45:58 Now, this is where the real magic of the square circle comes in.
46:02 You see, you don't see that gimmick tube inside of the square because of two reasons.
46:09 One is it is black, covered on the outside with felt.
46:14 The box, the square, is also covered on the inside with felt.
46:18 When the light is right, it doesn't show, and that's called black art.
46:23 The second principle of the square circle is the fact that on the front of the box,
46:27 the opening is covered with bars or sometimes with a growork,
46:31 and that breaks up your line of sight, which helps the black art to work inside.
46:36 That's the way the square circle works.
46:38 Now, we've taken that old principle
46:41 and made it into something a little different for fishing in a barrel.
46:49 So, here's how we use the square circle principle for this illusion.
46:54 Now, you'll notice that there is no square out there.
46:58 There is a circle. That's the barrel.
47:01 That barrel, by the way, is made of heavy-duty cardboard.
47:05 It's an industrial-type barrel that's used for shipping and storage of dry materials.
47:11 You can find them around quite easily.
47:13 Now, no black art. Here it comes.
47:15 Look, Rebo puts up a sign, "Play fish hunt," and it's black at the bottom.
47:21 And there's no square, no box, but there are those fishing poles.
47:27 Now, Rebo picks up the barrel and shows it empty.
47:30 The black art, the thick black is down on that platform,
47:35 and the fishing poles form the grid work that was the front of the square circle.
47:41 Now, it all goes away because we've shown the barrel empty.
47:45 There, the black art is gone, and so is the grid work, leaving only the barrel.
47:51 Pretty clever application of the square circle principle.
47:56 Now, we're going to use the secret assistant a number of times
48:01 to add some body of fun and entertainment in the middle of the illusion.
48:07 Each of our young students from the audience is going to go fishing.
48:13 That was the bait can, which I opened, which was really a snake can.
48:17 Then we put a new label on the outside, and the snakes jump out.
48:21 Now, the lady's fishing, and the young lady goes fishing.
48:25 She helps put the line in, and of course, the ever-bastard Nanny Darnell,
48:30 the secret assistant inside, hooks a shoe onto the line so that she catches--
48:37 yes, a shoe.
48:39 But there's more to it than that.
48:41 The shoe is actually filled with water, and when we pour the water out,
48:47 there are several goldfish swimming around inside.
48:51 That's fishing number one.
48:54 Now, for contestant number two, who also goes fishing.
48:58 What is this young Cub Scout going to catch?
49:03 All right, Rebo helps put the line in the barrel.
49:08 He comes up with Nanny Darnell, one of those incredible blowfish,
49:15 which is really a balloon, which comes off of the line, which is to do--
49:19 so I put it back, release the valve on the balloon.
49:23 The blowfish goes crazy, adding a little action to the center of this presentation of the illusion.
49:31 All right, our third person goes fishing.
49:34 All of these are good examples of the secret assistant.
49:39 What's he going to catch?
49:41 This time, it's a rubber fish, and although you can't see it on this picture too well,
49:46 we added some of those wind-up, placid-y false fish making a man-eating shark.
49:54 All right, we've all gone fishing, and now it's time for the magic.
49:59 A square fish comes in from overhead, and Nanny attaches it to the top,
50:07 a giant hook on which she is sitting,
50:11 and she comes up in her mermaid outfit for a play fish pond.
50:18 It's a wonderful little trick, which you can make inexpensively.
50:23 It's very effective and presented correctly quite badly.
50:28 The black art, the illusions we have time for right now, so we'll have to say good-bye.
50:33 And the fishing poles, good idea.
50:37 Here it is.
50:39 Now it all looks the same because we've shown the barrel empty.
50:42 There are the black art.
50:44 And of these, love.
50:46 The barrel.
50:48 Pretty cool magic.
50:52 Now--
50:54 [video playback]
51:02 Each of our young--
51:10 A snake can--
51:17 Now, ladies--
51:19 And the young lady goes fishing.
51:31 On to the--
51:36 But there's more to it than that.
51:47 That's fishing.
51:53 It's fishing.
51:54 And what is this young cub scout doing?
51:59 He's got the line in the barrel.
52:09 Which is really a balloon, which comes off of--
52:12 It's supposed to do, so I put it back.
52:15 Release the valve on the balloon.