Hey, I got a better idea than this. How about this. A small card is introduced. On it is a QR code. The spectator is asked to think of any object/animal/thing in the world. The the spectator is to use the own phone to scan the QR code. The code will link to this website. There they have to answer just 20 simple questions about the thing they are thinking of.
And instead of charging 31,50 dollars for it, I'd sell it for 30. It's a bargain. And not overly complicated at all,
If Heinz started making tins of pasta shaped as card suits I'm sure someone would replace the labels and sell them as a card revelation for 50 times the price.
You shake out some pepper (or something equally black and pixel-like) onto a napkin. They can scan the napkin and bingo! A site comes up that says, "You just got fooled, Sucka!"
$10 download through Illusionist. Pay me. (Sucka!)
Something disturbs me about the conflation of technology with magic, and not just because I started learning learning magic to escape my job in tech.
There's already a whole load of people out there who literally think that modern tech is just 'like magic'. Tech has reached the uncanny valley level where we are no longer surprised by a new fangled gadgets ability to do something, rather we are surprised when we over estimate what it can do and it fails (like Siri and those sad bastards who are disappointed they can't hold a conversation with it).
Admittedly the usage of magic to emulate tech has always been around, like those clockwork chess robots and such, but when you start going the other way, people just assume it's all done with technology and the effect suffers somewhat.
I grew up thinking that to be a great magician, you needed a lot of money for the new fangled props and gimmicks. I didn't start learning magic properly until I realised that wasn't true. Effects like this will just carry that discouraging message on to the next generation. Who knows, maybe in 20 years magic which doesn't use an iPhone will be considered outmoded.
Interestingly myself and Mark Bendell (The Unknown DVD) came up with a version of this which uses the iPhone 10/Ouija Card handling, any card can be selected and signed and a card that was previously shown to have a QR code on visibly morphs into the signed selection! Looks like we will have to put it on the back burner now. Our thoughts on this are, if you change something to an impossible object, or, the bar code changes to the selection, you should be able to give the object to the spectator to keep, this we achieved with iPhone 10 and Ouija Card, and there are no replacements ever to buy. I will continue to use my version as it's much more organic!
If Heinz started making tins of pasta shaped as card suits I'm sure someone would replace the labels and sell them as a card revelation for 50 times the price.
ReplyDeleteOr imagine gummy bears... in card shapes... That way you can use those cool transparent force bags.
ReplyDeleteHere's one that might work.
ReplyDeleteYou shake out some pepper (or something equally black and pixel-like) onto a napkin. They can scan the napkin and bingo! A site comes up that says, "You just got fooled, Sucka!"
$10 download through Illusionist. Pay me. (Sucka!)
You'll be hearing from my lawyers, Mr Marplops.
ReplyDeleteBS
Something disturbs me about the conflation of technology with magic, and not just because I started learning learning magic to escape my job in tech.
ReplyDeleteThere's already a whole load of people out there who literally think that modern tech is just 'like magic'. Tech has reached the uncanny valley level where we are no longer surprised by a new fangled gadgets ability to do something, rather we are surprised when we over estimate what it can do and it fails (like Siri and those sad bastards who are disappointed they can't hold a conversation with it).
Admittedly the usage of magic to emulate tech has always been around, like those clockwork chess robots and such, but when you start going the other way, people just assume it's all done with technology and the effect suffers somewhat.
I grew up thinking that to be a great magician, you needed a lot of money for the new fangled props and gimmicks. I didn't start learning magic properly until I realised that wasn't true. Effects like this will just carry that discouraging message on to the next generation. Who knows, maybe in 20 years magic which doesn't use an iPhone will be considered outmoded.
-Stacy
Interestingly myself and Mark Bendell (The Unknown DVD) came up with a version of this which uses the iPhone 10/Ouija Card handling, any card can be selected and signed and a card that was previously shown to have a QR code on visibly morphs into the signed selection! Looks like we will have to put it on the back burner now. Our thoughts on this are, if you change something to an impossible object, or, the bar code changes to the selection, you should be able to give the object to the spectator to keep, this we achieved with iPhone 10 and Ouija Card, and there are no replacements ever to buy. I will continue to use my version as it's much more organic!
ReplyDeleteIm currently working on a project with scanning qr codes and stuff.
ReplyDeleteits a great way to hand out a business card along with the trick