You open an envelope and remove a
greeting card. It has some kind of face on it, like a smilie
face, or a dog, or a clown, etc. Suddenly, the eyes on the face
begin to move. The mouth opens and it begins to talk! You open
the card, there's nothing inside. You show it on all sides...
there's nothing to account for why the face can move its eyes,
open and close its mouth, wave its hand, make words appear on the
face... it must be magic! Plus a little ventriloquism on the
side!
The idea is based on Steve
Axtell's Magic Drawing Board, but this does not require you to do
any drawing, and it works completely differently, so we have
Steve's permission to share it with you. It really fits inside an
envelope which fits inside your pocket, and if you wish, at the
end of the effect you can give the card (which you print yourself
on your computer printer) to the birthday child and he won't have
a clue how to make it work, but will cherish it always.
I provide you with some sample
cartoon faces, but once you get the idea, you can really make it
your own. The Magic Drawing Board is limited to moving its eyes
and mouth, but with this you can, for instance, make the little
flower on the hat wiggle around and even make it squirt water,
provide a hand for the clown to wave, add another and he can play
peek-a-boo! His nose can light up, if you wish! Just add your
imagination and our secret source of energy and motion and you
have an illusion that fits in your pocket!
If you're not a ventriloquist,
don't despair! The greeting card can be given its own
"voice" and you treat it like a noisy "silent
partner." There are lots more
ideas for using it included; you know me, once I start talking I
can't shut up, just like all my former silent partners!
WJ17-02
$5.00
Buy all 11 articles of this issue (#17)
of the Wizards' Journal $40.00
That's less than $4.00 per
article if purchased together!
