Machinations – Gimmicks (Template PDFs) by Ben Harris

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Description

All print outs needed to make the gimmick has been provided.

With Machinations, Ben Harris builds upon an unusual and unbelievable puzzle developed by Martin Gardner and Bob Neale known as “The Trapdoor Card”. This topological effect allows you to essentially turn a card INSIDE OUT.

In effect, you display a playing card (or piece of paper, or ticket, or ANYTHING similar) with a small door cut out just off-center. The spectator can then hold onto this tab as you fold around it and cause absolutely impossible and visual miracles happen. You can cause images to vanish, the paper to turn inside out or even make the entire shape change.

Ben Harris has meditated on this principle and taken it in wild, new directions. “Card Warp” or playing card art, and enjoy whimsical presentations.

You’ll learn handlings that involve playing cards, schematics for magical doors, Houdini-based escapes, and how to use “The Trapdoor Card” in a packet of cards.

Machinations features more than TWENTY effects using this principle, including:

Zoo Ticket – Cause a zoo ticket printed with donkey images to impossibly transform into a ticket with penguin imagery.

Houdini’s Escape – Using a paper “padlock,” you assist the famous Houdini in a trapdoor escape.

The Wishing Paper – Showing a paper with birthday candles, the spectator makes a wish. When the paper is unfolded again, their wish appears on the other side.

The Wad of Paper (by Bob Neale) – In this impromptu effect, you and a spectator contemplate the meaning of life while performing the powerful and direct “Trapdoor Card”.