I bought this lap desk to perform on when doing tricks on my mobility scooter. Mary Mowder suggested I add a small rim around the top to keep things from rolling off and an attached pad, preferably both removable without damage to the top. Any suggestions?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001I0F5T2

That's a nice desk for that price.

I would suggest brass furniture beading for the rim you require, this will match your hinges and work well as both a decorative trim and rim.

As for attaching your pad and beading to it. High grade double sided masking tape should provide enough grip to hold them in place during a performance yet not mark the wood when you remove it.

Or you could go for Masterbond (I haven't used that personally but apparently it does not contaminate the surface) or a non abrasive sealant which will hold the pad and trim in place but can be easily removed without leaving a mark.

If you are also concerned about the desk slipping I would suggest using magnets housed in the lap pillow and attached to a magnetic strip either on your legs or on your scooter just to give it stability. I had to do this for a friend with their lap dinner tray and writing board which use a similiar pillow.

I'm eager to read how you get on with this.

I have used it once. It worked well. Front to back it is a bit snug between me and the steering tiller. Lose weight?

I will be performing in a booth at the California State Fair called "Magic of the Mind" with displays related to illusions (optical, cognitive and others). Suggestions of an illusion I could attach to the scooter? Small, inexpensive, not complicate to build.

It would help if you got someone to take a photo of you sitting and performing in your Magic Mobility Scooter. Then magicians here might have some good workable suggestions for you to use.

Losing weight might be an option but no cakes? Noooo, I'd just move the tiller

A bit of advice I would give is stay away from colour based optical illusions. I have colour blindness so can rarely see these effects.

Have you thought about using the Gozinta Boxes but maybe making your own?
Years ago a made a set out of plywood which I could take apart (hinges or magnets work). This was for a training session on creativity I attended. I based the routine around how my organised brain which is often seen as bigger than my creativity brain would often get taken over by my much larger creative brain. You get the drift.
It was basically the Parabox trick but I had made little brains out of sponge instead of using sponge balls to accompany it.

Or you could make yourself a larger Lubors Lens. I use one of my Gozinta boxes as the background to my Lubors lens trick (it saved making three boxes). Again for the same session I based this around creativity and how we often can't see what is in plain sight of us.

I have heard some colors are worse than others, based on frequency of the type of color blindness. I am planning to do some sort of color changing hankies. Different darkness, e.g. black and white?

If I move the tiller farther forward, I can't reach it.

If you can dye or paint your own silk hankies (Dharma Trading Company has everything you need: https://www.dharmatrading.com/ ) you can do more than just black and white, but add a checkerboard pattern, or some other optical illusions painted on silk or printed on jumbo cards:



More ideas from Hypno-Trix in The Wizards' Journal #30.

Wow, that's amazing! Which lapdesk do you recommend when practicing magic? Found some good ones here: http://www.scootersnchairs.com

Would this lapdesk work on a standard wheelchair? thanks.

I remember someone doing walk around on the independent midway, with an electric scooter with a shelf on the front. That was at the Mid South Fair in the late 1060's.