|
|
palmern New user Pennsylvania 28 Posts |
I just started a magic club and I was wondering if we should make our props out of cardboard or wood? I have NO experience with large stage illusions. Keep in mind that this club only has 4 people and funds are LOW. Thanks for the advice!
|
Cliffg37 Inner circle Long Beach, CA 2491 Posts |
I have a very nice square circle I made out of cardboard, and it easily fooled my ultra-critical wife. Nothing wrong with that for a club. If you start doing gigs you might want to up the quality.
Magic is like Science,
Both are fun if you do it right! |
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Depends on what you want to make. My first couple of years' worth of props was made out of cardboard and ConTact paper, and they worked fine. But then again it was what I did with the props that counted.
You can always work on effects that don't require building props. That will help you focus on the presentation instead of on the prop.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Ditto George. But for reference, the booklet, "Victory Carton Illusions" has this type of thing. Mark Wilson's Encyclopedia of Magic has similar illusions in it, too. In high school, I used a cardboard doll house, similar to the one described in those books to produce another kid in a stage play. It worked great!
Refrigerator boxes can be made into folding screens and painted to make some pretty cool, low-tech stage dressing, backdrops, side wings, etc. If you paint opposite side differently, you have two sets in one... reversible for quick scene changes. "The Super Show" by Magic, Inc. has a cool design for a folding cardboard backdrop. I built one many moons ago, only using some salvaged foam core. A bit bulky, but it worked. ~michael
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
kaytracy Inner circle Central California 1793 Posts |
I have an old U.F. Grant book called Victory Carton (Cardboard Box) Illusions.
This is a collection of stage illusions made with big boxes- from a sub-trunk style box to a haunted "dollhouse" effect- all in cardboard. For a first set out, and to prototype things, it works great, and saves money. You can use paint on them when you get to that stage, and talk about lightweight!! k
Kay and Tory
www.Bizarremagick.com |
silking Loyal user 213 Posts |
Check out the Mark Wilson book for some great ideas.
Silking |
Regan Inner circle U.S.A. 5726 Posts |
Palmern,
I needed a large, custom prop (Magical Washing Machine) for some particular shows one year. I knew I may never need it again, and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on it. I made it from heavy duty cardboard and it worked great. From the stage it even looked real. It had all the controls of the real thing, and it had a working door. I even used large, metal hinges for the tipover trunk principle. It worked really well, looked good, was super lightweight, and it didn't cost much at all to build. I had occasion to use it several other times after that first season. It was much more durable than I had intitially thought it would be. I see nothing wrong at all with this, in fact I commend you for trying it. Be creative and innovative. You never know what you might discover and come up with. Regan
Mister Mystery
|
MikeDes Inner circle Montreal 1174 Posts |
You can also do quite a lot with coroplast. It is kind of like plastic cardboard. It comes in a lot of diffrent colors and you can build pretty good looking props with this and some colored duct tape.
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The workshop » » Using Carboard Boxes (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.01 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |