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magicbob116
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I mentioned this in another thread, but I'll repost here since I have a specific question about building/painting.

I recently moved and I'm up to my ears in cardboard boxes!

I will probably use most of these boxes to build prototypes that I will later construct using better material, but I might consider building some basic illusions/illusionettes with these boxes (obviously nothing that needs to be sturdy).

I don't want to cheapen the look of my show by using cardboard boxes as building material. But I'm thinking that some items could be painted or decorated properly so that the audience cannot tell they're made from cardboard. Does anyone have experience working with big packing boxes? What tips can you provide for painting or decorating them so that they don't look cheap?

Thanks.

Bob
B. Robert Pulver

The "I Hate Card Tricks!" Book of Card Tricks Vol. 1, 2, and 3
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Spellbinder
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Before Jim Gerrish started making his props from Hardboard and Duct Tape, he used cardboard. As a public school teacher, he was part of that open ended education initiative which included a component called "Cardboard Carpentry." Elementary school kids were taught to make chairs, tables, and boxes from thick pieces of cardboard that were then available in 2 foot by 4 foot sizes.

As usual, education fads only last a few years and then are discarded for "more modern and innovative ideas." Thus ended "Cardboard Carpentry" and in came the latest educational buzz words. He said it was recycling, but he can't really remember what educational fad it was. Everybody was creating sculptures from styrofoam cups, he thinks.

Anyway, since he always combined magic with whatever junket the educational community was on, he had started his kids building illusions from the cardboard, and when the cardboard went out of fashion, he switched over to hardboard and showed his early Wiz Kids how to build all their own props from it, instead.

To make a long story longer, you can probably reverse engineer any of his hardboard prop ideas into cardboard constructions. The duct tape works with either.
Professor Spellbinder

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Michael Taggert
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To continue on spellbinders thread the main issue with cardboard for me is the finished look when painted. to solve this the few times I have used cardboard I have covered the board with Muslin (a theaterical trick here is to size the muslin first then apply it to the cardboard. this will give a surface that's equivelant to the type of board that they sell for oil painting at the art stores. I use Gaffers tape as duct tape has started to be more and more iffy in quality. gaffers is a little more friendly.
Mike
magicbob116
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Thanks for the tips! That addresses one of my main concerns, which is painting/finishing whatever I end up making so that it doesn't LOOK like it's made of cardboard. My other props are pretty high quality stuff so I don't want to put stuff that doesn't look good along side them. But all these boxes are just too tempting. I have to do something creative with them, even if I just use them to design prototypes before building the finished product out of wood, etc.
B. Robert Pulver

The "I Hate Card Tricks!" Book of Card Tricks Vol. 1, 2, and 3
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Sticky Situations
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jay leslie
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Yes, Use them as designs then make the real prop in the same quality as the others in your show.

In reality, the better performers look at their show as having, a penetration, a levitation, a transposition and so forth. I don't know of any illusionist that constructs a show because they bought some material on sale and it would make a great costume for an Asrah SOOOOO they build an Asrah to go with the costume. Seems better to design the show THEN produce the tricks and the effects that fit,

Form follows function. Present the most professional show you can. If, at any time you are on the stage, and you doubt your professionalism then the audience may sense that you are not top notch. If at any time, you are on the stage and you are thinking, wow I just got-away with using a cardboard box and no one knew it... then you didn't really get away with it.... you knew it, and that's all that counts.

Just my opinion but when we were doing illusion shows I noticed every time... Im serious.... every time, I invested serious money to improve the show, we booked more dates and I felt more comfortable about asking for more money. There is no better feeling then using clean, new props while you are in your clean new costume and you are driving around in your clean new car. The opposite is, you have a bunch of 50 year old props that are all dinged, your costume was torn and you sewed it back together and you just pulled up in a 20 year old beat-up car that you would rather park around the corner. Take it one step further, Your wireless microphone is old and you get interference and your CD player cuts out occasionally because of technical problems. Then someone asks you for a business card and you hand them something you made on a bubble jet printer that you cut with sizers and it's almost straight.

All I'm saying is that you have stated that your other props are professional - and to me - that means that you don't believe this one will be as nice.

Last I want to say I hope this does not come off as me being overbearing in any way, I am just expressing my feelings that good magicians should use good props... That doesn't necessarily mean everyone should have orange paint on the side. In some cases the look of an old wooden chest or just a plain envelope hanging from the ceiling is the correct prop for the show and you have to consider all the aspects of what you want to present AND what the sponsor is led to believe, that you present.

Jay (I don't hate card tricks unless it's a 20 minute 4 ace routine) Leslie
magicbob116
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Jay,

Very good points. My current show is primarily for children, with some "illusionettes" but I don't perform "full-scale" stage illusions (yet anyway). So, my thinking was to add something bigger to my repertoire. I'm pretty good at building things with wood, so I will very likely use the cardboard to construct some mock-ups before committing to more expensive material.

I DO think that a few illusions (such as the haunted house from Mark Wilson Complete Course) can be effective using cardboard because it makes sense that the pieces are folded up. But I think I would have to draw the line on using cardboard for major illusions (things like Mismade Girl, Zig Zag, Twister, etc.) Of course, the other thing I need to do is determine which effects are "public domain" before I set out to building my own version (have to maintain good ethics!).
B. Robert Pulver

The "I Hate Card Tricks!" Book of Card Tricks Vol. 1, 2, and 3
Kards for Kids
Sticky Situations
Sleightly Wacky
magicbob116@yahoo.com
jay leslie
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I would like to see a Mismade in cardboard. I would buy a ticket to the show to see the cardboard blades pushed through the cardboard boxes and the weight of the assistant on the cardboard base as you spin it around.
P&L2007
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I'll second that.
magicbob116
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Quote:
On 2008-07-16 11:22, jay leslie wrote:
I would like to see a Mismade in cardboard. I would buy a ticket to the show to see the cardboard blades pushed through the cardboard boxes and the weight of the assistant on the cardboard base as you spin it around.


Well, if it will sell tickets, maybe I should investigate making this from cardboard after all! Smile

Actually, I already DID make a mismade girl in cardboard (sort of)...

http://www.magicnook.com/magicbob/IHCT/IHCT03.htm Smile

Just for the record, I wasn't contemplating those specific illusions done in cardboard. I just named a few classic illusions off the top of my head. Also, there are some illusions where the entire thing could not be made of cardboard, but pieces of it could be (of course, that begs the question, if you are going to invest in quality wood for the base, why use cardboard for the rest?).

This could be a fun turn for this thread... let's see if we can come up with the most ABSURD suggestions for an illusion made from cardboard (and before anyone is a smart alec and says "any" or "all of them", I just beat you to the punch! Smile )

I'll start off... how about cardboard versions of:

Water Torture Cell
Million Dollar Mystery
Copperfield's Flying
B. Robert Pulver

The "I Hate Card Tricks!" Book of Card Tricks Vol. 1, 2, and 3
Kards for Kids
Sticky Situations
Sleightly Wacky
magicbob116@yahoo.com
EsnRedshirt
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It's easy to think of stuff that's just silly. But how about stuff that's way out there but still potentially possible?

Actually, enough duct tape might make the cardboard water torture cell possible... though you'd need to use a lot of saran wrap to hold the weight of the water against the "glass" sides...

Now that I think of it- how about a cardboard and saran wrap smoke chamber? Though you better make sure the smoke isn't too hot...
Self-proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades and google expert*.

* = Take any advice from this person with a grain of salt.
Spellbinder
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Contemplating building the Million Dollar Mystery from cardboard is not absurd at all. Even the gaffus delectus could be made of mylar mounted on cardboard. You might want a wooden platform under it all, but the box itself can be made of anything. See Jim Gerrish's PVC Pipe version of Million Dollar Mystery in his PVC Book 2 on my site.
Professor Spellbinder

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magicbob116
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I listed those as absurd because I meant if they were made totally out of cardboard. I suppose the water torture cell could be made to be watertight, but it would not be see through, so it would be more like a milk can escape. And as for the MDM, the secret would not be possible using JUST cardboard (well, maybe it would be but angles would be MURDER!).
B. Robert Pulver

The "I Hate Card Tricks!" Book of Card Tricks Vol. 1, 2, and 3
Kards for Kids
Sticky Situations
Sleightly Wacky
magicbob116@yahoo.com
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