Bounty Hunting
/With Thanksgiving coming tomorrow, I thought I’d completely ignore the spirit of the holiday and make a post asking for you to do something for me.
There are some ideas that I’ve had for a while that have hit a roadblock for one reason or another. After sitting on them for some time, I’ve decided to release the problem out to all of you and see if you have any thoughts. You may be able to direct me to something in the marketplace that meets my needs. Or you may come up with an idea that solves the problem for me. In which case, I’ll buy the idea off you. I’m putting a bounty on these ideas.
Bounty #1 - Screw Containers
They make these containers that are designed to hold beads or other small objects. They’re small containers, about the size of a large coin and about half of an inch deep. Only the top container has a lid, all the other ones screw into the bottom of the one above it, so you end up with a stack of little containers like this.
I was trying to come up with a method where you would put a coin or other object in the top container of the stack, shake the stack, and it would fall down to the next container; shake it, and down to the next, and so on. Or maybe you just ask them to point to one of the layers, you shake it, and it goes directly to that container.
It doesn’t have to be a coin, it could be any small object. Or maybe even a liquid.
I’m looking for a method that would work in real life, that would hopefully hold up to some scrutiny. (Although if you come up with a camera-only version, I’d still find that interesting to see.)
Bounty #2 - 1 on 1 PK Touches [UPDATED]
This is something that might actually exist, so you may be able to help me out by just pointing me in the right direction. What I’m looking for is a PK touch routine that can be done with just one other person. What I mean is, we would turn on the spectators phone and have it record video of the two of us. I would have her close her eyes. Then I’d tell her to raise her hand when I touched her shoulder. I would touch my own shoulder and she would raise her arm. Of course the effect would only register when the person watches the video. In the moment, they would just assume they had been touched on the shoulder.
Does a method for this already exist? If not, I feel like one is within our grasp. Because it’s on video, there can’t be any timing discrepancy. They need to raise their hand when you touch your own shoulder. That would suggest maybe a mechanical method although I haven’t heard of one that’s any good.
I’m particularly interested in this because I have a really dope presentation chambered to use with this. I just need a method.
[Update: Thanks to those of you who brought Spectro Touch and Chi Touch to my attention. I'll take a look at those and see if they'll work for my purposes. Any other ideas are also welcome.]
Bounty #3 - Fortune Telling Machine [UPDATED]
Okay, so this would require someone with some fabrication skills. So someone with, like, a genuine skill, not the sort of person whose resume for the past five years is: “Primarily blogging about magic.”
In the Twilight Zone episode, The Nick Of Time, a young couple goes to a diner and on the table is this fortune telling machine(/ napkin dispenser?).
You put in a coin, press a little lever, and it spits out a card that answers a yes/no question.
You can watch a 2-minute version of the episode here.
Now, I don’t want a replica of the Twilight Zone prop. They make those already and they’re going for like $1800 on ebay. But even if it was $50, I’m really not looking for something that’s designed to look like a prop from a tv show.
What I’d is something with the same functionality, but not designed to look like this somewhat well known tv prop. Something that looks like it could have sat on a diner table back in the 50s, that will give out a little business card sized slip when you insert a coin and press a lever.
That’s something I could build a routine around.
So if you have some idea how to make something like that, get in touch. And if you wanted to do a small limited edition run of them, I’d be happy to partner up with you and fund it and sell them .
[Update: Okay, so it turns out the Twilight Zone ones were based on actual napkin holders from the 50s (napkin holder technology is one of the few areas we’ve regressed in the past 75 years). These show up for sale from time to time on ebay, so that is likely to be an easier route to take than fabricating a new one to look old. So that is possibly/probably the direction I’ll go in. But if you have other ideas, feel free to send them along.]
Hey, if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving, have a great one. I’m thankful for my friends and my family. And you, dear reader. And, of course, I’m thankful for the same thing I’m thankful for every year.
