Technology has crept into every part of our daily lives, and magic is no exception. This month we want to see magic that uses technology as part of the method! This can be anything technology-based from your favorite magic phone app, to a sneaky drawing duplication device, to decks with printed circuit boards, to AI-powered sponge balls! And make sure to charge your devices before the meeting!
The SWFL Magicians had a fun meeting last night. The subject was ‘Technology Magic’ and featured some hi-tech props, lots of extremely slick apps, and a rope trick!
Your humble Presidente started off the evening by printing a digital copy of his business card on the screen of his phone. Then he moved the image around and yanked it right off the phone screen where it became a physical business card! It’s called Card Now.
Our Trusty Treasurer Jay followed up by taking a spectator’s phone and snapping a picture of her holding a blank Polaroid photo. Then he had her think of a city she would love to visit. When she checked the image on her phone, the blank Polaroid photo in her hand was now a picture of her thought-of city! It’s a classic Tenyo effect called Magical Photography.
Next up, your Delightful Secretary David showed off a beautiful close-up pad with a finished wooden base. He placed an inverted wine glass on the pad and with no funny moves, the glass began to mysteriously fill with smoke! Several other areas of the pad also smoked on command, and then the entire pad began to magically produce smoke! This amazing piece of technology is the new Bacon Magic Smoke Pad.
Devilish Dan stepped up and smoothly plucked a ball of light out of thin air! Holding it in his bare hand like a tiny glowing star! He waved his hand and the ball of light vanished then reappeared and vanished again, over and over. He passed the light from hand to hand and even through his body before it vanished completely. Leaving his hands empty. This is what magic should look like, this is D’Lite!
The Mysterious Ziggy (ZIGMOTI) presented a trio of iPhone tricks. He played a video of himself, paused it, then asked for a random number. When he resumed the video, the on-screen Ziggy dramatically revealed the thought-of number! Next up he had someone choose a song from a huge playlist of songs, and his phone magically began to play the song before it was even revealed! Finally he had 3 movies chosen from a list, then showed that his Netflix ‘My List’ contained just those three movies!- Check out Duality, Instrumental, and Digital Force Bag.
John the Prestidigitator showed off two sneakily-designed digital magic props from the Milton Bradley company. These effects date back tot he 1990s and are highly sought after by collectors. First up was the Spirit In The Coffin which always seemed to know exactly which item you were thinking of! Next was the devious Secret of The Sphinx which could perfectly divine your chosen card!
Our favorite VP, Frank the Wizard of Naples had a card selected and lost. Then he had the spectator stare into the light from his phone and the card eerily appeared floating in the air in front of the spectator! Check out Spex!
Next up was the Captivating Gretchen who showed off a tiny pirate with a metal sword. She placed a metal key beneath the pirate’s sword and with a gentle flick of the wrist the Sword passed right through the key! Solid metal through solid metal! Even when she revealed the secret we still couldn’t see it! Take a look at The Magic Sword!
Tricky Tony showed off on of his long-time favorite effects by causing a ball to appear floating above a small stand, But when the spectator went to touch the ball her hand passed right through the ball. It was a hologram of the ball! The 3D Hologram Chamber creates a hyper-realistic floating hologram of any object placed in the chamber!
All the way from Magic City North Dakota the Baffling Blake made his SWFL Magicians debut tonight with a comedic version of Bob Carver’s classic Professor’s Nightmare! It was a great way to end the night and we hope to see more of Blake!
Thank you to everyone for coming out to create a fun and exciting evening of technology magic!
El Presidente,
Ben S