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Changing Chocolate - my new idea

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Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« on: May 27, 2015, 07:40:52 AM »
 

marcolostsomething

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Hi Everyone, this is one idea of mine.
I made this video for a Saturday Night Contest on Theory11.

The effect is a "color" change of a chocolate: the effect is entirely mine, so i'd like to have some feedback and some thoughts on how could i build a routine, or even some suggestion on what would you like to see (related to this type of magic)

Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXlEqLZ_PMw
 

Re: Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2015, 12:53:33 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Hi Everyone, this is one idea of mine.
I made this video for a Saturday Night Contest on Theory11.

The effect is a "color" change of a chocolate: the effect is entirely mine, so i'd like to have some feedback and some thoughts on how could i build a routine, or even some suggestion on what would you like to see (related to this type of magic)

Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXlEqLZ_PMw

Does it require that you use a deck of cards?  It might be more impressive without one.  In fact, you can make a "Valentine's Day" routine around chocolate/candy changes that culminate in switching to a boutonnière-sized rose, or that use flowers as cover!

I would suggest that you choose chocolates/candies that have greatly contrasting appearance to each other.  It wasn't obvious at first that a color change took place, swapping one reddish-wrapped chocolate for another reddish-wrapped chocolate, albeit with a slightly different wrapper.  With clear-wrapped pieces, a piece of white chocolate changing to milk chocolate is great idea, while changing dark chocolate to milk chocolate is not quite as impressive.  In your example, changing to a green-wrapped candy (or any color other than red, especially ones that stand out against red) would be an improvement.
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Re: Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2015, 07:18:30 AM »
 

marcolostsomething

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the deck is part of the gimmick, but i can transport that to every kind of cover (phone, boxes), or use hands but in that case it would be less clean.
Yeah i meant to do that with candies with different colours, but i didn't have any, so i use the closer chocolates i had in my house.
I'd like to build a routine with that, maybe changing the deck with a chocolate box.
I also like the flower idea, because it brings magic "outside of the box" and uses things other than cards and coins
 

Re: Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2015, 12:31:39 PM »
 

Don Boyer

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the deck is part of the gimmick, but i can transport that to every kind of cover (phone, boxes), or use hands but in that case it would be less clean.
Yeah i meant to do that with candies with different colours, but i didn't have any, so i use the closer chocolates i had in my house.
I'd like to build a routine with that, maybe changing the deck with a chocolate box.
I also like the flower idea, because it brings magic "outside of the box" and uses things other than cards and coins

If nothing else, consider making a gimmick that's in the shape of a popular chocolates brand instead of a pack of cards.  Magicians "in the field" rely on playing cards a lot because of their low cost, ubiquity and popularity but it's nice now and then to be able to do something that's completely free of them.  Cups and balls don't always play well and require a table, foam balls are a bit "old school" for some, coin magic can be expensive if you use shells or vintage coins, cigarettes are becoming societally less acceptable (and were never healthy to begin with), so often, a magician will grab a pack of cards as his go-to prop - not necessarily a bad thing, but it's good to change it up now and then.

If this gimmick becomes something you want to sell, consider where you're planning to sell it.  Chocolates and candies can be a very regional thing, so the packaging will vary from place to place and (assuming you make a candy-package gimmick to replace the deck) you'll want to customize the gimmick to match the common locally-available candies.  For example, we have Kit Kat bars in the US, but the packaging is extremely different from those sold, for example, in Ireland or the UK.

Candy-bar gimmicks might seem too small for what you want to do with them, but consider that (at least in the US) the candies sold in movie theaters and some retailers are available in "king size" large packages as well as the standard size.  Such a large package allows you more options in terms of how you ultimately build and use the gimmick - for example, you might be able to make a gimmick that can "steal/switch" more than once, leaving different candies behind with each pass.  Better still, there's also "bite size" versions of many candy bars, individually wrapped - these are often packaged for Halloween treats to hand out to kids, but are often available year-round as well.  Create one "jumbo bar" gimmick with several "bite size" candies and you could practically build an entire routine into that one kit!
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Re: Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2015, 01:56:26 PM »
 

marcolostsomething

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You gave me a lot of ideas to work on!
i could think of using the box of the chocolates to make the gimmick, and maybe continue the illusion by changing the chocolates through the plastic box.
You're right about changing the items of the magician, that was the purpose of introducing candies and chocolates.
I had also other ideas, like a selected card inside the chocolate foil, or a torn (or eaten) and restored cookie.
This would be a trick AND treat... (ha ha)
 

Re: Changing Chocolate - my new idea
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2015, 02:27:08 PM »
 

Don Boyer

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You gave me a lot of ideas to work on!
i could think of using the box of the chocolates to make the gimmick, and maybe continue the illusion by changing the chocolates through the plastic box.
You're right about changing the items of the magician, that was the purpose of introducing candies and chocolates.
I had also other ideas, like a selected card inside the chocolate foil, or a torn (or eaten) and restored cookie.
This would be a trick AND treat... (ha ha)

Candy magic like this is KILLER STUFF, for adults as well as kids!

You could do a card reveal on a piece of chocolate - it's soft, so you can carve any value and suit pip into its surface!  In fact...  Here's a really cool idea!  Imagine a prop that works similar to Blister, but allows you to "deboss" the surface of the chocolate through the wrapper!  You could create a card reveal ON THE FLY using the SPECTATOR'S OWN CHOCOLATE CANDY!  (Or, if he's not carrying any, you could at least make the reveal on the chocolate without opening the packaging, which is cool enough in its own right!)  You could make multiple props in different suit/value combinations, or make a "universal prop" allowing you to imprint any card suit/value onto the chocolate or other soft candy (toffee, caramel, bubble gum [without a candy shell], etc.) while still in the wrapping.  The only trick to it is that you'd have to keep the shapes simple enough to be readable and at the same time not tear through the wrapping.  A cello-wrapped soft candy would work very well with this sort of thing.  Practice would be required as well to keep from tearing wrappers.  On a warm day, it would be all that much easier to "make an impression," I think, though how clear it will be if the candy goes soft from heat is another story!

You have a lot of "junk food" for thought here!  :))
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