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Newton's Nightmare

William J. Schmeelk

(Based on 2 reviews)

A brilliant synthesis of sorcery and science, Newton's Nightmare must be seen to be believed!

From the mind of William J. Schmeelk comes this gravity-defying miracle. A brass weight is dropped through an aluminum tube. It rockets through, falling into the spectator's hand. So far, so good.

But, at the magician's command, the weight drops through the tube in slow motion - like an astronaut bounding across the moon! The brass weight can be seen floating through the tube - even while the trick is in the package, making this a virtually self-performing miracle!

Newton's Nightmare is a delight to perform, and easy enough for any aspiring sorcerer - or scientist - to master.


Reviews

Steve Giles

Jul 05, 2006

No doubt one of the cleverest tricks around,

Want to know how it's done? Science,
How does it work? I haven't a clue and that's the truth.

I bought mine and spent the whole weekend playing with it, I showed everyone from my wife to the postman.

This looks like real magic..

If you put a great presentation with it then you will have the best trick around (I do slowmotion acting as if on TV)

No skill required as it's totally self working, just hope some company doesn't put it on the market as toy as it's far too good for that.

BRILLIANT!!!!!
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Brad Henderson

Official Reviewer

Sep 24, 2004

This is fun. And before people start screaming "Puzzle," this can come off as a nice piece of magic.

As alluded to in my Skullduggery review, I embarked on a summer tour and availed myself of playing with some of the latest offerings. Newton's Nightmare was one of them.

I had a blast with this and so did the groups with whom I shared it.

My presentation:

"I have a friend who is a magician. Well, he's not really a magician, I mean I don't think I've ever actually seen him do a trick. But he LOVES magic and wanted to come up with something to help magicians become better, so he
designed this:

"This is a hand eye coordination developer. Its a brass weight and an aluminum tube. You drop the weight through the top of the tube and you try to catch it when it falls out the bottom. Now there are holes in the side so you can watch it, but the idea is to look away and trust your senses. Here give it a
shot, but it's harder than it looks."

(Pass it around circle, everyone trying. Some funny things happen. People drop with one hand and catch with the other. They get very into the process.)

"Now, what my friend didn't realize is that a great magician doesn't need fast fingers. They just need, well, magic. All I need to do is shake the gravity out of the tube, like this. Now I can't get all the gravity out, it leaks in through the holes, but I think I got most of it.

"Here, give it a try, just don't shake the tube."

Now, hand the props to someone and have them try again. It's a weird sensation for them, akin to picking up the grocery bag of paper towels which you were expecting to be full of canned goods. Every one gets a shot in slow motion
before shaking the gravity back into the tube.

The one thing a lot of people think is "magnets." To eliminate that thought, periodically tap the brass weight against the tube. They will see that it does not stick to the tube and it will keep the magnet thought from entering their mind.

Not a miracle, but a heck of a lot of fun. If you work kid shows, buy one and let everybody at the party try. They will have a blast and it will fill a lot of time if you develop fun banter for the various results of their attempts. (Just never put them down for their efforts.)

Though it's not the most amazing piece of magic ever offered, for what it is, it's great. 5 stars.
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