Hello!

I may or may not build this, but I have an amazing idea for a cellphone teleportation!

Note: This is not a real trick, only my idea for one.

Effect: You borrow a real cellphone from a random spectator. You place it on one end of a wide table. You place a 5x5 inch cloth over it. You place a 5x5 cloth over a flat, empty spot on the other end of the table. Then, as they watch, you can slowly press the shape of the cellphone through the table and at the exact same time, a shape slowly rises under the empty cloth on the other end of the table. Then you lift up the cloths and there it the cellphone! You give it back to the owner and it's really theirs!

Secret: Where the cellphone vanishes and appears, that section of the table is able to be pulled down by the use of a string below it connected to a foot lever below the table. A spring will naturally push it back up, and 4 strings below it will stop it at table level. Between the 2 trap doors is a slanted, plastic coated, passageway. Once the foot levers are pulled by both feet, the cell phone will go down, slide to the other side, and then as you slowly let go of the lever with your feet, the phone will slowly slide up. It will take about 1 second for the phone to slide across. Now, how the phone it pushed into the table as the phone rises up? Well, in that cloth over it, there is a wire mesh in the middle. When you first place the cloth over the phone, you squeeze the mesh to the shape as the phone. When you secretly bring down the phone and slide it across, the mesh will stay. As you are slowly raising up the phone, you are slowly pushing down the mesh flat against the table. Now, on the other side, where the phone appears, that cloth has 2 flat weights on parallel ends. This way, when the hole opens up there, the cloth won't fall in.

I might build this someday... You can too!



Color Key for below image:

Red: outline of table

Black: either the passageway where the phone slides over, or the springs under the platforms, or the strings under the platforms

Green: strings that connect the trap doors to the foot levers.

light blue: foot levers

dark blue: secret platforms/trap doors

Click here to view attached image.

Nifty idea BUT...dont you think the table top will be a tad too thick if you plan to have the phone sliding? You know, it wont move if the "slide" is just slightly tilted. Also, sliding is not a fool-proof method either. Like you said, the table is wide. The wider it gets, the thicker it gets because the slide needs more room to be tilted enough. Besides, this would be kinda complex to build-especially for such a simple effect.

Besides, for a thing as small as a cellphone, a table that size is an overkill. You could achieve similar results with much much smaller props and some sleight of hand.

Its not my intention to discourage you. Its important that one keeps the creative juices flowing. Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don't. In my opinion, this falls in the latter category.

Sounds cool, but if you go ahead with it use a table with a complex pattern. This will help to cover up the "trap doors."

Thanks

--Drew

I think David Regal has an effect like you describe, but he borrows a wedding ring, places under a goblet. The ring appears under a second goblet a foot or two away. I think he calls it teleportation. His method would certainly not work with something as large as a cell phone, but you might check it out.