I've done things like make zombie gimmicks and modify props in the past, but I just completed my first prop that I conceived of myself and built from scratch.

It's a production/disappearance box I've dubbed the "hypercube" or "4 dimensional cube." My wife is making me the load bag (hopefully tonight), and then it'll be ready to use.

I'll post a demo video when it's ready, and I'd love some feedback. It's very possible I've recreated something someone else has done. It's closely related to a few well known devices (temple production screen, and a way of loading a rabbit I read when I was a kid), but I've not seen this particular configuration before.

Can you post of pic of your box on the Café in this sting? Interested in seeing what you have come up with.

Absolutely, Bill. I'd love some feedback.

Question, should I post a "reveal" or not? This is an open thread.

That's why I figured I'd post a demo. I can do a bunch of single shots, too, though, that take it through the stages of performance if that's useful/of interest.

My wife pinned up the bag last night, so I'm hoping it will be done enough to demo in another day or so.

Alright, I uploaded pictures of a little demo to Picassa, links below.

Please keep in mind that this is a prototype, built under less then ideal conditions. Its not the prettiest thing in the world right now, but it is fully functional.

It can handle a large load (much larger then shown) that does not have to be flatly compressible. It can also be used as a vanish box, but in that case the end handling is very slightly different.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?un......at=email

[decided this wasn't necessary.]

Since my brother asked this, I should probably state that it is self-contained. Nothing is coming out of the table or is loaded from my body. The load arrives with the box.

It does however require a certain simple and common environmental setup to facilitate the illusion.

Nice....Hypercube!! That would be popular around here if you painted it up like a stove and produced a catfish dinner.

Heck, a catfish dinner sounds really good, even without the Hypercube...

Can the box be constructed from aluminum sheet, to fold almost completely flat?

I'm not completely sure how it works, but it sounds similar to something that was in Science and Mechanics' Magic Handbook from the sixties. It was a small animal vanish, so it might have worked in reverse to your cube. I am interested in future developments.

If the gimmick is what I think it is, I found this in a book back when I was a teen. I used a small wicker basket to produce a half-dozen or so 12" silks.

If you are thinking what I'm thinking, its similar. I too read something like it as a teen, in that case for producing a rabbit from a hat.

This is a combination of that idea with an idea from the temple production screen that makes it "built in" rather then a separate unit.

Possibly. The basic idea would probably work. You would have to make the load bag out of something sheer enough not to mess up the lines when its in the "tucked under the arm" position. But a mesh bag might work well.

Oh and the cube can be used as a vanish by effectively reversing the procedure demonstrated. In fact it can be used as a production followed by a vanish. In that mode it isn't *quite* as strong an ending though.

I should add that the advantage of a aluminum is you could use cloth or even metal hinges instead of the elastic I used. I needed to use elastic so they could stretch to accommodate the final fold of the prop. It actually occurred to me at the time that you wouldn't have that problem with metal, or even a thin plastic, but all I know how to work with/have tools for is wood.