TIM ELLIS – A magician in Geeksville
(Herald Sun Oct 7, 2009)
Without revealing trade secrets, do magicians these days use the latest tricky technology or are acts still all smoke and mirrors?
It’s a combination of both. Magicians are absolute geeks and often embrace technology before most people are even aware it exists. Magicians were using electricity to “light a hundred candles with one gunshot” before most people knew it had been discovered.
Has technological advances made leaving audiences in shock and awe easier or harder?
People are so used to seeing the most amazing sights on TV and at the movies, but when they see the same things happen live, right before their very eyes, they are really blown away.
Is it true your sunglasses are secretly take photos and your watch is a video camera?
Absolutely. One of my favourite websites is www.thinkgeek.com and I’ve got so many great toys from them, including my sunglasses which include an MP3 player and digital camera, and my watch which has an 8MB video camera hidden inside. People tell me if I wasn’t a magician, I’d be James Bond!
Your favourite gizmos?
There are several devices I can’t tell you about (because I use them in my shows!) but I do have a T-shirt with a built-in speaker that gives me a soundtrack to my daily activities.
Any gizmo you despise?
My brother in law has a TomTom GPS which gives you directions in a pirate’s voice. By the time it’s said “A hundred meeeeeeeeteerrrrrrrs, matey!” you’ve already passed the turn!
How do you get on with your PC?
Fine thanks, but we have two Rainbow Lorikeets who absolutely LOVE our computers. They chase the cursor on the screen and love pulling the keys off the keyboard
