“The Talking Board,” or as it is more commonly known “Ouija Board,” is actually a fairly recent invention. American businessmen Elijah Jefferson Bond and Charles Kennard patented the first board with letters on it to be sold with a planchette (the pointing device you put on the board) in 1890. A keen inventor, Bond also trademarked the word ‘Nirvana’ and invented a steam boiler. In fact, he would have made an excellent addition to “Dragon’s Den.”

In 1901, an employee of Kennard, William Fuld took over production of the talking boards and marketed them under the name “ouija” from the French and German words for yes, oui-ja. The board grew in popularity from the 1920s-1960s and many similar boards were marketed by Fuld’s competitors. He filed several lawsuits at other companies who were using the term ‘ouija’ in their marketing. Fuld reinvented the history of the board and anounced that he alone devised it.

The true origin of the board, however, is claimed by Fuld’s rivals to date back much further in history. Fuji is a form of automatic writing from China first appearing on record in 1100 BC. With Fuji, no board is used, instead a large planchette with a pencil attached is placed onto paper and when the planchette moves it creates letters, pictures or symbols. This apparently was the inspiration for Bond’s invention.

Years of ghost stories, horror movies and tales of people opening doorways to the other side through improper use of the board has led many to believe that the board should not be sold as a toy. Despite this, Parker Brothers, who bought the rights to the Ouija Board in the 1960s, market many variations of the original design, including a lovely pink edition designed for teenage girls who want to find out if the spirits can give them a date for the night.

For us, as sceptical magician types, we know that the shape is just a glint of light against the camera lens. It only lasted for a second and in any of the other 24 frames in that second this is the only one in which it took a form which was vaguely human. But it is interesting how the brain wants to take random patterns of light like this and make something meaningful from them. Here is the image.

To see the full interview click here.

The Essential Magic Conference is going live on the internet in a minute. If you are a magician, or have any interest in magic, it is the most important thing you can do with 50 of your hard earned pounds this year. Registration is open here

The legendary and mighty Penn and Teller are in London for five nights only with what is, in our shared opinion the greatest magic show in the world ever.  Actually that is not just our opinion, it is a cold and objective fact. It’s been years since they have performed in the UK and who knows if they will ever return, either way you will regret it fully and thoroughly if you don’t attend.

They are at the Hammersmith Apollo from the 14th – 18th July and tickets can be purchased here.

Ever wondered how magic works? Have a look at the video above where we manage to correctly predict what playing card someone is just thinking of.

Impossible right? Not so.

How does it work? keep watching and we’ll show you.

Was it worth the effort? probably not.

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnlYWlCD23M

You could use this feature to write your very own abstract poetry. The opening of “This is a tale unlike all the rest about a young boy whose tongue was demonically possessed” becomes “this isn’t a lot like a little less about a young boy whose tongue was still on a clean cassettes.”

As for “OJ Simpson slapping away”… I wish we did put that in the poem now.

In Google’s defence, maybe the bots don’t like the Scottish accent?

To access the captions you currently need to view the video on YouTube and turn on the BETA function from the bottom right of the player.

You have probably experienced this yourself at some point when looking at clouds and believing you can see images of animals or faces in them. This is the basis for the Rorschach inkblot test.

In the above beautiful example it may, at first glance, look like there is a bearded face in profile with closed eyes beside the man in this Victorian photograph. Actually, it is just the way that the light and shade is falling on the toddler that the man is holding.

Jesus is a recurring theme in pictures like these. He often makes an appearance in dirty crockery or on burnt food.

One couple even hit the headlines after seeing a crucified Jesus whilst having an ultrasound of their unborn baby.

If people are seeing the son of God you can bet they are also seeing the enemy of the Lord too…

The above portrait of Elizabeth II appeared on the 1954 Canadian dollar bill. Many people thought they saw the face of the devil in the Queen’s hair and some believe that this was the reason why the bill was cancelled.

People pay good money for such collectibles on Ebay and when reports come in of such religious figures appearing in the everyday world, people will go to great lengths to see them. In India, March 2008, reports came in of a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary in the sky and it led to 50 people blinding themselves by staring at the sun.

I’ll leave you with one more Jesus image, this time seen in the derrière of a dog… you may wish you were blind after seeing it though!

First, one of my favourite videos from Marco Tempest, watch out for Marco in the 3d special too!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWCJ4CkR_qM

This drawing by artist Istvan Orosz really bends our perception of depth and space, especially the placement of the subjects’ feet on the stairs.

Inspired by tricks like the one above, this seemingly impossible arrangement of dice from amazing artist/sculptor Shigeo Fukuda confuses us as to what is in front and what is behind.

Fukuda’s sculpture of MC Escher’s “Belvedere” is also breathtaking.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG5-eEGwmA8

For those of you not familiar with the original drawing click here.

Finally, this optical principal is very clever and shows us that our brain can be easily tricked into assuming the wrong thing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIZcl8q0u4Q

You can make your own version of this dragon by printing out the template here.

We are often accused of stirring controversy, be it in recreating the miracles of Jesus or by causing a woman to give birth to a rabbit live on stage. But there may be something in the water of our rural Aberdeenshire which guided our dysfunctional minds as we grew up.

It may seem fairly random that Barry and I would form a magical coalition in the tranquil north-east corner of Scotland but as unlikely as it seems this quiet region has produced not one but two great magicians, considered by any magical historian as hugely significant and influential figures in the world of the dark arts.

John Henry Anderson – The Great Wizard of the North

Surely the most iconic symbol of the modern magician, the white rabbit from the top hat was actually created by Aberdeenshire born John Henry Anderson. He based this trick on the bizarre story of Mary Toft, a woman who allegedly gave birth to 17 rabbits in 1726. He would quip as he produced a fluffy bunny from an audience members’ hat that, no sooner could a woman give birth to a rabbit than could this gentleman’s hat.

Anderson was a superstar of the mid 1800′s, popularly known as the “Great Wizard of the North” a name allegedly bestowed on him by Sir Walter Scott, he was famous for catching a bullet fired at him from a gun, travelling the world performing for kings and queens he became so famous he had his face and the phrase “Anderson is here” moulded onto pats of butter! A feat of the ego that we aspire to emulate one day.

He was a great denouncer of spiritualist mediums, who he referred to as ‘conjurers in disguise’ and was so respected that in the years after his death Harry Houdini funded the refurbishment of his grave, which still stands in Aberdeen’s St. Nicolas cemetery.

Our fascination with the Great Wizard and his connection to the Mary Toft case provided the inspiration for us to do our version of the classic rabbit-from-hat trick in 2005 when we took the trick back to its root and pulled a white rabbit from a woman, inducing birth in front of the studio audience.

Walford Bodie MD

Perhaps more sensational was the Hypnotist, Faith-Healer and Magician, Walford Bodie who was such a notorious figure at the turn of the 20th century that the young Charlie Chaplin actually impersonated him on-stage. Bodie was a complete quack in every sense of the word, accused in court of misrepresenting himself as a Medical Doctor throughout his career he told the judge that the ‘M.D.’ actually stood for “Merry Devil.”

He wrote many books on Hypnotism, with instructions on how to entrance cats and hens and even published notes on how to mesmerise a glass of water. His innovations as a magician though we’re utterly unique, harnessing a strange new weird force called “electricity.” Bodie’s feats included acting as a conduit for millions of volts of electricity, lighting various bulbs by touching them to his bare flesh and igniting paper at his fingertips, stunts that are still performed by magicians to this very day.

Most interesting of all was the fact that Bodie, a firm refuter of capital punishment, came into ownership of the first electric chair. He subsequently used this bizarre and reprehensible creation of Americana in his act for years, apparently passing millions of volts of electricity though a randomly selected member of the audience!

Whenever we are fingered for courting controversy or causing offence we can’t help but to contemplate the lives of these inspirational characters who grew up and performed in the same small towns as us in the North-East corner of Scotland.  A corner in which the mystery  continues even to this day because no matter how many times the satellite images on Google Earth are refreshed, the north-east is always covered by a curiously specific cloud. Coincidence? we think not!