One of the popular items with street vendors around here is a kind of magical jumping cardboard clown.
Let me essplain.
The thing is nothing but a piece of thick paper, in the shape of a clown, with spring-like legs of some sort of other material.
The vendor/performer makes the cheap puppet lie down, jump up, dance, levitate in a way that would suggest he be a great wizard.
However, 'tis not so the vendor/performer assures us. 'Tis but a trick, and for only 500 yen, I could get my own magical cardboard jumping clown and entertain my family, awe my friends and bag the chicks.
Since I’m rather short on change these days, I’d rather save my 500 yen for essentials like beer or sushi. I’m kind of a DIY guy, I’ve been known to make my own soup, art and computer programs. So I figure, if I could tap into the fount of erudition that is the dope, I could make my own magical jumping clown and wouldn’t have to drop 500 yens to bag the chicks.
So I ask:
What is the trick of the magical ugly dancing cheepo paper clown?
To me it seems that he controls it some way with a very thin nylon string. I have seen other toys that work that way and it can be quite impressive. Keep an eye on his hands and see how he does it.
I saw a piece about these things on a TLC show about street scammers once.
I’d bet that there was a boom box type tape or cd player next to them right? If not they were beside a “curtain” of cloth. In that case there was a boom box behind the curtain.
A piece of very fine fishing line is connected to a moving part of the boom box (a hole may be drilled in the player), then is attached to each of the clowns. It’s tied to something else on the other end to keep it taut.
As the music plays the device inside the boom box is moving and it pulls on the line, causing the clowns to move. A practiced salesman will be able to time his movements to the music so it appears he’s “causing” the movement when he’s not.
You could buy the things, but without a similar set up you won’t get the same results.
I’m looking for a link that would explain it more accurately than I did, but I think you get the idea.
I bought one in Rome, so it’s not in Japan only. (Mine was Mickey Mouse which would probably be more popular in Japan than some old clown…)
It is just a cardboard cutout with a couple of dangling feet that “dances” to music when the thin nylon string suspending it is tugged on by the seller, a jury-rigging inside the boom box (as mentioned by photopat, or an assistant (in my case I didn’t even notice an uninterested looking fellow sitting there who was responsible for the illusion until they packed up their goods together). Attach one end of the nylon string to the antenna of your boombox used for the music (it’s best if this is slightly higher than the height of the carboard figure) and position the cardboard figure a foot or so away. The other end of the nylon string goes around your finger, and tugging it to the beat is all you need to do to make it “dance” (it really only moves up and down and you only move your finger a couple of centimeters).
I found the thing to be funny and entertained my family for the duration of one song. Then I never ever got it out again (probably a common appraisal). So save your 500 yen and make your own, although I’m betting you spend more time making it than actually playing with it.
Like I said, it’s a very thin fishing line, or even a tiny wire. Remember,they’re moving and so is the wire, so it’s blurred. Next time, try to pick up one of the dancing ones and see what happens. Odds are the person won’t let you, but if you’re quick enough you might get a grip on it and be able to see how it works. (It might also help if there’s a handy police officer in the crowd.)
