andrew mayne's

"Who need s thousands of dollars to perform incredible illusions?"

The magician asks his audience this question before he pick s up
a beat-up cardboa rd box . He places it upside-down ove r his head
and then rips open a hole in the front so his face his visible. The
magician then lifts the box a foot above his shoulde rs; stretching
his neck in an impossible manner. Next he twists his head 360
degrees and back. Finally he removes his head entirely and then ,
puts it back. + stretch
FACE LIFT ER is an incredib le (yet easy to build and perform
illusion) that will leave your audience baffled. Taking advantage of
cutting-edge techn ology, FACE LIFTER allows any performer to
create an illusion that would have cost thousand s to duplicate just
I + ~ty
+ Remove
I ~e creato e Pocket Sa:
a few years ago.
I brand- new t that can be
Maynestream Pub11cat:1.ons I 20 m1nu ing houeeno'ld rna
i ll ua f on boo k. c om

Photographs by Matthew Barber
Co py right 2002 Maynestream Prod uctions
No part of this manu script may be reprodu ced with out
written permission from the author.
www.itlusionbook.com
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I was walking out of KINKO's whe n I noticed a man in
front of me. It was n't act ually a man, bu t a ca rdboa rd
cutout. It took me a few seconds to realize it. I've
seen thousand of ca rdboa rd cutout s of people (I go to
the movie s a lot), but neve r one this realistic. Why
was it so realistic? I thought about that while the people
making copies sta red at me wo ndering if the idiot was
going to try to as k the ca rdboard man a question .
There were three reasons why the cuto ut looked real.
Reason numb er one was that it was the right size. The
man wasn't too large or too small. He was the right
scale. More precisely, his features were the right scale
as well. Th e photographer had taken the pho to the
right way. T he nose was n't too big co mpared to the
rest of the face. Reason number two was that I was
standin g th e right distance away. From just a co uple
yards away it was difficult 10 tell that the face was flat.
The third reason it looked real was that the cutout was
printed on a matte finish paper. There wa s no gtossy
sheen. T he ski n looked very real.
Loc king at the man that wasn't there, I thought maybe,
just maybe a photograph (with a little tweaking) co uld
pass for an actual human face. Wou ld that be enough
to fool people? Fake heads (when done right) have
work ed very well in the Disembodied Princess illusion.
Maybe a fake head made with a home co mputer co uld
work as wel l. The only way to find out was by trying it.
5
I went home and made my own fake face with my
digital ca mera, some matte paper and cardboard. I
~ACLIF~E-~
put it into a box with a hole cut in the front. The the first effect
experience was weird. The box was from a container
for a mechanical monke y. There was my head in a The magician picks up a
box with the label (appropriately) on front stating its beat-up cardboard box
contents: MISTER MONKEY.

Once I knew the concept that seemed too ridiculous

worked, it was time to develop the rest of the illusion;
my EZ-build head stretching effect that most people
already have all the materials for: FACE LIFTER.

Read the directions. Build your own. Play with it. He places it on his head
Video tape yourself doing it. It's weird, very weird.
Weird is good. By the way, it's a pertect companion
for my other easy-build illusion, The Pocket Sawing-
In-Half.

Sometimes we shouldn't let the ridiculous get in our

way. I learned that lesson. Trust me, there's more
insane ideas coming...

Andrew Mayne

He pushes up on the box - stretching

his neck in an impossible way...

6 7
Making the gimmick
The method behind FACE LIFTER is pretty simple. A
fake face drops into place in front of your own face.
As you lift the box, the hanging flaps cover your actual
face . This allows you to perform a variety of effec ts
involving your head in various places and configura-
tions.
To make this effect, you'll need to make the fake face
and a box (plus get two pairs of matching sunglasses).
PART 1: MAKE YOUR FACE
Step 1: Using a digital camera and a friend, take a
picture of your face under normal indoo r lighting con-
ditions . Your face should take up the entire frame .
Th e picture should be taken as far back as possible
and zoomed in.
8 9
Step 2: Using a photo editing
program , enlarge the image to
actual size on an 8 .5 by 11
sheet of paper. Black out all of
the areas around your face.
Use the "smoo th" function to
soften the pixels.
Slep 3: Print the photo on a
sheet of regu lar or matte card
stock. Com pare the photo to
your face . If the colors need to
be balan ced , adjust them (try
the contrast settin g). Re-size
the photo if the sca le is incor-
rect.
Congratulations , you now have a fake face. You're ready
to mount it and give it a slight curve. Incidentally, thanks to
21" century technology, the quality of it far surpasses any
kind of fake head that came before it. The ability to match
skin tone so quickly is something magic builders never had
the option of before. Feel lucky.
DO N' T HAVE A DIGITAL CAMERA OR
COMPUTER? DON 'T SWEAT. Go buy a cheap dis-
posable camera. Have a friend take a few photos of
your mug . Next take it to a photo process ing store and
ask them to make you a life-sized vers ion of your best
photo . It'll cost you a couple extra bucks (but not much
more than $10).
 After you've cut the cardboard, put the pieces together
The Box using masking tape. (Use pieces both inside and
outside to make the box sturdy - well as sturdy as a
box held togeth er by masking tape is going to geL) .

Cre ate an opening in the front of the box by maki ng

seve ral cuts and peeling the front open. The opening
should be about 5 inches in diameter.

This is the part that hides all your dirty work. A

cardboa rd box that's 9 inches wide, 10 inches
tall and 11 inches deep. That plus the face, some
tape and a couple of cheap sunglasses equals a
quickie illusion you can build in one sitting and
use for the rest of your life.
Next, place the fake face on the gimmi ck panel. The
To make the box you'll need to cut several face shou ld be bent outwards appr oximately two
ca rdboard rectangles. inches. Bowing the face creates a sense of depth .
Use black masking tape to hold the face to the panel.
Forth e box:
2 11 "xl0"
2 9"xl 0"
1 9"xl1 "

For the flaps:

2 11"x8"
2 9"x8"

For the gimmick panel:

1 8.5" x9"

10 11
 r:phase
ACE- L'F"1"E-~
one: the stretch
As yo u lift your
body and the box
into t he up right
po s ition ; lift th e
front flap with your
pinky to cover the
The effec t begins with the bo x moment when the
upside down in the magician's f ac e is he avil y
hand. (It's absolutely essential that t ilt ed and looks
you strike a pose like the one in kind offlat.
the picture.)
Release the flap then push
The box should be tilted with the the box up. Tilt your head
opening facing slightly towards the back and raise the box high
back - this prevents the audience enough that the bottom of
from seeing the gimmick panel. the front flap is just below
your chin.

To finish the first phase,

Next, bring the box around
to th e tro nt and lean in
slightly towards it. Place
your head into the box.
reve rse the steps of
p utt ing the box into
position. Release the
catch on the gimmick
and let fall back into the
"up" position.

\ Then strike a pose...

I
While the box is brought towards the front, the gimmick
panel is allowed to fall into place. Use your thumb to
help it into position.
1 15
 It=" AcE- L.liF+E- ~ Tw ist the box to the left.
Turn your head with the box
phase two: the t wist I keeping it cent ered on the
opening.
For the first part of the Head TWisting phase of the
FACE LIFTE R routine, the gimmick is not used.
Once your head reaches
the farthest it can twist, turn
Part one is a variant of the head twisting gag where
it as far to the right as you
the box is rotated and the magician turns his head to
can. Keep turning the box
the side to catch up with opening as it completes it's
to the left.
360 degree journey.

Place the box over your head.

(The gimmick will remain in
the "up" position for this part). When the o pe ni ng is
rotated in front of your face,
turn your head with it.

Release the front flap and Bring your head and box back
reveal your face. Remain tothe starting position. To the
exp ressionless ( this will audience, it locks like you just
help reinforce the illusion ro ta ted yo ur h ead 360
when the gim mick is in degrees. The eftect will look
position). more like a gag then a Irick -
wh ic h is the p la n . Th e
Place your hands on both audience is now set up for the
sides of the box. second pa rt of the Head
Twisting phase.

16 1 7
 :1=" A c~ l'~1"~~
phase two: the twist II
Pull your hand away from
the opening and hold the
position for a moment.
Tu rn yo u r b ac k toward s the
audience. Raise the box over your
head and then lower it - whi le
allowing the gimmick panel to fall
into position.

Bring your hand back

over the opening and
rotate the box back
Place your ha nds on around.
both sides of the box.

Begin tumingthe box around. As

the front of the box nears the Lift the box off yo ur
audience side, place your hand head and give your
over the opening as you rotate it audiencea grin.
into position. (By cove ring the
openi ng as it turns towards the
audience, youprevent them from
seeing too extreme of angle of
the fake face.)

18 19
 ,F" A CE- L-1:F"i"E-~ With your hand covering
phase three: the snap the face , bring the box to
underneath your arm.
Now that you've stretched and
twisted your neck, it's time to bring
everyt hing to the breaking point
and snap off your head aitogether.

With your back to the audience,

put the box back on your head. Pullyour hand away, revealing
Th e gim mick should be in the your decap itated head. Hold
"down" position. yo ur head th ere for just a
moment.

Place the box on your

shou lde rs and beg in to
move it away from you.

.jIJ To finish, put your hand back

\~ .
,;
As the box slides forward (away
from the audience) tuck your head
into your chest. TIlt your head as
on the opening and return the
box back to your shoulders .
Slide your head back into the
box and lift.
fa r forward as possibl e - wh ile
keeping your back straight. (This Turn and strike a pose.
effect will not work surrounded!).

20 21
PERFORMANCE TIPS
FACE LIFTER is intended as a quick effect. It's ideal
as an attention-getting opening routin e for your act.
Walking on stage to some fast paced music then
proceeding to stretch, twist and snap-off your head is
likely to get your audience to remember you.
There's no comparing FACE LIFTER to large scale
head mover illusions by geniuses like Andre Kole. For
one thing, illusions like Kole's head mover are highly
sophisticated pieces of apparatus. Second, they cost
the price of a new car. FACE LIFTER is a grunge
illusion. It's part one part specia l effect and two parts
attitude.
TAKING IT TO THE EXTREME
There are lots of possibilities for taking FACE LIFTER
to the next level. You can make it even more deceptive
by adding a fa lse bottom. For the neck stretching
routine, a fake stretched-out neck that oovers your face
would allow you to stretch even further.
If you cut a "U" shaped slot in the back and one in the
back flap (form ing an "0"), then covered it with a
stretchy material, you could slide your head in and out
of the back of the box for added effect.
Play with the effect. Experiment. Have fun .

Here are some performance tips to keep in mind:

1. Be carefu l of sight lines (especia lly w he n

performing the Head Snapper routine.)

2. Avoid harsh light that causes sharp shadows .

3. Take extra care to make sure the photo matches

your skin tone.

4. Practice, practice the movements. Smooth is

good.

5. Don't be afraid to change the dimensions of the

box to better suit your odd-shaped head.

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