If you don’t know what FISM is, it is The International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM) (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques), founded on September 5, 1948.  It is an international body of dozens of national and international clubs and federations around the world. Together these clubs represent approximately 80,000 magicians from 50 countries and 110 member organizations.  Its a pretty big deal.  

 

In 2014, I was commissioned by Christian Painter, to make a tray the appropriate size to hold five items…he would be using it for either four or five items, whatever suited his performance at the time.  While I designed the tray to nicely hold the five items shown in the photo, I believe Christian ended up using a selection of packaged coffees of different brands.  This piece was used in Christian and Katalina’s North American FISM qualification round performance in July 2014, and won them a spot in the FISM 2015 competition in Italy.

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The tray was crafted from Red Oak with the board part of the tray being approximately 0.32" thick and the outer tray rim being 0.75" thick.  Four feet elevated the tray approximately 0.375".  The few photos I have of this piece simply don't do it justice.  

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The Performance:

In a stunning display of mental synchronicity, two identical trays were carefully prepared for this mystifying project. Each tray, shown to the audience, held four or five identical objects, meticulously arranged in the same precise order. The performer and a randomly selected volunteer then took their positions, standing back-to-back on the stage or in the room, with their respective trays placed in front of them.

 

The performer provided clear instructions, guiding the volunteer to randomly select an object on their tray, pick it up, and exchange it with another object. This process was repeated multiple times, with the performer also moving items on their tray, solely based on their mental mind reading ability or influence. Neither the performer nor the volunteer had any visual indication of the other's actions.

 

As the sequence of events unfolded, the audience watched closely, anticipating the reveal. After several rounds of object swaps, the performer and volunteer simultaneously turned to face the audience, dramatically revealing their trays. After every move, the items on both trays were found to be in identical order, a testament to the mysterious connection between the performer and the volunteer.