I tried to make my dlite smaller with the water technique described above. It didn't really work for me. I don't know if I did it wrong or not, but the opening didn't stay in the position I molded it to. I'll have to try it with a hairdryer now

Jim

I wanan try and think of soemthing to do with a d'lite has never been done or rarely has.. everyone pass it around what else could you do? I thought of this one kind of comedy routine talk about fairies and how they re all around and get down on the ground and crawl around and pretend ur sneaking up on one and say they turn red when they are caught for defense or something and grab it and be freaking out like it is biting passing it from hand to hand then you can eat it ( alothough some ppl might not like that ) and put it through you ear.

Funny_gecko:

Who are the “everyone’s” that you refer to when you say:
“everyone pass it around”?

Bob

Oops sorry what I meant to say was... the only thing that I can think of with d'lites is like back from hand to hand up nose etc... which is all the only effects I can think of I wanted to make like a story to it etc... or a new effect oother than those.

Try using the dlite for a simple purpose (ie. for part of a trick)...maybe not an entire routine.


The light could act as a "soul" of a person or doll. Maybe you have a doll acting life like and then take its soul at the tips of your finger and put it into another doll for an evil transformation.

It could act as a ball.
It could be a scorching sun.
or maybe a crystal that you found deep in a cave.
maybe it could act as a fire fly that you catch out of the air.
Maybe, it's a flashlight.
or a shooting star.


I would also suggest tearing apart a Dlite to see its inner workings. They're available at any Radio Shack. Maybe purchase some of them and come up with an idea from there. Maybe you could make a zombie routine with a gimmick and light. Try floating the light with I.T.

Be creative.

Yanyak has the right idea. You must think outside of the box and use your imagination to see it not just as an object of liight, but what story can you develop and what magic can happen because of this.

There are many many different ways this can be thought up if you come to realize that the dLite is a magic tool. Use it in part to tell a greater magical story. Yanyak gave several nice ideas and they all start to get away from performing the trick as a trick. They begin to give the audience something more to get excited about.

Kyle

I just had a great idea!! a story of a magician who got lost in the forest and had to use all sorts of his maic to survive like fire starting etc...

It is possible but you need to make sure that 1) you define your character on stage and 2) you can easily convey the story in the short time that you have for the routine. Often this needs to be done through pantomime so your story and motions needs to express clearly your intentions to the audience.

It is a good start. Let's hear other ideas people have and find ways in which we can creatively think different ways to perform the dlites.

Kyle

How do you make it appear it is in the ice cube?

Place the ice cube on your fingertips and "activate the d'lite", use another and take the light out, put it back in and so on.

O very cool thanks:D

Think of the dLite as a utility prop and work out your creative ideas based upon this. Stop and learn that there is more to a routine then just making it light up and tossing it all around. Give the audience something more to enjoy. There is so much creativity you can do with this if you allow yourself to open up to the possibilities.

Kyle

Hmmm... I'm baffled why the hot water didn't work for you. Very curious indeed. I've done it several times and it worked perfectly for me. I'll experiment with it a bit and get back to ya. Did it work or not work for anyone else? Thanks!

Well how long do you usually dip it in the hot water?? I would dip it for a few seconds (10 max) and then I would shape it. It just wouldnt keep its shape. Was it something I was doing wrong?? When you shape it, are you just squeezing it around the edge to make it smaller? Please let me know.

Jim

It sounds like you were doing everything right. I may have dipped it a little longer, but not too much longer. Yeah, and then you shape it with your thumb and pointer finger, pushing it and sculpting it so the opening is smaller. You may have to do it several times to get it to stay, I'm not sure. Tell me what happens if you tru it again. I don't think you did it wrong at all. Hmmmmm....

What do you use to start a routine with blue D'lites?

I had another idea. Buy small light just like in your D'lites and a batery with a small switch. Put it in your hat. collect lights from air to your hat and suddenly inside of your hat begins to glow.You can pull lights from the hat after that =)

I hope people continue with this topic. so many good ideas. Kyle's posts have been very helpful in thinking through a routine (ie gearing it toward a particular audience, story, etc.). My D'Lites tend to stay in the drawer, except when I perform for small children. My wife is a Kinder teacher and acts as a partner in finding out where this tiny red fellow will turn up next (across the room? in a child's pcoket?); then I add a little humor as the imp goes from one ear to the other, out the mouth, etc. (more humorous to children I think). Unfortunately, I don't use the D'Lite too much around my fellow workers, perhaps thinking it more for children... but then I really liked the idea of picking off a piece of neon light at a bar.

Some people use their mobile phone for blue D'lites, like picking a light from the phone and throwing it back to light the phone. I think that for blue ones this could be a good start and finish.

Lynnef,
Thanks for the kind words. I think too many magician just tend to rely way to heavily on the dLites as the entire effect. By this I mean they show this light and dance it all around without any real rhyme or reason. They toss it hand to hand or place in hat or mouth only to return again.

Sure this is fun for the first 2 times, but after this it gets BORING!!!!! I mean really. think about what you are showing the audience. You have a light, you can dance it around, it goes out it comes back. Anything more then this is redundant. We magicians tend to perform DLites because it fascinates us and we perform it for US and NOT our audience.

Step out from the dLites and learn that they are ONLY a utilty prop and not a full routine by itself. Give your audiences something more in the routine to grab ahold of and to enjoy. Be creative with using the dLite. Think outside of the box.

If you really study the essence of it, it is the sudden manipulation of light. But this light source can come from anywhere. Just producing a light from no where has no real purpose or reason to an audience. But if there is a lightbulb on a table and all of a sudden it keeps blinking on and off. You bump it and it goes back on to white again and fades out. Frutsrated you bump it again and walk away only to see the light has tunred red as the music has also now changed to something more early. You stare at it and unscrew the bulb thinking you have beaten this weird magic that seems to be happening. Suddenly as you go to throw away the bulb in your hand, it lights back up again red.

This is just off the top of my head, but already you can see the difference here. Now you have a purpose for what you are doing. You are beginning to create magical drama with using the dLite ONLY as a utility to create the magical moments of entertainment value.

Think outside of the norm and create something different and unique to you.

Kyle