Hello, I am The Marvellous Mechanical Mouse Magician

Welcome to my modest show!

With my astrological buttons, you too can work magic! Press the digits to show off your prestidigitation.

First you need to summon my assistant Humphrey.

Then lower my magical hat carefully over him and tap it three times with the magic wand.

If he doesn’t disappear, try waggling my ears to shake my magic earring.

Once he has disappeared, say the magic phrase “Maus, Maus, komm heraus” and be amazed at the stupendous power of your own magic.

Take great care however, not to try this when the moon is full or you may find yourself transformed into a small white mouse with hypnotic red eyes.

The secret of the trick

All shall now be revealed

Be astounded about the wondrous, never-ending miracles of the universe

Children, ask your parents’ permission before looking any closer

Thanks to all of the woodworking wizards of Puppets in Prague who made me into the magician I am today!

09:30 – 17:30 Final assembly.
Dinner at Leah and Mirek’s

A new base in the right size, with holes in the right place.

 
New levers in nice wood.

 
Take the hat out of its mould and iron the rim flat.

 
Take the glued together blocked up body which dried overnight and trim it roughly to shape.

 
Try the head and body together.

 
Add the jaw.

 
Paint the assembled base.

 
Glue the head to the body and screw it into the base and start fitting the mechanisms as used in the maquette. Zdar is a real star!

 
Elena’s mousemousemouse freshly painted.

 
Flavia painting.

 
Earthquake mechanism.

 
Whale in sight.

 

Show and tell.

1. Noa’s work https://www.noa-heyne.com/animation
2. Elena’s work https://www.instagram.com/alena.chitzi/
3. Kim’s work http://www.bbno.info/wordpress/?cat=29
4. Flavia’s Facebook page
5. Dylan’s Facebook page
6. Mirek’s work http://www.kidpraha.cz/sculptures/sculpturesindex.html
7. Article in the NY Times
8. Leah on Radio Praha in English https://www.radio.cz/en/section/arts/leah-gaffen-discusses-puppets-in-prague-celebrating-15-years
9. http://www.teatrotoc.eu
10. Mirek on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Trejtnar

Monday

 
Package up the work.

 
Set off for home.

09:30 – 18:00 Project realization, cutting wood, carving, painting. Final assembly.

Cutting the left arm on the bandsaw from the marquette.

 
As finished from the bandsaw.

 
Same for the right arm.

 
The head’s a bit more complicated…

 
After carving.

 
Zdar making a hat from two layers of felt soaked in glue.

 
Trying the ears for size.

 
Earthquake 1

 
Earthquake 2

09:30 – 17:30 Project realization, cutting wood, carving

Back to work

After a day off to see the marvellous sights away from Prague, today we return to the workshop, eerily quiet at the start of the day.

 
Kim’s maquette is finished enough with its 7 movements to get ready for the real thing.

 
Dylan is already beavering away at the real thing.

 
Elena is making good progress too.

 
There’s always a magically replenished supply of nibbles to go with your tea.

Busy hands everywhere you look.




 
Only two days left!

Day off, out of the workshop.
Trip to Nativity museum in Trebechovice (GoogleMaps link) and to visit Renate and Martin Lhotak.

Probošt’s Mechanical Christmas Crib

Kim’s 1 minute video

 
The “official” (longer) video

 
Třebechovické muzeum betlémů
The Most Famous Nativity Scene in the World or the Ingenious Work of Master Josef Probošt of Třebechovice. Probošt’s mechanical Christmas nativity scene in Třebechovice pod Orebem has filled people with wonder for decades and will continue to do so long into the future. That is because TIME plays no role in the nativity scene …
Scénář: Andrea Žbodáková
Režie: Renata Pazderová

Lunch

Flavia & I ate a traditional Czech specialty, svíčková na smetaně in Restaurace na Roli.

Jilin Loggia

 
Town planning for children

 

Visit to Renata and Martin Lhotak

 

 
Renata was really welcoming and cooked a wonderful meal for us all!

 
Clothes peg bird

And Renata even gave us instructions on how to make one.

 
In a brochure made by one of Martin’s students.

 
Ballerina on horseback driven by the heat of cooking

 
Martin turning a pear spinner for each of his guests, pedal-powered!

 

 
The secrets in Martin’s magical workshop. In German this is called a “Hui Maschine“, and according to Wikipedia in English it’s called a Gee haw whammy diddle

 

 

09:30 – 17:30 Project realization, cutting wood, carving.
Demo: Robots.

Zdar building a base box to give Kim a quick start with his magician maquette.

 
The basic magician maquette, with seven levers and a simple outline of the figure.

 
Cut out parts in card, if they are OK, cut them in plywood.

 
Two mechanisms already proven on the maquette, he can politely raise his hat and wave his magic wand..

 
With a little help from your friends.

 
Noa’s maquette.

 
Flavia’s maquette.

 
Eeek, a mouse in the workshop!

 
Some electromechanical movement to end the day with something different.

09:30 – 17:30 Lecture: soldering, making screw thread
Finishing of Production of 2 basic mechanisms
Technical drawing of final project

Lecture: soldering, making screw thread

All ready for metalworking basics!

 
Brazing with Milan

 
(Soft) soldering

 
Time to try it yourself.

 
Three taps to cut one thread. One ring first, two rings second, no rings last.

 
First drill a hole in a metal plate.

 
Then tap a thread in the hole.

 
Now cut a thread on a metal rod.

 

Finishing of Production of 2 basic mechanisms

Cut out three cam templates.

 
Kim’s three cams in action.

 
What’s going on here?

 
The experts at work.

 

Technical drawing of final project

If everything’s moving, then start on a “technical” drawing of your project.

Visit to the theatre

 

19:30 Performance, Finale, Jatka78 theatre (GoogleMaps link) on the site of an old, abandoned abattoir.

10:00 Meet in workshop (GoogleMaps link)
 
Web site showing Mirek’s work.

Meet in the workshop
Introduction, payment.
Introduction to the mechanical movement of automata.
Materials and tools and basics of operations with tools and machines (cutting, drilling, lathe, glue, joints)
Production of 2 basic mechanisms

Here are the raw materials, so we must be in the right place.

 
One tidy workbench per student ready to get started.

 
Examples, for inspiration and to understand the basic mechanisms.

 
Mirek with some of his small friends hanging around behind him and some online inspiration.

 
Types of material and their quality.

 
Mechanisms, theory and practice.

 
The lathe ready to turn some wooden wheels.

 
How to use a bandsaw properly.

 
Chisels, sizes, shapes and their care.

 
The naming system for Pfeil chisels (see their web site)

 
Using a chisel.

 
Mirek has made plenty of base kits so that we can try out the mechanisms ourselves.

 
One of Mirek’s demonstration pieces.

One day for sightseeing before the course starts so today I went to the DOX museum of contemporary art, then walked via the metronome monument to Marionette Truhlář.
[catlist id=101]

DOX museum for contemporary art

 

Tick tock

An enormous Stalin statue replaced by a metronome – work that one out! The popular name for this was apparently the queue for the butcher – referring to the shortages in shops under communism. Finished in 1955 it was eventually embarrassing enough to be dynamited in 1962.

 

Now the sprayers have taken over the remnants.

 
Nice view over Prague and its bridges over the Moldau.

 

Marionety Truhlář

www.marionety.com. Right next to Charles Bridge. (GoogleMaps link)
 
The puppet to the right was made by Sota Sakuma and was used in a film. The two puppets to the left are Don Quixote and his faithful horse, Rocinante.

 
These are nice, but €240 each, so I guess I will have to make one…

 
Puppets, puppets and more puppets.

The Palác Akropolis theatre

(GoogleMaps link)

Prokletí rodu Gordonů – premiéra (The Curse of the Gordons)

The plot
After years away from home, the hero returns to the family estate to solve the series of strange deaths that happened at the castle. He is gradually confronted with all his inhabitants and the distrustful commissioner in charge of the investigation. The story has a fixed beginning and end, but the course of the performance changes, depending on which variant the viewers are in.
 






Palác Akropolis

Fekete Seretlek ► Kar

This second show, Anna Kerenina, was very good. Even got a free glass of vodka during the performance!