The Rube Goldberg Card Trick
The Rube Goldberg Card Trick was created and performed by Eric Starkey in May 2011. He had been planning the demonstration for more than seven years, because there were certain circumstances that he felt had to be just right in order to honor the spirit of Rube Goldberg.
Who was Rube Goldberg?
Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor. He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to those drawn by "Heath Robinson" in the UK. For more information please visit Rube Goldberg's Wikipedia page.
Goals
Eric had very specific goals in creating the Rube Goldberg Card Trick. First, the machine had to begin and end at the same place. Second, the act that set the machine into motion, had to be directly related to the effect. He achieved this by setting the deck of cards in the hand. The weight of the cards causes the lever to tip the hockey pucks and set everything into action. Finally, the machine had to have at least 25 separate events... There are actually 32!
An Alternate Introduction