Shaken not stirred

Number 8 wire and chewing gum can take you a long way. Back in March my friend Rosie told me about her friend Joseph’s “Rube Goldberg” machine Crème That Egg. It took its inventor Joseph Herscher six months to build (“and some very patient flatmates”).

At the time, it had 1000 hits on YouTube. It was given a generous piece on Campbell Live, and then it went gangbusters: it has now had 425,000 hits. The New Yorker featured it on their website. So did David Hepworth at The Word. Even better, Joseph has emailed to say some great things have come out of it:

I am going to San Francisco where I will be making a live Rube Goldberg machine for a gallery/museum in collaboration with another artist.

I just got back from Nelson. A high school flew me down to do a workshop making Rube machines.

I just finished another video, this time commissioned by 42BELOW vodka. Here is my latest Rube [below].

The “Falling Water” cocktail machine is filmed by Rewa Wright, and a recipe is included for those without the right equipment.

Hey Joe! Where you goin’ with that screwdriver in your hand?

Egg on face

Kiwi ingenuity is not dead. This amazing short video clip Creme That Egg! (below) is like every schoolboy’s Rube Goldberg fantasy. It is the entry of a 23-year-old New Zealander into a competition for a chocolate company. Entrants needed to find the most creative way to break a chocolate egg. The clip is gobsmacking, and it’s also gobsmacking that it didn’t win (I can’t vouch for the actual chocolate). I suppose the marketing people at the chocolate factory couldn’t work out a way to turn Creme That Egg! into an advertisement. Whatever: advertising’s loss should be New Zealand film’s gain. This fellow deserves a job, now.
Updates
1. In less than a month, YouTube hits went from 1000 to 150,000.
2. As at July 7, it has been viewed 425,000 times on YouTube. The clip has just been recommended by The New Yorker - and Joseph has made another one.