The Battle of the Barrels is a transportation illusion also known as Barricaded Barrels, Through the Eye of the Needle or the Black and White Barrels.
The illusion consists of two topless/bottomless barrels openly displayed on castered open framework supports. A female assistant then climbs inside a barrel and wooden bulls-eye targets are affixed to either end of the barrel. The second barrel is shown empty, sealed on one end and with four solid metal bars fixed across the other end.
The end of the lady assistant's barrel is placed against the barred opening of the empty barrel for a brief moment. As the barrels are again separated, the assistant can now be seen through the four solid metal bars, inside the barrel she was not in before.
The illusion was invented by PT Selbit. His original version consisted of two upright barrels and, the instead of the centre target through which the assistant passed through, Selbit used a cast iron manhole/drain cover. Since this upright version required on stage winch facilities later performers such as Dante made the effect more practical and fast paced by putting the barrels on the horizontal trucks and using wooden targets.
Famous quotes containing the words battle of, battle and/or barrels:
“The militancy of men, through all the centuries, has drenched the world with blood, and for these deeds of horror and destruction men have been rewarded with monuments, with great songs and epics. The militancy of women has harmed no human life save the lives of those who fought the battle of righteousness. Time alone will reveal what reward will be allotted to women.”
—Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928)
“The mother’s battle for her child—with sickness, with poverty, with war, with all the forces of exploitation and callousness that cheapen human life—needs to become a common human battle, waged in love and in the passion for survival.”
—Adrienne Rich (20th century)
“The idea that information can be stored in a changing world without an overwhelming depreciation of its value is false. It is scarcely less false than the more plausible claim that after a war we may take our existing weapons, fill their barrels with cylinder oil, and coat their outsides with sprayed rubber film, and let them statically await the next emergency.”
—Norbert Wiener (1894–1964)