Pouring a fresh beer from your iPad – surely an appealing idea, and not just for fans of all-you-can-drink deals. Free refills included, of course. As the iPad magician, I made this dream of free beer come true for tourists from all over the world at Munich’s famous Hofbräuhaus. Simply stick a tap onto the beer-filled iPad display, turn it on – and the beer flowed, litre after litre.
The clip was viewed 100,000 times on YouTube in its first week, but only months later – after it was posted on a major US news site and CNN reported on the “iPad Beer” on its breakfast show – did the views shoot up to well over a million.
The idea of the iPad beer was originally just a single effect in my video “Preview on the iPad 3”, made to mark the release of the third iPad generation. As in earlier clips, I played with the rumours – which said the new iPad would be slightly heavier. So what would users with aching backs need in future? Obviously a helium app. That gave me the idea of showing a helium balloon on the iPad and letting it float upwards on the charging cable. It was also (wrongly) rumoured that Siri would come to the new iPad. So what could be more convenient than having Siri deliver a fresh beer? Both ideas took considerable effort to realise.
So much effort, in fact, that I felt at least two more clips should come out of it before both iPad tricks found their way into my live show. So I went walking through the streets of Munich with the iPad balloon and filmed passers-by’s funny reactions. The Hofbräuhaus, on the other hand, naturally required a filming permit. As I live just a five-minute walk away, I marched into the press office with my “iPad beer” idea and made my case. I was met with enthusiastic support and received the necessary letter within two days.
And that’s not all: the original Hofbräu beer was even donated for the iPad pouring, and afterwards my whole team was invited to a hearty dinner at the regulars’ table. I’m all the more pleased that I was able to say thank you for this support with plenty of attention on YouTube. Funnily enough, the clip also reached a completely “new” audience – blogs such as “Sex, Cigars & Booze”. Whether that will lead to bookings? I’ll keep you posted!
A big thank you also goes to my friend and fellow magician Martin Mathias. Many years ago, I saw him pour a cold beer from a tap attached to an audience member’s forehead – and he generously allowed me to develop this basic principle further. For this year’s Oktoberfest, the clip was even linked on the official Oktoberfest homepage. In that spirit: Oans, zwoa, drei, g’suffa – iPad-style! (That’s Bavarian for “One, two, three – drink up!”)
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