Card tricks

One of the biggest transitions for me -- moving from print to television -- has been visual storytelling. Why should I tell you when I can show you. So, on last night's show, I took that to brand new lengths:

After the second commercial break:
http://www.aptn.ca/streaming/index.php?wmv=wednesday/six

The story was about Hunter Tootoo calling for a spring election, due to the NBCC fiasco, and I pulled two neat tricks. First off, I started by saying David Simailak's resignation caused a "domino effect".

Cue the dominos. I got out the dominos I got last year for Christmas and lined them up on the counter, knocked them over, and Jimmie slowed it down to slow-motion. Theres your domino effect.

At the end of the story, I did my bit on camera. I am developing a thing for props. I like to have something in my hands when I am talking to the all seeing electronic eye. In this case, it was cards.

I referred to the next election date as still being a "guessing game" and had three cards in front of me. Then I said, "Keep your eye on the black card".

As I explained some facts -- Feb 2009 is the last date an election can be held, the MLA's return to session in Feb 2008, and the most likely times for any election in Nunavut are spring or fall -- I moved the cards around, Three Card Monty style, while delivering that little speech.

At the end, I say, "But it is anybody's guess" and flip the cards... all three are red. The visual point, no one can accurately predict the date of the next election. Cut to a suitably smug looking me at my desk with my close.

So, I got to play dominos and three card monty on air... not too shabby. I am also available for weddings and Bah Mitzvahs.