The following sketch will make use of the Cardistry Vending Machine.
Script
This story is about a boy who earns his living by performing cardistry on the street, from within this “Cardistry Vending Machine” box.
One morning, upon his arrival at his usual spot , our character finds a second box next to his space, a box which promises people magic to be performed upon request. Basically, a “Magic Vending Machine”.
The day goes on, almost as usual, with clients merely glancing over at the "magic Vending machine". As the dawn paints the view red, Oliver counts his money, ever now and then stealing a glance from the other Vending machine. Not much intrigued by this other person, Oliver packs his things and heads home.
Background: These are things we see, but the character, Oliver (in this sketch), does not see them. In the background wee see boxes similar to his spread sporadically throughout his way back home. On one it says "juggling Vending machine", on another "Kendama Vending Machine" and so on.
Next scene, shot from afar, both Magic and Cardistry boxes are placed equally distanced from each other. We see Oliver come into the scene. A lot of people are already at the Magic Vending Machine. No one seems to notice Oliver even pass by and enter his box.
During the day, all of Oliver's clients choose to go to the 2nd box instead of his. Tension builds up over the day inside Oliver, which ultimately culminates in him summoning the magician out of the box, in order to “discuss” with him (a.k.a. beat the shit out of him).
The moment comes for him to meet his rival, but when “this guy” comes out of the box, it is no other than Oliver himself. Well, it looks exactly like him.
‘What the fuck is this?’ Original Oliver asks.
‘What do you want, man? You got a problem?’ Magician Oliver replies.
(startled)’You...you look exactly like me!’
(not a bit amazed)’Yeah, so what? All of us do.’
Confused by the casualness of the reply and by the bizarreness of the entire situation, original Oliver takes his stuff and starts walking towards his house. On his way home, for the first time, he pays attention to the other “box-artists” performing on the street.
They ALL look like HIM!
Oliver panics, Oliver shuffles, Oliver takes a deep breath of air and runs home to his bed in search of an answer to the entire ruse. He settles with the idea that everything might be a dream; that if he’ll go to sleep, everything will turn back to normal in the morning.
Of course, when he goes in the morning to his spot, the other box is there already. As he weights his pro’s and con’s, he once again summons the person inside the box. It is, again, himself.
The scene here continues with a bit of dialogue, then fades out to reveal a larger box on the street. The two have decided to team up and provide both services (Magic and Cardistry), from ONE SINGLE BOX!
As the night falls so dearly over our scene, the two are shown to collaborate in an enriching and respectful manner.
The last sequence of the movie shows how original Oliver turns around for a second to get something from his bag, and upon returning his glance over to magician Oliver, this one appears to have vanished. Somehow amazed by the feat, somehow not so much, oliver shrugs off everything as he seems to have realized something. As our character is seen leaving the scene with everything packed, reaching out from his bag the viewer can see the presence of juggling pins, sticks and other apparatus.
Basically, Oliver of ours was indeed every artist performing on the street. His problem
was accepting the fact that he was not only a cardist, but also a magician, a juggler, an
entertainer; Oliver had a problem accepting that he was an artist.
This issue manifested itself thorough a metaphor, and as Oliver slowly accepts this second Oliver, all sides of him merge back in order to form the full Oliver.
The sketch also takes into discussion the fact that everyone calls cardistry, ‘juggling’, ‘magic’, or some other terms. Through Oliver’s actions of accepting his other self and deciding to work together on a mutual box, you are basically sending the message that it does not matter how you call it, since in the end it’s all art and we’re all artists.
Time of Sketch: 3-5 minutes.