King Tut's Tomb - party trick

This party trick is great fun. We did it at our son's birthday party when he was 11,  and the kids loved it - it still gets mentioned sometimes, nearly 10 years later! Our black cat got into the act, too, but we hadn't planned that.

It would also be fun for Halloween.

The set-up takes a little preparation and fiddling, and you need 2 accomplices, but there are no really special materials. I didn't buy anything when I made it, but you may need to get some supplies- check the list of what you need.

Step 1 What You Need

For the basic set-up, you will need-

• 3 rooms- preferably not right next to each other; one that can be darkened, for the Tomb
• Candles/incense etc for atmosphere
• Spooky/strange music – borrow a CD from your library, or even record yourself playing a strange tune on any instrument or chanting/singing an odd melody in a weird voice
• An accomplice #1 to herd the victims- sorry, applicants-
• An accomplice #2 to hide in the casket and be the “mummy”- preferably someone not too tall

You will also need a costume for High Priest/Priestess- e.g old strange dressing gown/ draped sheet or doona cover, some jewellery around neck/head... doesn’t have to be elaborate

 For King Tut’s casket -materials needed (see picture):

• Cardboard from one or more large cartons- enough to make the sides of a “coffin” shape large enough for your accomplice to lie in, about 30-35cm/12-15 inches wide/deep. You can join lengths together.
• A large piece of material for the shroud – as Egyptian- looking as you can- or plain black, purple or other colour- a sheet or bedspread is fine
• A pair of shoes – adult size
• A pair of gloves – plain material if you can get some, or you could use rubber gloves; soft stuffing so they look like hands (and something soft, like a couple of towels rolled up, to make “arm” shapes)
• A small dish or bowl (or decorated silver lid) with a small “treasure”- e.g. piece of costume jewellery or plastic beetle “scarab”
  
  To make King Tut’s mask- see step  4 – cardboard, gold paper (wrapping paper/chocolate box liner) or gold paint; blue or black paper/ribbon/paint for stripes; blue or black permanent felt pen

Notes- I’ve made this fairly roughly, just to show the set-up (the mask has lost a few gold stripes and got a bit bent from use) - but you can get the idea. Keep your room as dark as possible to cover any flaws. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, because everyone knows there’s a trick coming- they just anticipate something different ;)
 

Comments

[tinker234]

wow for the mask you could use the cheap plastic mask and a head fourm that way it is 3d

[Puzzledd]

That's a good idea. I've never seen a King Tut mask, but they are producing all sorts of masks etc these days (Halloween is becoming popular here in Australia lately).

[tinker234]

also where did you get gold paper

[Puzzledd]

The gold tape was some special plastic offcut material from somewhere odd, but the face etc was from a box of chocolates (can't throw out stuff like that, I have a drawer full).

[tinker234]

oh thanks time to try Ross then very cheap after van-tines day

[roflbot]

first teacher ive seen that LIKES pranks hehe

[Puzzledd]

Only when I'm doing them ;P... but this was a big hit at my son's party and the kids were still talking to us later. The parents wanted a look at King Tut, too (and most of the dads went through the Tunnel of Terror too, but that's another tale...

[Puzzledd]

Shokin', ain't it? ...and me a teacher, too.... hehe..

[caitlinsdad]

So who is paying for all that therapy after you traumatized the kids? Truely evil, haha.