Axel Velden's " The Indian Inheritance" or "The Colourful Elephant"
The Indian Halef had three sons and a herd of 12 elephants. When Halef felt his end approaching, he made his will and stipulated that Amir, the eldest, should receive half the herd, Bukan, the second-born, a quarter, and Chandresh, the youngest, a sixth.
A will is an important matter, and at that time, there were very strict legal regulations in India regarding this. These stated that if, for any reason, a will could not be executed exactly as written, the heirs would receive nothing, and everything would go to the state. Providing false information carried severe penalties.
That night, Halef and, surprisingly, his favorite elephant died, and the next morning the herd consisted of only 11 elephants.
The sons realized that with 11 elephants, the will was unenforceable, because 11 isn't divisible by 2, 4, or 6, so each of them would be left empty-handed. They were desperate and didn't know what to do.
Then an Indian magician, a fakir, appeared and said: "I am Ben Ali , and I am not only familiar with magic, but also with arithmetic. They also call me the man with the colorful elephant."
And indeed, he carried a colorful elephant with him, which served as his mascot and advertising vehicle. He always traveled with this elephant, thus attracting great attention for himself and his projects. He even told the three brothers: "Trust me, your father was my friend. I will help you." ...
In the detailed instructions, you will learn how Ben Ali solved the dilemma of the three brothers, as well as tips and hints on how to turn the "dry" number problem into an entertaining routine.
The distribution problem underlying this feat entered the literature of Karl May over 100 years ago and was the subject of competitions.
Carl Willmann describes it in his 1900 work “Magical Board Games”; the story takes place in Arabia and camels are inherited.
Walter Bangemann staged it in the middle of the last century as a close-up art piece with sheep.
And a few years later, Herbert Bötticher conjured up sounds suitable for the lecture with the help of a tape recorder, such as sheep bleating, babbling brooks, wind, rain, thunder, etc.
Axel Velden relocated the action to India, introducing the "Bunte" elephant alongside the Indian elephant. He declared three spectators the three brothers, hung the corresponding images around their necks, and counted the elephants in their hands.
A pretty close-up trick thus became an exciting and witty stand-up routine with audience participation. A feat that captivates the audience and makes them think.
To illustrate the story, you will receive 15 colorfully printed and laminated cards:
- three cards with images of the brothers, each from the front and back in the format 16.5 x 24 cm,
- 12 cards with elephants, each from the front and back, including one colorful elephant; format 14.8 x 21 cm.
- As well as an eight-page guide with lots of gags and jokes on the topics of India and elephants to embellish your presentation.
Simple demonstration - a no-brainer!
- Suitable for any type of audience and any performance situation.
- Makes children amazed and laugh
- and adults beyond that to ponder.
And here you can find the will:
_________________________________
* applies to deliveries within Germany, delivery times for other countries can be found on the shipping information button
