Tag: Performance

Lightning up in the Mission

Omega Recoil got the call to perform for a company party for Little Giant, a lighting and grip company, in the Mission in San Francisco. Not hidden away in a building somewhere in the Mission, but outside almost in the middle of the street, on their parking pad between the building and the sidewalk. Some of the neighbors stopped by to watch the performances; some people said they came from several blocks away once they heard the tell-tall sound of a Tesla coil firing up.

(These were my first attempts to record anything with the Vine app.)

Omega Recoil on the move

A quiet coil waits for dark

We moved from the Naval shipayard to a new shop in West Oakland. That seemed like a good excuse to call up some friends and throw some sparks. Since we weren’t ‘on stage’ this night, we were able to put some special members of our family and friends into the suit.

This is either Tansy or Kiki in the suit.

You can see the visitor’s cage in the background of the video and below. This allows us to bring members of the audience in up close quickly and easily.

The stage is set

Clinging together in the cage

We really like to have the chance to play around like this, it gives us a low-pressure time to try out new things like the cage to see how it would work in a real show.

Or, sometimes it’s just fun to watch your friends play around with their toys and see how they work with a Tesla Coil. Here’s Tansy in the Faraday suit playing with her flame whip with the coil.
Tansy in the suit, playing with her flame whip.

It’s nice to have friends.
Snail car and friends

Crucible Fire & Light: Soirée

For the last few weeks the members of Omega Recoil have been working hard with our friend at The Crucible in preparation for their Fire & Light: Soirée and Art Auction.

The hard work begins this week with installation and testing of our coil in their space. If all goes according to plan, we will be performing along side a Gamelan orchestra with our big coil hung from the ceiling, and our new solid state coil on stage with the orchestra.

Modern Marvels: Weird Machines

Here’s a link to the full episode of Modern Marvels which features Omega Recoil and a lot of our friends: Modern Marvels: Weird Machines. At 28:50 you’ll see Jon Sarriugarte and our electrical performances start at 32:50.

(Sometimes the link is active, sometimes it is down because the episode will be airing soon.)

East Bay Mini Maker Faire: Success

The Omega Recoil team had a lot of fun showing off our experimental coil, Jacob’s Ladders, and allowing for more audience participation than with our 9 foot Tesla coil. The audience in the yurt could even hear us when the coil wasn’t actively firing.

"Radio Fryer" Tesla Coil at the East Bay Mini Maker Faire, 2011
Here’s one shot of the audience in the yurt learning that experiments often fail. In this experiment we learned that the “Radio Fryer” Tesla Coil does not get hot enough to ignite sparklers.

We also had a chance to play with various fabrics with mylar treatments, florescent tubes, and we handed out squares of mylar sheeting, wire and reflective ribbons to allow the audience to experiment and create something to put atop the coil.

East Bay Mini Maker Faire

Omega Recoil is taking some of our toys out to the East Bay Mini Maker Faire Sunday, October 16th 2011 at the Park Day School campus + Studio One Art Center in the Temescal district of Oakland.

Independently-organized but inspired by Maker Faire (and MAKE magazine, makezine.com and craftzine.com), East Bay Mini Maker Faire is a full-blown community fair that brings together science, art, craft, homesteading and engineering plus music, food, workshops, and performance. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers across the East Bay and beyond—anyone who is embracing the DIY or DIT (do-it-together!) spirit.

This year, East Bay MIni Maker Faire is featuring the work of over 130 local makers; for the complete list check our Makers and the Schedule pages. For more information, news, and updates, check ebmakerfaire.com.

We even have a discount code if you’re ordering tickets at eventbrite just give them the ALL CAPS first word of our name for a 15% discount.

See you in the yurt!