Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine (Melvin the Machine or simply Melvin for friends) is a Rube Goldberg machine with a twist. Besides doing what Rube Goldbergs do best – performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction – Melvin has an online identity as well, which he uses to connect to and interact with his audience.

When we built our first Melvin late 2010, we built it BIG because it needed to entertain loads of people all at once. After its initial (online) succes, a lot of people, companies and festivals enquired about its availability to do a show. After some phone calls and e-mails back and forth the conclusion was always the same: Melvin was simply too big and expensive to rebuild.

Early 2012, we had some time to spare and we felt the need to challenge ourselves once again, so we set out to build a new Melvin. This time around we could determine our own boundaries and that’s why we decided to build a travel version that ‘sends’ its own postcards and interacts (in some way) with the people around it. Like a proper traveler, one could say.

In short, this new Melvin is a Rube Goldberg machine specifically built to travel the world, and let‘s be honest, we like the idea of going with him whenever and wherever we can.You can find out more about where he’s already been right here. Information on how the new Melvin works, its different parts and how to contact us can be found here.