Popular science

Even in a video game world, Mr. Wizard's classic demonstrations dazzle kids.

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published June 19, 2007

The Soda Volcano -- a low-tech classic -- still amazes at Great Explorations in St. Petersburg. Taylor Mayes, 10 Hayden Mayes, 4, Daniel Mayes, 7, and Shea McGill, 6, enjoy the show.
	[CARRIE PRATT | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG - "Today, we are learning about chemistry. It involves substances and matter."

Fifty children are captivated. Spider-Man could swing through on a web and they'd tell him to buzz off.

Everywhere at Great Explorations museum there are interactive toys. Blocks to pelt at other kids' heads. Trouble to get into.

But Professor Larry has an empty film canister and an Alka-Seltzer tab. What will he do?

He remembers a fellow with rolled up sleeves doing the same fizzy experiments on TV in the '50s. His name? Mr. Wizard.

He reached kids back then and again in the '80s. Mr. Wizard died last week, but his followers are still blowing the lid off. Professor Larry drops the tab into the tube.

"You all might want to scoot back a little."

Gasp.

You're a sleepy kid. It's 1983. Head in hand, spoon in Cap'n Crunch.

The TV is tuned to Nickelodeon. You hear that voice - deep and steady, soft, but smart-sounding. You pry open an eye.

It's Mr. Wizard!

He's got on a powder blue sweater, and he's kinda bald. Way older than Dad. Maybe even older than Grandpa.

Next to him, there's a kid like you. They're doing something that looks dangerous, but you know Mr. Wizard has it under control.

"Here comes a volcanic eruption, " he says.

You can't look away.

- - -

Kids today can blow up Nazis with grenades and be rock 'n' roll guitar heroes at the flick of a game controller.

They won't sit for simple science experiments. Right?

Wrong. They will stare without blinking. They will clap and scream and grasp their knees.

Professor Larry knows.

Larry Venson - shhh, he's not really a professor - has worked at the children's museum for 14 years. He's 56. He stumbled into the museum as an out-of-work actor.

Now, each day in the chemistry demonstration, Professor Larry inflates a balloon using vinegar and baking soda. He makes slime out of alcohol and borax.

The kids freak out every time.

"This is a good time to approach them because they're malleable, " he says. "I think one day it'll be passe."

When?

"When we get to the point where cars fly."

- - -

Mr. Wizard died a week ago today. In his day, he did a lot of things.

He showed Rita how to make a hot air balloon out of a dry cleaning bag.

Taught Betty Sue about the properties of sound.

Told Irene why seashells sound like the ocean.

Explained the Photon Theory to Tommy using a lamp and a solar battery to spin a fan.

Mr. Wizard, a.k.a. Don Herbert, rose to fame in the '50s as host of Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC. In the '80s, he impressed a new generation on Nickelodeon's Mr. Wizard's World.

He turned clear liquids black. He cooked a hot dog with a battery.

He asked questions and let kids take the lead. Never haughty, never brusque. Always patient, always encouraging.

He signed off by telling kids to eat a balanced breakfast.

Thanks, Mr. Wizard.

- - -

Kids today don't know Mr. Wizard. But Venson does.

"He was so personable, " Venson says. "He would talk to the kids like real people."

Venson works some of Mr. Wizard's style into his stage show. He asks 7-year-old Megan Davies to smell vinegar, just to prove that it's real.

He gives 8-year-old Bria Stubbins a piece of the candy he uses in one trick. If she eats it, surely it's not dangerous.

Just like Mr. Wizard, he puts the kids at ease before he blows their mind.

He, too, remembers being blown away.

"I'd be like, how'd he do that? I was literally in shock."

- - -

The big finale.

Venson has a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. He's got a pack of Mentos.

You know what's coming.

Diet Coke has more carbon dioxide than regular soda. Dropping a tube of Mentos into the bottle releases the CO2 and . . .

"If you don't want to get wet and sticky, I suggest you take a step back, " Venson warns.

They yell like madmen and clamor closer to the stage.

BOOM!

Thanks to Professor Larry, we can explain why Diet Coke is all over the classroom.

We can't explain why videos of grown people performing the Diet Coke and Mentos trick have been viewed on YouTube more than 15-million times.

But do you know who inspired it, boys and girls?

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5303 or shayes@sptimes.com

Information from Times wires and Mr. Wizard's official Web site, www. mrwizardstudios.com, was used in this report. 

More Wizardry

The official Web site, with experiments, video and a guestbook, is at www. mrwizardstudios.com.

[Last modified June 18, 2007, 20:27:45]