Joseph Herscher, a Kiwi living in New York, makes Rube Goldberg machines. / Supplied by Joseph's Machines
For Joseph Herscher, there's no problem a machine can't solve.
And, all going to plan, that simple problem will be solved in the most complicated and whimsical way possible, and enjoyed by millions.
He made his first machine at 5 — it told "the story of my lollies" — and by 12 he'd turned household objects into a machine to hold heavy books so a skinny kid from Auckland could read them hands-free, and a sweet homecoming message delivery machine for his hardworking mum.
Joseph Herscher with his first invention, The Lolly Machine. Photo / Supplied
"When my mum came home late from work the door handle would pull a string and press play on a tape player with a message from me that said 'welcome home', because I was already in bed."
Herscher now calls New York home and his talent as a kinetic artist focusing on Rube Goldberg machines — which complete simple tasks in complicated but unexpected, fun ways using everyday objects — has won smiles far beyond his Grey Lynn family home.
"The lolly machine was obviously very useful for a 5-year-old, but I also noticed it made my parents smile and that's what encouraged me to keep making elaborate machines."
The 33-year-old self-confessed "big kid" is winning on both counts.
He's shared his passion on Sesame Street and the National Geographic Channel's Brain Games, and his video The Page Turner won kudos from the New York Times.
At 9.2 million views The Page Turner — hands-free newspaper turning — is his most viewed video on YouTube and the media attention helped him won his work making machines for brands.
"It's a good way to use products in a way that organically people will want to watch. They get a lot of online traffic easily and that's what brands want."
His latest machine, The Cake Server, is probably his most elaborate, Herscher said.
The machine, which turns serving a slice of cake into an elaborate series of events that include melting butter, dropping a hammer over a laptop, sending pots flying and enticing a borrowed baby to a ringing phone, took three months to make — two months longer than usual.
In the videos he posts to his social media accounts, including YouTube, he looks calm.
It's a ruse.
Joseph Herscher with one of his machines. Photo / Supplied
"That's definitely acting. I'm not relaxed inside."
There's no favourite machine to ease his angst, he hates all equally.
"By the end of it I destroy them all because I'm so fed up with them, because they never work the way that I want them to work. Especially filming them ... it's at least 20 or 30 takes and every time something goes wrong that you don't expect, it makes you tear your hair out.
"[But] then you get that one magical shot where everything works. It's like utter joy for me."
Machines were usually about efficiency, so flipping that idea on its head is both absurd and appealing at the same time, Herscher said.
"Humans, we're not just efficient machines that are here to achieve a goal. We're naturally playful creatures ... when we see a playful machine it kind of reminds us of our own playfulness."
He especially loved helping kids see things differently.
"By using everyday objects in unexpected ways you're essentially teaching how to innovate and how to be creative, because suddenly you don't just see any object for what it is, but for what it could be.
"And that kind of thinking is the same thinking scientists and engineers need to apply to the world."
