The popular YouTube series What’s Inside? has a simple, relatable premise: A father and his son cut various items open and see what’s inside them, hence the title. As long as they stick to things like bowling balls and rattlesnake tails, instead of hobos and drifters, it’s cute and maybe even a little informative. In a new episode, father Dan and son Lincoln turn their inquisitive minds to that most mysterious of toys, the Etch A Sketch. Just what the hell is in those things? And why is it so difficult to draw a goddamned circle, anyway? These queries and numerous others are theoretically answered over the course of eight minutes. The Etch A Sketch has been baffling mankind for nearly 56 years, and now, its day of reckoning has arrived.
Before the destruction, the What’s Inside? guys receive a tutorial in proper Etch A Sketch use from an artist named Madeline. It’s like the last meal before an execution. But then, it’s time to take some Etch A Sketches over to fellow YouTuber Grant “The King Of Random” Thompson, who gleefully saws off the corner of the device and dumps out the sticky aluminum powder and Styrofoam inside it. From there’s it’s just a matter of smashing through the dual-thick screen and seeing the mechanical inner workings of the toy. For the curious but impatient, those white plastic knobs on the outside of the device are manipulating a metal pointer that scratches a design into the silver-colored powder that clings to the screen.
And the fun is not over. On his own channel, Thompson performs some experiments with Etch A Sketch powder, inspired by scenes from Breaking Bad. Fortunately or unfortunately, Thompson finds that it is not possible to make Thermite from the dust found inside an Etch A Sketch. The stupid stuff won’t even catch fire in close proximity to a lit sparkler. It does smell pretty bad if you burn it, though. So there’s that.
[via The Daily Dot]