A magician performs a trick. A person is painted in glow-paint.
It's become pretty cheesy to utter things like, "There's magic everywhere," (especially if you creepily whisper it.) However, if you happen to be lucky enough to visit magician Justin Flom's home, it's literally true. Every single square foot of his home seems to be magical, which is pretty fortunate for his young kids. Truly, their dad's imagination knows no bounds.
A few months back, Upworthy's Heather Wake covered the "wildest house tour" ever, wherein we see Flom's fever dream of a home in a video presented by his wife. Wake describes "the toilet paper wall in the bathroom (cause why not?), a 'cozy' loft made of netting above the stairs for the kids, and a 'Dr. Pepper passageway' that leads to a hidden door in the wallpaper that opens to their Blockbuster-fied movie room."
The house has become a recent viral sensation again, as Flom's sister has now made her own personal video from her point of view. She seems especially dazzled by the disco room, the hidden door INSIDE the foam pit, and yes, the glow-in-the-dark room.
In pushing the boundaries of whimsy, Flom recently shared a new clip on TikTok where we see him pouring what looks like oxidized phosphorous into a painting tray. When applied to the wall, the green, glowing paint makes it look as if he's created his very own Aurora Borealis within the walls of his home. In a voiceover, Flom shares, "This room glows in the dark and you can leave your shadow on the wall."
We then see Flom's daughters helping create the, ahem, magic. He continues, "The glow-on-paint goes on clear and I give my daughters special flashlights so they can draw on the wall…with light."
@justinflom Their shadows stay on the wall! 💡🔦
As if that wasn't cool enough, he says, "It's done, and I'm showing you right now, the glow room, hidden behind our tunnel of doors." We then see five different doors being opened, including a red door, what looks like a Cookie Monster door, a brick wall door, and a final door that resembles the spiral of a safe. Once inside, he says to the girls, "Doesn't look like anything, right? The wall looks normal, doesn't it? But wait. Ready?"
They nod. "On the count of three, we're gonna turn out the lights and this room is gonna glow. You ready for it? Three. Two. One…!" Flom turns out the lights, and, as promised, the walls glow in a bright Oz-like green. What happens next is like scenes from a Pixar film or perhaps Wicked: When they press their bodies against the green wall, they make a shadow that remains as though it has been painted on by the finest artist. Then, on top of their OWN shadows, they can create whatever they'd like using plain old lights as their brushes.
Once one gets over the absolute awe of it all, it's hard not to wonder…how was this possible? We turn to the comment section, which first showers Flom with compliments. One person writes, "I want to do this with my adult money." Another, "The childhood I wished I'd had."
A gif of the Northern Lights Giphy, Yatri design
Just a tiny scroll down, and a TikToker seems to have found the paint. "Is it the Risk Reactor glow paint?" Though they note it's expensive ($400), many agree it's worth it. Someone asks, "How do they get the shadow off the wall?" Another responds, "You cover the area, shine a light, and the bit that's covered doesn't glow."
Luckily, there is a cute, wacky video on YouTube that gives us an actual step-by-step on making your own glow wall, should you want one. YouTuber UV Black Lights uses what he calls a "blinds thing" type surface and illustrates that first you want to "clean the surface" really well. Then, using "glow in the dark phosphorescent paint," he shares, "All you have to do is just paint."
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For this tutorial, he demonstrates that he's using the Wildfire paint brand and recommends two or three coats over a primer (if one has the patience). We then get a chyron AND a voiceover exclaiming "three hours later," followed by a shot of the surface hung up, "all dried and ready to go."
Once the sun goes down (since he's presenting this experiment in his garage), he explains, "So what we're using here is just a little laser. It doesn't need to be black light. All you have to do is have some kind of light source." (Remember, Flom used tiny flashlights.)
He then shows off shadow art, similar to Flom's earlier video. Beautiful, majestic, and best of all? Doable!
9 months is a very long time to be aboard a boat, even a giant cruise ship. Photo by 
Pro tip: Don't ask the band on board to play "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion 
Tennis player serving under a clear blue sky.
Focused intensity on the tennis court.
Tennis match in action: focused and ready to volley! 🎾
