- In the days of King Arthur, they lived in Camelot, a source who entertained the royal court with miraculous feet south, magic high.

Above the castle walls, the ancient necromancy meets with members of the magic round table.

Come with us now to the secret room of Merlin Magic.

- Oh my, oh, gracious.

That magic, that magic smoke is strong.

Gee, I'm glad you came today because we have some very unusual things to see and a very, very interesting guest.

So interesting that I'm not going to do my usual opening trick.

We're gonna consult the Mighty Sword Excalibur right now and find out the theme right away.

That is, if you'll help me, will you, will you help me say the magic words?

Good.

Let's say them together.

You ready?

Here we go.

Fiddly die fiddly.

D, magic sword rise.

For me, that was the most electrifying sword we have ever had, so it is a very electrifying show Today, you're gonna see more sparks fly talent wise, because a young gentleman of whom I speak is going to tell us about pottery, P-O-T-T-E-R-Y.

He's actually going to make pots of clay.

Pottery deals with the making of, of various kinds of vessels and pots and bowls.

And the young man I'm about to present right now is an excellent potter, and he is going to show you just how it's done with lumps of clay.

It's my great pleasure to introduce you right now to my very good friend from Camelot, Tim Mather.

Hi, Tim.

Hi.

You have a lot of equipment.

- What a good, yeah, it's a, this is my supply of clay with which I make pots, pitchers, bowls, et cetera.

- You do this by hand or by foot, or how?

- We throw our pots on this potter's wheel.

It's a rotating flat disc.

I kick a treadle down here with my foot that turns a flywheel.

- Oh, it's your foot that makes the wheel go around.

- Yeah.

It's like pedaling a bicycle only flat.

- Lemme see.

I don't believe you can make a pot from just a ball of clay.

- Well, I'll make you a pot here.

It will have an inexhaustible supply of water in it.

- You said you were gonna make me a magic pot, Tim.

Is that right?

- This'll be a magic, a magic pot that will never run outta water.

I'll watch closely.

Oh my - Have to have strong hands to do - This.

The first thing we have to do, Merlin, is to center the clay so that when we begin to make the pot, the walls will be all even in thickness.

It has to be in the very center of the wheel.

It has to be exactly in the center of the wheel with an equal amount of clay revolving all around.

- He's doing a very good job so far.

The clay is, is very hard to manipulate and move.

Timothy has strong hands.

You'll notice, I wonder what shape it'll be when he's finished.

- The next step is to open it up.

Start to make it hollow inside.

Oh, yes, - Yes.

He's doing that with his thumbs.

It's just like magic, isn't it?

The way that pot opens up in the middle.

- Now we've started to hollow it out.

Now we'll throw the pot or pull up the sides, the walls.

- You see them move.

I would never believe that if I hadn't seen it with my, with my own eyes.

This is real magic indeed.

Oh, now it's taping a shape.

I hope he makes it round.

I like round magic pots.

- We grab the clay between our fingers like this and just pull it - Up.

Does it take two hands, Tim?

- It takes two hands.

One on the inside and one on the outside.

- You can put a lot in that pot.

Tim says he can make water come out of there.

This I'll have to see.

And all the time he's making his foot go back and forth to turn the potter's wheel.

Yes.

It's nice and round and fat shape like my tummy again.

Oh, that's a lovely pot, Tim.

But I don't think it's a magic pot.

I don't see anything magic about that.

Oh, there's a little lip on the top.

Okay.

Zoo.

That's very fancy indeed.

I wonder how it gets it off The wheel looks to me like it's stuck tight on the wheel.

See how this hand shapes it?

Isn't that something?

Ah, that'll hold a lot of water.

- Now we'll cut off a little bit of the extra clay down here at the bottom, just with a pointed stick.

Just a, a pointed stick cut like a knife.

But then how, how in - The world will he ever get the, the pot off the wheel?

It stuck tight.

I do believe, Tim.

- Well, we have a wire stretched between two pieces of wood and we just, okay, cut it back.

- Michael, the page.

Would you bring the tray for the pot?

Yes.

Michael, this is a magic - Pot.

Just lift it right off.

- Don't drop it, Michael.

- Oh, that.

Now, if I don't understand how water - Can appear in there, - Well wait.

We'll have to put a magic paint on it.

We have to paint it right.

Glaze a magical glaze.

- Michael, will you paint the pot while Timothy is explaining this to me?

Just paint it.

Don't get any paint on yourself.

All right.

Don't paint my nose.

Why'd you do that?

- I was just testing - Why my nose?

- I was just seeing if it would work.

- Well, it works.

You rascal skedaddle.

Now we're gonna make another pot.

Oh, that was wonderful.

Thank you very much, Tim.

- No.

Make some little bowls, little wine cups.

You throw that on there very hard.

You stick it down to the wheel head so that it, we can control it and center it.

And center it.

See, he's making that fit right on the exact center of the wheel.

This one will make several little bulls out of this particular lump of clay.

- I can see why Tim is, is king Arthur's potter.

He is an expert potter, and this is a little different shape.

Looks something like a rice bowl maybe, or a little soup bowl.

Oh, that's an important finger down there.

- The ones on the outside control the shape - On the outside.

Controls the shape.

- Yeah.

The inside fingers.

The fingers on the inside.

Just push it out.

The ones on the outside control the shape by.

Yes.

Pushing against it.

- May I just look at that?

Isn't that lovely?

Later on, that'll be baked in a kill - Later on.

That'll be fired in a kill and glazed to make it waterproof.

- I see.

And then maybe paint it too.

I have no idea what what shape pot that Timothy will make now, but I just thought he could make one out of a ball of clay.

Now he's making a second one.

And look how fast that forms.

The wall is only about a a half or a quarter of an inch thick.

Would water leak out of there, Tim?

After you baked it in the kiln?

- No.

After it's baked in the kiln, it won't leak.

- Now that's two pots from one lump of clay.

And again, the wire cutter.

Thank you, Tim.

May I give this one to Queen Guinevere?

Definitely.

Yes.

Thank you, Tim.

Thank you.

This will be a nice surprise for her.

She's never had one of these ceramic pots.

She likes tiny ones too.

Tiny ones.

Yes.

We'll paint it a fancy color, if you will.

Well, this is gonna be more delicate.

This is going to be smaller.

Look how carefully he molds the clay with his well-educated fingers.

Now, that's three pots from one lump of clay, and I'll bet he could even get a fourth from there if he had to.

I'm gonna have to learn how to do this.

I suppose all of us could learn how we took lessons from a potter or a ceramicist.

Well, that's the third one.

Is that just a regular piece of wire you pull through there, Tim?

- It's just a regular piece of wire.

Or - Say, Tim, I'm going to let you keep on working because Michael LaPage has painted that pot with magic paint.

May I go over and see if it worked?

Fine.

I'll be back later.

Yeah.

Excuse me.

All I see Michael has run out of paint, but he has painted the entire pot.

You know, Timothy says that this will always be full of water, and we always need clear water at Camelot.

It's empty now.

I don't think it'll fill itself up again.

Magically this seems, well, this seems almost impossible.

We have wells all around the castle, but we never have enough good, clear water for drinking and bathing.

This suddenly got very heavy.

I think there's more water in here.

If so, Timothy is truly a magic potter.

I never would've believed that.

He just made this out of clay, painted it, and for some strange and mysterious reason, it fills up with water again.

Now I know Timothy's a good potter, but I also now respect him for being a very good and outstanding magician.

Yes, it's, it's, it's getting heavy.

Again.

I can hardly, this is just too much to believe.

I, I'll, I'll put some more water down here in the base, or rather, I should say in the bucket from the base.

And I know it's empty because I looked in there before and sure enough, it's empty right now.

This is a mystery that I've never learned.

Do you know how that's done?

I beg your pardon?

Somebody's putting water in there.

No, I hold it here all the time.

And you can watch it.

Watch the bucket, watch the vase and watch me.

You have to be all eyes.

Oh, it's, it's, it's getting heavy again.

I I think it's full of crystal water.

Well, this could go on all night.

It just keeps filling and filling and filling.

Oh, it's filled up again.

I'm gonna have to empty it.

Oh, now our bucket is completely full, so we won't need, we won't need this anymore.

But it was a very nice gift from Tim and I beg your pardon?

You'd like to see the water for yourself.

I haven't played a joke on you in a long time.

I think I'll just throw the water at you at home.

Are you ready?

1, 2, 3.

Catch the water.

I'll see you soon.

I'm gonna go over here and watch Tim.

Goodbye for now.

- Timothy The Potter was portrayed by Tim Mather, graduate student in ceramics at Ohio University.

Technical assistance and materials were provided by Professor Henry Lynn of Ohio University's School of Painting and Alli Arts.

Merlin was produced in the studios of Ohio University Television and Athens, Ohio.