Here in Japan there is a TV station called NHK which make a series of awesome Rube Goldberg machines called 'pythagora switch' and film them for a children't show. The video quality and construction is great and they use nothing that you couldn't find in your house. Some are very simple but the mechanics they use are frequently absolutely shocking. They always end by raising a small flag and arranging the letters of the show. I'm surprised I never saw them until I moved here. I could watch them for hours.
I found a DVD of it that comes with a book in the store here and I was going to buy it as a gift for my family but I realized it's probably the wrong region. I can't find an example video online right now. In Japanese it's called:
ピタゴラスイッチ