Here is a switch that is EASY (it can be mastered in less than 5 minutes) and
DECEPTIVE.
(Author's note: A great many hours have been spent coming up with catchy titles.)
I needed to switch out a real coin for a gaffed coin in a Zig Zag Coin trick. This is what
I came up with.
Hold (classic palm, finger palm, whatever) the gimmicked coin in your right hand. The
real coin is held in your left and displayed openly.
"If I take this coin and push it through my fist, do you know what
happens?"
Raise your right hand to chest level and insert the real coin into your fist.
"It comes out the other side!"
After the coin is hidden from view, reach around and pull the gimmicked coin out.
"I also write my own jokes."
When the coin "reappears", the audience is expecting a magical moment rather
than a stupid joke. It takes ALL the heat away from your hand which has the ungimmicked
coin held.
I like the "Pen is mightier than the sword" idea. The only problem with pens and pencils is sometimes it is difficult finding one that will fit nicely into the opening. One thing that I have done and this looks very pretty also, is to cover the coin with a small silk. It MUST be SILK and not a handkerchief. Those little ones that fit nicely in a tip work well. I use a pen to get it started and then push the silk through the coin. It looks REAL NICE! When you get almost all of the silk through the coin, the last bit just seems to melt through the coin.
"People say that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Do you know what is mightier than a pen? A wand!"
You can make a wand out of a piece of dowling rod that you can find at any craft store. It
comes in a variety of diameters, so you should be able to find one that fits the opening
perfectly. Paint it black, white ends or prism tape....whatever.
Pull out your magic wand and try to push it through the coin. (Have part of it off the
gimmick portion and try to push.) Look at the coin and then at your wand. From your pocket
take out a piece of cue chalk, chalk the end of the wand and continue. It's a good little
laugh.
I like to shoot pool and I found a clip that costs about $5 including the chalk that clips
onto my belt.
I start my Floating Match routine with my Sympathetic Match Boxes. I have a dozen or so matches in each drawer box and empty them out on the table for the spectator to pick one. Replace the matches in their boxes and go into the sympathetic routine. Once that is finished have the spectator put their match on the playing card and proceed to float the match. I use the other card to show no support from above or below but while the match is still floating, I ask to borrow a finger ring. Hold the ring at a slight angle to the match and move it slowly towards the match. If you are careful you can run the ring the length of the match without making the match move. Return the ring and end the routine. This ending is VERY impressive. Try it!!
Here's a "visible penatration" with the Pen-A-Tration:
Fold the bill almost in half. Place the pen, tip down, behind the bill. Hold back the
gimmick with the left thumb covering up the end with your right hand. Place the pen
between the fold of the bill and let the gimmick and the pen "marry". The
gimmick will still be hidden behind the bill. (Watch your angles.) Now all that's left to
do is to push the pen down. (The sound of the gimmick sliding down the bill is perfect.)
Now the pen is in a position where you can let the sides of the bill down and show it all
around.
I hope this will help extend your routines.
Since I don't have any doves, and I don't like to use fire in other people's homes,
I've come up with a cute routine with a dove pan.
(Load a balloon in the shape of a dog into the pan. Take out a balloon of the same color,
and you're ready to go.)
Ask the audience of ankle-biters if anyone has a pet. (If you haven't figured it out
yet, you're looking for someone to say "I have a dog!".) If no one says they
have a dog- give up and move on. (Kidding, ha ha...) Most likely, there will be at least
one child who owns a K9.
Invite the child up to help. Patter patter patter... (Introduce the balloon, explaining
that it is your pet.) Place the balloon in the pan and ask everyone to concentrate on the
helper's dog. Lift the cover showing that with the help of the audience, the balloon has
been blown up and shaped into a dog (their pet).
Give the balloon to the child and take a bow!
Enjoy!
Hope you enjoy these tips.
Josh Rutner
Hi, Josh -
Liked your Kid's Show Dove Pan tip on MagicDan's home page. Intend to try it, and I'm
thinking about some additional "schmultz" -
What if you have one kid twist the uninflated balloon before it goes into the pan, (he
just makes a few twists in it at various places) and another kid is given a hand-pump for
balloons and asked to pump it a few times (in the direction of the pan) - then, Voila! -
the dog is produced as usual.
OR - the second kid actually pumps air into the balloon, hands it to you, you let the air out, explaining that you have developed an amazing ability to manipulate huge quantities of (hot) air, and with the kids' concentration, (because you don't want to blow it?) the air will return to the balloon and follow the contours that the first kid has previously installed in the balloon skeleton. Shazaam! A dog (or whatever) is born! Gets more people involved and kills time in case you only have a 3 balloon act. Just a thought. (This is why they don't tell me where the S.A.M. meetings are.)
Best regards,
Jim Bush
Funmagic1 or
Wizjim
I used to switch the two packets of needles with my tounge, leaving the loose needles in my mouth... this is the way Houdini did it, but, unless you ARE Houdini, this method is very difficult. Here's the new method I worked out: If you remove one of the stickers from a spool of thread, you can hide the threaded needles inside the spool. You set up the spool with the needles, and attach a very strong magnet to the inside of your jacket pocket. When you're ready to do the trick, you pick up the spool, and load the needles into your right hand. After you swallow the thread, you pick up the loose needles, and place them into your right hand, also. You switch the loose needles for the threaded, and place the threaded needles into your mouth, leaving the metal part of the needles exposed. (The end with thread is inside your mouth.) You go to the pocket with the loose needles, sticking them on the magnet. "Swallow" the threaded needles, and finish as usual.
While working the dealer booth for Empire Magic at the Columbus MagiFest, I spoke to
many people about gimmicked coins. Much to my dismay, a number of folks told me they had
lost (or spent) some of their gimmicked coins. I know I spent my locking 21 Cent Trick!!
Empire Magic sells a small two section coin purse that
will easily hold four half dollar sized coins. If you have just spent $40-$50 on a new set
of gimmicked coins, it certainly worth it to spend the $4 to buy a coin purse to store
them in. It not only protects the coins but it provides a good place to carry the coins to
and from a performance. If nothing else, it reminds you of where they are!
I believe your props should always look good. That includes your coins. I like my coins to be shiny and new looking. One way to keep them looking their best is to use a product called "Nevr-Dull" . It is impregnated cotton that when rubbed on a coin will remove all the tarnish and shine up the coin with very little effort. "Nevr-Dull" will also shine up any of your props that are made of metal.
Another idea for keeping coins clean.....
I bought a cleaning cloth from a Jeweler it is imbedded with Jewelers Rogue. I use Silver
coins ( Franklin Halves) and this keeps them as shiny as anything that I have found. It
also last quiet a long time. I use my coins everyday and I only have to clean them once
every two months or so. Just thought I would pass this along.
One of the best things for your hands is "Corn Huskers Lotion" I've been using it before every show for years. It keeps your hand from drying out and gives them a slight tackiness that helps insure you don't drop any of your props.
Worried that the loop of your dove harness will show?? Use flat back spray paint. This will take away any shine that the nylon might make.
10 Most Often Asked Questions About Doves
General Grant
Many magicians shy away from using Ring Flite because of the awkwardness handing of the
hook onto the ring at the same time using natural motions.
Well, here's my idea of which I have used at least 100 times and works incredibly well.
When you're ready to walk up a group of people and perform your Ring Flite routine, simply
use a scarf and grasp the hook from the outside of the scarf with your left hand and just
let it dangle. The scarf can be held a significant distance from your body as it hides a
majority of the fishing line. Simply borrow a ring with your right hand and pretend to
clean it under the scarf. In reality, you just simply fasten their ring on to the hook
under the scarf with your right hand and then continue with rubbing motions with the scarf
held in your left hand. Slowly pull the scarf away with your right hand and continue with
your favorite vanishing method. I use the scarf to vanish the ring half the time and the
other times, I use a retention vanish and then let the reel do the rest of the work.
There I just gave away one of my most deepest intimate secrets.
Impromptu (definition: prepared)
It is important to note that if you want to perform "impromptu" magic, the
key is to know what you can do and be prepared at any given time. Never expect the
audience to have anything on them. If you need a pen for a trick, bring one. Ask for one,
but know that if they "left theirs at home", you don't have to end the trick and
run away with your tail between your legs.
Another thing, I've noticed that nine out of ten people's homes do not contain a
satisfactory deck of cards. All that most can pull out is their grandmother's favorite
pack. I don't know about you but I prefer to farrow a nice Bicycle deck rather than a
family heirloom. (Maybe that's just me.)
For a sure fire impromptu trick with a pen and a scrap of paper, turn to the Tarbell
Course in Magic , Vol. 7 p.199. It's called "Ear It Is".
Anyway, the moral of the story: For top "impromptu" performances--be prepared.
I don't really remember how they told you to have the helper choose the
"washer", but I didn't like it very much. The way I like to do this is as
follows:
Pour the 5 washers out on the table showing the different colors. Turn them over and place
them into the shape of an X:
Have a helper choose one by touching the back of one of them. Remember the position of the
one which they chose (subtley, please). Have them pick it up and remember the color and
then place it back down.
Pick them up in this order: x,x,theirs,x,x. Do this while looking at them and pattering...
Before placing them in the tube, give them a quick cut (cut two off the top). Theirs will
be on the top.
Hark! The perfect situation! Continue as described in the instructions.
If you do the Rice Bowls, try up-dating it by using milk and a box of cereal. Instead of real cereal, I use uncooked beans. They can be used over and over even if they get wet. Listen to the reaction of the kids in the audience when you turn the front of the cereal box towards them....."Trix"!! And how do you get all those spilled beans off the floor? After the show tell one of the kids that the beans are magic beans. If they take on home and plant it, a magic bean stalk will apprear. Watch how fast those beans disappear!
by Rob Allen