APRIL 13
STRAW THROUGH HEAD
'Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic' by Martin Gardner (Page 536)
This is an hilarious sight gag/trick. You take a straw, in it's wrapper, and you poke it in your left ear while, at the same time, pulling it out of your right.
Very easy to do. Impromptu. And very, very funny.
APRIL 12
EXPERIMENTS WITH EGGS
'Modern Magic Manual' by Jean Hugard (Page 158)
Reading this you wonder if there wasn't a time when magicians did a lot of stage manipulation with eggs.
Sounds a little odd, given that we do all that stuff with rubber billiard balls nowdays.
But the more you think about it, wouldn't vanishing a real egg, or multiplying them, look really quite amazing today?
Anything that makes you stand out from the pack has got to be good!
APRIL 11
THE VANISHING SILK
'Once Upon A Time...' by Punx (Page 83)
This whole book is not about tricks, but presentations.
Punx has written stories for classic tricks that would be entertaining enough without the magic.
This story is for Dai Vernon's 'Cutting the Aces'. If you, like many, are at a loss as to what to say when performing your magic, take a look at this unusual and very entertaining approach.
APRIL 10
JUST THE FAX
'Lifesavers' by Michael Weber (Page 29)
What a brilliant, impromptu trick, designed for use with a fax machine, but one that would work equally well by email or even on the radio.
Michael has taken a few classic mental forces and really created a complete routine designed for a previously very unmagical medium.
APRIL 9
HANDS
'Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic' by Martin Gardner (Page 180)
If you don't have this book... why not?
It's chock full of tricks you can do with anything... or in this case, nothing.
Over 37 pages alone of tricks you can do with just your hands!
Just get it
APRIL 8
THE VANISHING SILK
'141 Magic Tricks' by Sherman Ripley (Page 29)
The problem with this trick is that the method has been totally over-exposed. Even yesterday, just chatting with some folk, one mentioned she tried to learn some magic once then promptly discussed the method used for the vanishing silk in front of the assembled gathering. Even more weirdly, everyone seemed to be aware of the method, from their own experiences, but all added they appreciate when it's "well done".
Well let's hit the books and go old school.
Go back to this tried and true method of vanishing a silk and you can end completely clean and leave them totally baffled. Plus, you can use a decent size silk, not a "mouse's hanky" variety.
Of course, some will still say they know how it's done but you "did it well"... but with some clever choreography, you can let them hold your wrists and examine your hands thoroughly as soon as the silk has vanished.
You can also ruin their understanding of the vanishing cigarette this way too.
APRIL 7
COIN IN EGG
'The Art of Magic and Sleight of Hand' by Nicholas Einhorn (Page 240)
Now that you've learned a dozen ways to vanish a coin, put them to good use with this simple but effective trick.
Borrow a coin, have it signed, vanish it and it reappears in any egg chosen from a carton of eggs that can even be provided by the spectator.
The method is so ridiculously easy you'll be too embarrassed to accept the applause...
APRIL 6
MAGIC WITH COINS
'141 Magic Tricks' by Sherman Ripley (Page 65)
You really can't judge a book by it's cover, and this tiny paperback really does prove that old adage true.
Chapter Four is devoted to coins and it contains a virtual cavalcade of coin sleights.
For the price of this pamphlet, and a few hours of serious study, you'll really be miles ahead of the competition!
APRIL 5
WHAT? NO JUICE?
'131 Magic Tricks For Amateurs' by Will Dexter (Page 152)
What an interesting trick, very visual and fun.
Anyone hands you an orange and you immediately pull metres of ribbon out from inside of it.
Simple method but quite a bizarre and nonsensical visual image.
APRIL 4
WONDEROPE
'The Magic Catalogue' by William Doerflinger (Page 101)
This is a book filled with ads from old magic catalogues and it's fascinating to see the way tricks were promoted "back in the day"... especially if you yourself bought them based on the somewhat "creative" descriptions in the ads.
I bought a WONDEROPE and, as I seriously doubt this could actually be performed by ANYONE, I'd like to point out a few things:
The trick itself is a 3 ft piece of poor quality rope, with a 1 ft length of wire in the top third and a loop of black sewing thread about 6 inches from the top. The idea being that, if you hold the loop (and the entire audience squints) you can create the appearance of the rope rising and possibly floating.
The ad says:
1 - "The rope rises 8 ft in the air". (The rope is 3 ft long, if the magician is 5'10, the highest the rope can rise is 6 ft max... unless the magician is 7 ft tall...)
2 - "You may cause it to rise or descend at you will" (Yes) "or remain suspended 3 ft away while you walk around it." (Absolutely impossible).
3 - "Those effects and hundreds of others are possible with WONDEROPE" (You can't even perform "those effects" let alone the "hundreds of others")
4 - "At finish you coil rope up" (The wire is pretty stiff...)
5 - "We even give you a version where the same rope is thrown out for inspection." (You must first, discretely, pull the wire out and break the thread off...)
6 - "The illustration on this page gives an accurate idea of how the trick looks to your audience..." (Note that rope is 3 ft long... so that means the magician is less than 12 inches tall).