Effect: A film canister and cover, a sponge ball, a match and a lighter are brought out.
The magi then takes the sponge ball and places it inside the film canister. He then covers
it with the cover and takes the match and inserts it in a hole that is in the cover. He
then lights the match with the lighter, and "Presto", when he opens the film
canister the sponge ball is gone and replaced with a quarter.
Materials: 2 film canisters, 1 sponge ball, 1 match, 1 lighter
Preparation: Take one of the film canisters and cut about 1/4 inch from the bottom, take a
quarter and place it inside, now take one of the covers and you will see that you can cap
it on, take the cover and bore a hole with a nail the same size as the match, do not bore
the bottom which you cut, that's all there is to it, you are now ready to begin trick.
Take out all materials for trick and start by showing the empty canister. Show the cover
but hold it in a way not revealing thickness. Show the ball and place it in canister,
cover it and place flat on table. Now take match and place it in the hole and push
down, which will push bottom half down on top of sponge ball. Push down firmly, take
lighter and light match for effect. Open canister and shake out quarter, show inside of
canister which appears to be empty because of bottom which you cut is covering ball.
You show two small matchboxes empty. Someone chooses a card from your pack. "I'm
going to make a jigsaw puzzle of your card," you explain, as you tear it into four
pieces. You put the pieces into one matchbox, and turn the boxes over four times.
"Now, if the magic has worked, the card pieces have flown from one one matchbox to
the other", you say and they have solved their puzzle by pulling themselves back
together. You open the empty matchbox and show that the chosen card has appeared inside!
But then you discover that one piece is missing. You open the other box that held the torn
pieces. They have disappeared, except for one piece. You match the piece to the torn part
of the restored card, and they fit exactly.
Materials: Two inexpensive pack of cards, 3 empty matchboxes, scissors, pencil, ruler and
glue.
The Secret: The "choice" of card is forced. A duplicate card, minus one piece,
is carefully hidden inside one matchbox so that you can show the box apparently empty. The
other matchbox has a divided drawer. turning the box around switches the torn pieces in
one end for the missing piece hidden in the other end. To make the divided box, cut a
drawer exactly in half. take one of the drawers and and trim 1/16th of an inch of the top
three edges. Glue the half drawer, open end flush to the left, inside the bottom of
another drawer. Take any card from one pack . Put it on top and put the pack in your left
pocket. Remove the duplicate card and fold it in four. Tear out the top left quarter,
somewhat raggedly. Fold the piece in half and put it the left end of the divided matchbox.
Push the drawer out a half inch to the right and put that box in your left pocket. refold
the remainder of the duplicate card. Take another matchbox and push the drawer out a half
inch to the left. Slide the folded card into the right end of the cover. Put that box in
your right pocket.
Performance: "Please keep your eyes on this little box", you say as you take the
matchbox from your left packet. Slide the drawer halfway out to the right, watching so as
not to slide beyond the divider. Shake the box upside down to show apparently empty.
Put it down with the half open drawer opening to the right. "And keep you eye
out on this one too." Take out the other box. Grip the partly open drawer with
your left thumb and fingers, and hold the right end of the box with your thumb on top of
the first finger up inside the cover, pressed against the hidden card. Keep the card
in place by pinching it between your right thumb and finger, and pull the drawer three
quarters open with your left hand. Shake the box upside down, close it and put it on the
right hand side of the table. Force the duplicate card to the person with any method you
prefer. Tear the card in four pieces and show them to the audience and put them in the
left hand box that is halfway open and close the cover. Take one box with each hand and
turn then both boxes over on the table four times. Open the right handed box, shake out
the folded card and unfold it . Pretend to discover that one piece is missing . Pick up
the other box, slide the end open and shake out the missing piece. Say " I guess that
piece just didn't want to go."
Effect: After a Miser's Dream routine, a half dollar is placed into chick pan and set
ablaze. When the fire is extinguished and the cover removed, the half dollar is seen to
have grown into a jumbo coin. Another coin is placed into pan and set ablaze. This time,
after the cover is removed, the pan is filled with 150 half dollars.
You Will Need: Double Load Chick Pan or Dove Pan, Jumbo Half Dollar, As many half dollars
as you can fit in the smaller (2nd) load pan.
Explanation:
After finishing the Miser's dream phase of this routine, I set the Miser's bucket down and
display the chick pan and lid. Casually showing both to be empty. The lid is in my left
hand and the pan is in my right hand. I set the lid in my drawer, locking in the first
load of a Jumbo Half Dollar and immediately remove a half dollar from my bucket with left
hand. The pan is still in my right hand. I use a patter about investing your money.
"Investing is where you start with a small amount of money. You have to be willing to
risk it all. And if you are lucky your investment will grow." As I say "small
amount of money", I display the half dollar from my Miser's bucket and flip it into
the pan in my right hand making a nice "plunk". As I speak about the
"risk" I set that half dollar on fire with lighter fluid. I reach into my drawer
with left hand and remove the lid now containing the Jumbo Coin. I cover the pan and as I
say "And if you are lucky your investment will grow", I remove the lid and place
it back into my drawer, locking in the 2nd load filled with half dollars. This is a
natural act because you need the left hand free to dump out the Jumbo Coin. As I dump out
the Jumbo Half Dollar into my left hand I say, "Well that was not what I had in mind
when I said your investment might GROW !" Display the Jumbo Coin. This gets a good
laugh.
I then say "Let's try again". I remove another coin from the bucket and place it
into the chick pan. I set the second coin ablaze and cover it with the lid now containing
the 150 half dollars. I quickly remove the lid and pour a shower of half dollars into my
Miser's Dream bucket. This fantastic production of a pan full of solid coins coupled with
the BIG noise created by them hitting the bottom of the metal bucket gets a great reaction
from children and adults alike.
Try it and see for yourself.
Tony Roushdi
How many tricks should a conjurer learn? How many tricks should a conjurer
master or be able to perform flawlessly? Perhaps, the answers to these questions may be
more than the number of tricks in conjuring. Or, maybe
not. But at least, every conjurer would have his or her own way of dealing with these
troubling questions.
Over the years, I've developed an approach that I call "THE THEORY OF CORE AND
PERIPHERAL TRICKS." As the cliche goes, I'd now like to share this with you! For
readers who don't have an interest in magic theory, please scroll past the rest of this
article; otherwise, you'll be bored to death. (:-).
Like many conjurers, there was a time when I wanted to buy, learn, and master every trick
that impressed me. Even now, the temptation is very strong. But using the "Theory of
Core and Peripheral Tricks", I can deal with this quandary in a more satisfying
manner.
Nowadays, I mentally place tricks that fascinate me in two categories: CORE TRICKS and
PERIPHERAL TRICKS; "core tricks" are in an inner ring, while "peripheral
tricks" are in an outer ring in the area of my mind that stores information on
conjuring. In my view, core tricks should be limited to a small number, say 10. For my
favorite but narrow areas of performance magic, I have between 5 and 10 tricks; these
constitute my repertoire for public performances. All other tricks that I dabble in, I
regard as "peripheral tricks". I'm also greatly fascinated by peripheral tricks
but these tricks have not matured for public performance; in fact, they needn't.
My peripheral tricks are for exploration (tinkering), analysis, practice, self-amusement
and the testing of psychological and performance principles. By regarding a trick as
peripheral, I feel no pressure to learn or perform
it in full; sometimes, I spend months practicing sleights and handling related to
peripheral tricks. I may not use these sleights and handling but they help me understand
new tricks that I read about or see in live performances.
The peripheral tricks, which I perform, are only for family and close acquaintances
because I'm usually interested in feedback and general discussion about such tricks. There
are some peripheral tricks that only my bedroom mirror sees. Finally, there are peripheral
tricks that I never perform - these are for analysis and study; my most favorite books and
videos house such peripheral tricks.
If a peripheral trick greatly impresses my "nuclear" audience, I might hone it
further and start performing it for a wider audience. Eventually, this trick may jump to
the core and in the process, displace a core trick to the periphery. By maintaining a
limited number of core tricks, I am forced to prioritize tricks in my repertoire and
choose the best for performances. So, although the periphery may be expanding, the
core remains virtually fixed.
Well, these are the tenets of my "Theory of Core and Peripheral Tricks."
For more sophisticated application of this theory, the concentric rings (core and
periphery) could be divided into "sectors" or areas of performance magic; also,
the periphery could be divided into finer concentric rings, but I shall leave that to your
imagination and choice. I guess, enough is enough: (:-)!
Folks, I've had much fun in putting down these ideas. However, I hope my ramblings have
once again not irritated some - sorry, that was a peripheral thought: (:-). My core
thoughts? Once again, I'll leave that to your imagination.
Meanwhile, best wishes.
Rodney.
About big cup loads to produce buttons or coins. This solution takes a bit of effort but
it works like a charm. I have used this method in a custom made Italian leather chop cup I
have had for 20 years. On a lathe, cut a wooden insert that fits perfectly inside your
cup. The insert should be sized to fill the entire volume of your cup. After the insert is
sized properly, drill a hole down the center with a large enough diameter to accommodate
your load. I have mine drilled just large enough to hold a stack of 100 dimes. Have the
insert loaded and sitting in your lap (or pocket).
Perform desired routine and load the insert, filled with buttons, at the finale using
"favorite method". Hold your middle finger across the drilled hole to keep the
buttons from spilling out. Produce the stack of buttons by slightly tilting the cup
forward and sliding it across your close up mat. As you drop the last button, continue to
slide the cup to the back edge of your mat and drop the insert into your lap in one
"smooth" motion. Drop the cup on its side, mouth facing audience. You can load
the insert from your pants pocket when strolling if your cup is small enough. After you
produce the load of buttons, place the cup and
insert into your pants pocket while you gather the buttons into one hand. Reach into your
pocket to retrieve cup (leaving insert in pocket). Drop the buttons into your cup and take
a bow.
I use this production as a finale to a chop cup routine using a borrowed $10 bill wadded
up to form the ball. At the conclusion, instead of the spectators $10 bill appearing under
the cup as expected, 100 dimes are spread across the table.
NOTE: The insert should be shaped like your cup and must be able to slip in and out of
your cup without hanging up or "talking". Since my cup is leather I don't have a
problem with "talking". You may wish to wrap the wooden insert in felt to
prevent "talking" in a metal chop cup. It has served me well for two
decades.
Additional thought:
It is very effective to produce a final load of coins in a chop cup routine when using a
wadded up bill instead of a ball. To prepare for this, simply wad a piece of steel wool up
in a bill of your choice. The piece of steel
wool should be about the size of a pea. Make sure that your chop cup holds the gaffed bill
securely before performing. You can then borrow the same denomination of bill from a
spectator and use it along with your steel wool bill for a standard chop cup routine. I
present the production of 100 pennies, nickels or dimes as an "accidental"
transformation of the spectator's borrowed $1, $5, $10 bill as a finale.
Tony Roushdi.