EFFECT: A red sponge ball is placed in a silver dollar-sized, plastic coin case. When it is heated with a butane lighter and shaken out, it magically transforms into a red poker chip, which can be given away as a souvenir!
APPARATUS: 1 1/2" Red Poker Chip; Silver Dollar-Sized Clear, Plastic Coin Case, Butane Lighter, 1 1/2" Red Sponge Ball.
SETUP: Place on half of the coin case in the left and the other half in the right hand jacket pocket. Place the sponge ball, red poker chip, and the butane lighter in the right jacket pocket.
PRESENTATION: Say, "Magicians are an interesting group of people. We know that our audience likes us to perform with natural-looking objects like coins, ropes, and cards, yet we insist on performing with an item called a Sponge Ball! People in the audience don't know what a sponge ball is, unless a magician has performed for them before."
Display the sponge ball, and bounce it back and forth from hand to hand, squeezing it a few times in the process. Bring out the half coin case from the right hand jacket pocket. Secretly right fingerpalm the poker chip in the process. Transfer the half coin case to the left hand, and place the sponge ball over the poker chip in the right (Fig.1).
Say, "I have developed a solution to this sponge ball problem. I carry a sponge ball around now in a coin case, so that my audience will think that something of great value is inside." Pinch the sponge ball at the right fingertips against the poker chip, and place them together onto the recessed side of the half coin case, with the sponge ball on top, facing out. Turn this setup around and place it between the right thumb and index finger, with the coin case facing the audience, and the sponge ball pressed against the base of your right thumb. The left hand now removes its half coin case (Fig.2) and slides it behind the other half, between the poker chip and the sponge ball. (Fig.3) As a result, the poker chip is now lodged between both halves of the coin case, while the sponge ball is pushed into a right thumbpalm (Fig.4). Transfer the case to the left fingertips. With the sponge ball thumbpalmed in the right hand, go to the right jacket pocket to get the lighter, secretly ditching the sponge ball in the process.
Strike the lighter and wave it under the coin case a few times. Say, "Audiences put a little HEAT on magicians when we use an item that they don't understand, just as the lighter is doing right now. However, even heat won't solve this problem, because the audience will eventually ask what is in the coin case and I will have to break down and confess to them that it is just a sponge ball! However, a real magician would open the coin case and shake out something of greater value, when questioned." Open the case, and pour out the poker chip, tapping it against the case, so the audience can see and hear the transition from sponge ball to plastic poker chip (Fig. 5).
Place these items back in the pockets as described in the Setup and you are reset to perform Sponge Poker again! If you buy a box of poker chips, you can then hand one out as a souvenir of each show. If handled properly, the audience will perceive that the sponge ball never left their sight!
