THE RED HANDKERCHIEF ILLUSION
(APPEARING CANE)
(Originally appeared in Laflin Magic Lecture 2002 by Duane Laflin)
Here is a premise. It allows you to use the “appearing cane” effect in a fun manner.
EFFECT: Magician shows the audience a red silk (handkerchief) and claims he cannot do a trick because he does not have a red handkerchief. When the audience tries to point out that he does have a handkerchief, it changes into a giant cane.
NEEDED: An appearing cane and an 18 inch diamond cut silk.
*The use of the diamond cut is important if you have the plastic cane! Because the plastic cane is not as strong as the metal one, a plastic cane will not expand quickly over a full size 18 inch silk. So do not use a full size 18 inch silk! Instead use the diamond cut. It looks big, and because of the diamond cut, hangs down just as long as a regular 18 inch silk would. This means the transformation of silk to cane can be just as impressive as it would be were the cane made of metal! Because the diamond cut silk is not as wide as a regular 18 inch silk, it will not slow down the cane. So your plastic cane will expand over the silk to great effect!
ROUTINE: (Start with the cane collapsed. The audience only sees a red handkerchief in your hand).
When I came to the show today I planned to show you the famous red handkerchief trick. I think you would have liked it. But I am disappointed. I cannot show you the red handkerchief trick. Why? Because, I do not have a red handkerchief.
(Hold up the red handkerchief).
Some people see this and say, “But you do have a red handkerchief”. No, I do not. I realize it looks like one, but it is only an illusion, a very good illusion! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you are seeing the optical illusion of the red handkerchief. It is amazing how much this looks like a red handkerchief when actually…it is a giant walking stick!
(As you make these final remarks, start swinging the silk in circles. As you start the second circle, release pressure on the cane so it expands. When the circle is complete, it will be a cane rather than a silk!).
FINAL NOTE: It is important to swing the silk in a circle as you turn it into the cane. Centrifugal force is created by the swinging motion. This force puts a side pressure on the opening of the cane which reduces the “snapping sound”. This is necessary to limit the noise of the cane! It is vital to try to hide the sound of the cane opening up. The effect must not be “a spring sprung open”. Rather it must be that a scarf impossibly transformed to a solid cane.
If the audience hears the “snap” they may think “a spring”. If instead all they hear is a soft sound they will think: One moment a handkerchief was in his hand, the next moment it was a cane. How did he do that?
THE FLOWER BASKET
(Originally appeared in Gospel Magic with a WOW Factor by Duane Laflin)
For many years my wife and I have been doing a version of this routine that used a very expensive blooming bouquet trick and also a botania effect that was even more expensive. I was pleased when the flower basket trick came on the market and I found a way to do the same routine with this inexpensive prop.
I was even more pleased when Arthur Stead told me how much he liked this flower basket routine and asked for permission to record special music for it. Arthur now has a complete musical background for the routine that I think gives it lots of WOW. You can purchase the musical background by Arthur Stead, and even get the spoken patter on CD so all you have to do is the physical actions, or you can use the patter and presentation below and do everything on your own.
The effect requires a Flower Basket trick, some 12 inch silks, and a silk fountain. Put the fountain in a hat or down in your table. Prepare the gimmicked part of the flower basket, then put seven 12 inch silks in it. The action of the routine is simple. One at a time you remove the silks from the basket and set them down over the silk fountain. Later, when you pick them up again, you secretly pick up the fountain as well. The lever on the flower basket releases its flower production, then you reveal the silk fountain as a finale.
PRESENTATION: It is time to talk about love. Love is a wonderful thing. The song writer Burt Bacharach said, “What the world needs now is love sweet love”. I like how he said it, but no one can quite say it like a country western singer. There is the one who wrote, “You took my heart and stomped it flat”. Another one wrote “Without you I am just another bug on the windshield of life”. And then there is the classic song by Keith Whitely that says, “I am so miserable without you, it is almost like you are here!”
Love is a strange and wonderful thing. Someone has said you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. (Take a silk out of the basket and set it aside). When you love we must give of our time. We are busy, but we still take time for others. (Take another silk out of the basket). When we love we give of our talents. We use the skills and abilities we have, not for our own glory, but to bless those around us. (Take another silk out of the basket). When we love we give of our treasure. Financially we share and even sacrifice to help and benefit others. (Take another silk out of the basket). Then there is the kind of giving called FORGIVING. We surrender the opportunity to get revenge or make someone pay and instead show them love and grace.
(Take another silk from the basket). Sometimes this matter of loving, sharing, and giving becomes hard. (Take another silk form the basket). We say to ourselves, “I cannot keep doing this. Look, I am giving and giving and soon there will be nothing left for me”. (Take the final silk from the basket and set it aside).
It is true that some people do not think real love is a good idea because they do not like the idea of giving and sharing. (Pick up the silk again, and secretly pick up the silk fountain as well).
But I have news for you…love is always worth it. For many great and wonderful reasons…and one of those reasons is this! (Release the gimmick in the flower basket so the spring flowers appear). Love is an eternally renewable resource. About the time you think you have given all you have to give, God fills you up again with His blessings. You cannot out-give God. And more than that (reveal the silk fountain), because you shared, because you gave, because you loved, the world around you will be a much more beautiful place!
Love is of God. It is always right and good to show His love!
*That is it! Talk about love while taking silks from the basket. Suggest that some do not want to love because they are afraid they will end up the losers. Then release the flowers to show that you never lose when you love. Then add to that the effect of the silk fountain to emphasize how much more beautiful life and the world around us is when we share.
DEATH IS NOT THE END:
(Originally printed in 1991 in Strong Gospel Magic by Duane Laflin)
EFFECT: A silk vanishes from magicians fist and appears in a small box. (Instead it could appear under a glass on a pedestal if magician owns proper equipment).
NOTE: This effect can be done with props you probably already own. If you do not own them you could purchase everything necessary for under $15.00.
If you own the more expensive props (a silk pedestal) you can do it the fancy way, but the inexpensive way works fine.
SECRET: This effect requires a thumbtip, little drawer box, and two matching 9” silks. One silk is previously loaded into the drawer box. The box is shown empty while keeping the silk in the hidden compartment. The other silk is vanished by way of the thumbtip. The effect is that the silk traveled from the hand to the box.
PRESENTATION: In II Corinthians 5:1 the Apostle Paul spoke about the subject of death and stated that when a Christian dies it is like a change of houses. He likened out present life to being in a temporary house and said that at death we leave the temporary house for an eternal one made by God in heaven. This is the hope and confidence of those who believe. We know that at death we have not ended. We instead have just made a change of location. We have gone from earth to heaven.
Here is an example of that (Show the drawer box empty). We will use this box to represent heaven. Right now the believer is not there.
We will use this cloth to represent the Christian. (Thumbtip is on right hand, hidden behind cloth). First of all a Christian is a physical person which means he is a soul and spirit in a body. My fist will stand for the physical body. The person a Christian is consists of the soul and spirit. It is important to remember that the body is not the person; it is just the house the person presently uses. (Start poking silk into fist…actually you have slipped the thumbtip into the fist first. The silk is going into the thumbtip. When the silk is in the thumbtip steal the thumbtip back out on the right hand so the left fist is left empty. The audience thinks it contains the silk).
So as we have said, a Christian is a person consisting of soul and spirit in a body. Now, what happens when a Christian dies? Does he or she become nothing? No. At death the person the Christian is leaves the physical shell, (open hand to show silk has vanished), and goes to be with God in heaven. (Pick up drawer box). Remember, we said this box represents heaven. What is inside? (open it to reveal silk).
The Christian is not lost or destroyed in death. The Christian instead has entered the eternal home. This is one of the things that make it so exciting to be a Christian. Christians do know for sure that if they were to die today they would go to be with God in heaven!
NOTE: The little drawer box works fine for this and is economical. However with a silk pedestal the effect becomes especially strong. Show the pedestal at the start of the effect. Place a bottomless glass on it. (Audience does not know the glass is bottomless). Cover the glass with a metal cup or can. You might even choose to write the word, “Heaven”, on the can. The silk is then vanished by way of the thumbtip and reproduced in the glass that was on the pedestal under the can.
NOTE: A study of II Corinthians 5: 1-10 could be done in conjunction with this effect. The effect is a good illustration on the body being a shell and the person being something/someone inside the shell. Understanding death is an important matter for all believers.
NOTE: When the lesson is kept on a simple level this effect is great for a childrens sermon, release time classes, junior church, or an object lesson in the opening time of Sunday School.