"Cigarette Ash" (#139)

" Cigarette Ash"(#139)

Create an ash that never falls off the cigarette. You can challange a friend (smoker) to see you can hold the ashes on their cig the longest without letting them fall off.
You will always win after you know the secret.

Ever notice how grandmas have the ability to have their cigarette's ashes stay on the smoke for what seems an unreal length? Well, maybe not... if you don't know any smoking grandmas...

The trick is simple: Just take a straightened out paper-clip and insert it into a normal cigarette.
Push it all the way down even into the filter so that it stays put after the tobacco is gone.Now smoke the special cigarette as you would normally, the ashes don't fall off now.

"40 cents"(#138)

Forty Cents (#138)
by Frank Lane

Forty Cents is what we'll call this one because we use four dimes. This is really an after dinner trick, but you could use it after breakfast or on a rug, if you have one. It's the principle of four objects placed in the corners of a napkin or a handkerchief and finally they all reach one corner. Lots of fellows who read this book are magicians who wish to entertain their friends with the minimum of effort in practice and this will suit them to a "T".

I'll detail the method I use, as I do this in restaurants just as the check comes. The idea is that you spread out a napkin and place a dime at each corner, or about an inch or an inch and a half in from the corner. Now you take a playing card, or a business card and cover the upper right dime, and taking another dime in the left hand, you reach under the table, hold the edge of the dime against the table with left hand, and then let it bang flat against the table itself, giving the impression that it has gone thru the table, then your right hand lifts up the card and there are TWO dimes, where there was only one a moment before.



Maybe I should tell you that you have an extra dime with a tiny little magicians wax on it, and this is stuck on the face side of the playing card, or as I do, stick it on one side of your business card, because it is more natural to use a business card in a cafe. Looks more impromptu.
When you cover the upper right dime with the card, your second finger releases the waxed dime, as you lay the card down. Now your left hand goes under the table with another one of the dimes, as described above, and as it comes out, the dime is resting on fingers of hand, your right hand picks up card and spectators see the two dimes.- Your right hand goes over dime in left hand, your left hand takes the card with dime underneath, and then transfers the whole business to the right hand, which deposits it again on top of the two dimes.
You repeat this move with the other dimes, and finally you have the four dimes under the one card. You have two methods of getting rid of the other dime, the last one you placed under the table. Either snap it up your left coat sleeve, or allow it to drop into your trousers cuff. Sometimes I have a little wax in my finger nail of left hand. The first time I go under table with my hand, I deposit the wax there, and when I am ready to get rid of the last dime, I simply stick it to the table. When I go out, I whisper to the waiter that there is an extra dime (yes, extra) stuck under the table, and to go get it. They may think you're kidding them BUT THEY'LL ALWAYS LOOK.

"coin through Ashtray"

Coin through Ashtray(#137)

Here's a fairly simple effect thats been around for some time, but it usually requires a little prep that makes it difficult to perform in a walk-around or restaurant location. I've simplified it to the point where it can be performed at a table with a minimum of preparation.
Begin ideally with a small tin ashtray. It can be one of the little disposable foil ashtrays like those seen at fast food restaurants. I have also found them in packs of ten or so in grocery stores if you need to purchase your own.

It's not necessary to tell your audience what you're going to do... just do it. This sometimes increases their curiousity, as they are not only watching you, but trying to figure out what you're going to do.

Take the ashtray and place it on top of a glass. Remove a piece of paper from your pocket, about the size of an index card, along with a coin about the size of an American quarter. If you want to be brave, you can also take out a sharpie and ask someone at the table to please make a big 'X' on both sides of the quarter. Specifically tell them a " big X " to eliminate the possibility that some highly focused individual will make really small X's.
Once done, recap the Sharpie and casually lay it on the table in front of you. Take the quarter, put it in the center of the paper, and fold the paper from the top edge to the bottom edge. Fold the paper again, from left to right and then right to left. Pause during the folding process and make a comment or two. This gives the spectator just enough time to 'forget' exactly what directions you've folded so far.

If you're using fairly thin paper you can hold the folded paper, coin inside, in front of you using both fore fingers and middle fingers on one side and both thumbs on the back side - facing you. Momentarily make a little 'small talk', like " has any of you ever seen a real coin pass through a solid object ?", as you squeeze the coin front and back, forcing it to leave a raised impression in the paper.
Secretly allow the coin to slide out the bottom of the paper packet into your palm, as the coin is only sealed from the top and the sides. There are other ways, detailed in many magic books, to fold the paper, but this is the most straight-forward. Taking the packet in the hand without the coin, reach down almost as an after-thought and pick up the Sharpie with the other hand and drop it - and the coin - into your shirt or jacket pocket.
Put the packet into the ashtray, take out a pack of matches or lighter, and light the paper. As it burns, focus everyones attention on the glass - where they will shortly see the quarter pass through the ashtray and fall into the bottom of the glass.
All you need as a set-up is a quarter with two X's drawn on it, attached to the bottom of the ash tray with a small bit of wax. Of course, the heat from the fire will melt the wax and allow the quarter to fall into the glass. Use the right weight of paper to give the wax enough time to melt. Flash paper is way to quick, and cardboard may take too long to burn or produce to much smoke. Experiment.
A glass full of water will increase the amount of time the spectators have to watch the quarter as it falls. If you're using your own ashtrays, you can have the quarter already attached. Glass ashtrays are usually too thick to heat up properly. Since an 'X' is fairly generic, the spectator is not apt to realize that it's not their X on the coin.
It's worth the effort - if you take time to develop the proper patter and presentation...

"Coin In A Hat" (#136)

"COIN IN A HAT" (#136)

An old favorite is the trick in which the magician finds, with his finger tips, a coin which has been marked and then shaken up in a hat with a number of others.
Briefly the old method is this: A number of coins, say eight or ten half dollars or quarters are borrowed. One is chosen and marked by several spectators. As it is passed from hand to hand this coin becomes warm while the others lying on the table remain cold. The operator has merely to find the warm coin.
The new method

is even simpler. Cut tiny scrap of Scotch tape, the new adhesive

paper that is always ready for use without being moistened, and lay it on your table, adhesive side up. Borrow the necessary coins, half dollars or quarters, and put them on the table. Take any one and hand it out to be marked. This done, take it back and lay it on the scrap of Scotch tape, which adheres to it.
Borrow a hat and sweep the coins into it. Hand the hat to a spectator and let him shake it thoroughly, mixing the coins, then he holds the hat up high. It only remains for you to put your hand in, find the coin with the scrap of tape on it, scrape that off with your nail, and hand the coin to a spectator for identification.
Such are the bare bones

of the trick and, baldly presented, it is just another trick, but properly worked up it is quite effective. For instance, you may have the spectator who marked the coin hold your left hand and, when you have found it, pretend to have received a slight electric shock. Nine times out of ten the spectator will aver that he felt it too, particularly if at that moment you give his hand a little prick with the point of a pin which you hold between your fingers

"Spoon Bend" (#136)

“SPOON BENDING MIRACLE”(#136)
Here we learn about creating a startling illusion

The great writer & philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, “the most dangerous thing is illusion.” Emerson probably never saw this particular illusion, which is not a danger to anyone, but rather, a great ice breaker.

You allow the examination of a simple metal spoon to a friend. You take the same spoon and, with effort, use both hands to bend the spoon in half. You ask your friend to remove the spoon, still bent, from your hands. The spoon is magically restored at the instant it is removed!!

Secret: You use a nickel hidden in your hand. The spoon is held by both hands: the large, bottom part of the spoon, is placed in the palm of your left hand, while the handle is gripped by the right hand so that the handle cannot be seen by the spectator, but is visible to you. So now it appears that you will come forward with the handle until it almost touches the spoon in your left hand. In reality, the top of the spoon in your right hand will be behind a nickel. When you bring your right hand down it will appear that you are bending the spoon because the spectator will see the metal between your thumb & pointer finger and assume that it is the thin part of the spoon! Your friend will not see the handle of the spoon as long as you keep your right hand in front of it. This is very deceptive! When you have your friend remove the spoon, just place the nickel in your pocket while the initial shock remains! A little acting is always helpful in pretending it is causing you some strain in bending the spoon. I have never performed this trick without the spectator enjoying it. I hope it brings you the success it has given me.

"Mental Envelope Prediction" (#135)

"Metal Envelope Prediction"(135)

This month's idea is just one of the solutions emailed to me by Wayne Rogers, it's a fantastic routine idea!First, the specs draw on their cards and hold them face down.Next, the performer shows 3 envelopes each with a post it note ”covering a number”. ie the envelopes are numbered and the numbers covered.Each spectator is handed an envelope and told to drop their picture in it and seal it in. One spec mixes the envelopes and hands them to the performer.Performer fans the three envelopes and asks one spectator which number envelope they want. If they say, “One” performer lifts each post it note to findno. 1 and hands it to the spectator.The other second spectator selects another number and is given that envelope.Last spectator gets the last envelope.Recap what has happened. Each person drew a picture and sealed it in an envelope. They each chose either 1, 2, or 3 and received that envelope.All three spectator’s open their envelopes and they have somehow selected their own picture.

Secret: there are no numbers under the post it notes:

They are nail written on when the choices are made. You have secretly marked each envelope and know who it was given to. When they make their choice, select the correct envelope, lift the post it note to “check the number” and write the chosen number in before handing the envelope over.NB I would be inclined to use some post-it glue stick in addition to the normal glue on the note pieces, just to be sure that they are not accidentally lifted to expose there is no number underneath.

"Phyic Dice" (#134)

Psychic Dice(#134)

An old bartender's favourite. Ask your subject to drop three dice in to a glass of water. Then ask them to hold up the glass, total the numbers on the bottom faces of the dice and then put the glass back down. You dip your finger tips in the water, mystically rub them on your fore-head and magically tell your subject the total they have.
All you do is subtract the total of the dice's upward faces from 21. Remember opposite sides of a die total 7 and 3 x 7 is 21.