 View
Illustrations
Effect:
A ball is made to travel between two glasses behind a cardboard curtain.
Needed:
1- Sponge ball - 1 or 2 inches in diameter.
2 - Drinking Glasses - 3inches in diameter and height (On The Rocks
type).
1 - 8X9 Inch piece of Cardboard - 1/8 inches thick.
Invisible Thread and LeClair's Skin Colored Putty (OK, you can
use wax if you prefer).
1 - Sewing Straight Pin (1 inch with a tiny head at one end).
White Glue
Set
Up: First bend the "head end" of the pin with some
needle nose pliers 90 degrees. This bent portion is only about 3
or 4 millimeters long and will eventually be the pulley on which
the thread will ride.
Table the glasses in front of you side by side about two inches
apart. Lean the cardboard (with the longer edge to the table) against
the glasses, between the audience and the glasses, so the spectators
will be unable to see either glass during performance. It is all
the easier if the table surface is clothed in some manner so the
cardboard will not slide but can be done on the bare surface with
practice. Notice how the topmost edge of the cardboard is the perfect
area to insert our pin "pulley".
One
Time Preparation: Hold the rectangular piece of cardboard with
its long edge on a table. Holding the cardboard with the opposite
lengthwise end upward, insert the sharp end of the pin (with a bit
of glue on it) into the edge of the cardboard right above where
the middle of the left hand glass would rest (about 3 inches from
the left end) when leaning against the glasses.
The small bend in the pin made with the pliers should now stick
out the backside of the board at the top edge that will hang right
over the left hand glass - if the glasses are covered as previously
described.
When the glue dries you’ll have a piece of cardboard with
an unnoticeable pinhead sticking out that will engage the thread
during the effect. This perpendicular pinhead is invisible from
the front and very inconspicuous from any angle. I could go into
ways of camouflaging the pinhead but since this presentation is
directed more toward platform, where its unnecessary to have it
thoroughly examined by the audience anyway.
Performance
Preparation: Connect one end of a 2 ½ foot length of
invisible thread to your upper body and the other end to the sponge
ball (the ball can be connected to the thread during the effect
but the reader can make their own call).
Performance:
Claiming to be able to make an object travel by spiritual intervention
the magician displays 2 glasses and places them next to one another
on a table. A ball is introduced and placed into the performers
right hand glass. Next a plain piece of cardboard is shown while
it’s explained how spirits are very shy and their covortations
are hardly ever seen in the middle of the day, let alone in front
of an entire audience. After briefly shielding the ball and glasses
with the cardboard curtain, the ball mystically travels to the other
glass.
Mechanics:
The performer needs to stand to the right of the glasses not only
to necessitate the effect but also to make it plain to the audience
that you could not simply have lifted the ball out and put in the
other glass by some unseen connection.
As the cardboard is picked up and shown to the audience with the
right hand (out of reach of your thread set-up), the left hand needs
to inconspicuously engage the thread between its forefinger/thumb
crotch. You can now easily place the thread over the pin pulley
(which should be facing towards yourself at this point) without
physically announcing it to the audience.
After maneuvering the thread over the pin pulley, place the cardboard
in front of the glasses using only the left or right hand, which
should now only hold the cardboard curtain by the very right hand
edge for clarity. After the board is in place you can even give
the audience one last glimpse of the ball and glasses after they
have been covered by tilting the bottom of the cardboard towards
the audience while trying to maintain the top pulley in a somewhat
stationary position. Don’t move the top end of cardboard too
much as it will disengage the thread from the hook or make the ball
move prematurely.
With the cardboard curtain back in place (leaning against the glasses)
by slowly moving your body to right causes the ball to rise out
of the right hand glass and swing over to the other glass (but not
past the edge of the cardboard for gravitational reasons). It will
dangle above the left hand glass until you move back towards the
glasses, the ball lowers into the left hand glass.
Remove the cardboard with the right hand, pulling it to the right
you can freely toss it aside (the thread will disengage easily if
the cardboard is taken away in that direction). As the ball is taken
from the glass the thread can be subtly removed from the ball as
all is handed out. I've found the audience is barely interested
in the cardboard curtain at this point if handled casually. Most
all their focus is on the sponge ball after the climax.
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