I’m going out to visit grandkids, leaving Thursday. Last time I was there, my 7-year-old granddaughter asked me if I knew a magic trick, so I showed her the old chestnut of removing my index finger. She was properly astounded and begged me to show her how to do it.
That’s pretty much the extent of my ‘magic’, so if she asks this time, grandpa’s going to be a big disappointment unless someone comes to my rescue.
So. . .anybody got a good, simple trick that is hopefully linked to a video? Need suggestions fast!
Good one. I remembered another disappearing coin trick where you “push” the coin through your hand. It requires practice and coordination, but I’m not sure I can still pull it off.
If you are willing to go for chuckles instead of ooohs&ahhs, you are welcome to do my napkin trick.
You ask your audience for a paper napkin, the square type that folds into quarters. Once you have such a napkin, you pass it around the room for all to inspect and certify that it is a plain napkin.
You then roll up your sleeves, show the front and back of both hands. Next, unfold the napkin dramatically, showing the entire time that your hands are otherwise empty. Once the napkin has been slowly, carefully unfolded, you work your hands into a position where you are holding opposite vertical sides and you bring the napkin up to your face.
Hold the napkin tightly against your face without tearing it. Then drumroll you stick out your tongue, tearing through the napkin, and saying, “TA-DA” with bits of napkin on your tongue.
Done correctly, this beats anything that Copperfield fella has ever done.
My dad always used to astound me with a “magic ash” trick. He’d hold my hand a put a spot of ash on the top, tap twice and have me turn my hand over. Now there was a spot of ash in my palm! (He’d just put some ash on his finger and place it in my palm while holding my hand).
Of course, this only works with smokers near ashtrays, but perhaps you could do it with some flour or something less deadlyish.
There’s a good one with vanishing tissues that dumbfounded my daughter when she was young. It’s a close-up trick and the victim must be sitting beside you, the closer the better. You pull a tissue out of the box sitting in front of you. You tell her that you’re going to stuff it into your closed fist and it will disappear, and you demonstrate stuffing it into your hand. Then you count to three together, each time bringing the hand with the balled up tissue back behind your shoulder and then down to your closed hand. On the third try, you drop the tissue behind the chair on the upswing and pretend to stuff it into your closed hand on the downswing. Open the hand, no tissue! I went through an entire box of tissues and she never caught on. My wife wasn’t happy with the mess.
Another one you can do impromptu with a paper or styrofoam cup. Better if you can sell it by pretending you’re drinking from a full cup. Floating cup trick
I don’t know where to find a video of this, so here goes.
Take a deck of cards, shuffle them, etc. Hold the deck face down cupped in one hand, start pulling back cards with the fingers of the other hand. Ask the kid to say “stop” when they want to pick a card. They can even touch the card they want.
Tell them the card they picked. Then slide off the pile of cards on the top of the deck including their choice. Hold the pile up and show them the card you announced.
How it works:While shuffling note the card at the bottom of the deck. Hold your thumb against the bottom of the deck. When you slide off the pile also slide off the bottom card so that it goes to the bottom of the pile. The cupping with the other hand can be done to obscure this. For fun, while shuffling the next time make sure the same card is at the bottom and repeat.
Go and buy two decks of cards, one of which is all queen of hearts or whatever.
Have people pick a card, shuffle it back, then show them the QoH. Put the stacked deck back in pocket, pull out reg deck from that pocket,Then show them the regular deck.
