There is little that is strikingly original about this effect, but I have found the routine to be an extremely successful table trick, particularly in a tavern that is not too well lit.
A black thread about fifteen inches long is used. At one end is a safety pin and an ordinary pin is at the other. The safety pin is fastened to the front of your coat, about an inch inside and just below the lapel. Stick the other pin into the inside of the coat somewhere where it will be out of the way until you want to use the thread.
Shortly after you have lit a cigarette procure the pin in the fingers and secretly push it up into the base of the cigarette. Since no one suspects a trick as yet, you can continue to smoke it without fear of the thread being noticed.
Pick up the nearest empty beer bottle (assuming you are in a tavern) and hold it horizontally by the neck with the left hand. Balance the cigarette on it as shown, allowing the cigarette to hang slightly over the far side. Take the bottom of the bottle in the right hand, and tilt it first to the left and then to the right, allowing the cigarette to roll back and forth across it. It looks like genuine jugglery. Now rotate the bottle away from you, then rotate it toward you. With a little practice and care the cigarette should remain immovable.
As a finale, turn the bottle right side up and drop the lit cigarette inside. The bottle should be held at a distance that permits the cigarette to drop below the opening but to still remain inside the neck. Move the bottle forward and back to cause the cigarette to rise into view and then fall. Do this several times, then remove the cigarette and extend it forward with the bottle for examination. This pulls the pin out of the cigarette and pin and thread fall into lap.
Do not hold the bottle high above the table during the first part of the routine. Then if the cigarette accidentally falls off the bottle it will merely drop to the table and you can pick it up again and balance it once more.
Leave a Reply