Not to belittle that classic, the coin in a nest of boxes, I offer a new slant on the discovery of money inside a ball of wool. You need: - two Bayer aspirin tablet boxes, two aspirin tablets, a twenty-five cent piece, two 3-inch squares of newspaper, and a ball of woolen yarn which when loosely rolled, will result in a ball about 4 inches in diameter. And if you don't carry such a thing, ask your host or hostess for a clear glass bowl or deep dish to easily accommodate the balled yarn. Beforehand put one of the aspirin…
A borrowed and marked quarter, or shilling, is dropped into a borrowed wine glass. The performer borrows also a handkerchief with which he covers the glass. A sort of drum head is formed by his snapping of a rubber band around the glass and hank. He next shakes the glass and the coin is heard to rattle about inside. By one corner the handkerchief is yanked from off the glass. The coin is gone without a single false move or gesture upon the performer's part. And the marked coin is found inside the pocket of he who loaned the handkerchief.…
The magician shows what he calls a map to buried treasure. He crumples it into a ball and gives it to a spectator to hold. Then he says that he would like to take his audience back a hundred years or more to the time when that particular treasure was buried and the map made. The pirate loot was hidden upon an island in a remote part of an ocean so the performer puts a plate upon a glass of water to illustrate this location. Next he shows a pail of sand, saying that pirates always made certain their ill-gotten…
"Dear Ted: Following herewith is a bonus I have decided to pay the Jinx for giving me the kind of relaxation I like best in the hope that it will make the publication dates a wee bit more regular. Now that sounds kinda cocky, doesn't it? I don't mean it that way. The stunt is one of my pets and I've been doing it for a long time. I have never seen it in print nor have I seen a similar piece of apparatus except the old "coin jar", from which this idea was stolen. It had to be so…
More often than not the very simplest kind of method applied to a very direct and uncomplicated effect makes the best table trick in a performer's repertoire. There have been a lot of reputations made with cute, close-up masterpieces passed by and over with undiscerning eyes. While that which follows will not win eternal fame or renown, it well may serve as a reliable talk-maker for others as it has me. The magician writes a short prophecy on a slip of paper which is folded and held by a spectator. A half-dollar is borrowed and placed on the table, date…
This is a mental coin effect based on a mathematical system. On the table are three small coin envelopes labeled respectively: Office Boy, Janitor, President. Also there are five different coins: a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar. Three spectators are asked to participate and each is given a small typewritten sheet or card called a "Salary Schedule". While the performer's back is turned, one of the three men picks up the three employee envelopes, mixes them well, selects any one for himself, and passes the other two on to a second man. This person mixes the two remaining…
Dear Ted; The season has resulted in too much work for reply to that gentleman with the deep voice, ten gallon hat, and long hair, from Trinidad, Colorado, who raises tombstones. What does he mean by playing poker the hard way? (Jinx #111) Our trick in issue #102 was on the up and up, partner, for I've played poker "from the rock bound coast of Maine to the golden sands of California" and I've found 'em as soft in the far west as they are in the near east. Mrs. Lyle's little boy Artie isn't lame. As for our friend…
Of all the various and sundry secrets which beset the modern conjuror there can be but few which are as barefaced as that which is to follow. Yet, withal that, the professional magician, and the advanced amateur, will immediately realize that they are given a method of accomplishing the seemingly impossible with little attention necessary to any of the mechanics of the trick. All thought can be concentrated upon the presentation alone. To the audience it appears that a coin is borrowed, marked by its owner in an unmistakable manner, and folded very fairly inside a piece of newspaper. The…
This amusing little puzzle is done with a coin the size of an English shilling or an American quarter. You need also a pack of cigarettes of the type with a slide drawer. These are very common in England and are obtainable in several different brands in the States. The coin is placed at the bottom of the cigarette packet... just inserted so that it protrudes slightly from the bottom... coin being between outside of the packet and the back of the drawer that contains the cigarettes. The problem is to get the coin to the top of the package…
A small and simple coin effect is this which is performed at close quarters. A member of the onlookers is asked to examine a coin and afterwards the fingers of your right hand. The coin then is taken between the third finger and thumb of the examined hand, the third finger removed, and the coin remains balanced on the thumb with no apparent means for it doing so. For this thought provoking stunt take two identical coins. One of them has a small sharp fake or notch by cutting with a sharp knife. Cut firmly into the outside rim of…