Effect: the magician remarks that while he does not wear a clown nose, he does love clowns and funny magic. He brings out a red marker and remarks that perhaps he can use the marker and draw a red clown nose on his face. Using the marker as a magic wand, he proceeds to make 2 balls appear out of nowhere, one by one.
Explanation and thoughts:
Most sponge ball routines start off with a ball concealed in either the palm, pocket or sleeve and are therefore forced to be the opening act. With the use of a wand, I can start off showing both hands empty and perform my routine anytime.
2 balls are hidden in my right pocket. The red marker is placed with the 2 balls. Performing for children, I start off my patter mentioning clowns and their red noses. I secretly Palm one ball and bring out the marker into view. (Fig 1) I remark that perhaps I can draw a clown nose on my face with my red marker. "Would you like me to draw a red nose for you too?" That can illicit some laughs and reaction.
Closing my left hand into a fist, I use the marker to tap on it. See fig 2. I allow the child to do the same. Allowing the child to feel that he/she is involved directly in creating the magic is very key to his/her magic experience and reaction. "Tap please! Not Rap! The marker is not made of soft rubber!" I would sometimes jokingly comment to the child as he taps the marker on my fist.
Place the marker down and bring your right hand over with the right palm over the left Palm, rub both palms, SLOWLY reveal the appearance of the red ball in the LEFT Palm. (Fig 3) You will want to create the impression of the ball appearing in the left hand and not in the right hand. (Fig 4)
"Let me keep the marker first." As you say this, pick up the marker and put it into your right pocket. Do the classic ditch-and-steal. Palm another red ball in the right hand and you are now one-ahead. (Fig 5 and fig 6)
Thoughts about sponge ball magic:
At this point, you can add in your own variations. You can put perform the balls multiplication in the child's hand. You can perform the 'sawing into 2' effect; you can pretend to 'tear' the 'single' ball into 2 and 'regrow' them back into 2 full balls. You can follow up with the classic transposition effect. My patter goes like this, "here's one ball for me and here's one ball for you". As a performer, when you lower yourself and share yourself on the same pedestal as your child volunteer, you'll gain a lot of respect and love from them. The ball in my fist would transpose into the child's fist. Always remember to turn the child's fist Palm side down to prevent the child from prematurely opening his fist.
"Wow, you can do magic too!" Empower your spectators, the children loves this.
I hope you enjoy my insights and my tips on the use of a 'wand' and I can be contacted at info@captaindazzle.com
Video explaining the above:
