UNGLUED
My dentist DR.BOB PINNEY of
Detroit, Michigan, in addition to being an excellent
dentist (he doesn't hurt much) is also a good
magician. BOB and his wife MARGE are regulars
at the annual get-together at ABBOTTS. I was
in his office one day on a professional visit
and we were discussing the effect known as a
"SILVER EXTRACTION". This is an effect that
was invented by another dentist/magician DR.
BORIS ZOLA of Saginaw, Michigan. It's a clever
idea where a regular half dollar is switched
for a clear, plastic one (made of dental acrylic)
and dropped into spectator's hand. Magi then
states he will "extract the silver". A small
lump of silver is apparently removed from the
back of the spectator's closed fist. When spectator
opens his fist, there's the CLEAR coin. A nice
effect. As we were discussing this, I noticed
a small coil of copper wire lying on Bob's work
counter, and it triggered the following, updated
version (cheaper too!) of Dr. Zola's original
effect.
Borrow a QUARTER from a spectator
(better yet, use your own). Have him hold it
up and look at it edgewise. When he does, he
will see the usual layers of copper and silver
(U.S. coins only). Ask him if he knows what
percentage of the coin is copper? Whatever his
reply, offer to show him an unusual experiment.
The quarter is placed on the palm of your left
hand, and the fingers are closed over it. Removing
a packet of matches, you ask spectator to take
out a match, light it and wave the lit match
underneath your closed left hand. "Just that
much heat sometimes causes the metals to separate
- look!" When the left hand is opened, there
is the quarter AND a small loop (quarter size)
of COPPER WIRE. Needless to say, when the spectator
examines the quarter more closely, he will note
that the tell-tale rim of copper is MISSING
from the quarter's edge.
You'll need a small ring of
copper wire (the hardware stores sell this as
BELL wire) and an ALL SILVER QUARTER. The last
year these ALL SILVER coins were minted was
1964, but there's still quite a few around,
or you can buy one at a coin shop. The copper
loop, and a packet of matches are in your right
coat pocket. The all-silver quarter is finger-palmed
in your right hand. Have the spectator hold
the copper-content quarter up and look at its
edge. Take the quarter from him with your right
fingers, and apparently drop it onto your left
palm. Really what happens, is that you SWITCH
it, allowing the ALL silver quarter to drop
onto the left palm. The right hand goes into
the side coat pocket, drops the coppered quarter,
and finger-palms the loop of copper wire. When
the right hand approaches the left to close
it, this copper loop is secretly dropped onto
the coin in the left hand.
I'll close this off with the
observation that most dentist/magicians close-up
routines run a little long. The reason? Before
they start, they walk around the table and ADJUST
each spectators CHAIR.
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