Wands, Wands & More Wands
WANDS-TWO-THREE
Magicians who do kid shows have been getting
laughs for years with various types of prop
magic wands. I imagine it all started with
the break-away wand. There have also been
comedy wands that bend, twist, rise, change
color, enlarge, shrink, bang, become banners,
multiply and even tipple-topple. Children
believe that the magic want actually makes
all of our magic work and that's why wands
ware so popular with the small fry.
Gag wands, make a good repeat bit, too.
Each time you get a kid up you hand them a
different wand. For this reason magicians
are always searching for new prop wand ideas.
Here's a trio of original wands that I use
that have never been on the market. Let's
call the first one...
THE "SUMMERTIME" WAND
To construct this wand I took a large
(12" by 20") sheet of black construction paper
which I purchased at the art supply store
and accordion folded it into one inch pleats.
Oops, forgot to mention that before the folding
I cut two strips of plain white paper, 2"
wide and 20" long and glued one of these strips
onto each side of the black paper.
Now, when it's folded as explained it
looks like a wand, doesn't it? (Well, with
imagination it does.) I stapled one end of
the wand together (see picture) and slipped
a paper clip on the other end to hold it together.
TO WORK:
I say, "Here's my summertime wand, IT HAS
A BUILT IN AIR CONDITIONER!" I then slip off
the paper clip, spread out the fan and fan
the kid and myself.
After using this for several shows, I
got the idea for the next one which we will
call...
THE "VENETIAN WAND"
This wand is a spin-off idea from the
last one. To make this one I got a large sheet
of black poster board at the same art supply
store and cut out 10 strips of poster board
1" wide by 20" long. Using the white paper
again, I made tips for the wands (2" long)
and glued them in place.
I took two strips of cotton tape (from
sewing supply counter1/2" wide by 3' long
and laying them on the table, I placed the
strips 10 inches apart. Using epoxy glue,
I fastened one cardboard wand across the tape
at the top and then spaced them so that the
last wand was glued on at the bottom of the
tape as shown in the picture.
This pile of wands is now accordion-folded
and when you pick them up you hold them together.
As the kid reaches for the wand, you lift
up the top one so that he gets a hold of it.
Give him a whispered "cue" to "HOLD ON TIGHT".
You then turn loose of the stack and they
will fall down like a venetian blind. The
prop looks AND PLAYS very funny.
I call the final one...
THE "GREW-SOME" WAND
I went to a hobby supply shop and bought
two hollow brass rods. One of the rods is
1/2" in diameter and the other one just fits
and slides easily inside the larger one. I
also bought a dowel rod, cut off two pieces
about 1" long and sanded them down so one
would fit in the end of each rod. Two small
screw eyes, a piece of string and some black
and white paint complete the wand as shown
in the picture. The screw eyes are fastened
into the dowel ends and a string is fastened
the length of both rods, the ends of the string
being attached to the screw eyes at both ends.
The wand is shown and handed to the kid.
Make sure he holds it by the end. A stage
"cue" is whispered "TAKE THE END AND HOLD
ON TIGHTLY". You then slide the outer shell
to the limit of the string that holds it together
and the wand appears to stretch to double
its length. I say to the kid, "It appears
to have grew some, in fact the whole wand
looks gruesome, let's put it away."
