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.”
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