I want to be prepared days before a show, to do a Clippo routine, but it occurred to me that the set-up (which includes some flour) may not last indefinitely.

I would think it would last a few days, but months? Does anyone have direct experience with how long the set-up will last, and still be effective?

Thanks;
John

Flour is not used in the preparation of this trick. If you do, you are inviting "bugs" into your home and magic equipment. You use simple talc powder. This will then lasts almost a year.

I would assume you are getting your false imformation off of YouTube videos. I have said it before for others, those YouTube videos are all wrong information, and this is an example.

Thanks, that's good to hear.





The use of flour was strongly recommended over talc type products, by Steve Kissell, when he was the guest speaker at my Kidabra meeting about a month ago. I don't recall if he said WHY, but he was very clear on that point.

I would be glad to hear from others on this and the original question.

There are plenty of bugs in my magic, but not the type you mention.

John

Simple talcum powder is the way to go. It is cheap, inorganic, and works like a dream. I've had Clippo's stored for a couple of years and still worked well. Honestly they are too easy to make to not make up new one's every couple of shows. I stopped using them for a while and rather than throw away my stockpile I simply put then in a large envelope and later found them and was surprised that they still worked as new.

Thanks, I may try to ask Steve why he thought flour was better (I previously used talc)

As far as simple, well I was preparing to use some giant size bills (~18" x8"), and wanted a double coating. So that took some time, lots of material, and smells!

That gets to another question, I was planning on making a series of cuts to the bill, to show that the impact of more taxes, higher prices, inflation... so the bill will eventually stop looking like a bill (actually it looks pretty funny), and will end up with just "00" showing for the denomination (where our currency is headed). HOWSOMEEVER, this would tend to suggest that the pieces are just somehow "stuck" to each other. I still think it would be funny, even though it may not appear as magical if I was making just a single/thin cut.

I was also thinking about using 2 different denomination bills laying on top of each other when I make the cut. This would produce a different kind of mis-made bill, but may also somewhat tip the method.

Comments?

John

If you want something a bit more orgaic.. but related in some way to talc AND flower, Try using corn starch baby powder.

also, the trick is rather obvious anyway.. it's saving grace is a funny routine. The best I've ever seen was Blackstone Jr doing it with the story, "WHY IS A FIRE ENGINE RED?"..

I'D KILL TO GET THE RIGHTS TO THIS. I've emailed Gay several times, but I've never recieved a repsonse of any kind.

There are recent reports about the dangers of Talc.

I don't know (no consensus or proof yet) but that may be why.

Google "Dangers of Talc powder" and read around if you are interested.

-Mary Mowder

The dangers of old talc was the Zinc Stearate in the powder, that was removed like 40 years ago. Zinc Stearate is what we magicians use as a Fanning Powder ingredient and when inhaled has been known to cause cancer.

I am not aware of any recent new health problems with talc powder, but if kids are now inhaling it, then any powder will cause lung problems if inhaled.

Talc is a rock. Asbestos is a rock. To be more precise, they are both minerals. Ground into powder, talc was used to make Talcum Powder. Asbestos yielded fibers that could be woven into fireproof cloth for insulation. Both are dangerous to breathe and cause cancer. Today, when you buy "baby powder" you are getting cornstarch and not talc. Check the label and see for yourself. Flour or cornstarch can be used with the trick Clippo, which uses rubber cement, containing the equally dangerous benzine, but what's a few dangerous fumes among friends? The insects that flour is likely to attract is the flour in quantity, not a light dusting of powder bonded with rubber cement. The insects know enough to stay away from benzine, unlike magicians. You are all sitting at computers right now reading this. At any time feel free to check out what I am telling you by using your computer and a search engine like google. Your computer is like a magic genii that can answer any number of questions you may have with far more accuracy and in much less time than it takes you to ask a question on a forum and get back dubuious answers from people who are just guessing or worse, making up their answers.

John: Don't worry about how long the set-up for Clippo will last. In a zip-loc bag, place your papers, a bottle of rubber cement, and a smaller zip-loc bag or flour or cornstarch (your choice). Prepare your Clippo shortly before the show using your "kit" and you won't have to worry about the length of time it sits there.

I just looked at both of my containers of baby powder. They're both "talc and fragrance." So maybe not all baby powder is cornstarch.

-Philip

Talc is still used in baby powders, cosmetics, and other products.

Yes, it's a mineral, mainly of the elements magnesium, silicon, and oxygen.
Yes, asbestos is a mineral, but you can't compare two minerals with one another.
Asbestos has dangers for totally different reasons than talc would have, if any.
For one, asbestos doesn't dissolve, it's very sharp, and your body can't get rid of it.
Not the same as talc.

So, let's leave all this talc talk to the experts...
Here is what the American Cancer Society says about talc...
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCause......d-cancer

Here is what the National Cancer Institute says about asbestos...
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos

In the end...
Clippo is an awesome routine, I do it all the time, so dust away with your talc.

Randi

Interesting information.

I've heard that talc and asbestos are (nearly) identical in composition, but as pointed out above, the asbestos has a shape that makes it sharp (on a microscopic level), and is suspected to be the source of its problems for our lungs.

I checked my RC bottle, and it has heptane in it (which unlike benzene, is not known to be carcinogenic). The reason I'm interested in that, is because I have all these old bottles of dried out rubber cement that I would like to bring back to life. I just haven't found a source for the heptane.

HOWSOMEEVER, what do people think about doing repeated cuts up a dollar bill. It looks very funny, but does that too much suggest the method? Has anyone done that?

John

I have not seen anyone use large bills for clippo but I am sure there are a few that do. If the story is good then the bills will work out great. It is all in the story behind the trick. I like the fact that I can do clippo up close. I had a friend years ago that vanished a rabbit with a rabbit roller, I think that is what it is called, and when he produced the flat rabbit it had a really long neck. He then went into a clippo effect with the flat rabbit. It worked great and looked fantastic. I have something on clippo in my files that someone here at the Café' emailed me. I will look it up and send it too you. Have fun with the clippo and it can be a great gag.

Steven

Well, I pulled out a paper that I prepared about a month ago, and, <drum roll>, it worked just fine. No bug infestation, and no falling pieces.

Steven: I haven't worked out much of a patter for the large-bill-clippo, but I was thinking of talking about how inflation makes our money worth less. As I stated, I thought it was useful that the shrinking bill looks so funny - that could add to the effect. The concern was that the obvious mis-alignment of the graphics on the bill (as the bill is repeatedly cut, as opposed to being cut just once), seems to partially suggest the pieces are somehow being stuck together.

John

John, you have hit the nail on the head, that is the magic of clippo, "seems to partially suggest the pieces are somehow being stuck together" but the questioning answer is "HOW". Welcome to magic, John!

If you could make a "stretched" bill, then it would meet your story line and "match" as it seem you want everything perfect for your effect. So buy one of those stretched bill on the market called "Stretch A Buck by Dave Devin" and have a copy place run off copies for you. Now you bill will be getting shorter and if you plan everything, will be a full size regular bill at the finish.

This would give you a beginning as well, as you can stretch the bill out, then start cutting it down.

Sounds like a great trick to me. Gosh, I should not have told you that great suggestion, I will keep it myself on second thought!

Bill

Interesting idea, and I do have the "pro-pack" of stretch-a-bill, but in this case, the bill that I was thinking of using starts out about 18"x12". The thought was to use a "bill" that can easily be seen in a parlor/stage setting.

If I was doing a close-up presentation, I could do your routine.
(but at the moment, neither approach is in my show; I'm just playing around with it)

John

I got up to 2 months age, and it still worked, but I used that one in practice, and just prepared fresh ones for today's show.

Using a giant size $100 bill (~12x18") worked well, it looks funny and it seemed to play much better than I would have thought (for a clippo effect). I precede the clippo effect with a "wonderland bill" effect, so a spectator gets to handle the money, and see that it its ~normal. I patter the cutting with how inflation, and Ben B's money printing, is causing our dollar to be worth less (soon to be worthless).

John, do you use a large scissors being you are using such a large sheet of paper? Part of the surprise of Clippo is the one snip idea. Sort of a low key shock for the spectators. If you are cutting cutting cutting, it may take away from that idea.

I then think of electric scissors, but again, it is more time then just one quick snip of scissors.

I assumed you were doing a standing-up presentation, but then your comment or need for the spectator to handle the bill is very puzzling to me. After all, from your mentioned size, they already know it is a fake bill.

Just some food for thought.

Bill:

I agree 100%, unfortunately, I do not own scissors that big. Yet, in that the cutting was done while I was talking about the economic factors that led to inflation, the needed 2-3 snips didn't slow things down, and seemed to make the cutting fit in. HOWSOMEEVER, the unfolding of the bill was the bottle neck - the paper was stiff enough that I generally had to use my other hand to open the bill (I didn't want to shake it, and possibly break the connection)

The handling by the spectator was done in an earlier phase; I was doing a Wonderland type effect, and the spectator was holding onto the cut-out flap. My previous comment was that since a spectator got to handle at least a portion of the bill, and see it up close, it should make it seem "normal", as in a normal piece of paper (not a normal $100 bill).

During the clippo effect, another spectator keep calling out "that's amazing" after each cut (this was an unprompted call-back to my 5 Card Opener), afterwards he came up and again commented on how surprising it was that I cut it, and it was still connected, he even picked up some of the pieces to inspect (too small to notice anything). Curiously, it was another effect ( a "superhuman" mathematics type effect) that he also commented on, and these two were what I considered the two weakest (magically), and almost just "filler". That just "shows to go ya", its their perception, not the method, that makes it "amazing"

John

You could change the proportions of the bill to make it narrow, but long, using photo-editing software. That way, each cut could be made with a quick snip. Start with the scan of the fake bill and gradually change the number of pixels in the width and length, until you get what you want.