I went out to eat last night at a steak restaurant called Austin's. I was performing an effect which has been used for years in restaurants. I place a coin on the table and say I'm going to make the coin vanish. I cover a saltshaker with a napkin, cover the coin with the saltshaker and fail to vanish the coin the first two times I try. On the third try, the saltshaker
"penetrates" right through the table!

Well, everything was going well until the very last part of the effect. Apparently Austin's doesn't know how to screw the lids onto the shakers properly. As it fell to the floor, the lid came off and a whole lot of salt fell out of the container.

...that's pretty funny. I've almost had this happen too and it wasn't funny at the time so...sorry.

brandon

Not only did the shaker penetrate the table, but I also made the lid disappear!!

That is funny -- same thing happend to me once (except the salt wound up in my lap). How did you recover?

I followed up by actually vanishing the coin next (like I was originally supposed to do) and covered up what I could of the salt mess with my feet. Then, when everyone had gone to their cars, I quietly explained to a waiter that a friend of mine had knocked the shaker off the table and the lid had come off. I've gotten pretty good at recovering from situations like this. In my "rubber bands & elasticity" thread, the band from my band-thru-soda can shot up and hit my spec right between the eyes. She leaned over the can at the last possible second to watch the band penetrate the can.

Bummer about the salt shaker "incident," but hey! These things happen to everyone who preforms magic sooner or later. The good thing is that you can look back on it laugh later.

I hope you threw a pinch over your left shoulder with your right hand!

Pete

A new word of advice to anyone who performs this effect. Don't ever, ever, EVER wear sandals if you plan to do it!

Heavy saltshaker + rate of acceleration + contact with big toe = one heck of a lot of pain!

Well, another lesson learned.

Wow, a new diminishing salt routine, woohoo.

At least you didn't follow up the trick with the eye gag bit where you apparently squeeze and poke your eye with a fork. The coffee creamer would have been more messy.

I've had the same type incident happen but I used a glass because there were no salt shakers. coughs~~ yes the glass broke.

eddiekap wrote:
"At least you didn't follow up the trick with the eye gag bit where you apparently squeeze and poke your eye with a fork."

I can only do that twice, man.

I can top that one.

I was doing a grade school show in the auditorium, and I had the needle for my super needled balloon on my table. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I hit it with my hand, and with great force and exceleration it shot into the audience arrow like. It came within a fraction of an inch from hitting a kid in the eye. Boy, that would have been one for the cover of the Weekly World News. Not to mention the beginning of my jail time.