I made this clear silk tube from a sparkling water bottle and some washi tape. It is rather small and can only hold maybe a number of 6 or 9" silks. I had an effect as a teen many moons ago in which one stuffed the silks into the tube, held the tube between the flat palms that can be seen through the tube walls, arms out stretched, The tube is tossed up into the air and the silks vanish as if in mid air.

The effect I had back in the day required the magician to enter with the silks already in hand as the p*ll was attached to the silks and could not be disengaged. The feature of the effect was that the silks can be seen "isolated" in the tube. As a result the presence of a p*ll is not suspected. So the vanish is pretty dramatic as I recall. With this DIY version I want to be able to pick up the silks and quickly attach a p*ll.

I've searched the forum for "silk" and "p*ll" and found nothing that fits what I want to do. Perhaps I'm clueless as a returning performer -- but I'm considering small strong neos to accomplish the attachment.

Hope this is enough info to describe the effect. Any sage advise from experienced magicians would be appreciated before I embark on dead-ins. Maybe the original method is still the best?

TIA

Click here to view attached image.

The answer is: Velcro.

Thx Jim. Sounds like a winner. I'll give that a try. I even have a big supply of velcro tape! It will need to be a small piece. the velcro junction should be easy to conceal behind the silks as they lie in the tube.

Docguitarman, the trick you had a teen was called "Space Silks" by U.F. Grant.

The pull you should remember was only a rope, that is sold at Wal-Mart called Parachute braded cord. The other item was a small ring gold color that was tied to one end of the cord, the silks corners were pulled through the ring, folded over and sewn. That is all there was to it. You loop the other end of the cord around your wrist.

There is an extensive discussion in the Silks Section of the Café. Here you will read about a different kind of pull that uses a pulley in the design.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=54

Hi Bill,

Thanks for for the info and reminding me of the effect name! My prop was similar to what you describe. I forget who the manufacturer was. The silks were tied at a corner and secured at the corner with a nylon cord (or thin fishing line?). I may reproduce a version like that -- though it requires it to be an opener (at least at what my skill level was/is).

Phil

Actually, Opening with it is the easiest solution.

Depending if you have a table or suitcase you work out of, it would be possible to step behind the case with the lid up, and set up and remove the tube. With practice, the time can be reasonable for the get ready.

A ring pull allows you to perform the trick anytime, not just as an opener. You just need to start wearing the ring on your finger when you are ready to begin loading the first silk. That allows you to easily remove the ring and begin loading the rest of the silks onto the ring. It's not really a workshop thing- just a matter of learning silk sleights using a ring pull. The tube is irrelevant unless you plan to make the silks change color instead of vanishing.

As a side note, Marconik (I think) sold a similar set-up called SILKEN BOMBSHELL. This unit was made from two plastic kitchen salad bowl-type pieces--for straining vegetables-- hinged together at one side. This had a capacity for vanishing more silks than Grant's SPACE SILKS.

The olde books described the effect utilizing a glass oil lamp chimney.

Julie

Ha! Julie! Ya beat me to it!!!

I remember seeing Harry Blackstone Sr. do it, about 1950. The basket, IIRC, had a 'handful' of small pieces of silks, attached to the 'motive force', and, one or two full size silks, which the performer could remove, then the 'fekes' would go 'south' on cue.

I remember reading about a vaudeville magician who would hold the lamp chimney, so that the orchestra leader could touch it with his violin bow--and, the silks would 'go'!

Thanks to all for your inputs!



Speaking of suitcases, storage cases were on sale at the craft stores awhile back and I bought one for another of my DIY projects not yet started. Perhaps the suitcase with a tr*p is outre(?) these days? I'm thinking of making one along the lines described in Hoffmann's Later Magic pp. 31,32. Seems like it will be light craft work to make and within my skill set. I'll start another topic when I begin it.

Hoffmann suggested using a cigar box (with tr*p) because it was then a common thing for a magician to have lying around on his table. With the decrease in smoking cigars, it is no longer as useful as it once was. However, in Spellbinder's "Visible Invisible Well" as described in The Wizards' Journal #9, he explores the uses of other types of objects that you might want to have on your table such as a napkin holder, etc.

Traps are not outdated, it is that magicians these days are lazy, and only want simple easy methods. They don't want to have to set up props for shows. They only want quick, fast and easy.

As a result magic suffers.

They are not actors playing the part of a magician. As one famous magician once said, "A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician."

Thanks Bill for your comment! That is very encouraging to me! Finishing the suitcase is my next task after completing the DIY card change box. Too many projects going on in parallel. (Perhaps, though, there is no such thing as too many, as I can ponder my next steps for another project while working on the crafting for one of the others !)