Did this prop consist of two rectangular black plastic pieces "hinged" together with a bit of black fabric? Were the dots of color recessed into the plastic?

If so, I have one and have been dying to find out its origin (I bought it from someone passing through Tucson back in 1987-88).

Thanks.

I love all paddle effects. The money paddle is a great one. I enjoy mixing paddle effects together into multi-phase routines. Jack Miller puts out very nice paddle sets
http://www.chazpro.com/jkmillr.html
I use his hot rod and follow with Gems-A-Hoppin'. This gives the impression that the f-gem is disappearing, appearing, moving, etc. At the end I can hand out the single Gems-A-Hoppin' rod. Very effective.

Peter, I know that you are wary of magical objects (i.e. non-ordinary) but as far as I can tell this is a stylistic issue. I present the hot rod with a story about it being a "jeweler's bar" which jewelers use to show different grades of gems to prospective customers. For kids this becomes a story about a princess who loved gems more than anything, and so on. In the context of the story, the props make sense and have never been questioned.

I imagine that if one simply flashed a hot rod with "Hey, watch this" or such, it would be suspect. But is not the main of the matter in the way we manage our performing space, rather than what sorts of objects the props are? In other words, camouflage is not the only effective means of misdirection.

In good spirit,

Jon

Exactly, Jon.

While I am wary of "magicky" props, just about anything can be used if there is some justification for it.

And Jon hits the heart of the matter: The point is "managing the performing space" or creating a situation that would cause the spectator to lower his/her guard just a little bit.

Putting exotic props in some sort of semi-logical setting does just that:

A hot rod becomes a piece of jeweler's equipment;

The linking rings become giant wedding rings from a family of elephants;

The Chinese sticks are exotic flutes and the cords adjust the sound (hey, I just thought of that and it's not bad! Either that or it's still too early!)

Anyhow, as Jon says, camoflague is not the only effective means of midirection.

cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

Paddle tricks are so awesome! The effects of just a simple move... not saying what in case any laymen are in here lurking about.. But Yeah, my favorite tricks are knives, no 2 pencil, hot rod, and I also like to do it with everyday pencils. show both sides, then make the name or whatever is on the pencil disappear. I was showing a guy on the city bus the no 2 trick and he was like... man this is gotta be a gimick or somethin. I told him no, see I can do it with any pencil and wiped his pen and pencils clean. It was pretty funny.

I get good reaction from a standard hot rod doing it as a quickie if asked for something. I also do The Dream Paddle. I recently saw a routine using a paddle with a chalk board surface that I believe may have come from Jerry Camaro. I was impressed with the delivery of the routine itself.
Steve V

I use a couple of bamboo chopsticks that have Chinese characters on one side. The props look "everyday" enough that I don't have the "that-looks-like-a-fishy-magic-prop" problem.

I can only say this again - my paddel trick is done with a common lighter, black on one side (or two sides) printed on the other or isn´t it printed on both sides - can never remember what it is, audience loves it. (If you find a lighter laying on a table that will fit - as better)

Thanks Scott. the Pygmy Paddle has stood the test of time with me. It is perfect for the restaurant or bar worker because it uses a commonly found object from those venues. I have also used it in my trade show work. I have had people keep their little memento of Magic for years.

If anyone wants more info, please feel free to contact me directly.

Regards,

Paul Green

PS Looking forward to Jim Sisti in May! One knowledgeable guy about the business!

My 2 cents-I love the Dream Paddle because I'm into mentalism as my primary focus and this lends itself to hypnotism, mind control patter themes rather easily (and it's small enough to be carried in my wallet everyday.)

As far as the Hot Rod looking like a jewlers item; I used to work security in our campus store in college. I lost mine, and a couple of days later I saw it just sitting on the counter of the "jewlery" section of the store (class rings, pendants, etc.)

I told the girl that it was was mine and asked how it got there. She said someone found it on the floor and thought it must be some part of a gem display so she returned it!

I used to use a paddle set which was like the colour-change poker chips on sticks - that worked well until the m*****s gave out.

Now I use Kennedy's Dream Paddle. When I opened it I was disappointed, but the effect is great. Seeing people shake it to make the 'secret mechanism' work makes magic worthwhile...

do check out 'Moon Spinner' by Tenyo too!!! It is a great trick using paddle move and something different.

Effect: A hypnotic paddle is introduced. Moving it slowly, a coin materializes in full view on the paddle until it becomes a REAL coin, which can be handed out for examination!!!!

Jumping arrow is still the best so far.
I carry it with me always!

I prefer color changing knives and use an old original Merrill set. Ascanio's book, "World of Knives" (if it is still available) is a killer. My favorite bits: nearly visual color change, as I simply rotate the knife on its center axis (as opposed to the flip-flop paddle move)... and the truly visual color change: as I hold it in my left (thumb on top end, index and middle-finger extended, pinky and fourth finger doubled back over the scale) the new color seems to stretch up the knife. I get gasps.

I usually do this after I have introduced a knife to let a spectator cut a string in an ambitious card move I do, so the spectator seems to have already handled the knife.

Hi,
I like very well the color changing knives, because it's a very visual thing
The other paddle routine is the "chalk-paddle". A black paddle where you write things with chalk (crosses) and they appear and disappear. the good thing is, that you can give it to the spectator for examination after the routine
Hannes

I have always preferred the knives. Just recently started using the hot rod. Like someone mentioned in an earlier post, women seem to really be fascinated by the colored "gems" on the hot rod. I've also done a paddle bit with some popsicle sticks
for kids. The fact that they are not a magical prop went over quite well. I used a sharpie marker for some dots and I was in business.

Anyone know of anybody that produces high quality exotic wood paddles? I'm thinking it would be very nice to have a nicely made prop like a peg paddle / chalk paddle / etc.

Also for those that use the Jumping Arrow can anyone comment on any ideas they've come up with? i.e. have you found some motivation for the arrow?

Paul Harris has an impromptu paddle trick with some silly putty and a couple of coins in the Art of Astonishment books.

As for the Jumping Arrow, my friend introduces the paddle as a magical alcometer and performs the routine using that theme. I don`t know if it suits you, but it works for him.

Risto