I picked up a Lota Bowl in Vegas a few months ago and not quite sure how to make the most of it. I've used it in my shows a few times and know it's got potential but having trouble creating/finding a great routine for it. Any ideas would be a big help.

Thanks!
Cashetta

This is not an idea for a routine, but I bought a pottery Lota from Joe Stevens several years ago. It doesn't look like a magic prop, and would probably lend itself to some neat ideas.

Amos McCormick

I've never done this, but it's crossed my mind many times... to set a toy animal on the lota vase and get disgusted every time you look to see he's left something for you in the vase... This may be somewhat inspired by my actual bunny who I named "Peedee" because when young she would "let go at the wrong moment... usually while just vanished in a prop!

Depending on the style of the lota vase, you could pour different colored drinks .. emptying it each time ...

You could use it as a running gag to water a wilted flower that finally burst into bloom at the end of the show ...

I've used in various ways working at a kids camp teaching a magic class. I let the kids help develop routines. There was one funny bit where we had just finished a water routine and the boy acting as the stage hand was asked to dump out the water... he picked up the bowl and shuffles to the edge of the stage... dumps the water then starts to leave with the bowl ...shuffling his feet... half way there he realizes it's full again and shuffles all the way back and dumps the water again... this contines as the others on stage try to get on with their act ... but keep being interrupted by him shuffling right in front of them to dump the water again ... and just when you think he would be gone ... you'd hear "shf..shf...shf.." and see him crossing in front of the performers ... finally one of the other kids said, "Here, I know what to do ... pour it in here ... then it all turned to confetti as they threw it at the audience...

I've never seen anyone but my father do the lota bowl. And it was a great routine.
I don't know if it's a common one, but it went great over with the kids and adults. And the writers who would write about him would also talk about it.

What was the routine?

Great ideas Bilwonder!
I really love the stagehand idea. Could be a fun bit for one of my assistants.

Introduce a little stuffed animal named
"Suzie" and explain that Suzie is going to jump from the top of this vase (the lota bowl) into this bowl (have a large clear bowl to the side) on the count of three.

"Now Suzie has a small problem about performing in front of people but hopefully that won't happen today".

Then you begin to count "one, two... oh no." You then pick up Suzie placing her to the side and dump out the lota bowls contents into the bowl, then start again. It is a very funny thing to do for kids shows and they start to howl and howl.

You can also use the Lota bowl for a great mentalism effect too if you wish... depends on which direction you want to go.

PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

Prof. Putter has published a routine called
"HUMIDITY-BEATER WATER-METER"...
You can find it in his notes (with many other routines http://www.professorputter.com

He rigs up an egg beater with a sponge, fan and mist sprayer and runs about the audience spraying a mist of water on them ("chasing clouds" he sees) and pretending to collect it with his gadget and uses the fan to transfer it over to the bowl... with his patter it makes a very fun and interactive routine.

Blair Gilbert in "Patter Chatter" has an odd routine using high sounding language as he talks about traveling abroad and meeting a Hindu Fakir. Parched from his travels, he pantomimes to the Fakir how thirsty he is... but feels the Fakir is taunting him with an empty urn.

"Unminded of the desperate conditon I was in after having spent a day in Schlitz Brewery in Boozestan twenty four before, he stood there like a Spinich, Spinex, Spinx, or something like that...." then after a spell he pours out water... well, the fellow decides to wait for a better drink and the routine contines with a few other drinks...

Another routine, some kids I worked with did at camp, was to come on stage and announce they would produce a cow... after a few magic words a rubber glove would be produced and blown up... which was "udderly" ridiculous.

After more by-play the glove was milked into the lota bowl and emptied out to prove it was working. Of course the assistant would complain it was only water... to which the boy milking would respond that, he had forgotten to add cream, and then milk the thumb of the glove... after more gags and by-play it ended with throwing confetti at the audience...

I had an idea for a lotta-bottle.... anyone one know if something like this exists? A soda/beer/wine bottle as a lotta?

Joe

When I do the Lota Bowl, I use it to continue to get a drink even though it's empty every time. The audience almost always asks how I kept getting water from an empty bowl after the show.

No, but there is the inexhaustible beer barrel. The only issue of doing a trick like that is the liability of giving someone beer or wine from it.

I made a lotta bowl out of something I got a Peer 1 Imports. It looks like a terra-cotta water bowl, not like a magic prop.

I use the "pours" to emphasize points of the story. Think abstractly about the never ending abundance produced, by magic. It is similar to the historical presentation of the egg bag. Dozens (apparently) of eggs from nowhere, same with the lotta. It's all about the story my friend.

Magic Inc. sells an effect called FLORIO, the CLOWNING FLOWER. The flower wilts in its pot, and you use the lota to water it. It straightens up at once, only to droop again and again. Make a big deal out of emptying the lota into it completely every time, and leave the lota in plain sight next to the flower pot. Kids will get all excited as the flower wilts, and scream out to you. Older ones will notice the inexhaustible water jug.

End the routine at the end of the show by making a diving slide across the stage to try to save the flower from wilting one last time.

Jon

Consider using fake blood for a Halloween running gag effect.

When I do kids shows I pretend I lost my voice during the show. I rush to my Lota Bowl and pour it two or three times. I drink the water out of the cup, receiving my voice back.

When I do an adult show, I act like the Lota Bowl is pouring vodka. I explain the Lota bowl is a favorite of mine.

The problem with Lota for many shows is that it looks like a cuspidor. In many settings, that is just too distasteful an association.

If your act can use a Lota that looks like a flower vase or a personal water pitcher, try Aqua Vase. Morrissey used to make them, but their site no longer shows them. Copies from India are available, too. The Morrissey vase would pour 10 times, if memory serves.

Try a Google search for AQUA VASE MAGIC, which will find many sources.

Oh, yes, avoid the Morrissey BEACH PAIL LOTA. I have too many friends complain that it does not hold much, nor does it pour many times.

Jon

Oddly, I am in the midst of doing a production of "Alice In Wonderland". I have two magic effects in the show... a "Multum in Parvo" in which the contents are diminished by each character until there is none for Alice at the end of the table.
Second, we took a standard magic shop lotta and bent the rim out opposite the hole side like a pitcher and attached a handle to the hole side. Now it passes for a milk or tea pitcher/pot. If you put the back of your index finger pushed up under the handle edge it will seal the hole. Now you can pour out the contents into a cup and set it back down on the table and it will fill up again. That’s not a routine but perhaps a spin on what the prop could become in a given scenario. Hope it helps!

Stevens Magic used to carry the Thaumysta magic Lota Bowl that was made of clay and looked like a nice little piece of pottery, NOT a magic trick. I use it in a mentalism routine written up in my book.
PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

Telemus,

How did you convert this Piers Import homemade lota vase? I have a small plastic version so I know how it works but I'd like to create one adapted to my style.

Richard

Greetings,

I finally got some pictures of my lota urn/vase posted.

Check it out:

http://joenewmanmagic.com/lota

Hope the link works. It works fine from my home.

Joe