Tim Sonefelt & Wonder Imagery have done it again!

www.wonderimagery.com is now selling Matt Fore's "Mood Swing" silk magic trick.

Matt is a hilarious entertainer - I have one of his instructional DVDs - is now sold at www.penguinmagic.com - entitled "Comedy Routines"- just great stuff. It is fun just to watch it to see how a pro interacts in a church banquet type setting. Matt's Cut and Restored Tie is a hoot. Matt I believe was at the last FCM convention (which I had a date conflict with).

"Mood Swings" can be viewed on the Wonder Imagery web site. Looks like a great little trick in its own right- but the Gospel message adaption is obviously a natural for this effect.

I love finding effects like this that can be so easily modified for Sunday School use- Matt may have done that already. I just ordered it today- can't wait to try it out. I am absolutely certain our Sunday School kids will love it.

As soon as I view the instructional DVD/link that comes with it, I will post later here below an easy Biblical adaption. If Matt/Tim has already suggested a Gospel routine on his provided instructions, I will let you know he has already has one.

This trick "as is" already has a great "mood" positive message for any kids audience.

Looks like another silk product winner from Tim Sonefelt- keep them coming please Tim! Appreciated!

I should be receiving the trick in the mail any day now (probably tomorrow), but I plan on adding a few more sentences to Matt's fun and clever routine which is posted on the website (see post above). I believe context is everything- the audience context for my use of Gospel magic is almost always for kids Sunday School. So the kids expect a Biblical reference or story from me for everything I do- often the kids will read off Scripture verses themselves on poster cards I prepare for them to read. A very rough outline of "Gospel" ideas below, feel free to modify any of it for your own particular audience.

Anyway, when placing the "mad" silk in the closed fist, I probably will say something like:

"Did you know that the Bible talks about how to deal with an upset person? It says in Proverbs 15:15, written by the wisest man who ever lived other than Jesus: "A gentle answers turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." "That's great advice, isn't it? When faced with a Mad Mike, give a gentle answer! Don't be mad back. Smile even. I know I have been amazed how God knows a kind word and a smile on one's face can calm down even a Mad Mike".

When later putting the smiling William silk in the fist after "Sad Sally" is already placed in the fist, I will probably say something along these lines:

"It also says in Proverbs Chapter 15, the same Chapter as I mentioned before, that "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face". Isn't it great to be able to do that? The apostle Paul in he Bible encourages us to do that - in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 he says "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up". "Do you know what means to build someone up who may be sad like Sad Sally? Ask what's wrong. Ask if you can help. Point out the positive things if you can- like "Don't worry Sally, you are a very smart girl, we can study together for that spelling test you are worried about". "Even a smiling friend may help Sally cheer up. That may be all Sally needs, a listening cheerful helpful encouraging friend. Anybody can tear somebody down or be a bully- if that's the case with Sally- tell Sally that you will have her back and be her good friend."

And then at the very end of the trick I will probably conclude with something like this:

"Paul says in Philippians 4:9, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- (including about encouraging the kids we see every day)- put it into practice. And the peace of God will be with you." "It has been said that it takes more muscle power, more physical effort, to frown than smile. One report said it takes 72 face muscles to frown, but only 14 muscles to smile. It is actually harder to frown than to smile! Did you notice that God created babies with the ability to smile? They gurgle and laugh! When you look in a mirror, wouldn't you rather see a smiling face looking back at you? A smile increases your face value! So I hope to do more smiling- not only does it help both myself and others, it saves calories!" A smile cures the wounding of a frown." Did you know the word SMILES is the longest word in the English language?- between the first S and the last S is a MILE!

"Let's reflect the love of Jesus even on our faces today girls and boys to every one you know. Did you know your parents LOVE to see you smile- what an encouragement you can be to them! That's something you can do today! You actually might be asked by someone- what are YOU grinning about? And you can reply- I know Jesus loves me today- that makes me smile and smile and smile some more- and I know He loves you too!" "Or you can say: "Mom and Dad, I am smiling because I am so blessed today!" "And you will see them smile right back for sure!"

Can then do together with the kids the song "If You're Happy And You Know It" (Cedarmont Kids song DVD).

I received the "Mood Swing" trick today- very pleased. Fast mailing service. The "gimic" is the right size, not some smaller cheap version. The silks are well made as expected. The 7.5 minute instruction video is thoroughly complete by Matt Fore who has obviously done the trick with kids before. Matt also gives some excellent patter ideas at the end of the online instructions video which are different than mine above, but are extremely usable in a Sunday School setting (and I intend to add his suggestions to my routine posted above).

This trick carries an excellent price of $29 for this very practical effect. I have bought so many DVD effects over the years only to find out the "trick" is almost either impossible to do undetected even for kids or has very little practical appeal/use in a Sunday School or church setting. This trick is the exact opposite- there are many settings in which it can be used and be easily expanded on patter wise to include any number of similar "it's great to be a smiler" topics...

A+++++ (my highest rating)

Nice review, thanks!

I hope to "Mood "Swing" soon on Duane's Laflin's "Gospel Magic Live and Now" live Facebook podcast. Love Matt's trick, currently on sale.

Do you think this could play for a school assembly? Or is too small?