Mike Wong's DRAGON THREAD from his DVD of the same name.

What The Audience Sees:

'This week the performer took out a long purple thread and scrunched it into a little ball. Then he ripped it into pieces and scrunched the pieces into a ball again. But when he unravelled it, the thread was back together!'

How It Went:

Well, in order to maitain the integrity of the Magic Café reviews, I have to be honest. I was bombing with this all morning. I don't know what to tell you. Maybe it was my presentation or my technique but the audiences just weren't liking it. One person even said, 'Uh, I didn't like that one.' When I asked her why she replied that she didn't like that I had scrunched the thread into a ball and that it simply didn't look 'clean'. I thought it was interesting that a spectator would use the word 'clean' but anyways...The afternoon was completely opposite. I had changed a few things (which I'll explain below) but nothing so drastic as to warrant such a differance in reactions. People were clapping like crazy-maybe they finally got their morning coffee and were in a more magical mood...

Best Lines:

'Uh, I didn't like that one.' I'm choosing this as the best line because it's important to know your audience. Even though other people loved it, this person did not and I'll be sure to file that away for future reference.

Angry Bob Rating:

I have a co-worker (Bob) whose uncle was a magician and thereby has a good working knowledge of how magic works. He's pretty grumpy but likes Magic Friday's because he can tell me how he figured out how the effect is done...

3/5. He guessed the method (even though I never tell him if he's right) but he didn't know how I did it, meaning that he wasn't going to be able to walk around the corner and do the effect. Strangely enough Angry Bob, who is my worst critic, loved this effect. I mean Loved it. I wouldn't be suprised if he's looking up torn and restored thread's online right now.

My Rating:

3/5. I'm probably going to get slammed for this one and I know that Mike is a member here at the Café but it just wasn't consistant for me. That said, this is strictly 'My Rating.' I'm sure when Mike or any one of the thousands of people that love and perform this, it's a 5.

The JDG Tip:

I felt that one of the problems I was having was with the method of tearing the thread from the scrunched up ball. It didn't seem natural to me so I ended up pre cutting the thread and faux tearing it. It seemed to go over much better. Also, I think a differant color may be in order. Purple thread, apparantly, isn't that common.

Closing Thoughts:

I would just like to enforce the idea that one man (or women's) 3/5 is another's 5/5. Magic can be drastically different from person to person.

I'm leaving for Mexico in the morning for a week so there won't be a Magic Friday next week. If everyone (or anyone) who reads these can wish me a 'Good Trip' down below, I'd appreciate it-I'm like that.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

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