GUM by Jeff Prace

What The Audience Sees:

”Okay, okay, okay. So apparently Willy Moth%^ f#^^#n Wonka came into our office on Friday. Yeah, I’m not kidding you. I won’t be surprised if my desk is now made of cotton candy or something! First Jamie did this super quick trick where some aces switched places, which was awesome! We were all lovin’ it. But then, as he’s leaving, he asks us if we want some gum. When he shows us the pack though, there’s only one piece. Big Ted almost trampled poor Shortstop trying to get it when Jamie told him to hold on a second. He waved his hand, and the pack was now full! It was now full of gum! It was utter madness! I mean this was some seriously Golden Ticket magic going on right here. I almost had me an Oompa Loompa! ”


How It Went:

I should mention that the trick where “the aces switched places” that I performed prior to GUM was John Bannon’s version of Doc Daley’s Last Trick. I’ve already reviewed that trick for Magic Friday but John has a specific moment in his handling, which is awesome, that he just released via his new DVD set Bullets After Dark. If you haven’t checked it out, you should.

Okay, so how is Jeff Prace’s GUM? What can I tell you- I love it. I am a big believer in having everything in my life contain a magical property or have the ability to do something magical. I think, and this is just me, that everything I touch should have the ability to obey my command, lol. A nice idea, but pretty impossible. It’s not impossible, however, to stack the odds in my favour. And if I can do so by simply carrying a gum packet around with me, then rock and roll.

Now, some people are probably thinking, do we really need Gum Magic? Is this what our art’s all about? And I say; sure, why not? This trick isn’t going to take people into a new state of consciousness about society or anything but it is something, I think, that they expect a magician to have the ability to do. If I knew a magician, a real magician, liked gum and he/she ran out, I wouldn’t expect them to head to the 7-11. I would expect them to do the very thing that Jeff has enabled us to do. Make it appear, as if by magic.

And it does appear so. It’s real eye candy and looks wonderful. People were absolutely stunned when they saw the full box. What’s great about this is that no one misses it because everyone’s truly paying attention. I mean everyone really wanted a piece of gum, lol. So the disappointment and subsequent joy is real emotion. And the trick itself is utterly foolproof, which leads me to a possible new section…


The Difficulty:

I’ve had a few requests over the years of adding a Difficulty Rating to Magic Friday but I’ve always turned it down because I felt that it shouldn’t matter. If a trick was awesome, but it meant spending a month in the forest eating nothing but hot chocolate powder, then so be it. Off to the forest we go.

That said, there’s another saying that says the customer is always right; so maybe I’ll give it a shot. How difficult is GUM, then? Well, if you’re able to pour a glass of water, then you can do this trick. It’s probably the easiest trick you’ll ever perform. A better question is, how easy is Gum to make? And even that is pretty easy too. Well, you’ll need about twenty minutes and a couple of things that I’m pretty sure you’ll have. There’s nothing weird you need to go out to get or anything, I don’t think. And, if you’re a true magician, you should have some arts and craft ability so this won’t be anything difficult. It will take, like I said, about twenty minutes of some private time at the table and then you’ll be able to use it for as long as it lasts, which I’m thinking will be a long time.


Best Lines:

”OMG, there’s gum!!!! He’s got gum now!”

~I wish you could have heard this lady. She was soooooooo happy.


”Whasha? Wahtcha? Whasha whatcha?”
~Lol. My new mantra.


Angry Bob Rating:

For those of you reading this article for the first time, Angry Bob is a co-worker who has an understanding of some magic because his uncle was a magician. Angry Bob knows that TT’s exist, for example, but he has no desire to become a magician himself. He also has an anger management problem that can be experienced first hand if he can’t figure out how a trick is done. A high rating means he has no idea.

”Give me a piece of that ^#^&&, you ^#&#^#&!!!”

~Oh, happy days! Ha ha! I was ready! I gave Angry Bob the first piece…left to go, and then handed out others. 4/5. I’m only saying 4, instead of 5, because he was to busy chewing and studying other people’s pieces to say anything. So I can’t be sure, but he looked fooled!


My Rating:

Magic Friday Approved!

I like it and I’ll stand by that. That said, I wouldn’t bust this out at a corporate gig or anything. I also wouldn’t do it as a stand-alone effect. You don’t want too much focus on this being a “trick” as it should appear as something completely outside of a performance. This is the kind of magic that I love most, the kind that just happens because I’m a true magician, not because I happen to have a deck of cards on me. So use it lightly. Do so, and you’ll have a winner.


The JDG Tip:

This is going to be painfully obvious, but hey, make sure you bring enough gum for everyone, If you own this trick, you’ll know what I mean. Seriously. So much so, in fact, that I wouldn’t take this with me unless my pockets had at least another pack (for large crowds of course).


The iTricks Idea:

Read it here!


Closing Thoughts:

I hope everyone has a wonderful season and thanks for reading, writing, commenting, listening, supporting, and believing. 2010 is going to be a year of Magical Fridays, I can feel it!

Have a Great Week Everyone!

Jamie D. Grant
http://www.whatizit.net/MagicFridayStudio
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