RISING RING (on rubberband) by Martin Gardner

What The Audience Sees:

'This week Jamie took my ring and threaded it with an elastic band. He then stretched the rubberband and my ring crawled along the band...Uphill!'

How It Went:

I really hope I've got the right credit here and, from what I can tell, Martin Gardner is the right guy. If not, please let me know.

I had a pretty busy day and I thought I'd perform this one because of its simplicity and it's pretty quick. You can never underestimate what magic does for people, however. I do this effect all the time and think it's pretty cool but from the reactions on Thursday (I took Friday off ) you would think we were making a T.V. special. Someone explain to me why I took years to try and perfect my pass?

Best Lines:

"NO...YOU..ARE NOT!"- I thought her eyes were going to shoot out of her head and hit me in the face!

"GETOUTOFHERE!"-always a classic.

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... A high rating means he'll never figure it out.

I remember showing Angry Bob this years ago and he thought he knew how to do it right away (as a lot of people do) so I gave the rubberband to him and asked if he wanted to try. This is usually something I'll never do with a spectator as it's pretty much a blatant challenge and I don't want to go into that. Sometimes though..."%$^%#! You must have twisted it! ^%$%$^!"- tooooooo funny.5/5.

The JDG Tip:

I know some people suggest breaking the band (I don't, personally) and I think that's valid. I always tell people, "The band is stretched as far as it can go, and it's going uphill. My hands will also never move farther apart. But watch..." I kind of try to eliminate any possible argument before they even have time to think of it. Works for me.

Closing Thoughts:

This are going really well these days. I'm liking writing on Sunday nights as opposed to Fridays and the booking are coming in for Christmas. All in all, a good life. Hope it's the same for all of you.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!

Jamie D. Grant
Vancouver Magician
visit: www.whatizit.net

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