Feb 22 2009
Nuts and Bolts - Utility Items
Magicians have two types of props, really…
- Specialized Devices for specific tricks
- Utility Items which can be used for multiple tricks
A deck of playing cards is, I suppose, the most common Utility Item that people see - you can do all kinds of things with a deck of cards - flashy handling flourishes, subtle mental experiments. In the lexicon of Alton Brown, a deck of cards is a multi-tasker.
There are plenty of multi-taskers out there - handkerchiefs or scarves, rope, cards… shockingly enough a roll of toilet paper might be one of the best (and cheapest) multi-taskers out there as it can provide a rediculous amount of “raw material” to do effects involving paper and / or balls of paper.
As far as unseen items… and here I’m voyaging into secrets territory (I did warn you about this), the best and worst kept secret in magic is the humble thumb tip.
oh dear lord I said it. Ok, in for a penny, in for a pound.
The Thumb Tip is a smallish plastic or metal tube shaped so that it fits neatly over the thumb, usually to the first ‘joint’ after the thumbnail, permitting the magician to carry a small item in his hand without the use of his fingers. Originally, a thumb tip was just a metal or leather thimble, much like the ones people still use for hand-sewing.
Paranoid magicians began to paint it flesh colored, and even more paranoid (and profit-motivated) magic manufacturers began to make it look more and more realistic in an attempt to ‘hide’ the item in plain site.
In my opinion, that’s going in the wrong direction. The idea is that the audience isn’t supposed to be looking for a Thumb Tip. Here’s another secret:
The “moment of magic” in a magic trick is usually not the moment when the “dirty work” - the unseen folderol that makes the trick work - happens.
So, if you know what you’re doing and have the physical skills and the ability to direct the audience’s attention where you want it to go - remember giving focus ? - then the unseen utility items a magician may use can be bright day glow orange for all the good it’ll do.
