In the following, the Wizard shares some of his magic potents that have been used over the years to entertain young and old.
The format is as follows:
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Effect: a description of what the audience sees. |
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What You Need: a list of the chemicals and equipment you need in order to perform the trick. |
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What You Do Before the Show: the steps you must go through to prepare the chemicals and equipment before you go on stage. |
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What You Do During the Show: some steps that are not otherwise covered in the Effect or Patter sections. |
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What is Happening: an explanation of the science behind the effect. Depending upon the purpose of the "show" you may or may not care to share these details with your audience. |
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Hazards: many chemicals have one or more hazards associated with them. They will be listed here and measures to protect yourself and the audience will be given. |
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Patter: This is what you say to the audience. The value of the "trick" can be greatly enhanced by the "story" that is used in the presentation. The funnier it is, the better. After all, this is entertainment. The Wizard shares some of his patter. Feel free to make up your own. It also helps if you can make the various tricks be part of a greater story. Since professionally the Wizard worked as a researcher for the federal government, when making presentations to adults, he would often use the topic "Secret Government Research" that he was "really" doing, rather than what his bosses thought he was doing. |
BANANA HAMMER
Effect:
A banana is used as a hammer to drive a spike into a board.
CRUSH CAN
Effect:
A metal can with a screw lid is heated on a hot plate until some steam comes out. The cap is screwed on tight and the can is immediately removed from the heat. The can is slowly crushed by some invisible force.
DISAPPEARING BLUE
Effect:
A volunteer from the audience is asked to shake a closed bottle that contains a clear colourless liquid. The solution becomes blue and the volunteer returns to his/her seat. After several minutes, the solution fades to colourless. The volunteer is called back to the front to reshake the bottle. The contents turn blue again. This cycle can be repeated every several minutes through out the show.
DRY CLEANING A HANDKERCHIEF
Effect:
A "dirty" handkerchief is washed in a clear colourless solution and then dried by being placed over a flame. The handkerchief burns, however when the flame goes out, the handkerchief is clean, dry and not burned.
DRY ICE CYLINDER
Effect:
The Wizard drops a chunk of a white solid into a tall cylinder of a clear colourless liquid. The solid sinks to the bottom, bubbles begin to rise to the surface, a cloud fills the top of the cylinder, and the solution turns purple. This action continues until the solid disappears. More solid can be added.
DRY ICE IN A LATEX GLOVE
Effect:
A white solid is placed into a latex glove. The open end of the glove is tied shut as for a balloon. Over time the glove expands and may eventually pop.
FIRE WRITE
Effect:
The end of a lit cigarette is placed on a white sheet of paper. The paper begins to burn like a fuse to spell out some message.
HALLOWEEN COLOURS (BLACK GOLD)
Effect:
A clear colourless liquid is poured into a second clear colourless liquid and swirled. This mixture is poured into a third clear colourless liquid and swirled. After a period, the solution goes to yellow-gold colour and shortly afterward to black.
HARD WATER
Effect:
The contents of two beakers are mixed back and forth until a gel forms and the beaker can be held upside down without the contents escaping. Some of the solid is scooped out into a porcelain container and ignited.
IODINE CLOCK (CONTEST)
Effect:
A - Two clear colourless liquids are mixed together. After a while, you point at the solution just as it suddenly turns deep blue. or
B- This can be run as a contest, with the solutions turning blue at different times, if at all.
MILKY BREATH (CONTEST)
Effect:
Four or five volunteers are each given a large test tube partly filled with a clear colourless liquid. They are also given a plastic straw with which to bubble their breath through the liquid. The Wizard says "Go!" and they all begin. The solutions go milky at different rates, if at all.
POSTER SPRAYING
Effect:
A blank sheet of paper is sprayed with a colorless solution and a message in red and blue appears.
SUPER SUDZ
Effect:
The effectiveness of two soaps is demontrated. Two identically dirty cloths are shown to the audience. A pinch of Tide is put into a big beaker of water and stirred. One dirty cloth is washed in the solution and comes out clean. A new experimental soap (Super Sudz) is placed into another large beaker. It immediately bubbles and fizzes and foams over. The other dirty cloth is washed in the solution. When it comes out, it is still dirty and full of holes. OOPS!
A TEST FOR COUNTERFIT MONEY
Effect:
Two $20 bills are obtained from the audience. Both are dipped into a clear colourless liquid. Both are placed over a flame and are burned. The first bill is burned to ashes. The second bill comes out of the fire untouched.
VOLCANO
Effect:
An orange powder is in a mound. It is ignited and the lights are turned out. The audience sees an erupting volcano. When it stops and the lights are turned on, there is a much larger dark green mound.
WHITE WINE - RED WINE
Effect:
From a clear wine decanter, you pour white wine into a wine glass.
When you pour the white wine into a second glass it turns to red wine. The wine stays white when poured into a third glass. When all the wine is poured back into the decanter, it turns to red wine. You now pour red wine into a fourth glass. When poured into a fifth glass the red wine becomes white wine and stays red wine when poured into a sixth glass. Finally all the wine is poured back into the decanter and becomes white wine again.