PART I THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ARM Want to know how to make one of your arms shorter than the other? Unlike expensive plastic surgery, this method s armless and the effect is, thankfully, temporary! Hold your arms out in front of you, palms touching. Make sure your two middle fingers are the same distance away from you. Leave one arm out in front, then use your other hand to rub the upper part of the arm vigorously for four or five seconds. Now hold both arms out again. Amazingly, the one you rubbed is longer than the other. Or is it that your other arm is now shorter?!
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ARM PART 2 Stand facing a wall with both arms stretched out, palms flat against the wall. Now make a sweeping circular motion with one arm, swinging it backward over your head and back to its starting position. This hand will no longer reach the wall!
MAGIC SAUSAGE FINGERS Hold your hands up in front of your face and point your index fingers at each other as shown in the picture. Starting with your hands about 20cm from your eyes, focus on something in the distance. Gradually bring your fingers towards your eyes and you will see a magic sausage appear between them! Bring them even closer and the sausage will grow.
THE MAGIC JUMPING RUBBER BAND With just a little practice, you can make a rubber band jump from your first two fingers to your outside two fingers as if by magic: Start by putting a rubber band over your index finger and middle finger as shown. With the back of your hand to the audience, quickly curl all your fingers to your palm and pull the band over them so it s resting on all four of your fingernails. As fast as you can, straighten and clench your fingers again. The rubber band will appear to have jumped magically to your ring finger and little finger! This trick works in reverse, too! Make this trick even more impressive! After you slip the rubber band over two fingers, twist another around all four fingertips to pull the fingers together. This will seem to imprison the first rubber band and make the jump more miraculous! Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p7gxtznsso
MAGIC MIND-READING Despite being incredibly simple, this really is an impressive mind-reading trick for you and a friend to perform. The mind-reader is either blindfolded or turns around so they can t see their partner. In full view of the audience, the assistant holds up a number of fingers from one to ten and asks the mind-reader to say how many. The mind-reader will announce the correct number every time! How is it done? The key to the trick is in the questions the assistant asks the mind-reader. Each question should have the same number of words as there are fingers being held up. For example, if the assistant holds up three fingers, they could ask, How many now? (3 words.) So your trick looks very slick, it s a good idea for the assistant to write down the questions and learn them first. Ensure the mind-reader has their hands hidden. If they repeat the question while counting the words on their fingers, you ll astound nobody! As with all tricks, leave your audience wanting more. Do it more than five times and they might just guess your secret!
(Try this at home) THE MAGIC GLASS OF WATER W Put a glass of water on the table. Cover it with a hat, making sure the glass can t be seen. Tell a friend that you can drink the glass of water without touching the glass. Then crawl under the table and make loud slurping and gulping sounds. Come back up, wiping your mouth as if you ve drunk the water. When your friend lifts the hat to check whether you really have achieved the impossible, pick up the glass of water and drink it. There you go; you ve drunk the water without touching the hat!
PAGE 1 THE DISAPPEARING COIN TRICK Coin Trick I Before your audience arrives, place the clear plastic cup and the coin on a white sheet of paper. Make sure the cup and the coin never leave the sheet of paper. Tell your audience that you will make the coin disappear. Place the towel over the clear cup. Then place the cup, still with the towel over it, onto the coin. Now say something magical like Alacazam and lift the towel off the cup. Magically, the coin has disappeared. Now place the towel back over the cup and say the same magic words. Remove the cup with the towel and place it back on the white paper to reveal that the coin has You will need: A clear plastic cup reappeared! A paper towel or dish cloth A coin A hard surface 2 sheets of plain white paper
PAGE 2 THE DISAPPEARING COIN TRICK continued Coin Trick I What s the secret? Before the trick, prepare your plastic cup by placing it onto the second sheet of white paper and drawing round its base. Cut out the paper circle and stick it very carefully to the bottom of the cup. Every time the cup is lifted from the paper, it s covered with the towel, so your audience will never see it s not really a completely clear cup. The false bottom on the cup makes the coin appear to vanish... magic! Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimicpr1gzq
THE MAGIC PEPPER TRICK (Try this at home) You will need: A bowl of water Some pepper Some washing-up liquid Fill the bowl with water, then sprinkle on some pepper so it s floating on the water. Ask a volunteer to place their finger into the middle of the bowl to see what happens. Nothing will happen. Then put your finger into the water and, like magic, the pepper will jump to the edge of the bowl! What s the secret? You sneakily rubbed washing-up liquid onto your finger before doing the trick! Youtube link: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/305366/kids_magic_trick/
Hold a coin between the thumb and forefinger of one hand in view of your audience. Show them your other hand is empty before making it into a loose fist. Bring your hands together, pretending that you re going to push the coin into your closed fist. As your hands come together, use your forefinger and then your thumb to slip the coin up and onto the back of your hand, pushing it so it balances in the middle towards your wrist. Open both your hands and, hey presto, you re empty handed! If you can t get it at first, keep practising! Still don t get it? To see an expert in action in action, watch this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojxordzvyx0 Coin Trick 2 THE DISAPPEARING COIN TRICK