Docc Hilford - Burn Witch Burn, Ultimate Magic eBooks Collection
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
//-->Burn.Witch,BurnAmysteri oustwist ona classi ceffec t.Aborrowed$100billismarkedwithasigilof protection.Itispul inone of3envelopes.The otherenvelopes holdslipsofnewspaper.spectato r does thesame. Thefinalspectato rcannotlight hislighter!Theremainingenvelopeisunharm ed!When theenvelopeisopeneditcontains theborrowed money.Three lightersare proventoope ra te and arerandomlyselec tedby3spectato rs. Theenvelo pes aremixedbythespectatorsand handed,in order, 1eachspectator.Youclaim thesigiJwillprotectthemoney UUQugh thepowers of nature.Finally, thestgiliserased fromthe$100 bill,and withoutthesigil10protectitthe moneystartsburning.Youquicklyextinguishitand takeyourbows.Withaveryfew props,thisisbigtheatre thatpads a punch!--•Atrulythe atri calsta n d- u pper form an cethatwiII hol d youraud ience sspe ll bo u n dMen ta l is m with ama gi calplotThefirslspecta torigni tes hislighterand burns hisenve lope.ThesecondAdd Real Meaning to Your Performance•••h·"Din:clThesigil protectsthemoney,evenwhenItslocation10unknown.h'"F..,•••It'"FillIn this actthespectatorsNEVERfail; infact,theysucceed!h'"SPCChCUJ..There'sacomplclelyfreechoiceofenvelopesANDhghters.h'"SdcThreespectators, money,suspenseandFIRE. That's theatrical!It'"SilnpkThereISnochance ofthe lighterburrung the moneyorevenigniting.Thisreally"packssmalland playsbig",You'llbeperfonm ngthispieceafter readingtheinstructions .M"".Ill.u\llywonderfulp,ece.I'm.ddlng,I 'my.hemlTedL-:Jht_lnlo:m.bon.JMenlllhs /,Burn. Witch.BunOnlyMlUI_At,ell!mollnlng1 the a..nJauqht elfOJCl.None01,he.poet.'OBtil.1Inlhu!narveloWld,n non.trilllOn.MknlMIU>epper_Jlu lhar01WMd uWOld."He ,,,illtheWilY10wageryou<p"yo;he<;k wtthOtUf. ...II... WllcllII ... i"e.ITe ....ly und"rpncedlMIbt;h..dWew/e,_A ulhor,Perla.-m....-$15teccHdfOl'd·IOZ75Coli""Ave#!IZ4Ilo.IHoI'bour.Fl 33154-drcockt oill @neuero.netdace hilfardBurnWitch••Burnbydocc hilfordCopyrighlO1995DoccIlilfordFirst printingFebruary,2004No portion ofthisbook or originalillustrations canbereproduced inany manner without writtenpcnnissionofthecopyr ight owner."Many atrickhas been ruined by improvement."-AI Bakerhe crealionof magic is a rare and mysticalthing.Mostmagic evolvesfrom one idea into another.Occasionally,thereis a dramaticleapsothatthe neweffectresemblesvery littleof the originalconcept.Such isthecase withBurn \Vitcll,Burn.The ideacame10frorn aroutineinTheNewInvocationby Bruce Bernstein.DUI as 1 begantoresearchthehistoryof the Bank Nightroutine,1sawan amazing line of progression.T..TomSellersis credited with its invention.In1927,HarlanTarbellwrotethisabout the BankNight routine in his famous courseinmagic.Some years ago British magicians brought tothiscountryan interestingmysteryknow as"Bank Nighl"Inwhich a numberof sealedpayenvelopes were placedona wooden tray andnumberofspectatorswereeachallowedtoselect one envelope.They were told th(ltone oftheenvelopescontaineda five dollarbIll.One was left"thetray fortheperformer which,of course.whenopenedturnedouttobe theonecontainingthe moneyI'mcertain this routine wasquitecharmingwhenit was topical.Inearly Twentieth Century England a Bank Nightwas a game often played inchurches. Somewhat like the AmericanBingocraze,itspopulari ty hasdeclined dramaticallyand very few peopleknow what aBankNightwas.As aresult,no one makestheconnection ofsealedenvelopesandpnzemoney toa once popularpastime.Alsogoneisthe uscofenvelopes toreceive weeklypay.Muchof whalmadethe routine channingeightyyearsago has beenlost.What wasonce a gentle amusementhasbecome,in this fast-pa cedworld of finance,ancombativedemonstrationthespectator'sbadluck.Howit has becometoberegardedas a displayofmentalism,1don'tquiteunderstand.An audiencedoesn 'tneed to attend amagicshow toseethiseffect, theycanfly to Vegas! Still,I haveseenthiseffecthandledwell byperformerssuchas Ted Lesleyand Richard Osterland.or10275CollinsAve.Suite 824Bal Harbour,FL 33154drcocktaill@nctz.ero.nelThisstandardeffect waslimitedto the repertoireof thementalist.Magicians seldomusedit becauseno magicis involved.It'smyopinionthat notmuchmentalismwasinvolved either.Within a few decades,magicians added a bitmoredramabyturningthe premise insideout. Theyborrowedthe money, hadan envelope chosen,thenburnedtheremainingenvelopes.Terry Seabrook took the idea astepfurther by"accidentally"burningtheenvelopewith thebill, onlytofind itrestored in his wallet.It32isverymagical,veryfunny and hissignature piece.Butitisa satireofthe Bank Nightroutine.HisisaBurned Bill inWallet trick.One of theappealingaspects of the originalBankNightwas thatit hadasimple plot.Butsimplicity of plot does notalwaystranslatetoclarityofeffect.Itwas usually unclear asto whatwasactuallydemonstratedby the mentalist.Ifclairvoyance was beingdemonstrated,it wouldmakemoresense forthementalisttodire ctwhichenvelopewasburned,insteadof letting the spectator choose.Ifthe mentalistwascontrollingthemindsof the participants,howdid he know whichenvelope held thebill?Usuallyitappearsas ademonstration of thespectator's badluck.And the mentalist's "I'm benerthanyou"attitude.For thoseofuswho pcrformmagicaltheater, suchdemonstrationsare rarelyinteresting.We prefer amoremystical storyline,somethingthatgivestheroutineareason forbeingdemonstrated.We need an illusionthatclearly illustrates something magical.When IreadBruce Burnstein's presentationin 1989, it intriguedme.Hetried tobumall of theenvelopes, butonerefusedtobum!Itwasbrilliant. Theplotwassimpleand theeffectclear.Ireconstructed themcthodandaddedtothepresentatio n untilit worked for meboth inliving rooms and onatheaterstage.I have performedthe routinethatfollowsmany timesandtheaudience' sresponse isalwaysthatofcompleteamazemen t!Itis becausethey are toldexactlywhatisbeingdemonstrated,they know what toexpect andthus, knowhowtoreactafterthe illusioniscomplete.Thisroutine packsvery small, but canbeclearlyseen11a largestage.Ithas fireandfiveotherpeople fillingthestage.Alittleoldladyinthebackrow canclearly understandwhatisgoingonbecause aroaringflame. orthelackofit,highlightseach event!11 hassuspense,humor,and conflict,allelementsof goodtheater. Iknowyouwillenjoyperformingitasmuch asyouraudiences enjoy seeingit.The ironywas thatall who died anagonizing deathwere,infact,innocent.Thosewhocouldactuallyperformmagickused aspelltoprotect themselves. Thismagickbecameknownas The Spell ofProtection.Theperformerdecid estodemonstratethe power of onesuch spell ofprotection;onethatScottishwitches usedintheSeventeenthCentury.Fourspectators arecalled to thestage.Ratherthan having ahumanburnedat theSlake,he borrowssomething ofvalue,a hundredTbeSigilofASloro lbdollar billfromoneof thespectators.Drawingthearcane markings of a witchon the face of the bill. the performer invokescertam secretpowersofnatureand requests themtoprotect the bill. The bill's owner thensealsitinan envelope. Two moreenvelopesare introduced andshowntocontainhundred dollarsized slips of newspaper. Aspectatoralsosealstheseenvelopes.The threeenvelopsare handed tothebill'sowner.Thebill's owner standsto the far leftoftheotherthreespectators,while themagic ianstands betweenhimand thecommittee.The performerexplainsthat the envelopes representthreepeopleaccused of performing witchcraft andarctobeburnedbythe committeeof righteous citizens assembledon stage.Two of the accusedarcinnocent,however,oneof the threeis trulyawitchand willprotecthimselfwuhtheSpellofProtection.Theperformer removes threelightersfrom his pocket. Eachlighter isidentical.Each one produces abrightyellownamewhen lit.Theperformer places all three lighters uponhisoutstretchedpalmandaskseach ofthe threecommitteemembers10selecta lighter for himself.Agreatemphasesis putonthe fact thateachparticipanthasa completelyfreechoice 10which lighter he will use.Theowner ofthehundred dollars istold10mix the threeenvelopes thoroughly.Asthe performer passestheenvelopes out inthey're mixedorder,hepointsOUIthat boththelighters ANDtheenvelopeshave been distribut edby randomselection.Everything is assinless asaSeventeenthCentury Puritan!One spectatorisinstructedto light his lighter and bum hisenvelope.Hedoesso,as theownerofthemoney lookson.AsecondAs the audiencesees itThe perfonner explains that those who performed magicinthepast were111always met with applause and admiration.Throughouthistory many havebeen persecuted and killed.Most people mistakenlybelieve that witches were burned at thestake.Thefact is that mOSIweregarroteduntildeadand theirlifelessbodieswerethenburned.Thecharredremains werecrushedandspread overthe countryside, withhopesthat theevil could not resurrect itself54spectatorisinstructed todothesame.Now,twoofthe accused witcheshave beenburned;oneremains.The finalspectatoris toldtoburnhisenvelope!Theowner's eyeswidenwhen he realizesthathis billiscertain10beburned !But. whenthe lastspectatortries to light thelighter,itwill notignite!Theperformerallowsthe spectatorseveraltriesbefore he takesthe lighterandtries himsetfStill,it will notignite.The lighter is handedback to thelastspectatorand theenvelopeishandedtotheowner ofthemoney toopen.Inside theenvelopeis thehundred-dollarbill!Thesigi! iserased and thefinalspectatortries tolightthe billonfire once again. WithouttheSpellofProtection,thelighterignitesandthebill begins toburn.Itisextinguished beforeanyrealdamageisdone.envelopes,mixthem,and hand them totheowncr ofthe hundreddollarbill.Instructhim to mix theenvelopesfurther.Removethe threelightersfromyourleftpocketand placethemon yourleftpalm. Thegimm ickedlighterisat therearofthe line,that is,nearestyourwrist.Thefirstlighter,theoneclosesttoyourfingertips, hasthe hingepointing toyourleftfingertips.Thesecondlighterhas thehingefacingdown,andthe third(gimmicked)lighterhas the hingefacing up. Thispositioningwillbeimportantlater.(SeeFigure1#2.)The SwitchTakethefirstlighter byyourright handandlightit. Asyourrighthandlightsthe lighterandholdsitupforthe audiencetosee, curl yourleft fingers and casually dropyourhandtoyour leftside.Bringyourright handwiththelighter down,asyourlefthandcomesbackup toitsoriginal position tomeetit. Placethefirst lighteratthebackoftheline(near yourwrist)with thehinge facingdown.Pickupthenext lighter.lightitand showittotheaudience.Again,you casually dropyourlefthand toyour side. (thelightersslidetoyourfingert ips)butthis timeasyou closeyour leftfingers,flipboth lightersFig.2overasiftheyare asingle object.Thismove secretly switches thetwolighter' s positions,but retainsthe orientation ofthe hinges. Themovetakespractice and is easierwithbutanelighters, butcanbedonesmoothly. Bringyourright handdown,as yourlefthandreturnsto thesame positionas before. Because of the alternating alignments ofthe twohinges,everythinglooksthesameasitdid beforeyou madetheswitch.Put thelighterinyourright hand atthebackofthelineand pickup the next lighter. Thisappearstobethefinal lighter, however, due tothesecretswitch,itisthefirstlightershownasecond time.Itseemsasif all threelightershavebeenslowlyand clearlyshowntobeoperative.Thecasual movementscreate the perfect illusion.Youmustsimplybesmoothinyour actions.Arcanum.Four lightersarerequiredfor thiseffect.Three ofthemwill ignite.Oneofthemisgimmickedby nothavinganyfueland willnotignite.Put asmall,buteasilyseen,secretmarkonbothsidesofthegimmickedlighter.Ascratchwill do.Threeenvelopesare also used. One is markedby a pencildot inthelowercomer.1prefer apencil dotasitcanbeidentified easily onstage.Therearemanymoresubtlemethods of markingasingleenvelopeifyou prefer.The remaining twoenvelopescontain slipsofnewspaperthesizeof hundred dollarbills.Tobeginthe routine,two of the working lightersand thegimmickedlighter areinyourleft pocket.The otherworking lighterisinyourright pocket.Thetwoenvelopesareinyourlcftinsidebreastpocket,withthemarkedenvelopeontop. The pencil isinyourleftpocketwith thelighters.Borrowahundreddollar billand invite itsownerto joinitonstage.Hestandstoyourleft.Askthreemore spectators tocomeonstageandbethecommitteethatwill bum the"witches".TheystandTyourright.ODrawasigil(seeFigure1#1)in pencilonthebill beforeyouputitill the markedenvelope.Showthecontentsoftwootherenvelopes.Sealallthree,,•Fig.67
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]