The last few days, I’ve posted about working on a trick with a wavy arm guy. The effect is that I’m handcuffed, and the wavy arm guy is inside the circle created by my arms. A cloth is raised, and when it’s lowered, the wavy arm guy is no longer inside my arms.
One of the things that I want with the trick is a defined effect.
The effect is a penetration, and that needs to be clear. The thing I need to be careful of is not blurring that with an escape. If someone thinks I can get out of the handcuffs, the effect changes, as it is no longer a penetration.
What that means is that at the end of the trick, the person from the audience needs to let me out of the handcuffs. While that’s a slower moment, I think it’s an important moment to make the penetration effect clear.
-Louie
Tag: handcuff magic
Wavy Arm Guy Magic Trick Video
Yesterday I wrote about working on a trick with a wavy arm guy. I don’t have a routine written yet, I’m just seeing if it works.
Here’s a practice video.
One of the things is the explanation with the mic stand. While it shouldn’t be necessary, I’ve been in the audience where similar penetration tricks are performed and they fall flat because not everyone is really spatially aware.
A good example of this is Andrew Mayne’s Razorwire. Here’s the effect:
Unless you show the audience that you can’t simply walk around the barrier, the trick isn’t going to land. Not everyone will understand that you can’t just by looking.
With my trick, it works, the next step will be writing for it.
-Louie
Wavy Arm Guy Magic Trick
In my show, I use an inflatable wavy arm guy as part of a trick. Really, it’s there to add some umph to the ending. It’s a large prop to carry around, but worth it for the trick. It’s only used for like 10 seconds at the end of the trick, but it really makes a difference in audience reaction.
Since I’m already lugging this thing around, I should have something else to do with it, for a second show. I’ve written a lot of ideas down over the years, but never really taken action on them.
I finally started working on one of the ideas that I like the most. The premise is that my arms are handcuffed together with the wavy arm guy inside the circle created by my arms. I then pass through the wavy arm guy, so I’m standing next to him with my arms free from him.
It’s one of those tricks, like walking thru a sheet of steel, where I don’t think it initially hits the audience very hard. It’s a good trick, but it’s more of a thinker, than something visual like popping a balloon and having a wine bottle appear.
One of the challenges with this will be selling the effect. I’m not 100% sure how to do that yet.
-Louie