Tag: the yarn

Fishing Pole and the Ball of Yarn…

One of my favorite things is figuring out magic tricks. A couple of days ago I made fishing pole reel to wind up the yarn from the coin in the ball of yarn trick. Yesterday I used it in a show and learned a few things about it. First my method of attaching the yarn … Continue reading “Fishing Pole and the Ball of Yarn…”

One of my favorite things is figuring out magic tricks. A couple of days ago I made fishing pole reel to wind up the yarn from the coin in the ball of yarn trick. Yesterday I used it in a show and learned a few things about it.


First my method of attaching the yarn to the string needed improvement. The yarn was threaded through a small hole and then knots were tied in the yarn to keep in from pulling back through the hole. Well, the knot pulled itself through the hole. I’ll need to either tie a lot more knots, tie something to the end that’s larger than the hole, or simply just tie it around a post. This is an easy fix.


Second thing that I learned was that while my pole is collapses, I should have it fully extended before the show. It’s a waste of time to have it extend it, and I also use an extendable pole in my show, so I don’t want a feeling of duplication.


The final thing that I need to do is to change the method for the trick. Right now I’m using Vernet Magic’s amazing trick The Yarn as my method for making the billet appear on the end. This is a great method for getting the billet on the end of the string when the trick is done in your hands. Unfortunately using a five foot fishing pole has created an unanticipated challenge when the string is five feet from your hand. I’m solving this by changing the method for this trick, and the bonus of the new method is that the trick will play a lot larger!


I love that this fishing pole is in my show, and I’m hoping that I can figure out both the technical part and the presentation part so it stays in my show!

Making Progress…

The trick that I’m working on is an object to impossible location. That spot is inside a ball of yarn. I had the idea for the trick a few days ago, and it’s making progress. The trick isn’t 100% new to me, it’s parts of tricks that I’ve tried to get to work for years, … Continue reading “Making Progress…”

The trick that I’m working on is an object to impossible location. That spot is inside a ball of yarn. I had the idea for the trick a few days ago, and it’s making progress. The trick isn’t 100% new to me, it’s parts of tricks that I’ve tried to get to work for years, and it just never did. Finally the routine is coming together.


For the ball of yarn, one thing I never liked is the awkward handling of cup. Someone has to hold the cup, and it’s much strong if that person isn’t me. That means I need to get another person onto the stage to hold it. That’s just not efficient. The other day I had an idea for a cup holder that’d attach to a mic stand (read the blog post about it here).


The cup holder was 3D printed and ready to go yesterday, here it is:

Magic trick, ball of yarn

I used it in three shows yesterday and it worked great! It’s going to need a redesign as the part that holds the foot of the wine glass can be about half as tall as it currently it. A lower profile on the cup hold will make it look a lot less clunky.


It’s still a new routine, but it’s coming along nicely. I’m really glad I took my 3D printer on the road with me this week. There are a few other props I made for the show in my hotel. The next thing I need to make, but won’t have time to do before I head back home is a stand to hold the props for the dollar / drawing routine in my case.