Just wondering if there are any books, articles, etc., on the strength test themes. I seem to remember one with a broom stick which looks easy but if done right, no one regardless of how strong could accomplish.

Thanks in advance, Gordo

Check out Barrie Richardson's "Theater of the Mind" for a cool effect with a piece of string.

Hi again,

Thanks for that tboehnlein, I know in 'Magic for Dummies' there's also a short piece.

gord

Body Magic by John Fisher, published by Stein & Day is available in both hard cover and paperback. It contains more than 150 pages of physical effects including many of the "strength tests." Some of them could be built into feature items. All of them are things that a well rounded magician should know about. Check it out.

Sid

This might be an odd recommendation – but I would try the old books at your local library. The books I have that have “strength style” effects – have the old 50’s clip art in them. Which I can only assume was more popular back then.

Being that every library is different – it would be hard to give suggestions – I am sure that most of what I own is out of print.

On the flip side – don’t knock the web. I good search on google.com could reveal some gems,

Good luck,

If you read French (Ok ! Ok ! Nobody read French...) there is a very good book :
"La Magie du Corps" (The Magic human Body, is an average translation) which contains a lot of effetcs like this. A lot of oldies but a lot of goodies !

Sid Mayer,
Is "Body Magic" readily available, I thought it was out of print. Does Stein & Day have a site? thanks

Au contraire, je parle Francais...

My high school had a copy of body magic - it was one of the first magic books I read. Highly recommend it for something a bit different.

ML

Aaaah ! I recognize in this old frendship between Scotland and France



I went 2 two times in Scotland in past years (for a total of 1 month), and I love your country. That's true, It's a real pleasure for a storyteller and bizarre magician to visit such a unbelievable country. Maybe it was because I was a bizarre tourist, but I felt the mystery deeply rooted in Scotland and was a big source of inspiration for me.

I will go back to Scotland, maybe this year, I hope to feel this again.

I apologize for this digression...

See you soon Missing_Link,

...to the return the compliment, I've been to France several times in recent years. I was in Paris during the '98 World Cup and had a fantastic time. My mother also taught French. There is, of course, the Auld Alliance pub in Paris which celebrates the historical links between our two countries.

Back to the topic, do any of the books recommended so far (excluding Body Magic) include tearing a phone directory in half?

ML

Appletruth,

I don't know if Body Magic is out of print. I've had my copy for some time. The copyright dates are 1979 for the hard cover version and 1980 for the Scarborough Books soft cover.

To find web sites (or almost anything else on the web) try the advanced search function on http://www.google.com.

Sid

"La magie du corps" is the translation of Fisher's "Body Magic", so you don't have to read french ... mais c'est toujours utile pour lire les ouvrages de bizarre magick de Christian Chelmann!

Read all you can about Lulu Hearst also known as the Georgia Magnet. You will find some of her "tests" in The Jinx as well as in her autobiography.

PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

I saw Paul Daniels perform a few of the "tests" you mentioned in one of his TV specials. One of the tricks was hilarious. Paul had an umbrella placed on his palms and a well know English boxer was asked, to lift the thing.....and the big man wasn´t able to do that. The umbrella broke.....it looked very, very good.

TED LESLEY

I saw that trick with the umbrella and I found it amazing. Paul Daniels kept on dancing with one hand on the umbrella while the other guy was trying to push over the umbrella!

Great magic!

Hi to all,
You can try to read:
Necromatic Aerobics in New Invocation April 1987. You will find a fantastic strength test.
Maskelyn Ye Mage's "Ring of Protection"

The Change by Bruce Barnet in New Invocation April 1989.
You can also use "Can't Tear Paper"for your stength test.
Pax Vobiscum
Theologian

Hi
You may also check Ormond McGill's Real Mental Magic (Hades Publications, Inc.).
In the Chapter 7, dedicated to "Mind-over-Body Magic", many strength feats are explained...
Good luck.
Eric.

Hah! I wrote that dang thing! 15 years later I have a WAY different perspective on the effect...As written it used a heavily gimmicked book that gushed out smoke which supposedly enabled the scrawny mage (me) to be infused with great strength. Talk about overkill. The emphasis ended up on the stupid book and not the powers I supposedly derived from it. Now I do the same thing, but simply hold my hand over a scrap of paper on which I've scribbled some mystic hoo-hah.

What we're talking about is this: the mage makes a circle with his thumb and index finger and when held over the sacred writings (or relic or bone or whatever) even the burliest of spectators can't pry it apart. When the item is removed, the supernatural strength is gone and the fingers are easily pulled apart.

How does it work? You ain't even gonna believe it. It really IS mind over matter. This is an application of an Eastern concept called 'chi', used in martial arts among other philosophies. The secret is to imagine, actually picturing it in your mind, that the circle made of your two fingers is actually an iron ring of the same size. Yes, it really works, but you have to really put yourself into it and BELIEVE that it is going to work. I promise you that if this is done it is way, way more effective than strength alone. You can practice it right now with a friend. Just form a circle with your thumb and index finger and challenge them to pull it apart. They probably will. Now do it again, only this time imagining and iron ring instead of your fingers, really seeing it in your mind's eye, and they won't be able to budge it. I know it sounds flaky as crap. But it works. Well.

The rest is all hoodoo and flap and floo. Tell the spectator that whatever totem you show contains diabolical powers of untapped strength and blah, blah, blah. You have to act, of course, and that's the tough part.

Your iron ring seems to good to be true !

But I will try spook because if it works as you say, it as wonderful application !

Just a question Spook : Have you ever try to have a spectator make the ring ?

In fact, I wonder if we couldn't have a gem (if this effect works of course) if we can make a spectator do the ring with his own fingers and then :

* someone try to pull them appart : he success
* you "hypnotize" the spectator (or you use the presentation you want) to make him imagine an iron ring and then... We can't separate his fingers !

If it works, we have here a very good impromptu effect !!!!!

See you soon,

I do a strength test where i get a strong guy or even two to grab me and lift me off the ground,then i stare at them in their eyes and tell them they no longer have the strength to lift me.They try but it is impossible even to get my feet off the floor.This is very similar to what Derren Brown did in his mind control show.The principle behind this is one that i leart through practicing martial arts but is very simple to do.If anyone wants it e-mail me.