Not too long ago, I can recall reading an effect that involved the Bermuda Triangle. The effect involved making a triangle out of items (shells/rocks) and the sum total of the shells on each side stayed the same, even when more and more were added.

Where did I read this? My mind seems to be failing me...

Okay. . . I know this. . . ummmm. . . is it in Pentalogy? I'll have to look it up when I'm home.

How come people and planes don't go missing in the bermuda triangle anymore?

I think the effect is in automata?!

Jim Steinmeyer's "Impuzzibilities" pg 15

Could that be what you're looking for?

I believe this is "The Bermuda Runes" by Peter Marucci from his " Bizarre Bazaar" column from Online Visions: http://www.online-visions.com/bizarre/0511bermuda-runes.html

Paul

Yes, the version abraxus and I read from Shane comes from that, Illusioneer.

Marucci's effect is, indeed, the effect I was looking for, but I read it somewhere else. I think it may have been from one of Shane's books, via an "online preview". Thanks for your help.

For the historians: Will Blithe's 'Money Magic'; "The Stolen Tarts", 1926.

You might have read this one in the early years of Magic Magazine. Bob Farmer had a presentation for it that utilized The Bermuda Triangle as a theme.

As a presentational idea, Google for a picture of Dante's Hell. You'll notice the triangular shape of some of the pictures. So instead of ships disappearing in the triangle, I was thinking of souls that can not escape. You see, each circle of hell can only hold a limited number of souls, and any excess souls might, just might escape. So every time a new soul arrives, the others hope it'll provide them with a chance to escape. But strangely, the number of souls never changes. People say there's always hope, but in some places, there is none.......

I have a version involving the Knights Templar in my book "The Holy Art: Bizarre Magick from Naljorpa's Cave." It was inspired by Shane's Bermuda Triangle routine.

Yannou, I like your idea of Dante's Hell.

Bill

Thank you Bill, I'm glad you like it. Very glad in fact. You see, I'm a total newbie when it comes to bizarre magic. Until recently, I've only done pure mentalism. The thing is, I never liked 'regular' magic. So a magician makes a coin vanish, or finds my card, but why? What's the point? What's he trying to say? To me, it's tricks for the sake of tricks, which I find pointless. With mentalism, I feel there is a framework that gives it meaning. And then I got a video of Eugene Burger. Card Warp doesn't do a thing for me, but The Inquisition! Jeff McBride doing the Mark Twain story! And his other stuff. I was like, wow, so this is what they call 'bizarre' magic? So I've been reading books like crazy the last 2 or 3 months - The Practitioner, Spirit Theatre, Mystery school, I've got Hauntiques to read and more. I think I finally found what I was missing with mentalism. You see, with mentalism I have a hard time coming up with things of my own, that feel like me and not a Banachek/ Cassidy/ Maven etc clone. With bizarre magic, well, I still need a hint, but when I saw the triangle effect this immediately occured to me. I don't know it it's original and I don't care, because I know I came up with it myself and it feels like me when I perform it. And after reading The Practioner, I came up with a routine with the Afghan Bands that actually got someone I showed it to crying because she felt it was such a touching story. Nothing like that ever happens when I do mentalism. And I feel there's more where that came from. In short, I feel like I found a home in the bizarre.

Welcome aboard, Yannou! I like your thinking.

I've been playing around with the triangle effect a bit. I found a few nice old illustrations of Dante's Hell...
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/ar......44-m.gif
http://www.gpc.edu/~shale/mapping_files/helm.gif
http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/dante/images/full1kw.jpg (my favorite)
Tonight I will try this version of the effect and see how it goes. It would be nice to have a bunch (30 or so) of tiny skulls. I'll stick with the Bermuda Triangle version for the younger ones (kids).

Well, I know a version is definately in Pentalogy

I like your thinking on presentation Yanou. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the board.

Resurrecting this 10-year old thread to say I performed the Bermuda Runes (Marucci) with decorative stones (really glass beads) yesterday for an office party and they were wildly enthusiastic trying to figure out where that extra stone went.

It's one of my favorite pieces that I seldom perform outside of my circle of friends and family ... but the response I got yesterday only validate that this is truly an entertaining piece and plays strong for all.

Oscar

Pentology pg 17. Great routine from a great book.

It’s my favorite effect from Pentology. And my favorite patter for the effect.

Martin Mercy now markets a version of the Bermuda Triangle effect, with more than 30 foreign coins representing the ships and with both written and DVD instructions. See his site, mercy me magic.


George

I’ve been using black rocks, the kind you might find on a beach.