I've worked this event in the past and the rules are pretty relaxed as it's not for patients currently hospitalized, but rather kids that have undergone heart surgery and are back at home. More of a celebration really...but the tip on latex rules is a good one, so I'll check it out!

Ring and ribbon
Gypsy Thread.
Tokyo Penetration (or clean through/clear through)
CMH
Linking Rubber Bands
Warp II (tears a single card) (Bruce Cervon)

Especially good for kids:
Safety Pin and Handkerchief (where the handkerchief is pinned and the pin slide through the length of it without tearing) I do this as a test of future friendship.
$ Bill W Paper Clips link I learned this from Bruce Cervon but it is on the internet)
Key off cord
Wonderland Dollar
Revolutionary Penetration (John Bannon)
Impaled and Restored $ Bill

These Play Big but are a little bulky:
Ring and Rope
Rope and Knots
Ninja Rings
Sash through Arm
P.N.

Of course give them time to look at the items. It is all about the presentation.

-Mary Mowder

I always do ring and rope at this event - it plays big and they can look at everything. I need to incorporate some new moves but I'm working 70 hour weeks on a TV series at the moment so that'll probably need to wait until next year....

I made a mistake in my post.


It should say that :

I do Zig Zag $ Bill with Paper Clips link as a test of future friendship.

-Mary

I absolutely LOVE the "more of a celebration" idea! Working with sick kids is one of my most satisfying endeavors, but it also takes its toll. The hardest is the James cancer center in Columbus- very, very bittersweet. If I may ask, Andrew, how did you put such a group together?

As to ideas, all above are great, but give delivery some thought as well. I accidentally was exceptionally clumsy the first time I performed, and was mortified- until I saw these children laughing! So I always go for the humor and let the magic sort of "happen" to me in a surprising way. Those laughs are precious...

I too am a big fan of being surprised by the outcome of something. That's how I present the Mental Photography deck and the kids love it. Heck, I love it. Dean Dill inspired me to do it that way and gave me some great pointers and I've been doing it ever since.

The Heart Party is an annual thing at the Children's Hospital of Orange County and the Magic Castle has an outreach committee that works all kinds of events like these, so that's how I got involved. They reach out to the AMA looking for performers and that's how we get booked. It's about 300 people and really is a very festive atmosphere. Have you worked the cancer center in Columbus, Jim? I can't even imagine that....

I've had a few opportunities to perform Ring and Ribbon for lay people several times at one event for three events.

The visual is clearly stunning and since I've cut it down to three or four effects each performance it is better than doing them all (I have about 12 but never did do them all at once, just too many at once).

I still need a clear routine (right now I'm just doing it free style) and I'd like some patter.

I'm a little unsure about the patter. It is all about the visual now and it is going over great but other than surprise and amazement it has no meaning.

I'd like some input on how you all handle this sort of thing.

-Mary Mowder

I've always gone with the standard explanation patter...probably because I'm lazy, but it's always worked for me.
I guess I feel like it's a bigger visual piece, so I didn't really worry too much about the script.

Thank you Andrew.

-Mary

"Have you worked the cancer center in Columbus, Jim?"

Hi, Andrew-

Sorry I have been distracted of late. Yes, indeed I have worked the Ohio State University James Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio. It is truly a humbling experience- and a good way to stop complaining about everything for at least a month or two.

Mary, I am not familiar with Ring & Ribbon, but you have me curious...

Spring is almost here gang, whose up for some street busking???

Jim

P.S. Mary- I have found I love events that allow me to do a routine numerous times within a short period. One of the best ways to really cement the routine and work out the timing to perfection. Do you find this to be true as well?

Yes, I do but I don't get many chances to do it.

-Mary Mowder

Absolutely - really puts things in perspective!

I've been swamped with work so not a ton of time to practice lately, though I was fortunate enough to accompany Woody Allen to the Magic Castle this week (he's the friend of a friend) and we saw a fantastic show in the Palace. Stan Allen is a wonderful performer. Woody had a great time, despite the fact that he can hardly hear.

Wow, Andrew.

I'm envious. I love Woody Allen's movies.

It must have been a trip to spend time with him.

-Mary

Hey My Passionate Patrol of Practitioners of Prestidigitation!

Wood Allen! Wow! Andrew the opportunities you are blessed with. That is Pretty cool.

Well, I wanted you all to know what I have been up to. The Youth Chapter we started in January with four kids continues to blossom. We had four kids attend in February with two new participants. I was ill but Jim Parkes kept our venture alive and said it was very productive meeting. We had our March meeting last night with five kids and two new participants. Since we try and tie the theme in with our Club's monthly meeting which is this Monday, March 23 we had a mini-Close-up College Slam. The Close-up College Slam is an idea I had last year. We combine our Workshop time with our Program time and spend the entire meeting with four Magicians rotating to each table. At each table they take 25 minutes to show 1-4 Effects or routines and then teach these to table participants. Last year we had four excellent performers from the club and it was excepted with great response. We had about 60 people in attendance.

So this year we have four members again one of them being me and one being a 13 year old youth, which I am ecstatic about! So Last night the two of us did our routines for the youth and it went very well. So I have been practicing my routine for that and last night gave me some good ideas on where to adjust.

So Now that we have the youth Chapter rolling I have noticed the benefit of it challenging me to focus my practice on certain effects and routines to share with the youth, since I don't regularly perform that often. So Monday I will be Performing a coin wrap where the coin disappears in a midst of torn pieces of paper, later appearing in a raw egg. I will also be doing Ring on a String and maybe Concorde coins. I have a few bonus effects if time allows.

Check out the upcoming April Issue of linking Ring for the Ring 211 Ring Report when we will start Reporting on The youth Chapter Meetings!

Keep it Magical!

Pete

Good on you Pete.

There is nothing like teaching to focus you on the choices you've just accepted in your own performances.

Best luck and I look forward to your progress.

-Mary Mowder

The future of most everything is in teaching the young- best wishes for success!!

Well done, Pete! That all sounds great! Looking forward to the Linking Ring stuff.

I'm hiking Mt. Whitney (the tallest summit in the lower 48 states) in June and am going to do my cups and balls routine at the top. I've never worked at 14,505 feet before so while I've done the routine hundreds of times at closer to sea level, it'll be interesting doing it with less oxygen. I'll post a video once I'm back on solid ground!

I performed at the Castle last weekend for the cast of the ABC Family show I'm writing on and got some great reactions, which was nice because I was feeling a bit rusty. Those little pick-me-ups are truly inspirational!

Thank you, Mary, for pointing this group out to me. I was trying to reinvent the wheel elsewhere on the Café.

I'd like to join. And not just for 1 effect, I'd like to focus on improving all of my magic in general. I had an idea for how I could go about that lately and it went something like this: Force myself to make fun, entertaining magic out of things in my drawer or case that I just haven't practiced enough to perform with. By this, I mean things that I may have at one point considered lame or not good magic, but that in hindsight actually do have potential if given sufficient attention.

My first example is the old ball and tube trick. I see this as a prop that has lots of performance potential, but I may have looked at it years ago when I bought it and said, "This is pretty weak."

What really opened my eyes to how much fun this could be is Ian's book on the subject. I just dug out the prop and the book recently and have been coming up with a four phase routine that, I think, is fun and interesting. Not only that- I've committed to having Michael at Moonlight Magic turn a ball and tube wand for me. An expensive investment for a not so glamorous prop (and I'm also not a working magician), but I also like the wand itself and am having him make me a convertible one so I can take the smaller version with me to the children's hospital when I do magic there. He's a great guy, btw; I don't think you could go wrong ordering from him if you want a wand or a coin box.

In another effort to improve my magic in general I've downsized my practice/closeup case to a smaller, more focused one and included other props in it that I've just neglected over the years. I want to stretch myself and turn these into workers. I figure my magic can only benefit from this self-imposed challenge as it gets me out of my comfort zone, forces me to make something out of what I had considered "nothing," and teaches me things that I wouldn't ever learn by sticking with the same old same old.

So for now it's the ball and tube, I'll be practicing 4-5 times per week for about 30 minutes to an hour each time and I hope to be much better at my routine in one month and ready to perform within 2. We'll see.

Some other things I want to look at are sponges. I think there is a lot more potential with the simple sponge than I've given it credit for and look forward to seeing where I can go with them.

And close up linking rings. I have the ninja routine but never became proficient with it. And one of my rings broke at the weld so I need to get another set, but that's down the road.

I'll keep in touch with the ball and tube progress and hopefully post a video down the line. I look forward to seeing your progress as well. Great thread.

Theodore-

I always find it's great to dig some old stuff out of the drawer and play around with it - and I have so much that it's almost like getting a brand new effect. Kind of a fun adventure, really.

And I definitely agree about dealing with Michael! He made a wand for me about five years ago and it couldn't have been a nicer experience.

Welcome Ted!

I know what you mean about Ball and Tube. I've seen it good and I've seen it bad.

The nice thing about getting out old Magic that you bought is that it is pre-selected to be interesting to you (at one time anyway).

Keep us apprised of your progress.

-Mary Mowder