Has anyone performed this trick?

Before I make two custom books at Kinkos I'm wondering if anyone has any tips, for example, what size and weight the paper should I use, how to bind them so that the "Svengali feature" is most easily observed, etc.

I perform this trick all the time. I printed it on card stock. That makes it easier to flip and it last longer. It cost more to get it printed, but it's still not too bad.

Also, I used the spiral binding where you flip the book all the way around flat. There is another type of spiral binding where you can't flip it all the way back flat. I like it because when I flip the book and the kid yells stop, I flip the cover all the way to the back and hand the book to the kid to hold. It's very difficult to describe this, so I hope I'm making sense. If not, let me know and I'll try to describe it better.

This is a great trick, by the way. I've made a few of these books. I use a birthday cake most often, and an octopus is the other popular one. It's also easy to make Santa for a Christmas show, or really anything that's appropriate to the theme of the show.

Thanks so much for the reply. When you say you printed it on "card stock", do you mean 8 1/2 x 11" sized card stock?

I understood the part about flipping the cover of the book. Thanks.

I think I'm going to start with the octopus if for no other reason than I can't get over how cute the balloon octopus is. (I'm using Michael Floyd's design.)

One more thing: Do you perform this for kids? I'd think that it would go over great with kids, except that I'm not sure they could keep quiet about how the one book is all dogs.

Yes, 8.5 x 11 cardstock. Make the picture as big as you can, but be careful of the margins because of the Svengali part.

I perform it for kids. I say we are going to use the same book and show it to the kids. Sometimes someone will say, "Hey they're all the same." or something similar. I just pretend no one said anything and keep moving. It doesn't ruin anything. At that point, everyone knows except the volunteer. When the audience kid says something, the volunteer doesn't know what it means.

I've never had the whole group of kids says something (like you would have with a look-don't see type trick).

The octopus is a great choice. That's what I use for most shows that are not birthday parties. It is so simple to make, but it looks impressive.

Thanks Karen. I'll go back into Photoshop and make my pics bigger. And thanks for reminding me about the margins.

I might have a few questions later. I really appreciate the help.

One more thing: did you print the book in "portrait" orientation (vertically) like a normal book or in landscape orientation like a presentation?

Yes, portrait.

Also, after reading my previous comment, I'm not sure if I made it clear that I like the spiral bound that flips all the way around. I explained the difference between the two, but wasn't sure it was clear which one is better. If it is completely flat, the kid is not tempted to flip through the pages.

And the only reason I said to print the pictures as large as possible is just so you can use it for larger shows without having to make a new book. I've used the 8.5 x 11 book for shows of several hundred. Also, I printed it in color. It just looks better and more professional than black and white.

Perfect. Thank you so much.

Yeah, I understood what you meant about the binding and which one you preferred.

Ok, I've now performed this twice. Both times it went over great. The kids didn't spill the beans, the whole "I must've gotten the books mixed up" ruse played well, and people were really amazed by the correct prediction.

Btw, I use Michael Floyd's octopus design, and it is really cute.

Glad it's hear it's working well. I love this trick.

I believe this is Buster's Big Book of Stuff. I have been using this routine ever since I first saw it and love it. It is easy and fun to perform while leaving a nice impression.

Dan.

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVwnZh9SKyU

Nicely done Chris. It was hard to tell what the song you played at the end was. If you are going to use a chicken, you could do that annoying chicken dance song and have the kid do the little dance at the end. It's just a thought. You can also keep it just the way it is, and it's great.

Thanks for sharing the video.

If I used that chicken dance song, I'd have to kick my own ass! I like "obscure music" that people have likely never heard of. I don't always do a Chicken. I have 5 different ones made up depending on my mood.

Nice job Chris. It seemed that the crowd at the Addison Improv really enjoyed the performance.

Really great performance!

How do you find this trick by Buster?

It's only available at one of Buster's lectures. He does not sell them any other place...

Things That Fell Out of my Head?

You are correct, Michael. It is in Things That Fell Out of My Head. For those that don't know, that's book that Buster wrote and it is available for free download at http://www.balloonhq.com/library/book/pd......Head.pdf

Also, Buster has two video downloads about balloon gags. I can't think of the names right now, but it's vol. 1 and vol. 2. Those are available at balloon-animals.com. Both of them are excellent. It has some magic tricks that involve balloons. They also include bits that aren't magic, but are still fun. I highly recommend both of them.