Ultimately I think magicians can effectively use strange props with no explanation as to what they are. Examples include Hot Rod, Chop Cup, Okito Boxes, etc. On the other hand, it seems like a good idea to provide some context for the use of the prop other than that you're a magician and just happen to have a strange item that is fun.

I like to use a mug as a Chop Cup. At least it's obvious what it is. What the heck is a Chop Cup?? What is a Hot Rod ?

I'm sure there are many other props that are used to create magic. Any thoughts on how to provide some context when these props are used?

Mike

Dear Mike: great thread!

As far as props, that is where the art of storytelling comes in. For example, when I worked restaurants some years ago, (seafood) I called sponge balls "lobster eggs". Off the top of my head, the Hot Rod could be some type of new Lucite display so that, "Jewelers can display different stones to potential buyers. These stones are replicas, of course..." Something along those lines?

Never say "silk" or "Chop Cup" to laypersons! I hear "silk" constantly! It is a "silk handkerchief". Hope that gets you thinking!

All good luck!
Tim

Mike,
I agree with you. For instance, when using the Okito box, I patter that I heard about a famous magician who was examining a strange little pill box that his assistant had acquired while in India and discovered that it had some unsual properties.

I then relate that I remembered a little brass box among some effects left to me by an uncle who had traveled all over the world and found that it too had some magical properties.

I then go into whichever routine I intend.

Dwight Powell

Illusions are no exception.
But hey, it is other people's props I'm looking at.

A Hot Rod is a Tiffany Swizzle Stick.

An Okito Coin Box is an antique pill box (which the original actually was - a cardboard pill box that Okito was playing with back in the early part of the 20th Century, IIRC).

Sponge balls are Nerf Balls - a common enough object.

My aluminum cups balls cups are "old Thermos bottle caps"

My Chop Cup (Rings & Things), is a metal florist's display cup.

My coin purse is something that "if you ladies see a guy with one of these who is NOT a magician - RUN, do not walk, for the Exit!" Gets a good laugh and takes the heat off the purse a little.

Chinese Sticks (I actually use the cheap-o Addams ones) are a "matched pair of beginner's magic wands."

Thumbcuffs are handcuffs for Munchkins."



Using humor to throw off the concern works pretty well.

Not to mention that magicians seem far more worried about the innocence of props that the public.

Magicians are SUPPOSED to have strange looking stuff, after all!

Respectfully,

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com

I agree with mstrhypno:
"magicians are supposed to have strange looking stuff",

but... if they are plastic - it doesn't look right.

Plastic coin boxes don't work.
Even those plastic card devices (pen through card) (disappearing card), etc. look so phony. They don't look old enough to have magical properties.

Wood and metal work better!

Besides It is very hard explaining your okito box was created by that world famous Mage Mattel.

Cheers - El Lamo

El Lamo makes a good point, but, in some instances, plastic can be VERY effective in putting people off the scent as far as how something is being done.

Consider the Pom Pom Rod. WHile it would look very rich and expensive in wood, IMHO, it looks funnier in plastic with all that laser crystal paper covering it.

Some props are meant for comedic impact, hence plastic can be okay. My cheap-o Adams Chinese Sticks are a great example. "Beginner's Magic Wands" is a line I sometimes use - and it gets a chuckle, especially as I tell them I use the first one to back up the second one!

Then do the string pull to show them how it happens. "Now THAT's a good data transfer rate!" is a line I use in trade show work a lot.

So, really, it needs to fit your presentation. While I would never use a plastic card box in a bizarre routine, I really can't see dropping about $100 for a set of metal Chinese Sticks, especiallu as they have plastic inlay on the sides - and no offense to the makers of them - they are superb! I just don't see them in MY act is all.

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com

Lee,
It occurred to me that now-a-days you might even have to explain what a swizzle stick is/was!

Outside of the Okito box, I haven't really worried too much about justifying the prop, although I guess I tend to work it into the scheme without making a point of it.

Dwight Powell

I like some things about magic store bought props. The metal cups and balls set(s) stack, allow balls to sit between the cups while stacked, and make the loads look larger in relation to the cups. Lots of nice things about the magic shop props to appreciate.

Comes time to perform, the setting and my personae really determine the choice of props. I tend to do magic on a casual basis in almost impromptu settings. This means using a coffee cup for a chop cup and a rolled up napkin, an olive or cherry for the ball. This means using the pats of butter for chink-a-chink, and mints for 'free and unlimited coinage'.

It seems to come down to making the props organic to the setting and somehow befitting the character of the performer. At some point I may want to revisit a cute 'Chinese sticks' type routine done with neckties. It means recruiting a friend.. but it was VERY funny.

The props you use in your presentations speak volumes about you. As does your costume, your manners, your ability to engage the audience...

To borrow from a good book on magic... The idea is to justify your presence as a performer and account for any magic you do as an actor.

This kind of gets at why I don't like a certain type of gimmick trick. When there's no logic for the prop and the prop looks unusual, it immediately raises a kind of suspicion. It's what makes a trick like Sword through Neck somewhat weaker (now I'm sure I'll get flamed). Others here have offered some explanations for props, and I think that's a step.

I do some paddle-based tricks that seem to get past that, but some other tricks have been a little harder.

JesterJ