I was just wondering if anyone has every heard of, or has seen an effect where a hat can be thrown out, and boomerang back to the magician? Is there a throwing technique that can be used to accomplish this with a bowler type of hat for example? I realize it couldn't be thrown level and have it come back, but I'm thinking in terms of throwing it up over the heads of the audience at such an angle that causes it to return...

Dave

I saw Lance Burton do this at the Monte Carlo. It went pretty far out over the heads of the audience and then it returned to his hands. He is the only one that I have seen perform this. I have wondered ever since if it was a gimmick or just technique.

I've never seen it before myself, but I know that it is possible with a frisbee, so I wondered if anyone had developed a workable technique that uses a hat.

I'd love to see how it looks when Lance does it...

Mike Michaels used (or still uses) a similar effect in his robot act.
He makes an unpopped (right word?) chapeau claque float/twirl around his body and land in his hands.

Philipp

Jugglers can do pretty much what you describe. It takes a lot of practice and the RIGHT KIND OF HAT.

What Lance is doing is an old Circus stunt and the modus operandi is nothing I feel I have any right to discuss here as it is a trademark effect (now) with Lance.

I had it in my notes to do long before I saw or heard of Lance doing it, but when he started to use it I decided to not do so.

Is this available to purchase or no?

I'm not sure if it's on this site or not, but you might want to give it a try.


http://www.trickswithhats.org/


Kent

What Lance does is NOT FOR SALE... but if you go to various Juggling websites you might find help there.

There is a method for doing a boomerang hat effect in a book by a very famous magic writer whose last name begins with G.

You and I and anybody else may feel perfectly free to do this effect, which - as the author in question says - dates back many years (and he was writing in the 1950s).

It certainly doesn't belong to Lance Burton, or to anyone else.

As far as I am concerned this old forgotten clown gag was brought back to life by the brilliant physical comedian George Carl.

The late Mr. Carl performed it to great effect on the Johnny Carson Show in the mid 1980s.

Amongst other places it appears in the 1977 book "150 Comedy Props" by Patrick Page (on page 31 under the title, "the Boomerang Hat").

Best regards,
Levent

Pete is right it is a very old circus/Juggling stunt and has employed several different methods. It used to be a standard in Vaudeville! (sorry if it is mis-spelled)

Will this Zombie method work with "Astrosphere"?

If you look back in some of Okito's books, then there is a method for doing the same thing with a plate over the audiences heads, using a gimmick.

I saw an amazing juggler do this as a finale to his act on the Cirque Du Soleil VARAKAI DVD. All I can say is WOW WOW WOW!!!

I saw an old old old magic book and it teaches you how include a boomerang plate effect in ur plate spinning routine.
it works like the boomerang card effect.
hope this will helps u.

I saw a performer do this recently in a variety show...think hummer card only think bigger...and hatier.

Yes you can buy a special hat that is weighted some how to make it boomerang back. I am not sre where you can get it from but look at juggling shops and circus shops.

Ufo knows....