I'm looking to do small opening acts for some western-themed shows and am looking for your ideas on effects with western themes. For example, if I were a Cowboy, performing magic, what are some things I could do? One I thought of was have the Rigid Rope hooked to my belt, like a cowboy has his lasso, and do a routine with that. It fits the western theme! Any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

Some good stuff has been discussed Here

I'm planning one of these myself for my Cowboy Action Shooting club Holiday Banquet. I'm gonna open with a Cowboy Poem I found at http://www.online-visions.com/effects/0208how.html. Maybe turn some of our more common tricks into something like a Snakeoil sales pitch (disappearing silk becomes "Professor Sammy's Amazing Air Colored Paint"). I'm curious as to how many other good ideas these folks here can come up with that they might be willing to share.

Sammy the Kid

I found a great sidekick that I just recently purchased but I haven't used yet. It's an animated full size mounted 10 point buck. His mouth moves, his ears move, his head moves. He has several "modes" of operation, but what makes him a performer is the ability to make him "talk" via a wireless remote control. You don't even need to know how to vent to make this a comedy entertainment prop. He can also be used from anything from an emcee to a perfomer to an assistant. At Christmas, you can put a red nose on him. I have a top hat that fits him perfectly and a bow tie that he wears to dress him up. It cost $150 USD and can be bought locally. On automatic or motion detection mode, he's kind of annoying like those Billy Bass things they sell. However, since I can "make him say what I want" and move how I want, he is more like a vent dummy that is wireless. He also has a mini plug output for his sound which could enable you to have his voice sent to a PA or sound system. You could record a skit and record his parts on the left channel only, and just lay the mic by a left speaker that the audience doesn't even see. He could be part of a western theme with a variety of uses very easily.

I did a western theme show for my library program last year.
I did a lot of rope magic, Pavels walking knot, lasso card one of Flip's rope flourish routines and lucky loops. I also did knot's off silk egg bag barbwire linkiing rings and ended with a misers dream routined around the thin air silver mine.
Hopr this helps.

Payne, that idea about the thin air silver mine is pretty durn good. Mind if I borrow the idea?

Sammy the Kid

Some ideas:

- Professors nitemare themed to the idea of finding the perfect length rope to be able to rastle cattle with. You have some too small and some too large but you need them all the same exact size.

- Miser's Dream is also a great idea as it fits the theme of a cowboy or a person of that sort wanting to get coins.

- a 3 card monte type of effect themed around gambling at the local saloon could work well.

- Topsy Turvey Bottles could work well also. Just use the soda bottles instead of beer if performing for young kids.

- 20th Century Silks could be great if you theme it a different way. Have a child dressed up as a sheriff with hat and a badge. You have one silk represent a bank robber trying to steal money from the bank (change bag) and the two silks other like silks become the sheriffs deputies. In the end the helper (sherriff) captures the robber inbetween the hands of the two deputies. The sheriff always gets his man.

These are just some general idea. I hope they help you.

Kyle

Have at, use it in good health.

It is great to see a lot of creative thinking going on in hjere. Very refreshing to see people thinking not of the prop b ut thinking of the theme and the story to be told and building the magic out of that.

Kyle

One I like to do is the color monte packet. Start off by introducing the game of monte and then show the cards. Then demonstrate how you got taken while waiting for the stage in Dodge.

Sammy the Kid

Another idea is something I think that I saw on "Live KidBiz, Volume 1", by David Ginn. I think the routine he does is a variation on the classic routine, the Sun and the Moon. It can be performed with two bandanas, differing colours.

Basically, a hole is cut from the center of each bandana, and they centers end up changing places on the bandanas, after some comedy byplay.

- Donald

Great Ideas. They make you think.

Muzicman:

Thanks for the posting about the Deer. Easy to find on Google and at that price won't be so common as the talking fish.

Martin

I do a western character as well and along the theme of bandanas, I have made a set of 20th Century Silks using two blue bandanas and a red one that vanishes/reappears. It's a solid, time-tested, proven effect that can easily be themed to the western motif/time period.


Lyndel

These are great ideas! Any other ideas?

Whit Haydn does an outstanding linking ring routine in a western character. He's got some excellent performance videos online at: http://www.whithaydn.com/video_clips.htm.

Dan.

Whit is a Southern Character....
Steve V

Great thinking going on here. I came here looking for western card ideas.
I had a story line routine that was around gold miners and a lady who was making her living in the beer tents based on true characters. She made her fortune after the crash when she moved from the tents to the steamships after the gold rush died off. It was the time when there was nothing to do but drink and gamble.
The routine was a series of tricks and was successful. There was a little of everything relevant to the story line. I have to tried to find it all again but all I have so far is a few wanted posters that I’d had photoshopped onto cards of some of the family members and a few friends who I produced it for

Anyway I thought I’d try and revive it inspired by this thread and a pack of the Deadman’s deck playing cards that would afit in with the whole western theme. Comes complete with blood stained cards and pellet.
I also introduced a couple of whiskey shot productions in the old routine. . It was more a parlour routine than stage or walk around and although sounds long winded flew by

Kandu Magic has a great spin on topsy turvy bottles that could be used in a western show... it uses a medicine show type of routine selling snake oil... a staple in western towns. Called Snake Oil Surprise. And it has a definite ending that actually makes sense.