I'm currently putting together my new stage show, in which I play the part of a professor at the North American Magic University, who's on a lecture tour to publicize the institution.

During the lecture I intend to expose many of the methods used in magic through the ages. There, that got your attention. But rest assured, it isn't real exposure. It's just a handy way for me to link together various routines- for example, I start out by talking about ancient Egyptian magic, which is based on their divine symbols of power. I use this as the rationale for a silk production routine based around a scarab beetle inscribed with hieroglyphics, then mention the fact that we've deciphered many of the symbols used in their embalming rites- and demonstrate by performing an illusion I'm working on involving a sarcophagus.

This theme will give me an excuse to perform a few classics without having them appear out of place. (For example, the sub-trunk, which I'm still debating including in the performance.) It also lets me talk about the future of magic, and the exciting breakthroughs our research department is working on involving quantum physics- which lets me use the near-unlimited resource of graduate students as assistants. They make such good redshirts (pun intended) when illusions involve getting crushed or dissected, etc.

So... my topic for discussion: I'm curious what you think about some of the "methods" explained in magician's patter through the ages- such as nitrous oxide/ether being used for levitations. Which ones have you enjoyed, which onces have you used? Which ones still work today? And feel free to add any further insight you might have.

The main thing is to make the explanations plausible. During Robert-Houdin's day, "ether" as the modus operandi of the aerial suspension was a perfectly logical idea, because ether was a fairly new thing. Just be careful that "it doesn't get too deep."

I'll give you an example of when it gets too deep. I saw Gene Pronk perform the headline prediction at an IBM convention once. This was at a show that had lots of lay people in the audience. And it was in Arkansas.

When the time came to unveil the prediction, the local celebrity brought forth a mayonnaise jar that had been sealed up with package sealing tape. He opened it and there was an egg wrapped in a small piece of a towel. So far, it looked pretty good. Then Pronk had the celebrity crack the egg open and pour the contents thereof into a small container. He gave the celebrity a pair of long tweezers and asked him to pull the gelatin capsule out of the mess in the container.

Then he began the statement that deepend the BS level past the nostrils. "Three days ago, I made a prediction on a small piece of paper, placed it into this gelatine capsule and inserted it into the oviduct of a hen..." At that point, people started laughing, guffawing and some of the farmers made reference quite loudly to natural fertilizer. Pronk had jumped the shark with that one.

So, make it plausible, but not so far out that you jump the shark.

My kids show routine is very similar to what you describe, but I present myself as a student of magic sharing what I've learned. It's a relaxing approach, and things can look like magic props, because they are. My favorite exposed method is The Triangle of Confusion: Getting the audience to focus on three things at once, while doing something obvious somewhere else.

I also like using magic to make magic. For example making something appear to vanish, by either shrinking it or turning it invisible.

Another thing to consider. If you are doing an Egyptian themed piece, make sure your patter is reasonably accurate. If you miscall the name of an Egyptian deity, or you mistranslate a hieroglyphic section, you will lose anyone in the audience who knows about these things.

Don't worry, Bill; I made sure I did my research thoroughly. The hieroglyphics on the scarab translate to "create", "cloth", and "Divine Words", even though, from stage distance, they're mostly illegible. With these sort of things, I pride myself on the details. Besides, seeing as actual colleges are one of the target audiences, I quite realize I'll get real professors and students who know what I'm talking about... well, at least until things take a turn for the surreal, and magic starts happening

Josh, I like the "Magic to make Magic" idea; if I do put the sub-trunk into my performance, rest assured I'll touch on the Spiritualists' accusations that Houdini "dematerialized" himself to perform his escapes. "Of course Houdini denied these accusations. He scoffed at spiritualists, who came up with fantastic explanations for his effects. Houdini never dematerialized himself. He just dematerialized the boxes, ropes, and chains..."

Sounds good to me. It's one of my pet peeves, when you see, for example, a mentalist who doesn't do his homework and he goes into an astrological bit with a piece of information that ruins the whole thing, such as:

"Let's see, you were born January 23. That means you're a Leo, right?"

Is there an ancient egyptian equivalent of what we use for "hocuspocus" and "abarakdabra" ( more properly words to bind a statement into a spell ) ?

Cool! I think it would conjure up great images in their minds. That I think is what good magic does, like good lyrics in a song, and I don’t think you need to tell the story from front to back with these images.