I brought out my old 20th Century Silks and remembered how I used to use a change bag to vanish the silk that ends up tied between the others. I thought it would be better to do a more deceptive vanish, rather than using a bag that spectators may assume is gimmicked. Does anyone have any recommendations? I thought about using a TT for the vanish, but I have the 18" 20th Century Silks and I can't vanish an 18" silk with a TT. So I was just wondering how others do the vanish in this trick and which vanish method seems to work best with the effect.

An excellent method for vanishing silks is a sleeve pull. Although you probably should perform this as an opener (it restricts your movement when set up), the vanish looks wonderful. I would recommend the double action pull descibed in The Magic of Alan Wakeling by Jim Steinmeyer.

You could use a hank ball
Harlin

Hi Conjuror:

Here's a way to make your change bag more deceptive. Rather than doing a straight forward vanish, which is somewhat weak, take a white silk and put it into one side of the bag. Now, when you do the vanish, take a duplicate white silk and wrap the 20th Century Silk in it, and openly put both into the change bag (the other side). Now, when it's time to show that the silk has vanished, you turn the bag inside out and take out the bunched up white silk (the one without the 20th Century Silk in it). The audience can see the bag is empty and all the heat is on the white silk - it's opened up and the 20th Century silk is shown to have disappeared. I think this is much stronger and keeps you one step ahead of the audience.

Instead of doing the vanish in the white silk, you put another silk in it. Perhaps a display silk that says "Happy Birthday" or "The End". WonderImagery.com has a real nice "That's All!" silk the a hole in the middle for you to stick your head ala Porky Pig.

Anyway, I hope this helps you.

Ron

I've been doing this for years. I stuff the silk into a palmo ball, and reach over to my table for my wand. The wand is resting on a small decorated box (a servante). As I pick up the wand, I drop the ball into the box. The wand is now used to "vanish" the silk in the empty hand.

Jim

How about a standard handkerchief pull anchored at your waist? It's easy, ready to go at any time and not nearly as suspicious as that strange-looking change bag!

Julie

I love the hank ball! Its easy, very deceptive, and adaptable to numerous applications. Check out Duane Laflin's DVD on it. Good stuff.

I like to use the good ceramic egg from Silk to Egg. The feel is much better and I'd rather get caught with an egg than anything else!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

PS --- Usually I just combine the tricks in the routine.

Metal appearing cane.

There is a great version of the 20th Century Silks in the Rice Encyclopedia, called the Douglas 20th Century (after the inventor, Bret Douglas). You can buy the complete trick from Silk King Studios ( http://www.silkkingmagic.com/Rice's%20D......tury.htm ) but it cleverly solves several problems at one time: 1) It uses ungimmicked silks that can be unknotted at the end of the trick and used for other silk tricks if you wish. 2) It has a built-in vanish and a surprise ending built in. Here is the described effect:

Two solid colored Spectrum silks are shown unprepared and tied together. The knot is placed in the mouth, silks hanging down in full view. A gorgeous Symphony pattern silk is now shown and tucked into the left hand. Hand is brought down smartly on top of head and then opened to show that the silk has vanished. Silks are slowly drawn from the mouth. Therein is found the vanished Symphony silk, securely tied between the two solids! Stroking the silks, a billiard ball is produced from their folds. This ball is now vanished, as was the silk, by striking the head. Performer opens mouth and therein is the vanished ball!

Until Eleazar Goodenough came up with his Every Century Silks, it was the only 20th Century I liked well enough to use both as a magician and as a wizard (with a few decorative changes for the Wizard version).

Use the TT as a ruse. Put a 9" in it the same color as the 18" to be vanished (or some part of it, if it is a rainbow or something). Steal away the 18" in a hankball, palmo, dye tube, or just ball it up and palm it away. Leave the TT behind, as you go to ditch the 18" under the guise of picking up a wand, or just as a sucker ruse to the pocket (at which time you could get the TT if that option works better).

Anyway, through the use of the TT and a 9", you can subliminally tell the audience that the 18" is still in your hand, and under VERY close scrutiny, a very large piece of silk disappears! Just don't pull the 9" completely out! LOL

Great suggestion Michael! (PLUS you could use the same approach with a pull--I'm going to try it!)

Julie

I use the pop corn dye box.

Tim

Absolutely would work with a pull. Saves the need to ditch remotely. The hardest part for some would be to manage two secret devices at one time. It can be done though.

Palmo is a good device to use also. Plus it has other uses.

See Rice Magic to purchase.

Wow, there are a lot of great ideas on this thread. Thanks everyone for your replies. I have a lot of options here that I couldn't have thought of without everyone's help. Now, time to figure out which one works best for me...

I use the Silk Wonder Box. Quite beautiful..

http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php......p;page=1

Many years ago Okito used a fingertip with a tiny bit of matching silk. The difference was he used a stooge in the audience. His daughter.

What he did was put the silk into his fist (actually vanishing it, probably with a standard pull) and to prove it was still there had a spectator in the front row reach INTO his fist and pull out a corner of the silk, then TUCK IT BACK IN... (and steal it out via fingertip) then Okito would open his hand to show the silk was gone.

I do the 20th Century silks using a flag version I made myself using real hankerchiefs and an American flag.

I use a Devils Hank to vanish the flag.

Effect: Magician shows two black hanky's and ties them together, these are handed to a spectator to hold. Next an American flag is produced magically, then neatly folded and put into an empty card case.

The card case with the folded flag inside is dropped into another hankerchief (Devils Hank) which is formed into a makeshift vanishing bag.

The Flag which is folded up and inside the card case is made to vanish but when the Devils hank is whipped open the card case falls to the floor, uh oh...something might've went wrong!

The card case which dropped to the floor is immediatly picked up and ripped to shred's...RED WHITE AND BLUE CONFETTI DRIFT EVERYWHERE!!!

The Flag is produced as in the normal fasion expected of a 20 th Century Silk Routine.

Johnny

http://www.myspace.com/chris_robertson

This is the same method I use to vanish the silk. The only difference is how I ditch the 18".
The TT is in my right pocket. I rolled the 18" in a ball and pretend to stuff it into my left hand. The right hand goes to the right pocket for some magic powder, ditch the 18" silk and comes out with the TT.
The right immediately goes to the left fist and secretly place the TT in the fist.
Pull out the 9" to show that the silk is still in the left hand. Then do the vanish.
Glue one end of the 9" to the inside of the TT and tie a knot at the opposite end.
Richard.