I am looking for a few ideas on what to do silk wise. I don't really care a lot for silk magic, so I don't want to do a whole lot of it, I just need to produce either one very large silk (36+) or a few smaller ones.

The reason I am doing this is to modify Andrew Mayne's Broom Flight to a more suitable method for me. He uses a towel over a broom to suspend himself on stage. I want to do this with a mic stand instead as that is more appropriate for me. The idea is to replace the towel with a large silk or silks and clip it to the mic stand so that when the stand is tipped at an angle, the silk forms a curtain of sorts.

I was thinking of having a larger banner made with a welcome message or logo on it, but I am open to suggestions for other ideas. The show we're putting together now is themed around 80s rock music if that helps at all.

Thanks!

Drew,

What about a 36" silk with "Thank You", "Good Bye", "The End", or for pictures, Butterfly or Dragon? We also import zebra stripe silks in red and white and black and white. (The stripes are diagonal and 2.5cm wide.) We also have solid color silks 3'x6' and 3'x9'.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Hmm...the 3X6 could work. Will PM you to discuss some options...

Thanks!

Step back and look at that scene from the audience's point of view. A flying broom is a bit of a stretch from reality, but we have all heard the legend that witches fly on brooms, and there is a certain logic in draping a towel over it the way you might put a blanket on a horse... so our logic is straining a bit at the leash, but the audience has references to account for it.

Putting a silk over a microphone stand has no logic to it at all that I can figure out. You are doing it that way because that's how Andrew Mayne does his broom illusion. Using a silk for this purpose does not make a silk trick out of it, either.

Now, if the microphone were to begin flying around (a la Zombie) and then the microphone stand began flying around (a la dancing cane) THEN perhaps you could try going for a ride on the stand and see if it will hold you up. To make the horse connection, you might first try to put a miniature (toy) saddle on the stand, then realize that you will never fit on it, so you decide to put a blanket over the stand, Native American style. No blanket. Well, you're a magician, so just magish one out of thin air, and when the silk appears use it like a blanket to ride the stand. If you've got a light enough stand to do the dancing cane with, you can probably go for a "no hands photo opportunity" while floating on the microphone stand.

If you need any more ideas for this, check out "Broomstick Witchcraft" in the Dollar Store Magic section of my site.

The immediate connection with 80's music is obvious: Steven Tyler's (lead singer of Aerosmith) trademark is several scarves tied to a microphone stand. Look at any image of him on stage and there it is - and this is one of the biggest bands of the 80's!

I didn't see too many kids walking around at Halloween with microphone stands that had scarves knotted to them. I DID see quite a few witches walking around carrying brooms. I must have missed the 80's.

The point here was that I thought the concept of the broom flight was cool, but that it didn't make sense to play with a broom in a rock type show, so I am looking to adapt the concept a bit.

I was thinking of producing a large silk and clipping to the stand, going on something else and to come back and do a little dance a la Brett Michaels with the mic stand. From there, I can do the suspension.

I'm not looking to make a big deal of it. I want to be a quick "did I just see what I think I saw?" sort of moment for the spectators. I don't even want to talk while it's happening. That's why I'm looking to do it this way, so as to not have to explain anything.

I do a mulitplying silk routine that begins with a large silk, and they progressively get smaller. I believe I got it from one of Rice's books, but you end up with several silks produced, always goes well with audience.