Hello,

So without getting too much into exposure here, I'd like to produce a cane and then do the "dancing cane" with it as well. I've got no prior experience with "dancing cane" but I have just ordered the McBride on Stage DVDs which teach this. I was just wondering if I should order a dancing cane or if I can hook-up to my Mahka Tendo appearing canes some how. thank you,

Fletcher

Hi Fletcher,

There should be a possibility. Check out Fantasio's dancing and vanishing cane. Maybe if you use the same gimmick but put it on after the cane has been produced it should work.

Oliver.

Actually, Russ Walsh
(the inventor of the appearing and vanishing canes and wands)
at one point sold a small gimmick to use his canes as “dancing canes”.

Being metal they were on the heavy side,
and the balance was never quite right,
but they worked in a pinch, particularly on a stage.
I don’t want to tip the method here though in public.

I knew Russ pretty well when I was a teenage kid,
and he was in his eighties in Chicago!
What an inventive mind!

Magically,
Walt

Thank you for the quick replies. I will check out Fantasio's product. I wish I knew Russ

Hello, I visited Fantasio's website and although theyhad the vanishing cane, no-where could I find the dancing cane or any reference to it. I suppose I'll wait for McBride's explanation and see if I can rig something up myself.

It's a real problem for me that all the canes would look different - for example if I use one cane for the appearance, then I need another for the dancing, and yet another for disappearing... it simply wouldn't work because they would look noticeably different.

I guess an all-in-one cane is a holy grail of sorts, made of the rarest material known as "unobtanium"

I remember the Walsh gimmick as well. It was a great idea, except for one annoying problem. Appearing Canes (metal or Plastic) do not tend to appear the same length every time and are therefore always out of balance unless you get lucky. This is why the few I know who do anything like it, switch the appearing one out for a vanishing cane (which you can adjust before hand) and then vanish it afterwards.

Jeb

I had the same idea, I think that the gimmick of the dancing cane will get tangled up with the gimmick of the appearing cane. So I am going to say no, for that reason.

For a appearing dancing cane, I would make it a paper cane, then you catch it on fire, and the dancing cane appears from that... look at a fire to rose trick for the handling... that is my idea for you. hope it helps

Now there also used to be an appearing dancing cane on the market that used a different method for appearance. It was like an appearing pole, so the length and balance were consistent. I can't remember who made it, but I had one years ago. It was black with a white top and clear ball for the tip. If you can find it, you might have what you want.

Jeb

The dancing cane gimmick is discussed in the early volumes of the Fantasio Cane & Candle books by David Ginn. I've never read the big Fantasio book, but it may be there, too. The gimmick is easy enough to make, even if you can't find one to buy. You'll just need to know what it looks like.

I would say it is worth trying making it appear, next floating it. It will cost that much to experiment with it. First enter the stage with everything in place. Have the plastic cane appear in your right hand. Stroke the cane through your left hand and the gimmick in your left hand. Right hand let go of the cane. Left hand hold it upward for a moment making sure everything is tight. Swing the cane in place to dance. The only possible problem I can see is what Jeb mentioned about the correct fit. If you practice it enough times I believe you can easily adjust it quickly before letting go with the right hand.

Daytona Magic still seems to have this in stock. http://www.daytonamagic.com/Stage%20Magi......G%20CANE

The Fantasio gimmick works well but, of course as Dynamike suggests, has to be added after the appearance - perhaps using a silk to 'clean' the cane as cover. It's better to have the gimmick a bit higher than lower as a top heavy cane will tank. Somebody should make an adjustable gimmick!

Thank you all for the information. I just got the McBride DVD so I will see if he explains it well enough to try making one myself and I can possibly use magnetics to make an adjustible one that will fit to my Tendo appearing cane. again many thanks.

Ive a method years ago.
wat I tried is I use a velcro sleeve so that can gauge the balancing before the show,
the sleeve has to be same color as the cane.
after the cane appears just slip this into the cane. (do this infront of the audience)
problem with my method is that the moves are limited.
you cant do the spin.
but ok for swing and around the head, or body.
pardon me if my explanation is not clear

You can easily adapt a Tenyo "Arcane" to be a good dancing cane. It uses a different method of expansion, and if pretty consistent in length. I'd imagine this would make a very practical, light and reliable dancing cane, and will allow for you to produce it magically at the beginning.

Magic Christian, of Austria, had a clever method of producing a vanishing cane, then later vanishing it. Since it is already extended you could rig it for a dancing effect easily. Then vanish it after. Don't forget Biro's rule... a Dancing cane routine shouldn't last more than 20-30 seconds. And you should be able to dance well.

With the dancing cane, I try to remember the adage that "less is more." I feel that many of the "moves" done with the dancing cane are repetitive anyway, so I shortened my routine considerably. It can be viewed at
http://members.cavtel.net/parmenides/cane.mov
Note too that it is performed under fairly normal lighting and lasts probably less than 20 seconds. As I explained in the pamphlet I sold at one time, it is more an interlude than a routine. (Apologies if I posted the video link before and just can't remember. I should also point out that my routine cannot be done with the traditional dancing cane setup.)

One of the most effective uses of a dancing cane that I ever saw was done by Mark Wilson in a Magic Land of Allakazam episode. He, Nani and Rebo had just entered a haunted house and the (invisible) poltergeist apparently grabbed the cane out of Mark's hand and it flew out of his hand before returning. That's it. Just one basic move. So it wasn't so much a dancing cane as a "haunted" cane. But it was very effective. And since I had not learned the working of the dancing cane, it fooled me badly. For the older readers, it is probably the way it would look if George or Marion Kirby grabbed a cane out of Cosmo Topper's hand. Come to think of it, Cosmo would look quite natural carrying a cane. The Topper character is probably trademarked, but would be an interesting idea for a magic act. I can see in my mind's eye Cosmo doing the multiplying bottles:-) Anyone know if Leo G. Carroll was an amateur magician like some other TV and movie stars?

Mark surprised me now and then with his ability to do real manipulative magic. I was impressed with his pressure fan in an episode that featured a four ace routine from one of Vernon's _Inner Secrets_ books. I'm not at home right now, so I can't check my library for the exact Vernon reference. I have some of the Allakazam videos that Mark sells on his website, but I don't think that particular episode is among them. Mark, if you're reading this, I'd love to see all the seasons of Allakazm released.

If the lighting is really bad, I substitute a simple magnetized cane effect that I got from Ottokar Fischer's _Illustrated Magic_. The cane never floats, but defies gravity by clinging to the fingertips, and the gimmick is probably no more than 3 inches. I found a way to make the cane cling to the back of the hand as well as the front. Since as I said my dancing cane routine is less than 20 seconds long, the magnetized cane fit the same time requirements pretty closely.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

Years ago I bought Fantasio's Dancing & Vanishing cane.

One of the problems with it as I recall was that the balance point would be slightly different everytime it was set and so the length of gimmick to make the effect work had to be altered for each performance.

Given that an appearing cane working on the same principle is almost certainly going to have a very slightly different length afer each appearance it's balance point is also going to be different everytime making it virtually impossible to effectively go straight into the dancing cane using the same gimmick.

I'm sure there are ways around this ( I can think of a couple off the top of my head) but whether the compromise in performance that this will cause is worth the end result is going to be something only practice, rehearsal and individual judgement can weigh up.

Neal

Sounds like a great idea for a routine to appear the cane first then dance it, but I agree that its probably a very difficult thing to manage because of the balance points. I think it MAY be worth the effort to get it working right.

Anyone doing this successfully? How well does it work and why?

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez - that's a great routine, are you using a fantasio vanishing cane for this routine? What kind of streamers are those? LOOKS GREAT!
Good job, and even in the very bright lighting, you can't see the gimmick.

Any tips on lighting? Too often magicians turn down the lights so much you can't even see the cane!


John

I used to make my own attachment rings for the dancing cane, which used a vanishing cane. I'd slip it over the cane, to the proper position, and it stayed put. I made them out of 1/2" wide electrical tape and lined them with construction paper.

A typical appearing cane is a bad choice for the routine, because the balance needs to be right.