I posted this in Ring, Strings, and Things, but then realized it's probably more appropriate here.

The person who showed it to me didn't know the history, as another magician had showed it to him.

The downside of this is that it does keep the spectator looking down as opposed to more up towards you / your face.

The benefits of this are:

1) The top to bottom orientation of the paddle is kept the same. So, when you have something like the bunny paddle as shown in the video demo, with the normal paddle move, and observant spectator might notice that the top hat is changing from right side up to upside down and back again.

2) The wrist movement actually makes it more convincing that you are turning the paddle over.

Here's what it looks like:

http://youtu.be/ORmi54mu6jo

Thanks,
Bart

It looks too contrived to me.

I think that all paddle moves are contrived. If you were going to show someone both sides of the paddle, the most natural way would be to just twist it around in your fingers.

And THAT is precisely what people SHOULD be doing.

Unfortunately, a lot of magicians I've seen perform the paddle move tend to show it in an unnatural up and down motion, rather than from side to side. What's more, they feel it's more convincing to show both sides about 20 bleedin times - it's as if they are on a runway trying to bring a plane into land!

You only need to show 'the other side'(?) ONCE, and do it slowly enough to enable what you are showing to actually sink in.

A tip I learnt from Ken Brooke many years ago was to keep your upper arm firmly locked against the side of your body (as if it was strapped to it) and only turn the paddle with a wrist action, NOT an arm movement. You have natural misdirection to cover the move built in - by showing spectators on the left, then the right, both sides. Another tip, to get into the habit of doing the move correctly, was to stand with your arm/side of your body, flat against a wall, until the move came naturally.

What I vehemently disagree with is magicians that say paddle tricks aren't very good. Really?

Go out and perform Jimmy Rogers' 'I'll Start Again' and/or Pat Page's 'Money Paddle' and you may just change your point of view.

High Five, Merc Man!

Plus I would venture to say that this handling and most others have been "created" and "re-created" by just about every performer who has seriously worked on a paddle-type effect.

Julie

Sorry, but I don't do 'high fives'. They simply aren't British.

However, I'd willingly shake hands.

This is a variation on "The Dagger Sleight" from The Secret Out. It's fairly new -- only about 160 years old.

Used in the right way, I don't see anything wrong with a move like that.

That's the key -- used in the RIGHT way. As others have pointed out, showing both sides of the paddle several times is unconvincing. Show one side, then turn it over. That's all you need to do.

I remember that we used to call things like the over use of the paddle move, being greedy with a principle!