I wish to draw your attention to the following thread:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......01&3

I figured/hoped that you, as the "story tellers" of the Café, may be able to help me out.

Thanks

I posted an answer to that riddle over at the original listing.

Here is a riddle for you:

You'll find me in cradle,
You'll find me in grave,
You'll find me in master,
But never in slave.
You'll find me in danger,
But never in death,
But nevertheless I am in your last breath.

What am I?

It is:

Something you'll find in cradle,
Something you'll find in grave,
Something you'll find in master,
Something never in slave.
Something you'll find in danger,
Something You'll never find in death,
And Something that is in your last breath.

The letter 'R'?

As I just posted in the original thread, I'm hoping we can find something that is not of the "find-the-answer" challenge type. This makes it purely into a puzzle I'm afraid. Maybe me calling it a "riddle" is misleading. I'm hoping we can find some kind of story or similar where a feeling of impossibility is evoked. I don't know if it is possible, but considering the many techniques of double talk, suggestion and so on, I think this just may be an untapped area for us.

I really appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

I think it's the letter "R" but I'm confused about "it is in your last breath"...........

What about time-travel stories? Those often seem impossible with people meeting themselves or preventing their parents from having kids or stepping on a bug in the prehistoric past and returning to their own time to find that homo sapiens has evolved with 3 arms, a tail, and a third eye on the back of their heads.

(Mental_Mike: there's an 'r' in breath - I think it fits)

This has always evoked a feeling of mystery in me. It crops up from time to time on the various bizarre forums:

Yesterday upon the stair

I saw a man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh how I wish he’d go away.

Bill my friend, in deed a creepy yet beautiful one. Thank you. Your suggestion makes me wonder if poetry may be the way to go? Perhaps poetry is particularly suitable for bizarrists, as fear or creepyness is (I guess) what is striven for?

I wonder if it is possible to create a paradox in the sense where they feel "How the heck...?" Maybe the abstraction of words themselves (i.e. as symbols or representations of reality) does not permit this? After all, if they just think we are lying or making it up, then there is no impossibility. (Is that the equivalent of suspecting trickery in a magic performance?)


I find the time concept Law mentions appealing. No idea how to approach it. Or maybe just an idea anyway; A popular (?) thing in films is to have some kind of fantasy by the protagonist (the good guy) to manifest itself in reality with some kind of physical evidence. E.g. he dreams of his deceased loved one, and as he wakes up, the rose he got from her in the dream actually rests on the pillow next to him. Now, I don't mean we should turn this into a "production of a rose"-trick. I'm thinking that perhaps it is possible to find some weirdness or anomaly in reality and construct a story around it. Then when told, the weirdness is merely introduced in the end as physical evidence of the story.

I just came to think of the fantastic Ronald Dahl (?) story about the guy with the lighter that involved a bet about it working flawlessly ten times in a row, where the protagonists little finger was at stake. If you know the story I'm referring to, you hopefully also remember the climax with the antagonist’s wife coming by. Imagine re-making this story and ending by showing your own hand that really has a cut off finger (if you in deed have one... Meir Yedid?). Maybe even downplaying it, by showing your finger only later as if by accident. (...Now, if I only had a defect like that...)


I'm sorry, not much of a "time-theme" as Law suggested, but it did spark the idea of being able to also include the past. A most valuable understanding for me, I think. Thanks Law.

Also, the "tangible evidence" idea is of course only a sidetrack anyhow. (Felt nice with the finger idea because of no real prop involved), but I hope we can find something that evokes the feeling of miracle with only words. ...if possible...


Let's keep it rolling Guys.

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
the reason why, I cannot tell,
but this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.

That's one for a lead in to people who have feelings about someone that turn out to be right. Perhaps a "find the murderer" effect?

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://ww.leedarrow.com

One that always affected me was:


Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.


"Richard Cory" - Edwin Arlington Robinson

Perhaps a story could be developed into why he did what he did. Demon possession, vision of hell, etc?

Just my 0.02,

Dave

I have an effect where you show three coffins, one has a skeleton in it. They are laid face down and the poem recited goes like this:
Wine of blood
Bones for bread
Cast a shadow
To wake the dead.
When the coffins are turned over, they are empty and the little skeleton is inside a deck of tarot cards.
My point? That the poem part, recited in a chant with the specs, adds a serious creepiness that releases itself when the coffins are shown empty. The poem was used for the first time on a whim, and added so much depth to the routine that it is now an undeniable part of the effect.
All hail the power of prose!

Goethe had the experience once of meeting his doppelganger. He even wrote a poem about it. That is really spooky!

I'll see if I can find it. I probably have it somewhere. When I do, I'll post a translation.

Just for fun...

What kind of government do we have? (say your answer)

recite our pledge of allegiance out loud

What kind of government do we have?

Did you notice anything?

Yes, I hear some wordplay about "Republic" vs. "Democracy" that doesn't belong in this forum.

Okay Mage of Meadows... can you provide a similar example of a question whose answer is spoken yet is most often not available even after being spoken? My example was about the words. No politics intended.

My apologies for overreacting to your question. I've seen too many alt.* threads hijacked by exactly what you wrote.

I'll have to think a little bit on your question. Nothing really comes to mind.

Although now, thinking deeper about your question, I can see your question clearer. The immediate answer is "overwritten" in our heads by the simple reciting of a phrase.

Not exactly a direct answer, but I like the Max Maven routine where he has everyone in the audience "Do exactly as I say" and then give a simple set of instructions and demonstrates with physical gestures that ultimately don't match his words. Most of the audience is "caught" following his actions, not his words.

Matias,
Thank you for reminding me about the gambler story with the chopped off fingers. I see great potential in this for my act. Im trying to put together an act where every effect is part of a story. Have any of you ever read "The face on the barroom floor? It's a rather lengthy poem but could be awesome as a magic story/effect.

A good one from a tombstone:



Mind you well,
as you walk by:

As you are now,
So once was I.

As I am now,
So you shall be.

Prepare yourself,
to follow me.

And a good one to remember...

Enjoy life. I hope this message finds you all well.

Dave Xanatos