Money To Burn
I really can’t believe I’m doing this. What you are about to read is right out of my latest e-book, Stone Frixion Fire. This is one of the many ideas you’ll find in this book. The book, for the unfamiliar, is entirely dedicated to ideas and effects that can be done with a Frixion® Pen – Heat Sensitive Ink. Frixion pens can be found at most office supply stores or at Staples Online. When heat is applied to the ink, it vanishes.
Effect:
A piece of crumpled up “tissue” paper is placed on top of a drawing of a dime. The paper is lit on fire and bursts into flames. When the flames clear, the drawing has vanished, and in its place is an actual tangible dime.
Method:
The dime is hidden inside the crumpled up piece of “tissue” Paper (aka Flash Paper). The drawing is Frixion® ink. The end.
Setup:
Have pre-drawn on the back of your business card (or any piece of paper) three coins. Just simple circles with the value written in will suffice. I use a quarter, dime and nickel. See photo to the below.
The dime, of course, is drawn with Frixion® ink, and the other two coins are not.
Keep in mind that I am using two different colors only to represent the Frixion® (red) and non-Frixion® (blue) ink. In real performance, all ink (Frixion® and non-Frixion®) will be the same color.
Have a dime wadded up inside a piece of flash paper. This is harder than you might think. You want the flash paper to look like a ball. If you’re not careful, it’ll end up looking exactly like what it is: a piece of paper with a dime in it.
You don’t want the bottom of the wad to be flat. For this, I’ll sometimes use two sheets of flash paper or a piece torn from the larger sheets. Flash paper is a bit translucent. You don’t want to be able to see the color or the shape of the dime. The wad of paper occasionally wants to “un-wad” itself. To prevent this, you can use the tiniest bit of magician’s wax to hold things together.
Money to Burn Presentation
Script: You’ve probably all heard the expression, ‘I’ve got money to burn,’ Right?
Action: Wait for response.
Script: Well, that’s me . . . Mr. Money to Burn! In fact, I’ll prove it.
Action: Pull out the business card with the drawings on it.
Script: I’ve got three coins here. Put your right index finger on one of the coins.
Action: If he puts it on the dime, great; if not, then say:
Script: Now place your left index finger on another one.
Action: If he doesn’t put it on the dime then it’s perfect. You place the wad of paper down on the dime and have him remove his fingers. If he covers the dime on the second round, then you say:
Script: You’re covering two coins. In a moment, on instinct, I want you to remove one of your fingers and place it behind your back.
Action: If he uncovers the dime, great, put the flash paper on it and have him remove his other hand. If he uncovers the non-dime, then that will leave him with one finger on the dime. You then say:
Script: Great, we’ll use the one you’ve selected. Lift up your finger so I can burn it.
Action: The above is yet another laugh moment. Place the flash paper on the dime.
Script: I’m glad you chose the dime. I can’t afford to burn much more than that. Of course this dime is burnable because it’s paper.
Action: Light the flash paper.
Script: But a real dime, made of metal, cannot burn.
Action: Time the above words with the appearance of the dime. Be prepared for a moment of deep astonishment!
Notes:
The reason I put the dime in the middle is because it’s the most likely place that the spectator will put his finger on the first shot. However, if on the first shot, one of the outer coins is touched, the likelihood that the other “outer” coin will be touched with the other finger increases.
Regarding the loading of the flash paper, rather than laying the dime flat in the paper, having the dime on its edge in the flash paper will cause it to fall over once the flash paper vanishes. This gives the illusion of the drawing truly coming to life . . . much more of that proverbial oomph.
Presentational Points
By Wesley James
If the denominations were penny, nickel, dime, with the dime in the middle, the likelihood of the dime being selected would increase because it would also be the highest denomination coin.
If you’re willing to work a bit harder you could tear off and crumble up a piece of tissue paper that looks like flash paper and switch it for your prepared piece of flash paper with the dime inside.
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