Stupid Clown Noses

I’m a big fan of “situational” magic. Maybe a better word for it is “incidental” magic. For example, you’re hanging out with your friends, and one of them points out that your shoe is untied. So rather than bending over to tie your show, you just shake your foot a couple of times, and BAM! Your shoe is tied. You “find” a smashed “empty” soda can on the ground and pick it up . . . a moment later the can has “healed” and “sealed” itself. I think most of us love this kind of stuff. Here’s a stupidly simple idea to take advantage of the upcoming holiday . . . yep Halloween is about a month away.

In a nutshell, the next time you’re at a costume party or you’re out and about trick or treating with your kids (or friends), and you see a clown, borrow his nose. Then perform a sponge ball routine with it. That’s the short version.

Let’s take a look at a few important points:

• Types of Noses
• The Effects
• Types of Sponges
• The Approach

Types of Noses

First, there are two main types of clown noses. One type – the type we’re hoping for – is the one that looks like a sponge ball with a split in it. The other is the the plastic type that looks more like an old school football helmet for the nose. This type looks nothing like a sponge ball. However, almost always, the clown nose will be red regardless of the type of nose you encounter.

So you have two choices when it comes to the plastic nose. One choice is to simply not perform an effect with that nose, and hope that a sponge ball clown shows up. The other choice, however is to borrow it anyway and change it into a sponge ball.

The Effects

When it comes to the effects you can perform, there are obviously infinite choices, but might I suggest you NOT perform your full standard set. Rather, stick to a couple of simple effects.

Color Changing Nose

This is probably my favorite idea. Simply have a pocket full of yellow (or any other non-red) sponge balls that you’ve slit like like a clown nose. Then borrow the nose (more on that in The Approach section below). From there, do your favorite color change and give the sponge back.

You could have a couple of different colors handy in different pockets and ask the clown “if you could have any other color nose, what would it be.” He says green. You then perform a vanish and claim that the nose magically went to your pocket. Using the hand with the hidden (supposedly vanished) nose, reach into the pocket that has the hidden green nose. Finger palm it, and come out with the red one at your finger tips. From there perform your favorite color changing nose move.

The prep for this would be something like this: a bunch of green noses in your left front pocket; a bunch of yellow noses in your right front; orange in your back right; black in your back left; maybe a couple more in your coat pocket if you’re wearing one. Then your vanish will change based on the color they name. If they name a color on your right side, you’ll need to perform a vanish that apparently puts the nose in your left hand while secretly hiding it in your right hand. And of course, vice versa for the case where they name a color on the left side. If they don’t name a color you have on you, just pick a color and go with it.

Finally, you may want to try to get your hands on a rainbow sponge ball (if it even exists) and just go with the old gag that the color they named is on the nose somewhere. Scott Strange released a DVD called Odd Balls that has some pretty cool color changes. You may want to consider picking that up for some ideas.

Clone Nose

This is a simple idea. Just borrow the nose, and “split it” into two (or more sponges). I wouldn’t do much more than that. The moment you’ve got more than one nose in play, stop. So I would opt for either simply splitting the nose into two or . . . I would have 3 or 4 palmed in my hand. Then I would borrow the nose, and place it in the clown’s (or someone else’s) hand (along with the other noses) and claim that I was going to cause the nose to vanish while in their hands. But of course, instead it multiplies.

Healed and Sealed

Finally, I think a really fun effect would be to heal the nose. For this, simply have a regular red sponge ball on hand. Borrow the nose, and using your favorite switch or “color change” you cause the split in the nose to heal.

Types of Sponges

When it comes to clown noses, the sponge ones are typically the firmer type of sponges. In other words, your super soft sponge balls probably won’t match very well. Also, you may want to make a point of going to a costume shop and purchasing a clown nose to get a feel for the size and the firmness. Then purchase that particular size and firmness from your favorite magic dealer.

The Approach

Obviously, asking a clown to take off their nose and give it to you isn’t the most natural thing to do. However, it’s easy enough with a simple line or two. Here are a few examples of what you might say:

“I love your costume, particularly the nose. It’s one of those color changing noses, right?” It’s a weird thing to say, but interesting enough to get the clown’s attention. To ease their incredulity, offer to show them what you’re referring to.

If it’s someone you know well enough, you might go with something like this: “So you decided to go with the red nose, heh? Did you know that traditionally clown’s noses were actually yellow. It made it so much easier to see from a distance. Let me help you.” Borrow the nose and change it.

For a split, you may go with something like this: “Hey I was thinking of being a clown too, but I couldn’t find a nose. Could I borrow yours? Just for a second.” Then split it into two and give him back his original one as you don your newly created one. Or you could go with the multiple nose production, and say “Thank you. Now I have enough noses for the next few Halloweens.”

Final Thoughts

A nice little touch you can do to really sell the effect is to have your noses prepared in advance with some traces of white make up on them. Odds are that the clown will be wearing white face paint make up. There’s a good chance that some of it will rub off onto the nose. So, put some smudges on all of your portable noses. Then if you do a color change, you can casually point out the make up on the nose before the change. Then after the change, you can (again, casually) mention the make up on the “just changed” nose as proof(?) that the nose really(?) changed.

Here are a few final things to consider. First, do not simply vanish the nose. The whole point of this experiment/concept is to do something that seems more impossible because you borrowed the object. A simple vanish of an object can be done with anything. However, the fact that you have on you a duplicate of something that they personally own makes this concept and the effects you can do seem so much more impossible.

Secondly, it is critical that they never know that you have any sponges on you. In other words, don’t simply borrow their nose, and then pull out two more from your pocket and perform your three ball sponge ball routine. The moment you show them that you’re carrying around a clown nose in your pocket, the illusion is lost.

A third thing to consider is that you may want to keep a few different sizes on you for the case of a clown nose that’s a different size. It just depends on how Malini-esque you want to be.

Finally, beware of real clowns. As you know, the clown is our distant cousin at the family reunions. Many clowns know about sponge ball magic. So if you happen to run into someone who’s wearing their “uniform” as their Halloween costume, they’re not the best candidate for this. Further, you’re really looking for people who have no idea that you’re a magician. Then it becomes totally surreal. Some random guy borrows a clown nose, and caused it to completely change into whatever color the clown named.

This concept has the potential to be a real miracle. I’ll leave you with this last thought. Consider other common Halloween costumes or what might be popular this year based on what movies are big. E.g., Iron Man, Marvel Comics in general, Superman, Batman, Pirates, Harry Potter (always a good choice), etc. Based on these costumes, what effects could you perform? What could you secretly have at the ready?

You might consider performing Alex Moffat’s Broken & Restored Glasses with borrowed Harry Potter glasses. There are so many other ideas if you look for them.

Please take a minute and share them in the comments section below.