I thought the classic Schneider coin matrix might fuse some ideas.



A presentation that I came up with years ago is to tell the story of four silver eagles, who were the last of their kind.



One of these eagles, who’s name is "Coy", has been seen gambling with the neighboring vultures, and you know what a shady lot they are.



The remaining silver eagles are quite concerned about Coy getting shot by hunters, while traveling to the nest of the vultures.



In the end, Coy convinces the other eagles that it’s actually very safe, as long as they travel at night, under the cover of darkness (the cards).



_________________

Life is not a problem to be solved...

but a mystery to be lived.

I like that, sounds pretty cool !!!!

Great!!!, Steve.



Just to spin it.



Silver Eagles could also be fighter pilots. The cards are clouds. What ensues?



Jump in everybody!



Tom

While I don’t think that EVERY trick has to have a "story," or every prop has to represent something else, I do have storylines for many of my routines.



One of the matrix routines I do is about Dr. Albert Coinstein (first coin), the noted scientist, who developed a revolutionary new paint that made objects (and anything on those objects) invisible.



To test the product, he bought three motor scooters (limited budget) and enlisted the aid of three friends (other three coins).



They all waited in their houses (cards) with observers around each house, until the appointed hour, when they were to drive to the Dr’s house. As each left, the observers heard the putt-putting of the scooters, but when they looked in the houses (lift cards), the friends were gone, and seem to have arrived at the Dr’s house for a big celebration party.



At midnight, they all went home (Reverse matrix). Unfortunately, when they awoke, they all had hangovers, and no one could remember where the invisible scooters had been parked. Worse, the Dr. couldn’t remember the formula, which, as luck would have it, he’d written in invisible ink!



_________________

Scott F. Guinn

Great Scott! It’s Magic!

Great...Scott,



Wasn't sure where that was going but it sounds like a fun little ditty.



You're right, not all magic needs a story. That is not the intention of this forum.



That any routine could have a story and sharing some crazy ideas is all that is wished here.



Tom Cutts

I didn't mean to imply otherwise, and hope I haven't offended you. I have just seen people who DO think that EVERY effect has to represent something which represents something else, etc. It can get pretty tedious very quickly!

To be sure, some effects don't need any stories, items appear! Vanish! etc.



I don't think Tom was offended (right Tom? ), he was just reminding everyone that this particular forum is about stories & presentations. I just love magic, don't you?

Oh, I offend myself often enough throughout the day, one would have to try pretty hard to match that Feel free to speak your mind with me, greatscott.



Kidding aside, I just want people to feel totally free to add as much or little, as goofy or serious here as they want. No judgments because the "worst" idea might trigger the best.



Disclaimer: A performance needs texture. I think that is what GreatScott is alluding to.



I have seen people who do just story magic and to make it worse they are all the same kind of story. I have also seen people who tell this long, near boring, story just to get to the little magic trick/punchline.



Texture is created by change. Hitting different emotions and senses. Eye candy, stories, seriousness, humor, delight, sadness, love ...on and on, all can have a place in magic as they do in song.



Let this be the breeding ground for such excursions.





Peace, Love, and Magic,



Tom Cutts

Being such a Queen…FAN! I am a fan of the group Queen. I always thought to edit their song “The Show Must Go On” to fit my matrix routine. I mean to say I would edit and do it as patter, but I guess you could use the song itself. I really have to learn to edit myself and not type what I am thinking…Doughnuts ..mmm. Alas, I never have, so maybe some of you will. Here are the lyrics, as far as I know.



Empty spaces - what are we waiting for

Abandoned places - I guess we know the score

On and on

Does anybody know what we are looking for



Another hero another mindless crime

Behind the curtain in the pantomime

Hold the line

Does anybody want to take it anymore



The show must go on

The show must go on

Inside my heart is breaking

My make-up may be flaking

But my smile still stays on



Whatever happens I'll leave it all to chance

Another heartache another failed romance

On and on

Does anybody know what we are living for

I guess I'm learning

I must be warmer now

I'll soon be turning round the corner now

Outside the dawn is breaking

But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free



The show must go on

The show must go on - yeah

Ooh inside my heart is breaking

My make-up may be flaking

But my smile still stays on

Yeah oh oh oh



My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies

Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die

I can fly - my friends



The show must go on - yeah

The show must go on

I'll face it with a grin

I'm never giving in

On with the show



I'll top the bill

I'll overkill

I have to find the will to carry on

On with the

On with the show



The show must go on

Wow tc, now that's an interesting approach.

The song...not the doughnuts.

Has anyone thought of doing a matrix with food?

Slices of bread & tomato slices perhaps?

cheese & crackers?

Sort of 'Hopping Fried Eggs'??

I have one Sunny-side-up egg and one over-easy egg. I take away the over-easy and that leaves....



Great idea and they already come with the shells!





Tom Cutts

matrix with food-

for sleight of hand methods- oreo cookies

for shell applications- reeces pieces

but lets not forget early versions of chink-a-chink used sugar cubes

do matrix with hot babes from the playboy club all ending up at your house (you can do the reverse when your wife makes you send them all back)

For those with a fascination for the underworld, how about the matrix as a story about car thieves, a la Gone in Sixty Seconds?



Jim

Almost 10 years ago (in fact, it WAS 10 years ago this month), I put a Matrix routine in my Showtime column in the Linking Ring magazine, based on the old Abbott and Costello "Who’s On First" skit.



Why is the Matrix always done in a square?

I changed it to a diamond shape and it became a baseball diamond for Bud and Lou’s classic routine.

The cards are the bases and the coins are the players: Who, What, and I Don’t Know.

You get the idea.



Dig up the routine if you want (it’s on the Net) and run with it. It has been described in some knowledgeable circles as the funniest comedy routine ever written.

(I’d publish my whole routine here but it was in my pre-computer days and I don’t have it on disc)

cheers,

Peter Marucci

showtimecol@aol.com

How about a matrix routine based on "The Matrix?
A phone rings- the coin is gone, back to the secret base.
Two more rings- two more transports.
Slow motion gags...
Now how do we get the air to shimmer?

I do a matrix called Lincoln's Silver, that I created about a month ago. The story goes like this: Lincoln is always looking for silver for some reason. But he keeps looking in the wrong places(vanishes, transpo's). At the end when the coins are in under one card, a giant penny is found under the other card. Comments?

In the mid-seventies, when I learned my first matrix, which I still do, I use to talk about the coins having been minted from the same piece of metal so they had an connection to themselves... like quardruplets. I stopped doing that when I realized the effect was startling enough without the snappy patter.
Greg