I was thinking about using one just wondering if anyone here does? And if they can offer any tips. (Lighting issues, DVDs , what canes are good and which are just plain bad etc)

God Bless
J Rodriguez

Before you decide to invest a lot of time and money in the Dancing Cane, see what has become of it in the world of dancing "muggles" by doing a search for "levitation flow wands".

Thanks for the link ...I think I may pick one up as a quick "stunt/trick ". The flow wands look great but leaning towards a regular looking cane.

God Bless
J Rodriguez

Problem with all these effects is if you don't have the right lighting you give away the method

I agree with Krowboom. I've always avoided doing a Dancing Cane routine because my performance venues are mostly school assemblies and daycare classrooms, where the lighting is bright and the gimmick would be too visible. Someone I know did his dancing cane at a library show and bombed terribly. All the kids yelled out that they could see the "wire". Needless to say, he never did it again. (And incidentally, this performer was never hired by that librarian again).

There are some alternatives to the dancing cane that might be appropriate for venues where the lighting or the background are too bright.

One of my favorite effects is "The Floating Cane" from Ottokar Fischer's _Illustrated Magic_ as shown here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=......&theater

Another option that would fit for many venues is the "Rising Wand in Bottle" as shown in this scan from a program for Silvan's magic show:
https://www.facebook.com/338764602812514......&theater
(I know the Rising Wand is explained in many children's books and other books for the public, but so are a lot of other tricks/routines that are featured by well-known magicians--like the Sponge Balls and the Linking Rings.)

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

I have avoided the Dancing cane because I do mostly birthday and school shows and would be hard to hide the gimmick.
I do the appearing cane with a red silk handkerchief and a red appearing cane, and it always gets a gasp when I do it for kids; you just have to practice to make sure you catch it regularly. That's an amazingly visual and startling trick that's a great opener effect, or closer, or goes great with the Bigger Wands routine as the trick you're trying to get to work.