SO I was wondering how many of you work a bar? I know a few cool bar gags and betchas such as creating a pyramid with two matches one connected in the book and one balanced against that one (forming a triangle) with a quarter under the loose match. The trick is to remove the quarter without the match falling. It's a GREAT trick. Then I know another ADULT oriented puzzle with 5 cocktail straws that's VERY funny. I was wondering what some of the bar workers in here consider some of their favorite gags/fillers and not necessarily magic. Because people don't necessarily need magic the entire time to be entertained.

Simon Lovell's books have a few bar bet/gas in them; any dog called for, pen through tongue, sebastian the mind reading chicken, matchbox betcha, matchbox betcha 2, and a few more. There was also a cool bit in the april 2004 issue of genii with bob read on the cover using the old hitting your teeth with a glass bit. And if you want a whole book of smaller bits and gags then check out martin gardner's encylopedia of impromptu magic.

There is a small book you might enjoy called "The World's Best Simple Bar Tricks" by Doug Lansky.

It is only $9 at amazon.com

Amamzon Link

I am not a bar worker, but the napkin rose has had a good reaction when I have made one (simon lovell has a very nice story about this aswell). Never tried it with the fancy coloured napkins you can buy specially for this. I just used whatever was at hand in the bar/restaurant.

"Bar Crab", "Bar Towel Chicken", "Smoke and Fire"!

Cheers!

Here is a thread that ties into this a little

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......;forum=4

I love the bar crab and the towel chicken is hillarious. I also have a Harry Anderson book on this kind of stuff. I just recently became more interested in just simple bar gags and fun stuff to do at a bar rather than just the magic because it doesn't always have to be magic entertaining them.

Stanyon,

For years I have tried to find the solution to the "Towel Chicken"

How the heck do they....?

I ordered one of Tannen's "mystery boxes" once. Most of what you got was left overs they couldn't sell if they tried. I did get the secret to a mentalism trick that I might remake with better props. But one of the things I got was an "adult" trick called "This 'n That" You spell out T H I S and then T H A T explaining that some people like a bit of this and some a bit of that but that you personally perfer a bit of the other. (Flip over the "I" card and now it has a picture of a pretty girl, actually a rather cheezy piece of clip art.) But keep it under your H A T (lay out the cards spelling out the word hat) because if the wife finds out you'll be in deep * * * *! (The Café engine won't let me finish this, but you take the picture of the girl and the "A" in hat, switch them and flip them over!) The "A" has an "S" on the other side and the pretty girl has an "I" so I think you can figure it out for yourself.

Cute trick, not for all audiences, but I wasn't offended. I did wonder though if this should have been included in a miscellaneous box of tricks the way it was!

The Greater Artful Dodges of Eddie Fields has a number of great bar bets, as does the Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic by Martin Gardner. If you happen to find a copy of the compilation of Chap's Scrapbook by Frank Chapman - BUY IT. It is, without a doubt, one of the finest collections of do-able magic I have ever read and it has a large selection of "betcha's" in it as well.

It's (Chap's Scrapbook) out of print, but, if you can find it, it's worth ANY price, in my opinion.

Lee Darrow, C.H.

Dan Harlan's mindbogglers are filled with this kind of material, all good stuff.

I also reccomend mindbogglers by Dan Harlan. Great stuff in it. I have had the chance to use some of the material with some of my fellow wrestlers. The greatest is the bra bet though.

Betcha I can push this Deck of cards (in a box) Through this ring (borrowed) by only using this penil. !! Take the ring, put it on the pencil, and then poke at the box of cards, pushing it along. I thank Bob Elliot for this.

Worked as a bartender for 4 years, the betchas used to be people's favorites... a couple of my all time favorite are :
- drinking from a shot that is under an inverted shaker using a straw WITHOUT my hands touching the shaker.

-adult oriented : how to get a girl to spread her legs further without using ur hands (a toothpick represents the girl)

- using that "shiny" paper inside the cigarette pack : two girls, you have to prove which one is naughty and which one is not....

One of my favorite gags is telling someone you will give them 20 dollars if they let you crack 2 eggs on their head. if they agree, take out 2 eggs, and crack the first one on their head. then take the second and walk away.
its a great gag, and you get to crack an egg on someone, but keep your money.

make sure you do this to someone you know, so you won't get into a fight or anything...ive been there, not fun.

zim

Not very nice but...

Get a piece of paper.
Using a quarter as a guide, take a pencil and draw a couple of dark circles on the paper.
The basic bet is that they have to guide the quarter from their forehead, off the tip of their nose and have it touch one of the circles.

* When you draw the circles you allow the lead to fill the milled edges of the quarter. A wood pencil would be best.
Have them try it off their cheek too.
After a couple of attempts, the person will have dark lines on their face.
Now you run like hell!

Reminds me of a pair of x-ray binoculars I owned! LOVED THEM!

doing that tomorow! lol thanks Jaz!

This gag was demonstrated on Andrew McCarthy in the classic 1983 film, "Class".

And on an episode of "Friends."

I'm not surprised it's been seen before.
Someone showed this to me around 35 years ago.