Anyone got any ideas for tricks where a squirmle could be incorporated? Thinking in terms of it being introduced to 'sniff something out' or find a secretly chosen object, etc. or maybe being fired from a gun a la human cannonball or whatever. Seems that there must be more you could do with one in a routine than just have it run around your fingers.

Well, the Squirmle is actually a trick in itself, the whole effect being that it moves all by itself without any apparent means of support, and also moves when and exactly as you want it to.

And if you know the right moves, it can do a lot more than just run around in your fingers -- it can jump from one glass to another, crawl up and give you a kiss, jump through a CD or a hoop, do a double somersault, hide in your fist, and lots more.

I guess it could be combined with another trick in some way, like a card location, but I'm not sure why I would want to do that. It would be like trying to "combine" the Linking Rings with something else in order to make a bigger and supposedly better trick, in my opinion. In this respect, a squirmle is different from a Lippincott Box, for example, which is a utility item meant to be incorporated into other effects. SETH

I wouldn't personally think of a squirmle as a trick as such and I'm aware of what can be done with one on its own, having demonstrated them in a magic store as a teenager, but I don't see why it shouldn't be incorporated into a trick in the same way that a puppet can stand alone (well, perhaps using animatronics!) or can be used in conjuction with a trick or other bit of business. A similar example might be the use of a close-up trick in conjuction with pickpocketing - they can both be worked separately but one one can be used to complement and helps facilitate the other. I can't really see that a squirmle produced between tricks as a stand-alone piece would work in the context of my own show, however it may work well incorporated within a routine somehow. I wasn't suggesting that you should do the same, I was asking because that's what I'd like to do!

OK, I understand. Like I said, it may be that you could use it in a card location or as a bit of business, sort of like a Card Duck. Maybe someone on the Café will have some good ideas.

I agree that by itself, a squirmle isn't much of a trick, it's more of a novelty item, although it does take some skill to handle properly and is a good introduction to thread work. SETH

How good are you at Vent?

Reasonable I think...