Well you might have guessed what this post is about. If you didn't, I present you with yet another thread about Rocky the Raccoon.

See the thing is I have had Rocky for months but I still cannot think of how to use him in an act! I want to create a 10 minute act that includes Rocky in it the whole time and I want to have magic in the act. So far the only effect I can think of is using Daryl's Untouched effect (for explanation see Ammar's ETMCM Volume 3 I belive.)

What I thought about for the opening is walk out there with a cup, say from McDonalds or something, take a sip and then act like you swallowed something disgusting! Look at the audience and say, "ever get a hair in your food or in your drink? Man that is terrible!" Take another sip and the same thing happens again! "What is going on!?!?" Reach into the cup and start to pull out Rocky, "this looks like it will be more work then I thought!" and with that finish pulling him out.

I just can't think!

Chris

There are a few ways to go. There is a Zig Zag illusion made for Rocky. You can also use him to find a previously selected card (IE. cards in a bag and rocky comes out with a duplicate of the force stuck to his nose.

The coolest thing to do is put Rocky in some type of dangerous situation. Have him be the recipient of the bullet catch trick, or a knife throwing bit. Play the obvious humor to the hilt. (See the look of bravery on Rockys face).

Just some suggestions to get this thread going,

S. Patrick

Hmm...maybe combine the knife throwing with the chopping off of his head?

It will be mostly for adults so something like slamming him on a table or something will be ok because children won't be present...if they are then I cut that out!

Chris

I built a zig-zag just for Rocky. He doesn't like it even though he has come through unscathed every time.

I built the zig-zag before I knew there was one on the market. It is priced around $200, so I would not have dropped that much on a wooden box anyway.

I have some photos of it that I sent to Flourishdude some time ago when he was in the process of building one.

Wow that's funny Seismic. I had the same idea you had! Wow great minds think alike. Funny, I don't see my post in here at all, must have vanished?

Odd, well how about a butcher knife? You could chop his head off with a butcher knife then levitate it above the audience.

OK, how about a rabbit wringer? From there put the flat rocky in a cannon and "shoot" him into a box that was hanging from the ceiling? OK, it's a long way to go but it is funny when you think about it.

Dear Seismic:

Think about Rocky for a minute. It is a "live" animal! It can get into all kinds of props, bags and other things. Have a "Caution: Live Animal" sticker on your case. Things escalate from there.

I have a complete presentation that is funny, requires a lot of work initially, but is about four minutes of solid material. I can not describe it here, as I will need to tip some methodology. Write me back and I will give it to you, but first, really become great at Rocky's movements. He should wiggle and move at different speeds. He should appear to think, pause, look at the audience slowly, do a double take, etc. Master the skill of "real" movement, not just the eating, drinking, etc. Notice how a cat (before it pounces) will hunker down, its rear end will wiggle slightly as its leg muscles tense and it settles into a springing position. These are real animal movements you should be able to mimic with Rocky.

All good luck!

Here are two ideas for Rocky.

Have him check a coin to make sure its not a "wooden nickel", where he bites the coin and spits it out. I see magicians do this gag, but it plays great with Rocky.

Use Rocky to write a prediction after he eats a pencil. Use a gimmick to vanish the pencil while it appears he eats it, then use a swami attached to Rocky to predict whatever you choose. Rocky writes it down.

MM

Chris,
I think you would learn a lot from seeing David Williamson's rocky act. He is the greatest. Sooo funny. You definitely need comedy in the routine, that's the only way to go. As far as effects to do, there is an endless amount of stuff that rocky could do. Good luck with it and if you get a chance look up David Williamson

I did a torn and restored card up Rocky's... well you know the back end. I guess it could be funny if done for the right people but I just have not had anyone it would be good to do for yet.

Hi

Straight-jacket escape?
Impaled?
Use a knife in arm on Rocky?
Sword through neck?

Paula

Wow! I never dreamed there was more than one use for this thing.

Hey London, where do you find David Williamson's presentation of Rocky?

Another thing with the cup...My dad was a magician. When I was naughty he used to get his magic slipper and I would disappear, hey Rocky, I've brought my dad's slipper. Say to Rocky I'll go get it to make you disappear, Rocky shakes his head and jumps from your hands. (I will PM you if you don't know this working.) It's all smelly and old.

Do you want to see it? No okay well Rocky if you won't disappear, we'll make the audience disappear, 1...2...Weeks ago I did this and the audience never came back. But it's okay, I think I can bring you guys back, (I hope) 1...2...2 and a half...2...and a quarter...2 and a dollar...3. Cover Rocky's face with with cup. "Have they gone Rocky?" Rocky nods head.

Hope you like this.
Matt

By the way, that is really a kids' routine, but will play well for a family audience. Good luck.

Wow this post is nearly one year old, what was I thinking posting? I'm not needed .lol.
Matt

Mr Lucky --

You can see David Williamson do his Rocky Routine on "Sleight of Dave."

A great tape.

Dave

Hi Folks,

I was glad to find this thread because I'm having a lot of fun with that raccoon at the moment. I must be pretty obsessed, I actually bought mine a car (really).

I liked Chris' original idea of the hair in the cup. Bring him out wriggling and that's a nice opener.

Mr Muggle's ideas were very interesting, too. I, personally, would probably steer clear of putting him in boxes or impaling him (poor Rocky has had to sleep with the light on since he read paulajayne's post).

Cubreporter's post gives really great advice, (especially the hunkering down bit it gives real audience tension to a leap). I think, if you want to do some magic with Rocky it should involve Rocky's assets rather than stuffing him into an expensive prop.

I recently took Rocky out to table-hopping job at a banquet (tipsy posh folk) and was a little apprehensive of how he might be received but he went down really well. The routine I was doing was very basic magically, the trick was more of an excuse just to get Rocky out.

Routine for tables:
A card is picked by one of the group and returned to the deck, it is then given to them to shuffle and hold. I announce that I'm not too hot at card tricks but I have a world champion magician in my bag. Cue Rocky.

I introduce Rocky. I then do various bits of business depending on the group: funny looks, snuffling, scampering, answering questions, etc. While this is going on I get the volunteer to spread the cards face up on the table.

I stand beside the cards and start to explain to Rocky that he has to find the card. At this point I start doing the gag from the Rocky Raccoon Manual where he looks at a lady and starts wagging his tail. I start off with rocky looking at the cards and as I'm explaining he turns looks then wags. I remark something like, "Yes, I know you think that lady is very nice but concentrate on the cards".

He looks at the cards, looks at me then looks at the lady and wags again. The timing is important here but it's lots of fun if dividing Rocky's attention between the cards, yourself and the lady. I sometimes gently push his face towards the cards with a finger too but he doesn't like that.

To find the card he "shnuffles" around on the table. This looks very funny and as a bonus folks here's the gag that even I couldn't bring myself to use:

"You've heard of an expert card shuffler. Well, Rocky's the world's only expert card shnuffler." (Groan, did someone order a raccoon with cheese?)

Anyhow, he finds the card, pushes it towards the volunteer and raises his head for his/her approval.

That's about it, he might make a slight leap for the lady he's been eyeing up all night but not too frantic if there are wine glasses around because Rocky's pocket money might not cover the expense (says the oh-so-nearly voice of experience).

Hope that might be useful to someone, it's just something I put together as an excuse to try out Rocky on adults. My routine for kids with Rocky is a lot more polished.

George

Arm chopper seems like a sensible size and Rocky would fit in it.

Tom

Love the hair in the cup joke.

Since I have the stylish Reverse Mohawk, I am always looking for hair/no hair jokes.

You might even try gluing some of Rockys Hair that he sheds into a white paper cup.

Since I got Rocky II, (I call him Bob) I have been producing him from the 3 different colored hankerchiefs. (I think it was called This and That originally marketed to produce a champange bottle or something similar.

For a while I produced my Melodica(Think piano combined with a Wind Instrument) from the scarfs.

I look for ways to link magic and my nearly normal puppets.

I am thinking of getting or making a small tip over box to vanish him.

Enjoy the process.

Harris

If you are thinking of teh zig zzag - be careful - I bought one from RAR I think and have't been that happy with it. I find the angles ver tight - rocky is just very hairy and springy - its not as easy as it looks to get into a full zig zag position that you may see on a dealers table without flashing some fluff.

Flame throwing match (Majoral) and "Fart ignition"...Combine it
T

I modified my Rocky. I carefully dug a hole up under it's chin and placed a magnet behind his nose. Then just glue the hair over the hole.
Now he can actually pick up all sorts of items.
Adds a lot to the whole routine whether he's finding a card or picking up a coin.
It opens up a huge amount of possibilities.