Hey all
I recently purchased a CW Duck. Everything works great but the routine that came with it is, blah. Can anyone direct me to a nice routine in a book or otherwise? Kids or adult it doesn't matter. I thought there would be something in Ginn's Kidbiz or Pro Magic For Children but there is not.
Thanks!
Newman

Is this the clairvoyant duck from Viking magic? If it is, it sounds funny to me especially the blindfolding the duck part.

What other sorts of personality can you give the duck? I dressed mine as a gypsy fortune teller and she does Tarot readings. Designing the costume was great fun, though I ended up spending too much on jewelry...

Marc

It is the Viking one. Yea, already have a blindfold for it. Not so much worried about the costume but looking for a full routine.
Any help appreciated!

How about spelling a child's name or the name of an item that is forced with alphabet cards. Use number cards to give a total of a previous addition trick, as in Predict-a-total. Predict the outcome of a playing card and have a card picked by the duck, force the card and then turn around the card in the ducks mouth. Use Old Maid cards to pick a matched pair that is forced. I made my blindfold for the duck out of spring metal, as in strapping. Bend around head and fasten felt discs to the strapping steel with double stick tape. The strapping I used was 1/2 inch wide. It is easy to go on and off. Hope this gives you an idea or two.

Dan
Great ideas. Not quite sure what you mean by spring metal but I get the general idea...
Newman

I think Marc's point was the costume was a great starting point for creating a routine.

[quote]On 2011-01-26 13:06, NashvilleNewman wrote:
Dan
Great ideas. Not quite sure what you mean by spring metal but I get the general idea...
Newman

The spring metal would be like the metal banding around pallets. It comes in different widths, I used the 3/4 inch banding. Any Metal with a little spring in it to grip the head of the duck will do.

Yes,thank you Magicgeorge. I'd find some way to give the duck some visual character, beyond a blindfold. For me, the gypsy was a way to introduce tarol into magic for adults or family audiences without making it seem heavy. The trick involves a card location, and a reading with three cards, the third one being the one freely chosen by the spectator. The duck "bobbing" for the card in inherently funny, I find, but I also find that many spectators are way more interested in the telling of the fortune than the card trick, because it's about them.
Could the duck become an enchanted princess? Or maybe a pirate duck with an eye patch and a parrot on his shoulder? Seems like those would be ways to take this simple, cute prop and really make something more personal out of it.

Marc

Oops, that's tarot, of course. These old eyes are going.

Marc

An obvious suggestion is to use alphabet cards rather than regular playing cards, especially for very little kids, but for adults as well. Before introducing the card duck routine itself, you could do some tricks with the alphabet deck. I force the E and Z on two kids and throw in a line like, "This is going to be easy... E! Z! Were those your cards?" I show the letter "I" and change it to some other letter, explaining that the secret is that "The hand is quicker than the 'I'!" If it's a birthday party, I use the alphabet deck and the Audley Walsh Long Distance Side Spinner from Tarbell to make the letters of the birthday child's name fly out of the deck. As long as you have the Alphabet Deck (or even a standard deck of cards) you might as well use it for other routines, not just the duck.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

You can use old maid cards...even hockey trading cards for boys...I don't think kids relate well to playing cards.

The cards you choose to present can influence the "Character" of your duck.

My very best advice is NOT to do a routine. Read the routines, of course. But THEN take information from them and make something unique to you.

Sometimes I think about segments in the presentation. Why is the duck blindfolded? WHY is it looking for your card? How did it start doing this stuff. It's a fabulous prop. Simply fabulous. Enjoy. You own a true classic!

David

David / Sonny / Marc
Thank you so much for your insight. It's honestly been years since I've done magic. Need to get the creative juices flowing again. I worked at Hank Lees for quite some time when I was young then went to college and kind of grew out of it. I have a 2 year old now and I'm really looking forward to getting back into it so I can pass down this amazing hobby to him.
And yes. The duck is a wonderful piece of magic!