Evening all,

I'm very interested in learning the effect called rolling-an-invisible-cigarette-which-is-then-lit-and-voila-there's-a-real-cigarette. I think that's the name. I have recently seen a couple of magicians do this effect which were so-so (the techniques were fine, but the acting was terrible), but that did trigger a distant memory of being blown away by this old magician's version. It would certainly suit my character.
Are there many versions where you use a lighter?

Many pre-response thanks for any input.

Tarbell Course has a great method.
Vito Lupo also has a great method in his lecture notes.
Do you really need to light it?
Become anti-smoking and just vanish it up your nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYaweb44fe8

I use this in my platform act (when I can, due to non-smoking rules, etc.)

Saw John Cornelius do this many years ago and have used it ever since......

And yes, I use a lighter to light the cigarette paper I roll up (flash paper), which then transforms into a real cigarette.

It's a great trick, IMHO.

Gary beat me to the Tarbell reference. It is a good one. There are also other various methods out there, the best of which combine pure sleight of hand with some good acting and routining.

If you want to do this without actually lighting the cigarette, you could combine the invisible rolling and the appearance part (and even the flash paper) with Smoke by Alan Rorrison. Another thing you can do with Smoke is to roll the invisible cigarette, which never physically appears, but you still blow smoke out of your mouth as if there was a real one.

I hope this suggestion gives you ideas and is useful to you.

"Phantom Cigarette" Tarbell vol. 2, page 143 (uses a matchbox)
"George Sand's Phantom Cigarette" Tarbell vol. 6, page 353 (uses a matchbook)
"The Phantom Cigarette" Modern Magic Manual, page 204 (uses a shoe; yes, you read that right)
"The Flash Cigarette" Roy Benson by Starlight, page 413 (uses a lighter)
"Phantom Cigarette" Commercial Classic of Magic vol. 3 DVD (Johnny Thompson explains Manuel's handling; uses a match pull)


These are a few with which I'm most familiar. You could easily adapt a lighter to the one on Johnny Thompson's DVD.
A major problem, besides all the smoking bans, is that almost nobody rolls their own cigarettes anymore. So unless you can set it up well, I'd hazard that the pantomime rigamarole wouldn't register for many people.
And in my opinion, you have to light the cigarette. Otherwise, no one will know what it's supposed to be - it could be a dowel or the piece of tissue rolled up for all they know.

Back in the 1960's and 1970's, U.F. Grant made and sold a version of the Phantom Cigarette using a lighter. You received the lighter with the trick, and it had a special gimmick on it.

Sam Berland made a version using a paper match book. Richard Hughes has the rights to the Sam Berland material. You might contact him, he is a member of the Café and can be found mostly in the Silk section of the Café.

I do think people will know exactly what you're doing when you pantomime the rolling of cigarette paper. They still use cigarette papers today for other kinds of 'weed' today. LOL

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This brings up a good point about cigarettes being banned in places. When on stage as an actor/magician performing a piece important to the plot of the material, does the ban apply to actors and the arts? When on stage, you are at such a distance, it should not bother any of the audience members.

Anyone from New York and know if the theaters do not allow actors to smoke when the character in the play smoked according to the script?

Roy Benson's handling is the absolute cleanest.

On a side note, and I don't want to derail the topic here, but where can I learn the cigarette production where you light an invisible cigarette with a match from a book of matches and suddenly there is a lit cigarette in your mouth? Preferably from a book.

Mac,

See my above post, second on my list. I don't know Berland's handling, but Bill said it uses a matchbook also.

Thanks, Michael!

Reading your post, I think most people will register the pantomime rolling. It just won't be tobacco they're thinking of.

I must run in different circles than you people.

Yikes. I've been away for a couple of days and looky here, so many reponses. Thanks so much guys! A plethora of info to digest.

I love Roy Benson but could not find his cigarette effect on youtube. Is there a dvd out there somewhere with any of his performances?

Also, I don't get the references to what it could be other than a cigarette.

I am verrry innocent.

bwahahahaha (quietly and coyly)

A masterly performance of this effect can be seen here from one of my favourite magicians.

It's from a BBC 2 TV show called 'Stuff The White Rabbit'. Myself, Richard McDougall, Mac King, Jerry Sadowitz, and John Lenahan featured in the aired Pilot show and this is from the series that followed.

You did not look very hard, I just typed in Roy Benson magic in the YouTube search engine and the very 1st video had the Phantom Cigarette by Roy Benson on it.

So for the inept people that cannot navigate the Internet, here is the address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfzp4Wt-pE

If you cannot read, but only need video to learn from, the old magic tricks are rarely on training videos. Videos do not give the minute by minute details you need to know in manipulation magic.

Roy Benson 'Flash Cigarette' as Levent calls it, is explained on page 413 of the Roy Benson By Starlight book. The book is expensive for this monument to this performer. The book sells for $150.00.

To explain the The Phantom Cigarette correctly performed it would take an hour of video that 2 or 3 pages of reading will reveal the method. Sorry for getting on my Soap Box, but this video thing really gets to me. I do find video enhances the reading process, when the to are combined.

Cigarettes are still used on stage. At least on the equity house I have been. Some use non-tobacco(no not weed) or some form of herbs. Last summer saw Caberet in Kansas City. (at the KC Rep)....They just used regular cigarettes.


Harris

Eeek! Really? Ouch. I typed in Roy Benson cigarette and only got a few of him doing the chinese sticks and the benson bowl thang. How embarrassing. I'll click the link. Thanks Great Hegblini.

I totally agree with your video stance and methinks you judge me too quickly. I did say a dvd of his performances. Apart from wanting to see how clean it was in performance I'd love to add it to my collection of performance only dvds which I love showing my non magician friends. Roy's great. The By Starlight book has been on my wish list for a few weeks now and this effect may clinch the sale.

Thanks again.

Ahoy Sealegs!

Thanks for the reminder. I'd forgotten all about that. I do have that first series here somewhere - what a great series that was too. One of my favourite bits was the 'magic box' at the bottom of the escalators in the shopping center. Very funny and quite clever. Cheers.

You may also be interested in Eric Jones effect of Invisibally drawing a pack of smokes, taking one out, lighting it, (all mimed) and after drawing a few puffs, blowing the real smoke out into the air. Saw this at a Ring lecture and it was very strong.

Pete

Thanks Pete.

Sounds great.

This is exactly what I was referring to!

Dr. J.

More than one way to skin a cat! I just didn't recognize it was a cat!

Great stuff!

Pete