I am a Great Clips franchisee and I occasionally do magic for kids waiting for a haircut.

Right now my tricks consist of:

- A routine with the English Penny, Centavo, and 50 cent piece
- A Great Clips pencil through the 50 cent piece
- Vanishing silk (thumb tip) - reappearing in pocket
- Color changing knives
- "Hot rod" paddle


I would love to have a powerful but quick and easy mentalist trick with cards or maybe a prediction (think of your favorite animal, etc.) type effect.

We also have a shelves of various hair care products - I was thinking of modifying one of the larger bottles to be able to produce something.

My kids also own guinea pigs and thought I could produce one of those once in a while for kids on a busy Saturday.

thanks in advance for the input everyone!

Annimental by Danny Archer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=684FaP7_P......nel_page

How about a card reveal on the back of one of your product bottles? I like the guinea pig idea because kids love animals. I hear they are as docile as rabbits and can be treated much the same way.

Derren Brown has an incredible presentation of John Kennedy's Mind Power Deck ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr_OYd9CyK4 ) which I'm sure you could adapt to the situation, perhaps make the card appear inside a bottle of hair product. If you're interested it can be found on "The Devil's Picture Book"

You can use a duplicate of the silk so it will reappear in the bottle.
By using a simple f***e or a gaffed deck like the Svengali and a silk with a card on it (like drawn with a marker) you can let the silk appear with the TT and use it as a prediction!

A great and easy mentalism effect with a prediction is a book test using a gimmick. If your waiting area has magazines you could easily do it using them. If you need to know what the gimmick is I suggest "This is Mentalism" by Rich Ferguson.

Rope-cutting magic, my friend, you are a hairdresser, no? You might also consider a Rocky Raccoon, as I would suggest against live animals in a salon...

Any thing with scissors.
Rope
Killer Kut
Gene Andersons newspaper stuff, While not all that magical it is entertaining.

Shaved and restored head?

Be mindful of sanitation rules. I don't know if hair salons are appropriate places for animals. Keep your tricks simple. I'd do regular stuff. From what I know working in a magic shop, the muggles can be floored with a Svengali just as well as levitating yourself. It's all in the presentation. If you want to make kids go crazy, introduce a piece of candy or a small toy (from U.S. Toy or Oriental Trading...) adults enjoy cards and money. Also, if it is the kiddos you want to impress, then do as Chris Capehart and Silly Billy have stated and think like a kid! Experiment. Take notes how different ideas hit. You have a quiver of effects your hands and presentation are the bow, the spectator is the target. I understand using your products as props but be careful... it needs to look somewhat realistic. How bout scissor thru drop cloth (what ever the thing is they put over you to keep your clothes clean). Broken and restored comb. Do you use tissue paper on guys necks? Flash paper effects could be done. Changing the color of the barber's water to that chosen by someone ala the rule of six. Either way, simplicity is where it is at these days of instant everything. We are an ADD nation and grabbing attention is getting harder and harder....by the way a floating card, bill or what have you is an excellent way to bring in the attention.

For a great 'mental' trick that children get: The Invisible Deck. Age: 9 and up. 10 for sure. Part of the problem of doing mentalism if the children are too young...is they just don't get it. Not all, but a lot of them will not understand what's going on.

Try Sponge Balls or the Sponge Bunnies. For 6 and under: The Magic Coloring Book totally rocks.

Best,

How about balloon tricks:
- cut and restored balloon
- card in balloon
- spike through a round balloon (Tenyo has a version with a gimmicked tube for twisting balloons)