On Apr 5, 2014, adrianbent wrote:
Ok, I have to post this because I have to get this off my chest.

I've heard much about lay people's "knowledge" of the secret behind the classic bare handed silk vanish (using "the" gimmick... no double consonants needed you know what I'm talking about...)
In terms of the many uses for this utility gimmick, I have come to the conclusion why vanishing a small silk with this gimmick is still the "defining" and pinnacle effect with this gimmick.
To me, to deny this... it is the height of magician's thinking, so I'll try to explain it in certain terms.

Imagine the silk vanish without the gimmick.
You stuff the silk into a closed fist. Think like a lay person.. what method is going to vanish that silk? a "pull"? but you are wearing short sleeves.
A back palm? a thumb clip? Impossible!

I have considered changing 2 dimes and a nickel into a quarter with this gimmick. I have thought of restoring broken ribbon, thread or rubber band with this gimmick. I have thought of linking small chain link or even producing hershey's kisses.

Yes, there ARE a million things you COULD do with this gimmick, but all of these other effects share one thing in common in the mind of the lay person. They are all SMALL OBJECTS.

In the mind of a lay person, you are a skilled sleight of hand trickster. C'mon, changing 2 dimes and a nickel to a quarter? Can you imagine where the mind of a lay person immediately goes?
"meh. They're small objects. he did something sneaky. I don't know what, but can't be too hard to hide or switch 'em out somehow".

Don't misunderstand me. I don't think in the mind of the lay person they are thinking those exact words, but it is a thought that is subtlety there... more something that is intuitively "felt".

No consider the silk. How big is a silk? About 6" x 6". That's 36 square inches. Compared to the other junk you could use in an effect with this gimmick, that's the largest thing you can vanish. And its BRIGHTLY COLOURED.
In the mind of a lay spectator, there is a visceral, understood quality to a silk going into a fist.... there is absolutely NO WAY that a silk can be hidden sneakily... clipped behind a hand. Or sneakily dropped on the floor and covered with a foot.

When the other hand is shown empty this convincer is one of the strongest in all of magic (IMHO). There is only ONE PLACE on this earth that silk could be.... and that remains in your closed fist. The lay spec is so hopelessly brain-locked into that possibility.

When it vanishes, in Paul Harris's philosophy, that is the crystallized, brain changing moment of astonishment. There is NO place such a large and cumbersomely awkward bright coloured silk can go. IT just... vanished.

Once we know the method using the gimmick, our brains return to that "grown-up" state referred to by Paul Harris, and as magicians, in our brains that gimmick is the ONLY thing that occupies the brainspace of magicians. because it is the only clear possibility.

So okay, sure.... some people will know the method. But they are the minority. But so what. We are performing LIVE magic in the REAL World for REAL people. Not TV Magic. For most people in your audience, you will give them an incredibly giddy and fun moment of astonishment. An that's not to say its a throwaway. Or that it is underwhelming. Old magic is still some of the BEST magic.

I'd like to propose a toast to the classic silk vanish. It STILL is one of the coolest things you can do.

On Apr 6, 2014, Theodore Lawton wrote:
Agreed. One of my current faves is telling a story about the colored threads in a bill, rolling one up and producing a silk streamer from it. Then I have to "put them back" because it's a crime to deface money. People are just flat out amazed. Love the discussion.