I am thinking about using foocan routines.I heard about putting a hankey in the opening,using along with a funnel and vanishing liquid and then bring it back.Can someone plz shed more light?Thanks.

Beware of using Victorian Era props: dove pans (chafing dishes) change bags (church "collections") foo cans (measuring "cans" -- kitchen utensils)

Your description is very unclear.

"odd apparatus" says "trick thing" to a modern audience.

This is the TWENTY FIRST CENTURY!

Do "stuff" that lets YOU get the credit, not some hokey prop.

Dick is right. You can do the same thing with what appears to be an ordinary glass (made of plastic). Start with the empty glass (I don't feel right calling it a plastic). Suddenly a handkerchief appears in the glass. Remove handkerchief and toss it to someone to hold (the same as examine without using that word). Pour liquid in the glass and have the person cover it with the handkerchief. Make a small rubber ball appear and then make it vanish. When the handkerchief is removed from the glass, the liquid has disappeared and the ball is now in the glass. No Foo Can, the spectator handles everything including the glass, no Victorian looking props or hokey props with Chinese decals. Which would you prefer? Cost to make, less than $5. The best part is, you can't buy it in a magic shop, so no one else is likely to be performing this in your neighborhood.

Jim, we must have had the same mother!!!

Dick,im a big fan of yours.You guys are totally right.jim,your routine sounds amazing.however I am looking for a children routine.so Victorian props and direct magic with gags are not that bad.I prefer to have a totally different children show.
Time has moved on but children are still called children today.I don't think the gadgets changed them much.in children shows my only objective is to entertain the children make them laugh their asses off .i do not mind by whatever means I get that.

Oh! I was considering foo cans,etc, being used on a "club date"!

For tiny youngsters, perhaps you could get away with such props.

Karrell Fox, Jay Marshall, and I shared the same philosophy! We packed small and light! Karrell carried his b.party show in a "shoe box sized case.

For "al fresco" dates (i.e.: outdoors, fairs, picnics, etc. My exception to "my" rule is the foo can and funnel. P.M. me.

What a great foo can thread. Lots of brilliant foo can advice. Foo can marvellous.

I actually like to use my foo can. I know it's an old style trick, but that's the beauty of it. In a children's show, the children don't know what to expect with the foo can, they don't quite know what to make of it, and best of all, they don't have any idea what's going on inside of the can. Use that last bit to your advantage, you can make up fantastic stories of what's going on inside the foo can, which to me is the best part of kids shows, the story.

Lance! a foo can is not an old style TRICK. It's an old style PROP. The magician uses a PROP to PERFORM a TRICK. A TRICK. like music, only exists while it is being performed. If the magician performs the trick well, using a good presentation, the spectator may be entertained by the EFFECT which he sees--or thinks that he sees.

Used properly, there should be no suspicion about what's "going on inside the can". I would never suggest that "anything is going on" inside.

I have a chrome plated foo can (made prior to World War II. It resembles one of those desk top carafes that hold ice water. I use it to pour myself a drink several times before it gets used in a trick. The audience is subtly pre-conditioned, and accepts the carafe for what it "is".

I still see my foocan alike cans in oil shops.I have one that looks more like a tin jug.

Thanks for the clarification of terms Dick, I've still got quite a bit of learning to do.

You have a great point about what's going on inside the can.

I use my can a bit differently than just disappearing liquid, with a more bumbling magician routine, where I tell a story of what the can is designed for, but in the end it, rather than doing what I wanted it to do, the water disappears, and my volunteer helps me make everything work in the end.

Love the Carafes idea.

Hey Lance! When you're through learning--you're through!

I'm happy to help. --Here's one more(!!!): "disappear" is an intransitive verb. It cannot take an object. You can vanish something, but you cannot disappear something!

"Aint" magic fun!!! It does help if we all speak the same language!

BTW: Welcome to our motley crew!