You know the boomerangs, the blue one is longer than the green one until you "stretch" the green one and show IT'S longer now.

In his book; "Magic Digest," George B. Anderson turned it into a sucker trick with a "greenish" banana, and an "overripe" banana!

In those pre-Internet days, I had to hunt around for a suitable picture of a banana that I could copy and paint as suggested by the routine. I felt I did a great job.

First time I tried presenting it, a kid shouted; "Oh, that's just an old optical illusion!"

Never used them since!

Don't let ONE Kid, stop you from doing a fun effect. Change/try different routines. Or just say, 'yeah, your right' and go on - Your the Adult.

That's a good point. Thanks. I'll have to remake the trick, though.

I feel sorry there's less Parties - also sorry for the Parents - keep in there. Patience + Positive = Peace

I remember the P&L version of this apparatus had an extra fake/feke(?) that enabled you to actually lay the banananas on top of one another and show one was in fact physically longer than the other without resorting to the optical illusion dodge.

Julie

Ah! Sneaky.

I bought a great version of the boomerang that changes the optical illusion into sucker trick by adding a small piece to the boomerang. Because of Covid I haven’t been able to use it in a kids show yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I wonder if Michael Weber has a version of this? I bet that would be killer.

I'm not sure it would Fit in a kid's show.

I use wooden toy train tracks and talk about motion. Moving them up, down, closer, and further, one can accomplish the same effect with minimal movements.

September demonstrated and sold a good version at Kadabra 2024. It has a Dr Seuss type look.

I did it at a show and got a few kids saying that they looked the same size . . . So it may be too well known. But this was just one try. I will do it at other parties to test it.

David Regal's the Long & Short of It is worthy of a look.
A practical professional routine that makes 'em laugh. (adults, too!)