ESTUDIO DE LAS GESTACIONES MÚLTIPLES POR GRUPOS

hand to chest level. Bring the right hand, back facing the spectators, up to the left, grasp both sides of the string (photo 15) and stroke downward.

Bring the right hand up again to repeat this motion. As soon as the right hand touches the left and starts to move down, release the ring.

Time the drop of your right hand such that it falls at the same speed as the ring (photo 16). Stop when the right hand is about four inches below the left.

The spectators believe the ring is in the left hand, but it is actually in the right. Keeping the string taut, raise the right hand up until it is even with the left and the string is stretched horizontally between the closed hands (left hand palm up, right hand palm down—photo 17). “This ring had some very magical properties.”

Ask Sally to wave the stick over your left hand. Slowly tug the string to the right, allowing it to come free of the left hand (photo 18). The ring is no longer on the center of the string! It has apparently pene-trated through the string, and everyone thinks it is in the closed left hand. Slowly and dramatically open the left hand. The ring has van-ished!

“Even though his concept of the western wand was not to scale, it, too, had magical properties.” Lift the tube, leaving one shell on the table while holding the rest of the stack inside. There is a bit of a knack to this, but you’ll acquire it after a few tries. Replace the tube to the left of the shell and pick up the shell at the fingertips of the palm down left hand. Display the “ring” (shell) for a moment and then make a toss-ing motion toward the strtoss-ing in the right hand. Durtoss-ing this motion, the left thumb draws the shell into finger palm. Simultaneously, the right hand releases the ring, which drops down to the lopped center of the string (photo 19). The ring has seemingly penetrated back onto the string.

Photo 15

Photo 16

Photo 17

Photo 18

Photo 19

The left hand takes the left side of the string where it protrudes from the right hand. The finger-palmed ring is hidden via Ramsay Sub-tlety. Separate the hands, such that you now hold the string horizon-tally. The hands are about a 8-10 inches apart, with the threaded ring between them (photo 20).

Say, “Fu often tied his ring on the string, to keep from losing it.” Tie a slipknot onto the ring. Then pass the right end in front of the knot, through the left side of the ring and pull it back to the right (photo 21). Grab the ring in the right fist. Ask Sally and Linus to each hold an end of the string, pulling the string taut.

“It would stay firmly in place, unless he didn’t want it to.” Slide your hand back and forth on the string. The knot will secretly untie, free-ing the rfree-ing from the strfree-ing. In a pluckfree-ing motion, pull the rfree-ing away from the string (photo 22). This is a very strong effect! During the reaction, set the ring in the left hand, quietly nesting it in the shell.

Take the stick from Sally with your right hand as your left thumb pushes the nested ring up to the fingertips.

Tap the ring with the stick a couple of times. “Strong ring!” Table the stick and ring and take the string, giving it a few firm tugs.

“Strong string!” Drop the string on the table. As you pick up the ring in your left hand and the stick in your right, say, “Strong magic!”

You will now do Sam Horowitz’ (Muhammad Bey) ring and stick effect. Hold the ring in left-hand French Drop position, but with the ring parallel to the floor and your knuckles facing the audience (left fingers pointing to your right—photo 23). Obviously, the nested shell is on top of the ring.

Hold the stick near the center between the right thumb and forefin-ger. The knuckles of the right hand are toward the audience and the top of the stick is tilted away from you at a 45-degree angle (photo 24). Ask if they would like to see the stick go through the ring.

Photo 20

Photo 21

Photo 22

Photo 23

Photo 24

Pass the stick down through the ring. When the right hand reaches the ring, the three free fingers grip the stick below the ring and the thumb and forefinger release the stick (photo 25) as you continue to smoothly move the stick entirely through the ring. Repeat this.

Repeat again, but this time let the ring drop free of the shell onto the right fingers as the right hand moves the stick entirely through the ring and off to the right (photo 26). Thus, the ring is secretly threaded on the center of the stick, but nothing seems amiss, as the shell is still in view at the left fingertips. The steal must be done smoothly and without pause, duplicating the first two passes if it is to be deceptive. This whole sequence (the first two passes and the steal) is done as a gag—they thought you were going to penetrate the stick through the ring.

Say, “I can see that you are not impressed by that, so let me show you something else Fu Ling showed me.” The right fist is holding the stick at center. It is also secretly holding the ring, which is threaded at center. Turn the fist palm down so the stick is parallel with the floor and have Sally hold both ends of the stick firmly. The left hand places the shell into the right fist where it is thumb-palmed (photo 27).

Wait a beat, then slide the right hand back and down off the stick, causing the ring to spin on the stick, and carrying the shell away in thumb palm (photo 28).

As everyone reacts to the penetration, pick up the string with right hand and put it in the right coat pocket, secretly dropping the ring along with the string.

Take the stick back with your left hand and dump the ring into your right hand. Comment, “Let me just get that purse again.” Set the stick down and reach into your left pants pocket. Act confused and look over toward your right pants pocket as your left hand comes out of its pocket. Pretend to place the ring into the left hand (photo 29), retaining it in the right hand, which then goes into the right pants pocket, drops the ring and comes out with the purse frame.

(This sequence is Juan Tamariz’ “Crossing the Gaze” concept.) Open the purse and pretend to dump the non-existent ring into it.

Close the purse at the fingertips, showing both hands clearly

empty. Remark, “It happened again!” The left hand lifts the tube, tak-ing the coin but leavtak-ing the second shell behind, and tables the tube to the right of the shell.

Meanwhile, the right hand has placed the purse frame in the right side coat pocket, taken the ball into finger palm and come back out of the pocket. Here begins the final load sequence, accompanied by a series of the worst puns of all time!

Pick up the shell at your left fingertips as you say, “That wand had a familiar ring!” The right hand picks up the tube, revealing the coin, and loads the ball as the tube is tabled (photo 30). Exclaim, “This thing is a real money maker!”

In the meantime, the left hand has been far from idle. It has placed the shell in your left side coat pocket, taken the ball bearing in low finger palm, removed the hand from the pocket and picked up the stick (photo 31).

Pick up the coin at the right fingertips and say, “That’s a real Chinese coin.” Tap the coin near the hole with the tip of the stick. “It has a hole, for Peeking!” Set the coin back on the table.

Address Sally. “You look like you’re having a ball!” Using the end of the stick, tip the tube back to reveal the ball (photo 32).

In a continuing motion, lift the tube with the stick and let it slide down to your left hand (photo 33). Take the stick with your right hand and use it to push the ball forward as you say, “Having a ball—get it?”

At the same time, the left hand tables the tube, loading the ball bearing in it (photo 34).

Look at Linus and remark, “This trick has had no bearing on you—

until now!” use the stick to tip the tube back, revealing the ball bear-ing as the final load.

To conclude, state, “Of course, none of this story is actually true—I’ve just been Fu Ling!”

Photo 30

Photo 31

Photo 32

Photo 33

Photo 34

Chapter Six