whirling card cover spinning quarter   setup  

Flying Objects

The Floating Ball Effect

The length of the fiber will depend on the height of the performer. During the performance, the fiber will loop over the top of your head. We have found that if you let the ball down in front of you, wind the thread around the Sticky-Tac until it reaches from the floor to your chest.

The fiber is set up before the performance by looping it over your head. Once end of the fiber is stuck to your right thumb using the Sticky-Tnck. You also have the option to place it under a finger ring, under a watch, or on the button of your shirt Sleeve.

Note: this preset works great for most of the effects. In the floating bill effect suggested later, this setup is attached to the wall and waiting for you to pick it up from there.

The hookup allows you to move the ball in every direction. You can move the ball up and down by moving your right hand. If you move your right hand down, the ball moves upward. If you rnove your hand upwards, the ball floats down.

You can also cause the ball to move side to side by moving your head and body. All attention will be on the ball and no one will notice the movement of your head. These

moves will be explained later in the performance section.

I would like to give credit to Steve Fearson for coming up with the over the head fiber hook-up which he uses for his floating cigarette routine. Fearson has a superb video tape on this effect, available from TrickSpot.com.

The Performance:

1. Begin the levitation with the ball in your shirt pocket. With your right hand, reach in your pocket, take our the ball, and show it lo the spectators. Place the ball in your left hand. Your right hand should be above and a little in front of the ball.

2. slowly lower your right hand. Thiis will cause tension in the fiber which will cause the ball to rise up off your hand. At this point, reach over with your right hand and give the ball a spin. You want all of this to happen slowly and smoothly. The farther you lower your hand, the higher the ball will float.

3. By moving your right hand up and down, you can cause the balI to float up and down. By moving your body and head slightly side to side, you can cause the ball to apparently float from hand to hand.

What makes this the most natural looking close-up levitation ever, is that it appears that your head is moving to watch the ball, when actually the action of your head is

controlling the ball,

4. To strengthen the illusion that the ball is floating in mid-air, you can cause the ball to float through a ring made with your fingers. Touching your thumbs and foretingers together, you can form a ring with your hands. (this method was used in the Dushek Floating Bill effect). With the fiber running through the center of this ring, you can move your hands down around the ball. Only do this once or twice during the performance, being careful not to touch the thread as you move your hands. This is a very effective move.

5. You can finish the routine by floating the ball up and into the shirt pocket. By lowering the right hand and looking toward the shiirt pocket, the ball will float up and over the pocket. With the left hand, open the shirt pocket and allow the ball to drop inside.

Bonus Effect

THE AMAZING SPINNING QUARTER

The Effect: You can borrow a quarter from one of the spectators, spin it, and cause it to float in mid-air. This is a powerful illusion because it is done with a borrowed object. The quarter looks like a miniature flying saucer as it floats from hand to hand.

The Set-Up: The Amazing Spinning Qtiarter uses the same hook-up as the floating ball. After performing the ball effect, secretly remove the piece of Sticky-Tack which the micro fiber is attached to. This Sticky-Tac will be placed secretly to the bottom of the borrowed quarter before the performance.

The Performance:

1. Borrow a quarter from one of the spectators. Secretly attach the Sticky-Tac to the bottom of the quarter. This is a simple procedure to do as you are talking to the

spectators.

2. You are now going to spin the quarter. Use the thumb of your left hand and the first finger of your right hand. Move your hands in opposite directions, causing the quarter to spin.

3. You can now float the quarter using the same hand movements you learned in the flying card. The quarter will continue to spin for approximately one minute. The quarter

will not flip over, exposing the Sticky-Tac, unless the spinning slows down or stops. Have the quarter float back to your hand.

4. Remove the Sticky-Tac from the bottom of the quarter as you hand it back to the spectator. The beauty of this routine is that it is done with a borrowed object which

can be immediately examined after the performance.

credit for the moves goes the team at Magic Masters, Inc., they also use a beer bottle cap for closeup bar work.

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Performance Tips

1. To prevent breakage of the micro fiber, spin the quarter in one direction (clockwise), followed by spinning the quarter in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise). This allows the micro fiber to unwind during the performance.

2. We have found that some people prefer to spin the ball with two hands like spinning a coin on a table, this equalizes the spinning and prevents wobbling.

3. To extend the life of the master strand, rernove a five foot strand off of the small card and place it around another playing card. You can work with this single strand for several months before needing an additional 5 foot piece from the small card.