Illusion Plans courtesy ot James P. Riser of Riser Custom Magic

The Stocks

This is the second in a series ofeight illusion plans con-tributed to Genii by James P.Riser. They were originallysold through Riser CustomMagic. We appreciate this con-tribution as we know many ofour readers like to build theirown illusions. Next month,"Cutting In Half".

EFFECT: The magician displaysthe stocks and has a member of theaudience examine them, as well as,two padlocks. The magician is lockedin the stocks and the keyholes on thelocks are sealed. A cabinet or screenconceals the performer from theaudience. In just a few seconds, themagician is free from the stockswhich are still locked with the sealedpadlocks.

•Ho

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—334— GENII, The Conjurors' Magazine

WORKINGS: The wrist holes andneck hole must be cut to the size ofthe magician. The locks are ordinaryand may be borrowed. The station-ary part of the hasps is bolted to thebottom half of the stocks. The hasps

are bolted through a slot so that theycan slide up and down. They aretightly bolted so that they aredifficult to slide. In the briefexamination, this will go unnoticed.

The performer is locked in the

stocks and concealed from view.Immediately, he raises up the tophalf of the stocks and withdraws hishands and head. He forces the stocksback together and makes his appear-ance. The stocks and locks look un-touched.

Ambitious Card OpeningBy Doug Maihafer

The original version of the classic"Ambitious Card" by Dai Vernonappears in The Stars of Magic Series#5. This is an opening some mightenjoy to lengthen the routine a bit. Iuse it right after the first two moves,in which the Ambitious Card has re-turned twice to the top of the deck.

First, show the card on top of thedeck, then turn it face down. Lowerthe deck slightly and look up, tryingto make eye contact with theaudience. At this moment execute apass, then immediately lift off thetop (former bottom) half, and usethis block to flip face up the top cardof the bottom (former top) half. Thisis the Ambitious Card.

Now, replace the top half, andkeep a break with the left littlefinger and right thumb below theAmbitious Card. As the deck is beingsquared, use the left middle finger toslide slip the Ambitious Card (nowthe bottom card of the top half) intothe right palm. The right hand nowmoves downward, and the Ambi-tious Card is deposited on the bot-tom of the deck. Almost simultan-eously, revolve the deck face up toshow the card on the bottom, thenblank-pressure fan the deck to makeit appear all blank except for theAmbitious Card.

Next, the left thumb secures abreak above the bottom card of thesquared, face-up deck. The left fore

finger's tip rests on the upper middleshort side of this card, in prepar-ation for a color change. A colorchange is now executed, changingthe Ambitious Card on the face ofthe deck into an indifferent card.The right hand is shown empty, andthe deck is normally pressurefanned, showing the deck to be alldifferent cards.

I now do a fast shuffle and cut, con-trolling the Ambitious Card fromsecond from the bottom to the top,and proceed with the rest ofVernon's routine, after flipping thecard face up onto the table. Thisopening series of moves is new, and Iam sure could be improved upon byany "Ambitious Cardman".

May, 1979 —335—