Price$10.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJul 24, 2003
Four Squares & a Knot
Bauer, Ron
(Based on 1 review)
Here's a visually magical and hilarious opening stunt, in #14 of the Ron Bauer Private Studies Series, in which the performer uses COLORS to "psychologically evaluate" the audience. This ultra-clean handling of Al Baker's streamlined Sympathetic Silks plays big for any size crowd, but is small enough to carry in your pocket!
Appallingly under-priced at TEN BUCKS!
Close-Up Magic, Parlor, and Stage Magic.
Learn: Opening Effects, Switching Character, Play on Words, and more!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Presented to the reader (and ultimately, his audience, if he chooses) as an opening effect, Four Squares & A Knot (#14 in the Private Studies series) gives Ron Bauer an opportunity to address such issues as comedy, silk magic, and winning over an audience in the first 60 seconds of your show.
The effect is a simple one. Walking out on stage, the magician proposes to use colors to evaluate the audience psychologically. He introduces four silk handkerchiefs, then drapes a blue one and a white one (which are clearly separate) over the back of a chair, whereupon he ties a red one and a white one together. The audience is then asked which pair was tied together, but is proven wrong when the red/white pair is seen to be separate, and the blue/white pair knotted!
This is a much tighter approach to the classic Sympathetic Silks plot (i.e. when three silks are knotted, three other silks become knotted sympathetically). It's quick (a critical requirement for any opener), and frankly, it has to be, since the effect itself is hardly earth-shattering. Ron's presentation, however, makes up for some of the trick's magical shortcomings, though I must say, by no stretch of the imagination could the accompanying script be considered "hilarious," as stated on the cover. Amusing, perhaps. Possibly wry. But hilarious, certainly not, unless you consider lines like this hilarious - "People often ask me, 'How did you learn to be a magician?' I tell 'em, MAGIC SCHOOL! [beat] I'm taking Doc Cowbell's home study magic course... 'Learn Magic in Thirteen Easy Lessons.' [reflective beat] After a year, I've only received two... I don't know what happened to the rest, but lately, my mailman has been pretty tricky!"
What I DO like about this booklet, however, is what I like about every installment in the Private Studies series I've seen to date. It's detailed, comprehensive and it gives the reader an opportunity to think about what he wants to accomplish with his own performances of the trick.
David Acer
The effect is a simple one. Walking out on stage, the magician proposes to use colors to evaluate the audience psychologically. He introduces four silk handkerchiefs, then drapes a blue one and a white one (which are clearly separate) over the back of a chair, whereupon he ties a red one and a white one together. The audience is then asked which pair was tied together, but is proven wrong when the red/white pair is seen to be separate, and the blue/white pair knotted!
This is a much tighter approach to the classic Sympathetic Silks plot (i.e. when three silks are knotted, three other silks become knotted sympathetically). It's quick (a critical requirement for any opener), and frankly, it has to be, since the effect itself is hardly earth-shattering. Ron's presentation, however, makes up for some of the trick's magical shortcomings, though I must say, by no stretch of the imagination could the accompanying script be considered "hilarious," as stated on the cover. Amusing, perhaps. Possibly wry. But hilarious, certainly not, unless you consider lines like this hilarious - "People often ask me, 'How did you learn to be a magician?' I tell 'em, MAGIC SCHOOL! [beat] I'm taking Doc Cowbell's home study magic course... 'Learn Magic in Thirteen Easy Lessons.' [reflective beat] After a year, I've only received two... I don't know what happened to the rest, but lately, my mailman has been pretty tricky!"
What I DO like about this booklet, however, is what I like about every installment in the Private Studies series I've seen to date. It's detailed, comprehensive and it gives the reader an opportunity to think about what he wants to accomplish with his own performances of the trick.
David Acer