I know! I know! This was supposed to have been in the Dollar
Store Magic Section, but my spies tell me you just can’t
find a lot of the things you need to make this in Dollar Stores,
even though almost everything is in the inexpensive category.
You’ll have to search the craft stores for Pompoms, and the
wooden crate that I use as a Pompom cage and which plays an
important role in the act is definitely a craft store item.
This has its roots in the “Wonder Mouse” pitch item,
for which I recommend that you check out Mark Lewis’s excellent book “Marmaduke,
The Wonder Mouse.” But while the Wonder Mouse has been
used for years as a genuine pitch item, usually as an
“add-on” to get the customers to close the deal on the
more expensive pitch items, my Pompom Pitch Act is designed for
the stage or parlor and I don’t actually sell them. I just
play the part of a pitchman, and there again, watching a video of
Mark Lewis at work will give you some ideas.
Effect: An empty cage is shown. The
pitchman (that’s you!) insists that there is a
“Critter” inside the cage, but that it is invisible to
the naked eye (get out all your “naked eye” jokes). To
make it visible, the pitchman waves a magic wand and a little
white pompom “Critter” appears and scampers up and down
the magic wand. The pitchman finally manages to get it to enter
its cage, but of course it hops right out again when the pitchman
"isn't watching."
The Critter runs around (like a Wonder Mouse), but then
begins some new tricks that the Wonder Mouse was never taught...
like running up your sleeve, across your back and down the other
sleeve. It jumps into your trousers at one point and runs up and
down your legs, peeking out of the legs at your ankles. It peeks
up out of your pockets when you least expect it.
If you wish to finish the Critter act, the Critter finds a
mate somewhere on your person and the two of them produce two new
Critters (I like to make the youngsters pink and blue). After so
much activity, all the Critters are tired, so they hang by their
tails from the ends of your wand. At this time, you can go into a
Pom Pom Wand routine as you try to wake up the Critters so they
will play with you again. Finally you coax the Critters off your
wand and back into the cage, where they suddenly begin to
multiply, filling up the cage with Critters of all colors.
I give you enough flexible routines that you can, if you
wish, make the appearances and antics of the Critter happen at
various points all through your show. You'll be able to combine
the Critters with all sorts of tricks and routines. For example,
you begin an egg bag routine and first have to shake a bunch of
Critters from the bag. At the end, you break open the egg and
find a Critter inside. And there's lots more like that one. In
fact this article is so big and so chock full of photos, we're
charging $5.00 for it instead of $3.00! It's well worth it,
because if you ever decide to pitch the Critters on the street,
you will make back your $5 in a flash!
WJ13-04
$5.00
Buy all 11 articles of this issue (#13)
of the Wizards' Journal $40.00
That's less than $4.00 per article if purchased together!
