Seven-Sided Herbal Tea Chest
By Professor Spellbinder
This trick was conceived from an inspiration hinted at by
another Spellbinder. I refer to Walt Anthony, of Spellbinder
Entertainment, a magical storyteller who ventures into the
bizarre side of magic from time to time.
Effect:
A small wooden cube box is shown on all sides. The wizard
explains that each side is also a separate opening into the box.
He opens the lid on top and dumps out a pile of fragrant mint
leaves on a plate, which he passes around so all may enjoy the
scent. He collects the leaves again and pours them into a
canister marked “MINT LEAVES.”
Now the wizard rotates the chest and opens up another side as
if it were also a lid. From here, he dumps out leaves of fragrant
basil, passing them around and restoring them in a canister as
before. From a third side, he opens a new lid and discovers sage
leaves. From a fourth side, he brings forth marigold. From the
fifth, he finds sweet smelling strawberry leaves. From the final
sixth side, he brings out rosemary.
"Most boxes have only six sides," says the Wizard,
"but this one is a magic box and it has a seventh
side." Actually, it appears to be the first side all over
again, but when he dumps out the contents, instead of finding
mint leaves as he did before, he finds geranium leaves. At this
point he has filled seven transparent canisters with seven
different fragrant tea leaves. The box is once again closed.
“What an interesting tea this would make, using combinations
of all these different herbs,” suggests the Wizard. “In
fact, if we had a teakettle, water and a fire, we could brew a
pot of tea right now.”
Suddenly, the top lid, which he had already closed, blows itself
open with a blast of steam and we hear the scream of a boiling
teakettle coming from within the box.
The Wizard reaches into the box and pulls forth a steaming kettle
of hot tea. He hands the kettle to someone to pour, as he reaches
back into the box and begins producing teacups for the helper to
fill. For a small audience, he can probably produce enough cups
to give everyone a taste of the fragrant hot tea he has brewed.
For a large audience, he passes out representative cups to six to
ten members of the audience. If it is desired, each tea poured
can have a different flavor.
Variations:
The original effect was designed as a "Tea Chest"
but it could also be used as a production box for many types of
items. For example, produce seven (or more) 36 inch to six foot
square silks from the tiny box, one from each door. As a finale,
produce a small rabbit or pair of doves.
Produce seven (or more) spring flower bouquets, one from each of
the seven (or more) doors, then end with a shower of live flowers
from the box, or end with a vase filled with live flowers.
Build an extra outer chest to hold the magical box. The magic
seven-sided cube box is removed from this outer box, and used in
any of the ways you like, but then it is put back inside the
outer chest at the end. There is a knocking or a rattling from
the closed outer box, so you open it again to discover that the
magic box has vanished, and in its place can be a live dove, or
some other surprise.
Finally, it could easily take the place of a jumbo Die in a
Sucker Sliding Die Box routine, with all of the production
shenannigans thrown in for good measure!
All of these variations are described and included in the
e-Book!
WJ16-03
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