A child from the audience is asked to hold
a large card, which shows a picture of the "most sincere
pumpkin patch in the world... I hope!" The child shows the
card on both sides (it has a card-like back decoration), then the
magician covers it with a midnight cloth, hoping that the Great
Pumpkin will appear. Several times, nothing happens, but when the
child turns the card around beneath the cloth following the
magician's directions, the Great Pumpkin is seen floating above
the pumpkin patch.
The kids in the audience want to see the
other side of the card, but when the child shows them, it
contains all the familiar Peanuts kids dancing in the pumpkin
patch with the Great Pumpkin smiling down on them.
If you want to add even more excitement and
fun to the above routine, try making the version where the Great
Pumpkin keeps popping up from surprising locations. First, The
Great Pumpkin might peek out of your jacket breast pocket. As the
kids scream to tell you about his appearance, he hides again and
this time peeks out of your side pocket while you are looking in
your breast pocket. He can appear from behind your necktie, push
up the top of your hat, peek out from behind you, and so on.
The child helping you is just as puzzled as
the audience, even though it happened while he was holding the
card. An easy Make-It-Yourself prop that works on a principle
different from anything else you may be currently using. The
principle is adaptable to a variety of other plots and seasons,
so even though this is named The Great Pumpkin Mystery, it can
also be used to make Santa Appear, and then have him surropunded
by all his reindeer, or any other plot you can imagine and find
drawings or photographs for.
