Kidsmagic

A magic trick can be made to look all the more convincing if everyday items are used to create the mystery. A magician places a pencil into a metal tube, and seals it with a cap. The tube is then held by a spectator while the magician makes a magic pass. The spectator can then remove the cap and examine the contents. Strangely, the pencil has vanished, and in its place is a trail of star-dust.

In magic, the thrusting of one solid object through another is often baffling and teasing. Here is a fine example. A metal rod is seen to pass through a smaller hole in a solid metal plate. On inspection, it is shown to be impossible for the rod to pass through the hole.

The video is of a simple version of a well-known magic trick called the "Monkey Bar". Scaled down for the use of young magicians, it can be just as puzzling. The magician shows a bar with three ribbons attached. Two are alike in colour, and one is odd. The odd ribbon is on one end of the bar, and as a joke the magician turns the bar to make the odd ribbon appear on the other end. This is reversed, and the audience are not impressed. However, when the magician grasps all three ribbons and pulls them firmly, the odd ribbon is seen to have jumped to the centre of the bar. Everything can now be handed out for inspection.

This presentation shows a close-up account of a confined object changing places with a free object. The magician secures a blank card onto a safety-pin, and hands it to a spectator for examination. The spectator is then requested to draw anything on a second card. The magician then causes the two cards to change places in an instant, leaving the spectator's card impaled on the closed pin. Once again the cards change places, and both are offered for inspection.