Magic is an excellent way of entertaining your friends and family.
It is also very useful in business and can be used as a great "ice-breaker" when meeting new business contacts.
In this trick, you will have someone break a match and then completely restore the match! How The Trick Appears To The Audience - The Magician takes a wooden match and wraps it in a handkerchief.
- He then invites a member of the audience to feel the match through the handkerchief.
- He tells the person to break the match in two through the handkerchief.
- The Magician makes a few mysterious gestures with his fingers over the handkerchief.
- When he unwraps the handkerchief - the match is completely restored! His hands are empty and the handkerchief can be freely shown, but there is no clue to how this miracle is achieved.
Requirements - A handkerchief with a large hem around and a box of wooden matches.
- A  man's, white, cotton handkerchief is ideal, as each hem is usually open at both sides.
How The Trick Is Done - Take a match and insert it into one of the hems of the handkerchief, so it is hidden.
Then fold up the handkerchief and place it in your pocket.
- When you are ready to do the trick, ask the audience if you can borrow a wooden match.
- If no one has a match, then take out your box of matches and use one of your own.
- Place the match into the center of the handkerchief and then wrap the handkerchief around the match.
- When you are doing this get hold of the match hidden in the hem of the handkerchief.
- Ask someone to feel the match through the handkerchief but only allow him to feel the match hidden in the hem of the handkerchief.
- Ask the person to break the match in two through the handkerchief.
- You then break the match into quarters yourself.
- The person will hear the match breaking and will be convinced the match is well and truly broken.
- Ask the person if they believe in Magic.
- Regardless of their answer, wiggle your fingers over the handkerchief and mutter some magic words.
- Unwrap the handkerchief and let the unbroken match fall onto the table or into their hand.
- Shake out and display the handkerchief to show there is not another match.
- Then fold it up and put it back in your pocket.
- Not a clue will be left as to how the trick was done.
This is one of the oldest tricks around.
However, it is so old that many people will have not seen it - so that makes it new again.
Final Tips As far as the audience are concerned the handkerchief is not important and their whole attention will be focused on the match.
So, handle the handkerchief in a casual manner and draw no undue attention to it.
When you have finished the trick, casually show there is no other match in the handkerchief (anyway, not one that they can see) and then put it in your pocket.
Do not, under any circumstances refer to it as a Magic handkerchief or imply it has something to do with the trick.
Tell them it is just a bit of cover and Magic always works better in the dark.