Tarbell 30: Handkerchief Magic

This lesson expands upon the knowledge you’ve gained in earlier lessons using silk handkerchiefs. Handkerchief magic was once very popular due to their colorful, yet highly compressable, nature. However, modernizing these effects can be quite challenging.

But that’s exactly what Dan did by creating a context for the conjuring, in which the handkerchiefs serve to illustrate the core concepts. If you pay close attention, you’ll see how simple meaning that motivates your actions can be derived from what some may consider trivial tricks.

First, you’ll learn how to make, and properly use, a clever device which allows you to vanish (or produce) multiple silks while showing your hands empty.

Next, a favorite effect of Buatier DeKolta, where three silks make a mysterious journey, is updated with a psychological twist and a nuanced method.

Then, Dan shows you a cute, but surprising, variation that finds one unsuspecting handkerchief being abducted by a make-shift flying saucer.

And, he tackles the time-honored Twentieth Century Silks, which is perhaps the best known… and some may say, over-done… of all handkerchief tricks. Can something new be done with it? You’ll see, as Dan puts his own strange spin on it in an attempt to solve a modern mystery that’ll knock your socks off.

So, this isn’t your grandfather’s ole pipe and slipper magic… you just have to look again with fresh eyes to find how fun and freaky these tricks can be.