Tarbell 37: Conjuring with

Magic with money automatically has an added appeal due to its perceived value and deep symbolic significance. Perhaps someday, in a cashless society, a couple of these gems will be lost forever. But as long as people love the look and feel of real money, they’ll also love these tricks.

As, you know, when you borrow someone’s money, you’ve got their attention, and this lesson is filled with entertaining ways to keep it.

First, Dan teaches you a neat way to change one bill for another that may be employed secretly as a switch or as the means to a visible transformation.

Then, his treatment of a perennial favorite close-up transposition employs his graphic designer’s eye to make full use of bills currently in circulation.

Next, Dan details a diabolical presentation for Grant’s Million Dollar Bill Mystery, one of his all-time favorites due to its marvelous method. Plus, using the core method of Grant’s wonderful effect in a much different way, he shows you how to perform a magic mirror duet with one lucky helper.

Then, Dan adds some comedic elements (and a flash of cash) to a neat method for the burned and restored bill, where the note ends up in an unexpected location.

And, a bit of fancy envelope work allows a dollar (helplessly trapped inside) to be torn into two halves, literally. Then, Dan gives up one of my pet secrets in a rigged, guessing-game where the sucker always loses his money, but gets a candy-coated consolation prize complete with a cold, cash center.

You’ll also learn how to make a tearable sound, make change the hard way, make a big-wig flip, and make budget cuts that result in surplus cash.

You’ll learn another way to make quick money, how to really memorize the serial number on a borrowed bill, and a couple of funny gags that pay off big.

A wide assortment from close-up to cabaret. There’s a bunch of bits, a couple of killer quickies, and some solid show-stoppers. Oh, and the gems.

One of which, Grant’s Million Dollar Bill Mystery, is one of the finest pieces of magic ever devised. Take a look.