Patter, Plots & Scripts in Magic & Conjuring

A free e-Manuscript that illustrates how scripting, routining and analysis can turn even the oldest and most well known trick into a true performance piece.

Who doesn't know the 21 card trick?

Nobody, that's who. And that unfortunately includes many laymen. So, the author of "HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT" decided to tackle this trick - in it's classical format - as a challenge to create a script and handling that disguises the mathematical method while entertaining the onlookers.

This ebook supplies the script and simple moves that resulted from that challenge. The script has audience involvement,...

A free e-manuscript that explores an age old method to show the power of scripting and analysis.

One of the joys of magic is going through old and dusty ideas and actually finding usable material. This is one of those.

An old, old trick - routined, and scripted - that will fit into a parlor or stage act with almost no difficulty. A trick that - while not a world-beater - will still fool and entertain your audience. A trick that you can keep in your act for those days where you need just a couple of minutes more material.

This ebook gives you every line, joke, piece of timing, setup,...

How to tie a vanishing figure 8 knot and a script that makes the process more enjoyable and entertaining.

Everyone probably knows how to vanish an overhand knot, or even a Chefalo knot. But how many know how to vanish a figure 8 knot?

How to tie a true figure 8 knot as well as the false figure 8 knot are both shown and are virtually identical. The script provided shows how it can stand on it's own, but it would also fit nicely into a routine with knots. An audience member can even help you tie the knot, and they'll be none the wiser.

Best of all, it's free.

1st edition 2018, 20 pages....

This is quite an interesting booklet with very nice ideas for patter, as well as some card effects. Particularly noteworthy is a hilarious burlesque mind reading act. You have to check this one out!

1st edition, 1919, F. G. Thayer, Los Angeles; 45 pages.

5. A Few Remarks
6. Opening Patter
10. Some Card Effects and Accompanying Patter:
10. Four Ace Combination
13. The Wrapped Cards Divided by a Knife
16. Transposition
20. Miscellaneous Patter:
20. Kling Klang
20. Solid Through Solid
22. Straight Jacket Escape
23. The Rabbit Pan
25. The Spirit Hand
28. The Egg Bag
32. The Twentieth Century Handkerchief Trick
33. Cards from the Pocket ...

Two vaudeville comedy magic acts are described in terms of props stage setting and patter.

1st edition, 1922?, Geo DeLawrence; 25 pages.

3. Introductory
4. Props and Stage Setting (First Act)
5. Props and Stage Setting (Second Act)
7. Comedy Act: No. 1
17. Patter for Act No. 2

This is another of DeLawrence's humorous patter booklets. Among others you will find patter for 'rising cards', 'spirit slates', 'multiplying billiard balls' and 'card in egg'. The humor is almost 100 years old but still makes one laugh or smile and could therefore be a good source of inspiration for a new and modern presentation. Don't dismiss the old stuff just because it is old.

1st edition, 1920, Heaney Magic Co., Wisconsin; 31 pages.

5. Introductory
7. Opening Patter
7. Opening Patter for a Stage
8. Another Variety of Opening Patter
9. Rising Cards
11. Here, There, or Where?
13. The Card in the Egg ...

This is a funny patter and presentation routine, with which the author has been bringing down the house. You patter along with magical solutions of all the problems confronting the U. S. Government, war, peace, employment, hunger, G.I.'s, housing, ...

It is flexible enough for you to use the tricks that you already own, or add almost anything you like.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Once a script writer for Jack Paar's show (1962-63) and Red Skelton's show (1964-70), has also written for Dick Gregory (six years), and was a speechwriter for President Gerald Ford in 1973-77.

One-liners, flip lines, gags and patter. Many of these one-lines are still good today. Others just need some updating but still very funny stuff.

The real benefit of having this material available in digital form is to be able to search for particular words and phrases which related to your performance, occasion or venue. This makes it much easier to find suitable comedy lines.

1st edition 1954,...

Contains over 70 sure fire patter gags. Up to the minute humor that will liven up your act.

PDF 8 pages

Over 70 more good gags. This is a continuation of Magical Patter. Every gag has been tried and tested.

PDF 8 pages.

Val Andrews sent this booklet to his customers during the 1988 Christmas season. It features stories and recollections involving Christmas and magic.

• It's the Thought that Counts!
• The Christmas when 'Pimpo' came to Brighton
• Christmas Day in the Workhouse
• A Gathering of Greats
• Abanazer

1st edition 1988, 12 pages; PDF 14 pages.

This will go up to $3 from May 15th, 2023.

Psychabulary is instant psychic vocabulary to impress your audiences. Psychabulary is a 'system' which gives you instant ability to use about 1000 different 'alpha' phrases which make you seem like a highly qualified psychology expert

Create instant scientific sounding phrases for your patter whether it is a magic trick or a mentalism effect you may be performing, without even a moment's hesitation. Give instant justification to any magic or mentalism process, again without even a moment's hesitation. Give instant explanations for any magical phenomenon...

This ebook contains lots of comedy for any age group with new patter and routines with apparatus, which you may already own. Entertaining children is generally known, to be one of the most lucrative branches of magic - and this contains plenty of kid stuff. Also contained herein are Gospel Lessons, Mental Effects and Escape Ideas. Everything with a novel setting for some of our most popular standard effects - such as: The Milk Pitcher, Egg Bag, Dove Pan, Vanishing Canes, Liquid Appear, Bang Gun, Six Card Repeat and more. All audience tested.

• Introduction
• What Is An Orange Made Of???
• Polluted...

Are you a magician, comedian, speaker, entertainer or anyone that interacts with an audience? Do you have moments in your show/presentation that are quiet and you feel you need just one quip, joke or one-liner joke that would break the silence and add much needed humour?

Here are 200 short jokes and witty comments covering a wide variety of topics that are ideal to add into any show and help with continuity. The ebook is called "Fillers" because that is exactly what these jokes are ... filler material to keep your show running smoothly and put smiles on the faces of your audience.

This...

The most popular magic tricks amongst magicians are card tricks, yet there are few jokes and sayings that cover those ‘quiet’ moments between tricks and moves. Here you will find many. What about just adding some comedy entertainment to your next card trick? Looking for the right quick one-line joke - you should find one, or many more here.

1st edition 2020, PDF 15 pages.

175 one-liner jokes for magicians.

This unique joke ebook is a treasure trove of 175 politically correct one-liners designed exclusively for magicians. Crafted with thoughtful consideration for diverse audiences, "Harmonious Humor" ensures that every joke remains inclusive, respectful, and delightful for all. From apprentices mastering their first tricks to seasoned illusionists, each page sparkles with humour that's sure to charm any audience.

Within these pages, readers will discover an enchanting array of jokes specifically crafted to tickle the funny bones of magic enthusiasts. Packed...

Most of us are guilty of spending too little time on developing a unique and personal presentation. We rather work on perfecting moves and techniques. There is nothing against improving and honing your sleights, but we should spend equally on perfecting our presentation. Using rhymes is one way to develop an entertaining and memorable presentation. This booklet suggests rhymes for several classic effects such as 'Torn and Restored Newspaper', 'Cards up the Sleeve', 'Cut and Restored Rope', 'The Silk and Egg', 'Color Changing Silks', 'Passe Passe Bottles' and more. You can either take these rhymes...

A magical mystery in one act.

From the introduction:

This manuscript explains the art of "Double Talk" and how to use this to your advantage in magic shows.

PDF 8 pages.

Old long-forgotten classics can be a real novelty for your audience. This is the case of the two very easy-to-do comical "sketches" or so-called chalk talks. Learning to draw the simple figures described in this hard-to-find manuscript, and you are always ready to entertain your audience.

From the introduction

This is the complete dialog for the presentation of PUNCH and JUDY.

The figures used in this dialog and in order of their appearance are as follows: Punch — Dog Toby — Judy — Baby — Beadle or Policeman — Joey the Clown — Crocodile — Ghost — Doctor.

In addition to the above, the following properties are used: Punch's stick — Sausages — Frying Pan — Gallows — Coffin — The Pall.

1st digital edition 2016, 10 pages.

A compilation of humorous patter routines, suitable for various tricks and illusions. Specially arranged for the magical entertainer. Gags to suit every situation.

PDF 16 pages

Have you ever wanted to be the life of the party? The fellow everyone counts on to deliver a good laugh? Or make light of a situation at just the perfect time?

Jimmy Muir has this knack. And he reveals all in this worthy successor to his Laugh Lines manuscripts with this booklet, packed to the gills with great material, including gags, one-liners, and good-natured heckler-stoppers which you can put to immediate use.

If you didn't know better, you'd think that Jimmy was Johnny Carson's brother, for they both had a knack for perfect timing and were masters of having fun ... more often at...

From the preface:

• Preface
• The Clock Dial
• The Elusive Blocks
• Perplexing Politics
• "Matter Through Matter"
• Aerial Treasury ...

The chalk talk is an almost forgotten entertainment type. The only time I have seen a chalk talk was on a Saturday Night Live show. The idea of the chalk talk is to combine story telling with drawing usually in a funny way. Today one can do this with a whiteboard. You don't need to be a skilled artist to do a chalk talk.

1st edition 1924; PDF 70 pages.

• Introduction
• Opening Patter
• The Chinese Rice Bowls
• Coffee, Milk and Sugar Trick
• The Enchanted Bird Cage
• The Aerial Treasury
• The Magic Duck Pan
• The Flying Bird Gage
• The Mysterious Clock Dial
• The Traveling Bottle and Glass
• The Rising Cards
• The Multiplying Billiard Ball
• The Floating Ball
• The Ten Ichi Thumb Tie
• The Mysterious Linking Rings
• The Japanese Wonder Bowl
• Closing Patter

People who know comedy recommend Ken Allen's Pilfered Patter as the book to get. Don Lawton, Bill Larsen Jr., John Braun and other professional entertainers and comedy writers raved about the material in Pilfered Patter No. 1. But we didn't stop there. Introducing Pilfered Patter 1.5, the new and improved ebook of comic monologues, one- and two-liners, gags, jokes and funny stories to intersperse during or between effects in your routine.

Nothing is off limits - not even sex - which is why this ebook carries a warning that it may not be appropriate for those under 17 years of age. (There's...

From the Foreword:

• Foreword ...

A lightning sketch lecture.

The presentation of this amusing "Lightning Sketching" act involves no particular skill. Very little practice is required to produce the drawings that illustrate the booklet.

This ebook can also function as an introduction to learning to draw, because it takes the reader from the most simple beginnings of drawing (dots and straight lines) all the way to rather impressive sketches which can be achieved literally with a few well placed strokes.

• Foreword
• Presentation
• Fishes
• Notes On The "Birds" Sketch
• The Restless Fays

An attractive rapid sketching act suitable for any entertainment. Easily acquired by means of the guide to presentations, non-technical self-instructor. Includes 30 exclusive lightning, reversible, and plain line sketches. Accompanied with the appropriate and witty patter. Anyone can do it. Little practice required. No preparation necessary.

• A Triangular Yacht
• Oval Oddities
• An Animal With Points
• The Cat
• A Fruitful Pear
• A Full Man From An Empty Coffin
• Reversible Sketches
• Line Sketches
• Suggested "Patter" For Lightning Sketches

As entertainers we must use every tool available to delivery our magic to the audience. Body language, often not considered, enhances the connection, compliments the communication and directly impacts the entertainment factor. This ebook identifies body language. It is an attempt to bring the skills associated with theater into the hands of the magician. We have to play to those in the back row and balcony. The best approach is to entertain using your full body.

• Body language
• Body elements
• Timing and body language
• Body language comparisons
• Wrapping it up

Excerpt from the preface:

A presentation for any book test that uses the flashback method.

Have you heard of the Bookbearer? This is a storytelling, bizarre presentation to be used with any book with the "flashback" principle. If you own such a book, you could use this.

I see many performers using such books, some presentations are good, but most are not as they merely riffle the pages, tell the subject to stop them and remember the first word on the page, and then reveal it. Bah. Here you will tell the brief story of the Bookbearer, and in the end, either subtly suggest you're the actual Bookbearer. Or that you're...

A collection of stories of the supernatural. These are great starting points to develop your patter for bizarre or otherwise weird and scary plot lines.

• The Guide (Irene Amesbury)
• Call of the Pool Goddess (John C. Craig)
• The Room without Windows (W. P. Cockcroft)
• The Bride of Yum-Chac (Henry Rawle)
• The Fulfilment (Alexander O. Pearson)
• Sir Rodney keeps a Date (Andrew Ringwood)
• The Window (Winfred M. Carnegie)
• Binker's Ghost (A. C. Bailey)

PDF 58 pages

Excerpt from the Preface:

Want to make your show different? Can't figure out how? We all do some of the same basic skits in our hypnosis shows and it is time to stop. It is time to take control of your show and make it DIFFERENT! In this skit building workshop you will discover the secrets of making your show Unique and creating a show that uses classic skits but in a different way than everyone else.

Price is Just $7 You cannot go wrong!

[You will receive a PDF workbook and an MP3 audio file. Download both from your digital shelf.]

workbook 10 pages, audio length 18 minutes.

The next time you select a volunteer for one of your magic routines, why not play a quick game of chance to decide who the volunteer's going to be? Yet . . . do so with total confidence that the person you want to use in your show is always the one who wins the game.

Here are two different versions where numbered word cards are selected by various members of the audience and then read aloud in numerical order by the audience members. From experience, it is strongly suggested that you consider using both versions in the same show. Both times you use these cards the audience laughs louder...

From the introduction:

• Just a Word
• Drum Head and Casatte
• Orange and Ribbon
• Astra Floating Ball
• The Rice Bowls
• The Hindoo Lota
• The Cards...

The world has changed - radically! Being an entertainer and telling jokes has gone from 'having fun' with the audience to complaints about every possible issue. Political Correctness now rules. Whatever your view on the issue, the new reality is that all entertainers now need to be more aware than ever before not to offend an audience member. Hence the need for one-liner jokes that are non-political, non-religious, non-sexual, and just about non-everything.

As much as is humanly possible, jokes from past books and new ones have been combined in the ebook that will 'hopefully' not offend anyone....

This ebook is a "Panorama of Professional Prose Palaver and Polished Poetical Patter". It is a collection of six previous Abbott publications:

• Practical Patter by Percy Abbot
• Patter Punches by Sol Stone
• Routines In Rhyme by Bill West
• Merrier Magical Chatter by Don Rogers
• 202 Ways To Stop Hecklers by Otis Manning
• Punch And Judy by Sydney de Hempsey

PDF 127 pages

A script and performance video showing how the Professors Nightmare and Fiber Optics can make a fun and mystifying routine.

One of the more difficult tasks facing magicians is coming up with scripts - of any sort. But it's even harder for tricks that have no preset routine - such as the Professors Nightmare and Fiber Optics. How do you explain to an audience in a reasonable manner how and why this fabulous visual magic is happening?

Well, the author of How To Write A Script shows you how he used his methodology to write a script that successfully blends the Professors Nightmare with the moves from Fiber Optics...

A script, analysis, and performance video showing how entertaining and mystifying a trick the Egg Bag can be. And without using the "Hide the egg under my arm" type gags.

One of the more difficult tasks facing magicians is coming up with scripts - of any sort. But it's even harder for tricks that have no preset routine - such as the Egg Bag. How do you explain to an audience in a reasonable manner how and why you're doing this? How do you make this magical? How do you create the climax? And how do you do this without retreading old ideas, such as the "fake hide-theegg-under-the-arm gag"? ...

A fairly forgotten classic turned into a beautiful performance piece for any group. Includes the script, full instructions, and a performance video.

One of the more difficult tasks facing magicians is coming up with scripts - of any sort. How do you explain to an audience in a reasonable manner how and why this fabulous magic is happening?

Well, the author of How To Write A Script shows you how he used his methodology to write a script that successfully explains...in a bare minimum of script...the Sympathetic Silks.

Part of the scripts' charm is that the audience sees a trick performed in just FOUR words. ...