A short change routine.
"Mr. Grismer is one of the nice guys in magic who is also talented and has the gift of working out startling tricks that require little in the way of 'work' ... 'Shorty' is a short change routine and the best of its kind ... once made up you will use it constantly. Brilliant routine and handling ... the best short-change routine to come along in years." - Karl Fulves
Clear Plot: You have $10, then $9, then $10, then $5.
Entertaining: You show skill but lose money.
Natural: No unusual-looking counts.
The other day I asked a bartender if he could break a ten-dollar bill. "Sure, I have the change under this bottle. Here you are - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 5 is 10 ... 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 dollars." This was odd so I counted and found I had 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 dollars ... 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is 9. "Hey, I only have nine!" "No sir, you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 5 is 10 ... 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 dollars." I apologize but when I got home I had just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 dollars ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I should have quite when I had nine.
Ray fooled me completely with his excellent short change routine. This is exactly what I saw: Ray fanned out a pakcet of bills, clearly showing $10 - five ones and one five - front and back. As per the patter story supplied with the trick, Ray counted the bills onto my palm-up hand to show just $9 - four ones and a five! He recounted them - only $9. Then he counted them again - it was back to $10! For the startling climax, Ray counted the bills singly onto my hand - this time just $5! Five singles! ... As closely as I watched, I did not detect any phoney moves - in fact, I detected nothing! I like "Shorty" because you don't use the fold-over-the-ends count. No sleight-of-hand is involved. A simple handling of the bills and a clever gimmick does it all ... Excellent!" - Don Lawton
"Non-magicians love close-up magic with money, and magic with paper money is especially intriguing because it "seems so fair." Ray Grismer's Shorty is very strong indeed ... this is a real bargain ..." - David Goodsell
"To me, it is the best short-change routine I have ever seen. That is it in a nutshell. As you tell the tale of a dishonest bartender, you openly count and display five one dollar bills and a five dollar bill. You do this on the spectator's hand. Now, suddenly one dollar vanishes. Again the bills are recounted under the nose of the spectator. Remember, the bills are not folded. There is no quick move or flap flopping. The next thing that happens is the vanish of the five dollar bill. It just disappears. Again, the five one dollar bills are slowly counted on the spectator's hand. ... If you do table magic, this is certainly a 'wow' close-up effect." - Sid Lorraine
"The effect is full of startling vanishes and reappearances. Yet simple and straightforward ... It's all in Ray Grismer's ingenious gimmick ... easy to do ... The simple handling of the bills and the ingenious gimmick does it all." - Alan Snowden
"This is a close-up routine that comes as close to perfection as I have ever seen. Firstly, it is a demonstration of a con, using real bills, which is always a good audience hook. Secondly, it is instantly re-set. Lastly, you can perform the effect using the spectator's hands ... The hallmark of all Ray Grismer items is the simplicity of the method and Shorty is no exception. ... Highly recommended." - Alan Marcus
"The effect is achieved by means of specially gimmicked bills plus a Dai Vernon move for handling which is simple to do and is absolutely clean cut in effect - a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill simply disappear and reappear without any obvious chicanery ... Highly recommended." - Eddie Dawes
Brick Tilley created a streamline presentation with Bug House.
1st edition 1978, 3 pages; PDF 3 pages.
word count: 539 which is equivalent to 2 standard pages of text
