The best hand-is-quicker-than-the-eye demo I've seen was years ago on The Tonight Show. Tony Slydini had a volunteer sit in a chair on stage. He took a napkin and rolled it into a ball, then held it between finger and thumb in front of the volunteer. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the ball back over the volunteer's head. He repeated it with several more napkins. That person thought the ball disappeared from right in front of his face, while the audience broke out in laughter.
When you are at the website of a magic publisher or two or three, search for "Paper Balls Over The Head". It may surprise you how old this effect is, and how many different handlings exist, and how many different people are acclaimed to be the Universally Acknowledged Master of this effect. Maybe I should say, how many people acclaim themselves to be the Universal Undisputed Master of this effect. If the number and wide variety doesn't surprise you, it did surprise me.
I wasn't aware of that. I can only remember it being described in one book, John Scarne's Magic Tricks.
I thought of mentioning that in my post, since one of his other books, Scarne On Card Tricks, describes the telephone divination trick under the name The Wizard. And may provide the originator or popularizer of that effect.
I thought of mentioning that in my post, since one of his other books, Scarne On Card Tricks, describes the telephone divination trick under the name The Wizard. And may provide the originator or popularizer of that effect.
Ricky Jay did a hilarious demonstration of that effect onstage in the documentary film about him, "Deceptive Practice." I had it pulled on me by a guy who used to work for me who was a very skilled close-up magician; it's really spooky, and one more lesson in not trusting that my perceptions reflected reality.
Here's a nice article where the entire rest of the audience, not the volunteer, is surprised and mystified by the effect:
Paper Balls Under The Head - Stone Cold Magic Magazine
Paper Balls Under The Head - Stone Cold Magic Magazine
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