Stuff (Not stories, not poems, just stuff)

The Castanet Finger click – This is very simple to do once you get the hang of it. You merely click two fingers on your right hand (ring finger and then middle finger) and one finger on your left hand (middle finger) so that it sounds like a pair of castanets. Tip: Moistening your fingertips, either by licking them or dipping them in water will help you to click your fingers and make the finger click louder. Warning: If you’re not used to clicking your ring finger then don’t overdo it because it might get strained and start to hurt but the more you do it, the easier it gets. *************

Clapping/Clicking while holding a small cylindrical container for louder clicks/claps:  a) Hold a small cylindrical container (I use a magicians thumb tip) in your hand with the open end of the container pointed upwards and then click your fingers with that hand  b) Hold the container encircled in your left hand with the open end pointed upwards and slap your right palm down on the top of your encircled left hand.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Magic Finger trick – This is a really simple magic illusion that anyone can perform just using their two index fingers. Hold the extended index finger of your left hand in front of you and strike down upon it quickly with the side of your extended right index finger (Striking it above the knuckle works better). (Your left index finger should bend with the force of the right index finger striking it but straighten up so fast that you can’t see it bend) If you do it fast enough, it should appear as if your right index finger has passed magically through your left index finger. Warning: Don’t do this trick too often because it does start to hurt. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Magic Balancing illusion - Its simple to balance any light object (like a banknote or a birthday card) on your index finger. All you do is hold a cocktail stick between your middle finger and your index finger and this will prop up the object but because the object hides the cocktail stick it will look as if you are balancing the object effortlessly on your finger.  Balancing Illusion 2: Hide a wooden skewer up your sleeve with its point hidden behind your finger and then simply put items such as apples onto the end of the skewer, it will appear as if you are balancing them on your fingertip. Finger Code – There are 26 letters in the alphabet. Remove one letter and that’s 25 which can be broken down into 5 sets of 5 and communicated with the 5 fingers of the left and right hand. With fingers of left hand indicate set number. With fingers of right hand indicate letter number. No fingers indicates the letter Z Letter-1 2 3 4 5 Set 1. A B C D E Set 2. F G H I J Set 3. K L M N O Set 4. P Q R S T Set 5. U V W X Y Set 0/Letter 0. Z  CLICKING CODE: Once you have mastered the castanet click you can then also do the clicking code which is, basically, International Morse Code with Dots replaced by single clicks and Dashes replaced by Castanet clicks (If you haven't mastered the castanet click then claps will do for Dashes). ADDITIONAL NOTE: Morse code could also be transmitted by touch, tapping with fingers on the skin. In a handshake, a secret message could be concealed. KNOCKING - We knock on doors every day and, as a little joke, sometimes make a tune with our knocking like the American "Shave and a haircut - two bits" but, oddly, we never take knocking seriously as a form of musical percussion; yet it is the one type of drumming that you can do practically anywhere and its easier than having to construct a drum. Just think of the way that you knock on a door with your knuckles and use any similar wooden surface. MUG/CUP AIR DRUMMING - Hit the open mouth of a cup or mug with the flattened palm of your hand, you'll hear the sound of air being trapped; this trapped air is like an invisible drum skin that you can beat your palm against and, by flexing your palm, you can slightly alter the pitch of your drummimg to create a more complex rhythm. SIMON SAYS CODE - Whenever you raise your hand, this signals that you are speaking the words of a secret message; whenever you lower your hand you are just talking; this is an ideal way of hiding secret messages in ordinary speech. 

SIMPLE PICK-A-KNUCKLE PREDICTION TRICK- (CHILDREN’S GAME TYPE TRICK THAT MIGHT WORK ON ADULTS AS WELL)

 

1.      

Curl up your fist, hold it out and say, pick a knuckle.

 

2.      

Once they have picked it, mark the finger of the knuckle that they’ve picked in some way, for example:

 

a)holding a thimble in your palm, you slide the finger into the thimble (this might work for little children more than adults).

 

b) Stick a small round coloured sticker to your palm by its edge and, when they make their pick, stick the correct finger onto it.

 

c)Or for a more convincing prediction you’d need something to mark your finger, like a small ink stamp or a “swami gimmick” nail writer.

 

3. Then uncurl your hand and show that the finger of the knuckle they picked is the one that you marked earlier.

 

4. You could also hold out both fists and ask them to pick a knuckle, or ask them to pick one from either hand if this would make the trick seem more impressive (while having a thimble/sticker/ marker of some kind in both hands).

 

Note: I don’t claim that this is a great magic trick, only that it has a children’s playground quality to it (like scissors, paper, stone) that I think would make it easy to do and fun. It's also the kind of trick I think (with the thimble variant) a mother could amaze a toddler with.

 

 

The Strumming Click – This is a way that you can click several fingers at the same time. Simply fan out the fingers of your left hand and then, slightly bending the pinky finger and ring finger of your right hand strum the fingers of your left hand with those of your right. You have to do it quite hard and fast and it might take a few tries before you get the hang of it but it looks impressive.

 

 

 

Pencil Rattle – Hold two wooden six sided pencils between between your palms with the sides of the pencils closely touching each other. Now move your palms back and forth, rolling the pencils between them. When the hexagonal sides of the pencils rub together, they should produce a loud rattling noise. 

Paper whip-cracker

 

 

 

What you will need – A sheet of A4 paper

 

1.      

First fold up the paper horizontally, making narrow folds, until you have a long and narrow  but thick baton (stick) of paper

 

2.      

Roll that baton of paper up tightly, hold it for a minute and then let it uncoil.

 

3.      

What you should now have is something which resembles a party blower, curled round in a spiral at one end and straight at the other.

 

4.      

Now holding it, by the non-curly end, in your right hand whip it upwards against the back of your left hand. It should make a loud cracking noise.

 

 

 

Note: It is not necessary to keep it curly. Rolling it up just gives it a curved shape which makes a better crack.              

 

 

 

 

 

Styraphone

 

A styraphone is simply a stick pushed into a block of polystyrene. The polystyrene seems to amplify the sound of the stick (so that it sounds almost as if the stick is being rubbed against a microphone).

 

I play the styraphone by drumming the stick with my fingernails or strumming my fingernails with the stick.

 

Unless you’ve tried it you might not believe how loud it is but believe me polystyrene is like a natural amplifier.

 

Just try handling a piece of polystyrene quietly and you’ll see what I mean.

 

I’m sure you could find other ways to make musical instruments with polystyrene in them but this is just a very simple one that anyone can make.

 

A Styrofoam cup because of its shape is probably ideal as well.