Hello friends,
Tom Mullica did a funny bit where he removed his contact lens (a glass disc about 2″ in diameter), he cleaned it off and popped it back over his eye (with the help of a little bit of sleight of hand). You can see him do this on An Evening At The Tom-Foolery (my favorite live performance show on DVD to date). This lens bit gets a great laugh.
Aldo Colombini did a routine with Jumbo Cards of pictures with clowns and each clown had a different colored nose. A clown was selected and a real clown nose of the same color appeared on his nose.
A signed card vanishes from the deck and appears on your forehead. “I’ve got your card on my mind.”
These are comical bits & revelations that use a bit of misdirection. They get great responses because they are funny & mysterious. Think about it form the spectator’s point of view. The have seen you for a while. They know what you look like & they know from life experience what looks normal. You’ve been doing magic, no surprise there but you have been surprising and entertaining them That’s good. This is what they want.
But that one instance, where they are watching you so close and somehow this impossible facial change takes place really gets to them in a different way and they can’t control themselves any longer and bust out laughing. No reward is greater than this to the performer.
Now take away all the magic. No signed cards, no prediction clown nose, no over-sized contact lens. Add a couple of wacky eyeballs and a tag line, what have you got. Same reactions & a stranger look.
Tom Burgoon’s Crazy Eyes is all that! It was so much fun, he put out Crazy Eyes 2.
For close-up, for stage and even for the the non-magician. If you just want to add a bit of humor to whatever it is you do, Crazy Eyes is a great place to look.
Crazy Eyes are flat “doll” type eyes that have rolling pupils in them.
Crays Eyes 2 are dome shaped bulging bloodshot eyes.
Both sets are “worn” like monocles.
The original style is animated an moves and can be hidden under sunglasses for an instant reaction. #2 are see through and that’s a plus.
Both come with one liners & ideas. And I know you will easily figure where when and how to use them on your own too! Enjoy.
Take care,
Pete