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TIPS AND IDEAS FOR THE SQUEAKING PEPPER POT
Ian Adair It looks like a pepper pot, but we know it is filled with ''Woofle Dust" or " Magic Dust". This de luxe model is the best we have seen. It looks good, it feels good and it works good!
To get the best out of this prop (a great bit of business rather than a trick) you first must know that it can he worked in two different ways. a) Shaking it up and down or side to side, a clucking noise occurs and stops when the shaking finishes.
b) There is a hole in the base of the pot, which when covered by the thumb or 1st finger, makes it impossible for the pot, when shaken, to omit the noise. 1} Ideal for sprinkling magic woof1e dust over props to make the magic work.
Over silks inside a change bag, over torn papers which become restored, over a jumbo card to make it change. It's also ideal for transformation type effects, sprinkling some dust on both parts eg: 20th Century Silks, on the knotted silks as well as on the single silk which will ultimately vanish and reappear tied and knotted between the others.
2) In asking all the children to help to create the magic, approach them and sprinkle woofle dust over them.
3) Why not sprinkle woofle dust on yourself? When a trick isn't working to plan, a sprinkle of dust over you makes all the difference.
4) Sprinkle some dust over the head of an assisting child, so he or she now has magic powers.
5) During a puppet routine, with rabbit, monkey etc, hand the shaker over and let the puppet sprinkle some magic dust onto a miniature production box, Merry Switch Can etc.
6) Sprinkle some dust over the actual puppet - then he becomes 'magic'.
7) With finger covering the hole in the base, shake the pot up and down, back and forth - tell the children nothing is coming out. Hand it to the assisting child and ask her to work it. She does...and the funny clucking noise is heard by all.
8) The pot is ideal for close-up work. Not only does it cause amusement, but is ideal for misdirection purposes. Ditching the torn pieces of paper or the extra sponge ball, becomes easier when you reach into your container or case to bring out the pepper pot.
9) A playing card is selected and mixed with others, then the cards are ribbon spread, face down onto the table surface. In a children’s routine, these could be Snap or picture cards. The performer shakes the magic pepper pot over each card in the row. When he comes to the chosen card (which can be marked) he allows the pot to squeak. Using the finger over the hole method, the performer is always under control.
10) Why not purchase three of the pots? It's always handy to have a spare, just in case. However, you can use three in a Three Pot Monte effect. One pot squeaks, the other two don't. Of course, we know that all can be made to squeak, so this is always under the performer's control.
11) Because the pot is small and nice to handle, it's an easy object to produce or vanish magically, especially when using a sleight of hand move
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