81. Quick Tie Handkerchiefs

Effect: Two handkerchiefs are thrown in the air where they knot themselves together.

Secret: Apart from the two handkerchiefs, all you need for this trick is a small elastic band hidden in your right hand. Pick up one of the handkerchiefs with your left hand and place it in the right. As you do so, push a corner of the handkerchief into the elastic band. Do exactly the same with the second handkerchief. Throw the two handkerchiefs into the air and catch one of them as they descend. The elastic band holds the two handkerchiefs together and they appear to be knotted.

82. Sum Trick!

Effect: You predict the total of a sum.

Secret: Write 1089 on a piece of paper, fold it and place it on your table. Ask someone to choose any threedigit number. All three digits must be different and the first must be higher than the last. Get them to reverse the whole number and write that underneath the first. If, for example, he chose 983 he now writes 389. The lower number is then subtracted from the other. The answer (which, in this example, is 594) is then reversed and this time the two are added together. Open the paper – your prediction is the same as the spectator's total. In fact, if the calculations are done correctly, the answer is always 1089!

83. Rope Through Body

Effect: A rope passes through your assistant's body.

Secret: Two spectators are invited to examine a long length of soft rope. Put the middle of the rope over your assistant's head to her front. Take both ends of the rope around the back of her body where you apparently cross over the ends. In fact your assistant secretly sticks up her thumbs and you wrap the rope around them as shown. Hand the ends of the rope to the spectators on either side. When you clap your hands your assistant secretly lowers her thumbs and walks forward – free of the rope.

84. Soapy Secret

Effect: A coin is shown on the palm of the left hand. A moment later the coin has vanished.

Secret: This trick only works with a small coin. The coin is shown on the palm of your left hand which is then closed into a fist. You then press the nail of your second finger against the coin, for on that nail is a small piece of soap. When you open your hand it seems that the coin has disappeared – but it is really stuck to the back of the second finger with the soap.

85. Sweets To The Sweet

Effect: Sweets, produced from a handkerchief, eventually vanish.

Secret: Tie a wrapped sweet to a long length of thread. Attach the other end of the thread to the centre of one side of a handkerchief. Fold the handkerchief in half. Hold two corners in one hand and two in the other. Tip the handkerchief and the sweet falls out into a box on your table. Allow the handkerchief to fall open, with the sweet hidden at the rear. Lift the handkerchief and repeat the above movements until you have produced numerous sweets. Then tip the box to show they have vanished.

86. Spotted

Effect: You predict the numbers on two dice.

Secret: On a postcard write the numbers four and five. Place the card in an envelope. Glue two dice in one end of the drawer of a large matchbox with the four and five spots uppermost. Put two loose dice in the other end of the drawer. Open the matchbox to show the loose dice. Close the drawer and ask a spectator to shake the box. Take the box back and open the drawer at the end containing the glued dice. Allow someone to see the dice then close the drawer. Your prediction is opened and it, of course, correct.

87. That Rings A Bell

Effect: A small bell rings of its own accord.

Secret: A small bell is on your table. Hold an opaque scarf in front of you, between your hands. In the top right corner of the scarf there is a small pin. Show the other side of the scarf by moving the right hand to the left and the left hand to the right. Do this a few times, then pin the scarf to your left shoulder. This leaves your right hand free to reach down and ring the bell. Immediately bring your hand back up to recover the scarf from your shoulder.

88. Clip The Card The Travelling Coin Food And Drink

Effect: A spectator tries to put a paper clip on the centre of a group of five cards but fails.

Secret: Glue five playing cards together. The card in the centre should stand out from the rest. Show the cards to a spectator. Hand him the clip and ask him to put it on the centre card when you have turned the cards face down. He puts the clip on the centre card. When you turn the cards face up the clip is actually on the end card! The trick works by itself – but there is no need to tell your audience that!

89. The Travelling Coin

Effect: A coin travels from one hand to the other.

Secret: Place a coin on the palm of your left hand and another on the fingers of your right hand as shown. Turn over hands quickly and simultaneously. Lift the right hand and the coin has vanished. Lift the left hand to reveal there are two coins beneath it. Due to the positioning of the coins, this trick works automatically. Even so, you should still practise it in private before showing it to anyone. If you are left handed, you may find that the trick works better if the positions of the coins are reversed.

90. Food And Drink

Effect: From cards bearing the names of foods, you pick out the odd card on which is written the name of a drink. Secret: You need six blank cards, one of which is fractionally longer than the others. Hand five cards to spectators and ask them to write down foods. The long card is handed to someone with the request that he write the name of a drink. The cards are mixed up and handed back to you. Without looking you immediately pick out the drink card. You can detect it quite easily by touch.

91. Aces Discovery

Effect: You hold a shuffled pack behind your back and locate the four Aces

Secret: Secretly remove the Aces from the pack. Push them into a paper clip which is pinned to the inside of your coat at the rear. When you want to show the trick, hand the pack to someone to be shuffled. When the cards are returned to you, hold them behind your back and say you are about to attempt the impossible. Secretly remove the Aces from the hidden clip and bring them forward one at a time as if you have searched through the pack for them.

92. Unburstable Balloon

Effect: You stick pins into an inflated balloon – but, thanks to your magical powers, the balloon does not burst. Secret: The balloon has on it several pieces of clear adhesive tape. These will not be visible from even a short distance away. Push a pin into the balloon at one of the taped areas and the balloon will not burst (although it will go down after a while). You can push the pin into several different places to prove your magical ability. When you want the balloon to burst simply push the pin into an area that is not protected by tape.

93. Spin Vanish

Effect: A matchbox is banged on a spinning coin to stop it. When the matchbox is lifted the coin has vanished.

Secret: Spin a small coin on the table top. Hold the matchbox, which must be empty, so that the drawer is open side down. Bang the matchbox sharply on top of the coin. Ask a spectator if he thinks the head or tails side of the coin is uppermost. Lift the box and the coin has disappeared. Because you banged the matchbox down so hard the coin penetrated the cover and is now inside the box.

94. Money, Money, Money

Effect: Spectators try to win some money – but you win.

Secret: You show five envelopes. One contains a £5 note, the others slips of paper. You have secretly marked the money envelope with a pencil dot. Ask someone to mix the envelopes then return them to you. Move the marked envelope to the second position. Ask someone to spell "money", transferring one envelope to the bottom of the pile for each letter. He keeps the envelope that falls on the letter Y. Do the same with three other spectators. You are left with one envelope, the one containing the money.

95. Where Are The Matches?

Effect: Two empty matchboxes and one containing some matches are moved around on a table.

The spectators are unable to identify which box contains the matches.

Secret: All three matchboxes are empty. Attached to your right arm and hidden by your sleeve is a matchbox containing some matches. Shake a box with your left hand it sounds empty. When you mix up the three visible boxes you can make any one appear to be the full one, simply by shaking it with your right hand. The spectators think it contains matches because they hear the sound from the hidden box.

96. Anti-Gravity Cards

Effect: Several playing cards adhere to your hand, until you tell them to fall off.

Secret: You need to make a special card. It is simply an ordinary card with a tab cut from another card attached to its back. The special card is first placed face up on your palm and the tab is gripped between your fingers. Arrange some more cards between the special card and your hand as shown. Turn your hand over and the cards will appear to be sticking to it – until you let go of the tab.

97. Coin In The Glass

Effect: A coin disappears.

Secret: Put a coin in the centre of a handkerchief draped over your right hand. Place a glass tumbler on the palm of your left hand. Turn your right hand over, retaining a grip on the coin and bring the handkerchief over the glass. When the glass is covered tilt it towards you. Drop the coin. It hits the glass (convincing everyone it has gone into the glasses) and drops onto your hand. Place the glass (still covered) on your table and casually drop the coin in your pocket.Remove the handkerchief – the coin has vanished.

98. Colour Sense

Effect: You identify the colour of a crayon handed to you behind your back.

Secret: Ask someone to take any crayon from a box and hand it to you behind your back.You then turn to face the audience but keep the crayon behind your back. Secretly dig your right thumb into the crayon.Keep hold of the crayon behind your back as you bring your right hand up to your forehead as if concentrating.

Take a quick look at your nail – you will see bits of crayon in it and will know the chosen colour. Concentrate some more and then announce the colour.

99. Anti-Gravity Matches

Effect: A box of matches is opened and the drawer held upside down. The matches defy the laws of gravity and do not fall out – until you command them to.

Secret: Wedge a match across the drawer of a box of matches. You will probably have to shorten the match to do this. When you take the drawer from the box, hold it by the sides to keep the secretly-wedged match in position. Command the matches to fall and release the pressure on the wedged match. All the matches fall from the box on your command.

100. Going By Tube

Effect: A rolled magazine travels up and down a string.

Secret: Roll a magazine into a tube and use paper clips to hold it. Double a piece of string and hook its centre on the bottom clip inside the tube. A second string is looped through the first as shown in the illustration. Pull on the strings at top and bottom and the magazine will rise up the string. Pull on the top string, relax your grip on the lower string and allow your hands to move slightly closer together and the magazine will go back down.