The Turnover Bend
Effect:
A spoon is borrowed and held at the magician’s fingertips. It is shown from all angles
and then effortlessly droops, bending at the neck.
Preparation:
There is no prep really, you do need to make sure that you can physically bend – It’s not
in fact real magic! It’s a very simple bend to accomplish, as it’s a dual handed bend, so
you need not worry too much about your finger strength.
Method:
The effect really is as simple as it plays.
You will bend the spoon using your right hand to pinch the bowl of the spoon, your left
thumb as the fulcrum point and your left first and/or middle finger to lever the bend. This
is all done during the second rotation of the spoon.
You will be rotating the spoon vertically, around the bowl. The following pictures should
illustrate this effectively.
First Rotation:
Second Rotation (inc. bend)
The Optical Droop
Optics:
The spoon doesn’t have to be rotated at a very fast speed, just a natural one. You will
want to practice working in the bend as part of the regular rotation. Spoons by nature
reflect light and because of this and the movement, you won’t have a problem with the
spectator’s seeing anything they shouldn’t.
The great thing about this is that after the bend is achieved, your right hand is blocking
sight of the spoon. Then you will set the spoon up for the droop and allow it to droop by
simply letting the spoon slowly continue it’s rotation as you pinch it at the bottom of the
bowl, like it the photos.
The key with the droop is to try and hold the spoon at spectator eye level and I like to
hold my free hand up so that there is clear perspective as the spoon’s handle drops.
You must try your best to keep the hand holding the spoon completely still; you can let it
drop by squeezing and SLOWLY beginning a finger click motion with your first finger.
Gently move it up and the big motion of the spoon’s handle will cover the little motion of
your finger and the bowl.
Final Notes:
This is a very effective bend that I use to put a further bend into the spoon for a second
optical technique in my two-spoon routine QuickSilver.
I suggest that you practice this in-front of a mirror so that you can figure out the best
angles for your optical technique, some people like to bend things in different ways, if
you wished, you don’t have to droop the spoon, you could re-position and rub the spoon’s
neck to reveal.
The Synthetic Arc Bend – The Non Bending Spoon Bend
We've all come across cutlery we just can't bend. It's made from long lasting, hardened
steel forged in an olden Viking civilization in Norway hell bent (forgive the pun) on
destroying the livelihood of the metal benders among us.
Snapping back to an amount of reality, it happens - and it's not always easy to get out of a
demonstration like that. I tend to carry around a bent 10 pence piece so I always have
something I can bend when someone asks for that kind of demonstration.
The closest thing so far that I have found to counter such circumstance is the absolutely
fantastic "Gallerian bend" created by my good friend, the renowned Erick Castle. I highly
recommend purchasing the DVD, Its a highly visual bend and is as impromptu as it gets.
The only downside is that you do still have to bend the spoon in your hands, which with
some spoons / forks is an impossible task. So, I've set out to create a visual spoon bend
(or fork bend - I feel it actually looks better with forks!) where the spoon never actually
bends.
This is a metal bending routine geared towards the performer who is caught off guard; if
you can use a routine where the spoon actually bends I highly recommend doing so.
When this is not possible, this is the only routine of its kind.
Method:
The bend is based on a move taught in Erick's Gallerian DVD, but in this case the spoon
does not have to be bent for the visual bending.
Upon studying the shape of a spoon or fork, you'll note there is already a slight bend as
the metal forms into the bowl of the spoon or the tines of the fork.
You should hold your spoon (or fork, for demonstrative purpose, we’ll use a spoon) over
the bowl, so the four fingers hide it. This is so that when the spoon is rotated forward, it
appears that the bowl stays in the same position.
Using positive linguistics – telling people that the CAN see the spoon bend is Not the
best technique to use however. I will explain suitable suggestive techniques and emphasis
later on.
The little bend should be visible, as should about a centimeter more. You’ll notice that if
you use your thumb to move the handle forward, in the motion it is bending, because the
bowl is hidden and the reflection of the light of the bend it really looks as if the handle is
bending. Practice this in front of a mirror to perfect the illusion - it’s all optics.
The only problem visually is that if you want a nice noticeable bend, you will begin to
see your thumb poking out from behind your hand. You are essentially moving your
finger and thumb in a slow motion finger click motion.
To hide the conspicuousness of the thumb, you will want to wave your fingers in front of
the bend - in a similar motion to if you were rubbing the bend to soften it. I find it looks
more impressive to wave your finger about a half inch in front of the spoon as it looks
much more magical and it gives no feasible way for you to be bending the spoon as you
are holding it in one hand.
Finally, be careful of angles, naturally the effect must be performed head on as at other
angles it is possible to see what is happening. A way to counter such difficulties is to
work on the positioning of the arms to obstruct anyone else view, so they can just see the
handle.
"Straightening" the spoon:
Obviously, there is no way to hand out your "bent" spoon for examination, so you must
straighten it out again.
This can simply be done in such a way, as you would normally bend a spoon back to
normal.
You should practice the motion in a mirror with a real bent spoon so you can see how it
naturally looks. Then move onto practice with a non-bent spoon, doing the “bend” and
then “straightening” the spoon once more.
Linguistics:
The way this effect is performed relies heavily on the showmanship and the patter. If you
believe that the spoon is bending and use positive suggestion, SUGGESTING to the
spectator that they can see the spoon bending, that it’s incredible and the like, they WILL
see the bend happen, they will find it incredible and won’t question whether your actually
bending the spoon or not as they have the suggestion matched with the visible aspect of
the trick.
A key idea like I mentioned earlier is to not tell them directly the spoon is bending NOW.
Introduce the trick as a metal bending feat by all means, but never at one point say “The
spoon is bending at this moment in time.” This allows the spectator to see it happen
themselves, they expect the spoon to bend and if you gaze long enough into that little
bend it appears to deepen, its just your eyes going out of focus in reality.
So rather than say “it’s bending, look!” go for a “Watch closely, you WILL see it happen
– sometimes it happens faster than others but you will see it happen.” Then as they begin
to react change your patter, “See, there it goes (suggests movement), You can see it –
Watch closely (allows eyes to get confused)”
At this point the spoon is apparently bending; you could even go as far as to begin with
the spoon in the spectator’s hands – if they clench a palm up fist around the bend is a
spoon and slowly release their grip it feels as if the spoon is moving. This should only
really be used after another effect in which they have got into the swing of believing and
taking your suggestions. You can then go onto the optics part of the illusion.
For information on suggestion and particularly that which applies to metal bending, try
Kenton Knepper’s “The Miracle of Suggestion.”
When it comes to the spoon being bent, allow the fact to sink in, then immediately
explain how the spoon’s particles part allowing for a flexible substance to manifest. This
is how you bend the spoon back – then you may hand the spoon out to a spectator saying:
“You try and bend it – without the correct mindset, it’s near impossible!”
By saying near impossible you clear yourself if you have an incredibly strong man to
whom you handed the spoon whom then proceeds to bend it outright. Also, saying
without the correct mindset suggests you bent the spoon with your mind.
If your strong man does manage to bend the spoon, take it with a pinch of salt; lighten the
mood by saying something like:
“Now try it without the other hand!”
As this is exactly what you did – it creates a perplexing puzzle for the onlookers, and
your strong man!
Final Notes:
Like I mentioned at the beginning of the explanation, if you can bend the spoon
comfortably, do so. This is an effect designed to counter the spoons or forks we cannot
bend.
If you can show a spoon that is bent in full view this is very powerful. The method
described here can fool people very well with the correct performance, but at the same
time, for someone to be able to feel the spoon in it’s bent state is a fantastic thing.
I leave all discretion to you on this matter, you should decide when and when not to use
this method – but please don’t over use it, performing it multiple times could allow for
questioning.
Further Reading:
You will note several people who really specialize in metal bending, Banachek, Richard
Osterlind, Morgan Strebler and Kenton Knepper are the names which stand out in my
head.
I must also give honourable mention to Erick Castle for his work – His Gallerian bend is
beautiful and the DVD is available at
www.Mindlapse.net
along with your favourite
dealer I’m sure.
Thankyou’s:
CL | BW | LL | DM | T
D.
