Posted on Leave a comment

Drug Store Magic – Chapter 1: (1) Wine to Water

Fill a small pitcher full of water and dissolve a small amount of ferric ammonium sulfate in the water. Then make up a small amount of sodium salicylate solution. Get two wine glasses, and in the first wine glass do not put anything; in the second wine glass put a few drops of sodium salicylate solution. Then you pour some water from the pitcher into your first wine glass. It will remain clear, but when you pour from the pitcher into the second wine glass it will take on the color of wine.

Ingredients required:

Posted on Leave a comment

The Magic is Gone

One of the thrills of the single digits is raiding my desk. Often I come down to find my organized chaos in a disarray. To Amy and Evan my clutter is their treasure trove, as it should be, so I try to keep it child friendly. I fidget with my magic from time to time. My nickel to dimes trick currently lives on my desk in a ziplock bag so the money doesn’t accidentally get spent. I found the ziplock open. The nickles and dimes are accounted for but a critical piece of the trick has gone missing. Nevermind…I’m stupid. This reminds me of the time I purchased my first rainbow rod. I was in Disney World and the magician at the magic shoppe performed the trick so well that I understood exactly what to do. I purchased my own. I was so excited that back the hotel I pulled the wand from its container and tossed the instructions aside. I had enough prop magic to understand how these worked. I did exactly like the performer from the magic shoppe and my heart wrenched from my chest as I immediately broke the wand! The result of my actions had produce an outcome unlike anything the magician had done. It was totally unexpected and nothing I did seemed to fix it. That is, until I read the instructions and laughed myself to tears. So, the nickel and dime trick…it’s kinda like that.