Mark Leveridge Magic

A Wrinkle On - Wild Dice

BRIAN ARCHER

Brian has a suggestion for Wild Dice which one or two others have also mentioned to me and I am happy to now be able to pass it on to you. At the finish of the routine, Brian felt awkward about the fact that the matchbox drawers could not be openly shown, and so he suggests replacing the supplied fixed dice with three different coloured ones, say yellow. Then at the conclusion of the effect, if challenged about the boxes, you are able to turn the drawers neatly over to reveal a further three dice, this time yellow ones. Brian also suggests spreading the boxes around a little after turning them over so that the position of the yellow dice does not look too much the same in each drawer.

MARK LEVERIDGE

Here is a handling change which will find favour with many and which is now my own preferred method of handling. It comes at the point where you are about to produce the first set of three coloured dice. In the original instructions, you had to casually slide each of the three boxes a bit to the right in order to reposition the stuck dice for the production. However, instead of moving the boxes, leave them where they are and.try the following.

Twist your right hand so that your thumb can grip the left short edge of the drawer, with the pressure being mainly on the rear half of that edge. At the same time grip the rear half of the right short edge with the right second finger. If you squeeze the finger and thumb together a little and lift the box, a coloured dice will be left on the table. It's actually the dice which normally would appear on the second production, but this doesn't matter of course. Repeat for each of the three drawers and then continue as per the original instructions.

ROBIN LUCAS

Several magicians have mentioned in passing slight alterations that they have made to the gimmicks in WILD DICE and Robin’s idea is typical of those I have heard. He has covered the stuck dice with masking tape to deaden any potential 'talk' with the other dice moving around  the fixed one and he has also attached a piece of card across the width of the box to shut off the empty end which is not used. While this does not necessarily improve the handling, it may be of help to you if you feel a little unsure about your ability to control the dice during the routine.

TREVOR HARGREAVES

Trevor spoke to me at an IBM Convention about his way of labelling the matchbox drawers so that he could remember which box was which. In the original instructions I suggest using a pencil to number the inverted drawer bases so that you can follow their respective positions and then to rub the numbers out when you are familiar with the routine. Trevor’s suggestion is to number the boxes with a 1,2 and 3 on the long side which faces away from the audience. If you do this you can leave the numbers on permanently because they are never seen from the front. This helps to remind you on which box to use Grip 1 and on which boxes to use Grip 2.