Marucci's Bizarre Bazaar

The Bat
by Peter Marucci

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The paddle move is one of the most versatile in magic.

Unfortunately, the paddle - used with it - is often described as such (a paddle). That's a bit like calling a handkerchief a "silk" or telling a lay audience that your story line is "patter".

Bad theatre!

If the paddle is used in a bizarre routine and is of wood or metal, why not call it part of a coffin?

If it is used in a comedy routine and is plastic, why not say you're "on a budget" and are "recycling swizzle sticks from drinks".

If . . . well, you get the idea.

The following is a favorite of mine, if only for the terrible pun at the end.

The Bat By Peter Marucci

Effect: The mage produces a small, paddle-like stick. (Depending on the material it's made out of, he explains where it comes from or what it was.)

There is a picture of a male vampire on the paddle. The mage shows "both" sides and the picture is the same. He wraps his hand around the wide end of the paddle, covering the picture, but leaving the handle in plain sight.

The mage then tells the story of the vampire rising from his casket and turning into a bat.

He opens his hand and the vampire has turned into a bat - a baseball bat!

The mage shows both sides and there is a baseball bat on both sides.

Working and Presentation: Just a simple paddle move here.

On one side of the paddle is a picture of a vampire in human form (Bela Lugosi would be good here); on the other side is a picture of a baseball bat.

(You can get both pictures off your computer's clip art or you can clip them from a magazine or you can draw them - or any combination of the above!)

Show the vampire on "both" sides, using the paddle move, as you tell his story:

"Near a small village in the Capathian Alps of Transylvania, lived a count. Rumors circulated in the small village that the count was a vampire and haunted the brooding castle that loomed over the village.

"The villagers said that, as a vampire, the count would drink the blood of innocent virgins in the village and that he had the power to change his shape to that he could fly over the village.

"They said that, once a month on the night of the full moon, the count would rise from his coffin and turn into a . . ."

Here let the audience fill in the word "bat" for you. You may occasionally have to prompt them.

When they say "bat", you say "That's right" and open your hand, showing the baseball bat on the paddle. Show the bat on "both" sides and say something like, "Yes, a bat - a Louisville Slugger, I believe!"

Second thoughts: There may be a few out there who are not familiar with the
paddle move, used in every case above where I refer to "both" sides of the paddle.

In that case, here is a short explanation of how it works:

Hold the paddle by the long handle, between the forefinger and thumb of the right hand, palm up and paddle pointing down but with the "vampire" side showing, albeit upside down.

As you turn the hand to palm down, to show the other side of the paddle, roll it between the finger and thumb so that it turns over and the same side is shows again, although the audience should think it is the other side.

Note: If it is a plastic paddle, or the long handle is too slippery to comfortably turn over, you can get better grip by wrapping an elastic band around the handle several times.

This can be turned into a comedy routine easily enough:

When referring to the "count", you can refer to the villagers as "no-accounts".

When the count rises from his coffin, he can be getting up to answer the phone the first time (a wrong number - they were looking for TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000.)

When you say he drank the blood of virgins in the village, you can - but you should be 'way ahead of me by now!

Enjoy the routine.

Peter Marucci