By: WhiteRabbit
I am doing the Haunted key. It is a great effect. The only concern is
it "Turns" half way then it drops becuse of the gravity the rest og
the wa. There by compleating the full turn. Is this normal or is there
a way to get the key to turn slowly all the way??
By: Bob K
Yes, it's normal, and yes you can get it to turn slowly all the way
(most of the time anyway). Basically, the way you get it to slow down
is to do the opposite of what you did to get it moving in the first
place. It's almost a matter of concentration that can be aided by very
(extremely) slight hand movement.
If that's not clear, email me and I'll be a little more specific. But it's mostly a matter of practice.
By: Roscoe
I have been able to get the key to move slowly all the way over by
reducing the input for the move as it begins to move.
The toughest part that I have had to deal with, is getting it to move slowly in the spec's hand.
By: Rob Vanden Heuvel
The method that I use is to place the key 1/4 the circumference short
of the crease in my palm that runs from the edge of my hand toward the
base of my first finger. By keeping my hand only slightly bent, when
the key is about to plop over, the shaft will lightly contact the
flesh on the other side of the crease. The slightest opening of the
hand now will allow the key to smoothly continue its slow revolution.
On the topic of The Haunted Key, what presentations have you found effective and engaging?
By: Roscoe
I found several other old keys and mounted them all on a board covered
in felt with a picture frame around them. They are all on little
hooks. This "picture" is hanging on the wall behind my bar.
When someone asks about the key collection, I take the down one at a time and tell a small (BS) story about each key.
One is the key for the cell for John Dillinger, one is the key for Capone's secret vault, etc. Finally I get to the story about the magi from Salem whose wife was arrested for witchcraft, locked up, and was to be burned at the stake in the morning. Amazingly, the next morning, the shackles were empty and the magi and his wife were gone.
By: WhiteRabbit
I tell of a house I visited. A quaint little run down place. The
locals say it was haunted but I don't go for superstitions. But...the
next morning when I awoke I found a key in my pants pocket. THe same
as I saw in the house door lock... Then I show the key, do the
effect...
By: Lantern Jack
Just the other week, I'm not sure how many of you visit the
allmagic.com site, there was an article on the use of the Haunted
Key. Now I've never been able to do this effect very well (I'm still
playing with hand positioning to make it not freeze mid-turn) but the
link on the use of the key suggests that one entire turn should take
about 90 seconds. Is this how long you guys take to turn the key too?
I had it figured for around 30 seconds before the movement would
become too small to be noticeably eerie. What's your average time to
make one turn?
By: Mark Ross
I saw the MagicShow segment on the Haunted Key and also have Dick
Williams book of scripts for it. In both places, he talks about a 90
second duration. I can't imagine doing it that slowly. What do you do
to sustain audience attention during that long a duration? The
movement stretched out that long must be almost imperceptible and, in
his routines, his patter is pretty near concluded before the movement
is started.
I guess that I just can't justify that long in my mind.
By: Chuck Leach
Dick Williams is one of the great 'routiners' around, but 90 seconds torture.
I do mine HK routine in three phases (when at the table): First turn
in my hand (10-15 seconds), then with my hand (the back) flat on a
table (hopefully removing thoughts that I move my hand), then I place
the key on the table, ask everyone to concentrate, and the key moves
on the table. (PK on knee). Remember: Less is more.
Tips: There's a muscle between the base of the thumb and base of the index finger. Place the key on top of this mound, with the handle hanging over the edge of the hand. By moving the thumb slightly, you can raise and lower this muscle/mound and cause the key to turn over. This eliminates most hand movement. In other words, the key is at a balance point on top of this muscle, almost ready to turn before beginning. People I've seen that take too long, usually have the key set 'before' the balance point. They have to work (slowly) to bring the key up to the balance point, before they can make it turn.
If you've ever had someone say you are moving your hand (or if you suspect they might be thinking that, which many do), then placing the hand on the table kills that thought, because the hand doesn't move.
By: Dennis Fox
The longer the better: It all depends on how you set it up. Here is
where all your theaterical abilities come to play. If they belive and
think their energy is involved with turning the key, they will be
totaly involved. My second job is teaching Comedy Traffic School and I
used the key routine(my key was the trunk from a 1922 car). The
spectator would hold my hand and 40 students in my class would
concentrate on getting the key to turn. This was all set up by
presentation. If they believe, they stay. I must of done this for
60,000 students. Almost every time I did it, one of my 40 students
would appproach me and say, I know the signed twenty dollar bill in
the balloon was fake but was the key real?
By: Bob K
I agree that it all depends on the presentation. I usually take no
more than 20-25 seconds. A couple years ago I saw a group of
spectator's watch entranced while someone too at least 2 minutes.
By: Tony Brent
The Haunted Key is an effect in which the build up is as important as
the actual "trick". Acting skills are paramount. Dick builds up the
effect so well that during the 90 seconds in which the key is actually
turning you can feel the tension within the audience. Once the key has
completely turned there is a sigh of relief amongst the crowd.
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