HOW TO CATCH INVISIBLE GOLF BALLS IN A PAPER BAG
Use any resources that you have. Yes, you are a storyteller, but if you are a storyteller who can sing, use that. If you are a storyteller who likes to draw, use that. If you are a storyteller who can do voices, use that. If you have a special talent or skill, look to see if there is a way that talent or skill can be used in your storytelling. If you are passionately interested in birds or the culture of Japan or motorcycles see if you can find a way to use that passion in the service of a story.
In that context, I would like to present a short workshop on a skill that I think will prove useful to many of my readers... HOW TO CATCH INVISIBLE GOLF BALLS IN A PAPER BAG.
I learned this skill from a book called
THE WONDERFUL FATHER BOOK
by Richard Mann
(Turnbull & Willoughby, 1985).
Unfortunately, this book is out-of-print.
What follows is a set of step-by-step instructions with photos and comments. I have also created a more condensed version of the instructions that you can print to keep in your resource file.
ONE - THE BAG
Take an ordinary brown paper lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag down about an inch to form a collar.
Richard Mann writes about how the "Old Razzle Dazzle" is as important as (or even more important than) the actual trick.
Here's an example of "Razzle Dazzle"...
I have often used this trick as a follow-up to a story that has a genie in it. I tell the audience: "The genie in that story and I have gotten to be good friends, and when I told him that I was coming to Spruceland Elementary School to tell stories this week, he said - Oh... yes... I have heard that there are some very nice children at that school. You must take them a present from me... . So I have brought you a little surprise from the genie... This isn't the surprise... this is just an ordinary every-day brown paper lunch bag. Just an ordinary empty bag... see...
As you continue with the "Razzle Dazzle", slip your index finger and ring finger and little finger inside the bag with your middle finger on the outside. The top edge of the bag should be snug up against the crutch of your fingers.
"But I need this paper bag to show you the surprise."
With the bag between you and the audience, cock your middle finger with your thumb.
"The surprise is right here in my pocket..."
Reach into your pocket and bring out - THE INVISIBLE GOLF BALL! Show it around.
"Here it is! Pretty neat, eh! I know it is kind of hard to see, but that's because it's invisible. It's an invisible golf ball."
"But I can show you the golf ball by throwing it up and catching it in this paper bag. Watch carefully."
Throw the ball up. Follow it with your eyes in an arc up and across and down into the bag.
Modestly acknowlegding the applause and the oooh's and aaaah's of your audience, remove the ball from the bag and get ready to do the trick again.
Two, three, four hours a day... practice, practice, practice...
Now that you know how to do the basic throw and catch, you can explore any number of variations... throw the ball up, spin around and catch the ball in the bag... throw the ball under your leg and catch it... play catch with a friend...
If I use this trick as part of a presentation at a school I will often get several children in the audience to take a turn throwing the ball so that I can catch it.
I was at a school in Victoria for two consecutive days on one of my tours. On the first day, I did the invisible golf ball trick for a class of Grade One students. The second day that I was there, I was in the staffroom standing at a window that looked down from the second floor onto the playground. One boy who had seen my presentation the previous day, spotted me in the window. He waved, took off his backpack, set it on the ground and started to rummage around inside it. A moment later, he stood up and proudly displayed - AN INVISIBLE GOLF BALL! I gave him a thumbs up sign, and he reared back and threw the ball. When I caught it, he reached into his pack and got another one... and another one... and another one... I still haven't used up all the balls that I collected that day.
And, of course, if I invite one or two or three children to throw balls, all the children want to have a turn. We can never take time for everyone to have a turn, so I always leave a golf ball with each of the teachers so the children can play with it later back in the classroom after they have done their work.
When the ball "lands" in the bag, RELEASE YOUR MIDDLE FINGER AND LET IT SNAP SMARTLY AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE BAG to make the sound of the ball landing in the bag. Shake and drop the bag a bit... that golf ball is fairly heavy...
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