The Guttapercha Connection

By Michael Weber
In the January, 1976 Magicana
Mr. John Bass described the Boomerang Band in a letter to Mr. Charlie
Miller, this was my introduction to
the stunt of shooting a rubber band a
number of feet away from you and
having it "return" to you like a
boomerang. The illustrations accompanying the letter were accurate
but difficult to understand.
Magician Dan Garrett of Atlanta,
Georgia, was also mentioned in the
letter. Wild tales were spun about
magicians who had ventured south
of the border and witnessed a Mexican bartender who tossed a rubber
band on the floor at which time it sat
up and rolled back to the bartender
like a boomerang.
Obie O'Brien was kind enough to
invite me to the legendary F.F.F.F.
at the Forks Hotel in Buffalo, NY
where I met Mr. Dan Garrett. Dan
shot a rubber band across the floor
and it rolled quickly back to his
hand. I was amazed. It looked very
strange and seemed impossible. Dan
is a fine magician, a great creative
thinker, and one of the most sincerely kind and friendly people I
have ever met. I am honored to be
able to call him my good friend. Dan
taught me the proper way to hold
and shoot the band. I got the knack
quickly, but could see how it would
take a while to acquire the correct
feel.
In a recent phone conversation
with Dan he told me he was taught
the stunt by a magician named Don
Cox, who told Dan he had learned it
from a layman. The Boomerang
Band, and the following routine, are
best performed as stunts for people
who don't know you perform magic.
The band rolling back will look like
an oddity, and the climax to the routine will leave them wondering what
hit them. The effect is: While
standing around a group of strangers
at a bar or similar setting you toy
with a rubber band and eventually
April, 1983

shoot it across the floor whereupon it

rolls back to your feet. Asked to do
this again you demonstrate it can be
done with two bands. Shooting two
bands from the same hand, they
come rolling back like little wheels.
Repeating the previous feat, you
shoot the two bands across the floor
but they fall on the floor without
rolling back. You ask someone to toss
one of the bands back to you, but
they find your request impossible as
the two bands are now LINKED together.
To perform you will require four
rubber bands, two separate and two
linked. The bands can be linked by
severing one of them, looping it
through another band and bonding
the ends back together with superglue. When glued correctly the
bands will withstand any amount of
inspection and stretching. Place the
linked bands in an accessible pocket
and the loose bands on the floor, or
on a nearby table or countertop.
Shoot out the single band, and it will
return. Place the two loose bands
side-by-side and shoot them as you
would a single band and with a bit of
practice they will both come rolling
back, usually one will be a bit faster
than the other.
Gain access to the linked bands in
the right hand as the left hand picks
the loose bands off the floor. Retain
the loose bands in the left hand as
you stretch the linked bands across
the right fingers. Shoot the linked
bands and as the attention follows
the flying bands, pocket the loose
ones.
Do not make a move out of this,
you are not doing any magic in the
spectator's eyes, so act in a normal
fashion. Allow a spectator to
discover that the bands are linked.
Your reaction may range from equal
interest in this occurance, to being so
bold as to take credit for it.
To shoot the bands, begin with
round rubber bands. The circum-

ference should be the same as that of

a silver dollar. The type that come
wrapped around the evening paper
work very well. Stretch the band
between the thumb and little finger.
The band should be hooked between the finger and the nail of the
thumb and little finger. The upper
part of the band should be loose,
while the lower portion should be
taut. Press down on the band with
the forefinger, and release the band
by bending the thumb. This will
place a backspin on the band which
will cause it to roll back to you.
Once you acquire the knack, the
band will roll back across most surfaces, and can even be shot up a
flight of stairs whereupon it will roll
back down the stairs. Once again,
this is not a trick to be performed
after other rubber band tricks, it is a
stunt with a finish which should be
presented as a juggling feat. It is not
effective if presented as a magical
effect to a group of people who know
you are a magician.
Again, special thanks to my good
friend Dan Garrett for allowing me
to explain the method he taught me.
The following is a reprint of John
Bass' letter printed in the January,
1976 Genii. Also the late Mickey
O'Malley's drawing which went
with the letter.

Boomerang
Band
Dear Mr. Miller,
I have mastered your boo-merang rubber band and have found
it quite effective. I have demonstrated it on several occasions and
it has received favorable comments from Herb Zarrow, Bob Elliot and several other magicians.
First of all, round rubber balls
244

aren't a necessity and for me the

trick works much better with the
samples I have sent you. Sometimes by using these rubber bands
I can shoot them out as much as
10 feet or more and still have it
return quickly. You can find this
size in most stores and should find
many kinds that work just as well.
First method is that used by me
and which I think works best. The
second is one which DAN GARRET of Atlanta, Georgia showed
me. Find whichever works better
for you and use it.
FIRST METHOD:
Hold your right hand palm up
and hook the rubber band on the
thumb nail (see Figure 1). Now
stretch it as tight as possible
around the back of the outstretched fingers and hook it onto
the nail of your little finger still
pulling the band towards your
body with your left hand. Now
still holding the band tightly with
the left hand, swivel it around the
back of the hand and slowly let
go. This will result in one side of
the band being tighter than the

other to give the necessary backspin you need. Your little finger
nail must be slightly on the long
side in order for the rubber band
to stay. The other end of the rubber band goes around the back
of the right thumb nail (see Figure 2), for end result. Remember
to keep the fingers spread far
apart to create more tension. Now
aim at a spot about seven feet

away and fire by bending the first

joint of the right thumb. This
takes practice, believe me, although it may come to you on the
first try. If it keeps snapping off
of your hand it means that your
little finger nail is too short and
must be grown longer. If you practice this enough I'm sure it will
finally come to you.

The Boomerang Band is again

written up since Michael Weber has
been getting so much publicity out of
this little stunt. Believe me when I
say that it can cause more merriment than nine out of ten of the
complicated card tricks that one
sees. Thanks, Mike, for giving us all
the history of this novel item.

Just recently a very good friend of

mine showed me a card trick and
when he finished I asked him what
the effect was. Truly, he had complicated a four ace trick until one had
no idea what was taking place. When
I explained that no one could follow
the effect he told me that I didn't
know what was good.

description carefully he will learn

that the cards could be shuffled for
no mention is made that the deck
was shuffled by one of the viewers. The descriptipn is that the deck
was shuffled again.

Words fail me when I meet many

of the "moves and methods" persons in our craft. They constantly
criticize each other and seemingly
are not interested in the true art of
our craft. They merely want to do
moves. Now I am not alone in this
and I hate to keep bringing up the
subject, but when those who are not
magicians start complaining about
the attitude of some performers then
it is time to do something.

A bit of advice to card workers.

Please jog a card in an overhand
shuffle not more than a quarter of an
inch or at the most a little less than
half a centimeter. When properly
done the jog is not at all noticeable.
In most cases, however, it looks very
odd. I can usually detect the jog in
an overhand shuffle even across the
street.

Why oh why can not our sleightsters learn to present tricks instead
of doing odd sleights? I have one
friend who is a superb sleight of
hand performer but he can really
create some terrible effects by trying
to improve them.
245

Remember that even these things

about which I rave can be done properly but usually are not.
Another bit of advice to my friends
in card magic. Read the descriptions
of the effect. For example one friend
wrote that Walter Scott couldn't do
an effect in which the cards were
shuffled. If this person will read the

S>lncth.2.lij,

John

The same goes for coin tricks. I

again refer to the effects. How some
of my friends can complicate the
effects. At last I realize what is
meant by the word finger-flinger.
A couple of letters were received
in which Ron Bauer's description of
the double lift, double turnover or
whatever one wants to call it. No
claim was made for its originality.
Again I'll stick out my neck when I
say that most double lifts are just
awful. And most of the time you can
see the "get ready" by merely
watching the attitude of the performer. He usually does a "get set"
that one can see across the street. I
can name but about six card workers who can turn over the top two or
one without any difference showing.
I just received a call from a
GENII, The Conjurors' Magazine

professional magician who tells me

that his c o m p l a i n t about card
workers is that they love to do
sleights in front of people who are
not magicians.
A last word on the card trick I
mentioned wherein a named card is
missing from a new deck of cards.
Several great methods were sent but
they all used a stacked deck.
I may have explained that the
method of which I write is simply a
deck in order already in the case but
a special device makes i( easy to
remove any card called for. The deck
now slides down into the case and
when the case is removed from the
pocket the device which held the
pack in a position to quickly remove
any card remains. If anybody is in-

terested I'll make a sketch in a forthcoming issue. It is elaborate and the

pocket has to be quite spacious. Anybody interested. I might add that the
trick is easier if two indexes are
used. One in each pocket.
Frankly, I doubt if the effect is
worth it.
Another letter of David Bamberg
will appear soon. These sometimes
have to be cut off and continued in a
later issue as the letters are very
long sometimes. The information is
of great value to those who are sincerely interested in magic.
This will be all for this month.
Look for another good trick from
Mike Weber. If memory serves me
this effect is an old classic and it is
very good. See you next month.

QDbttuamB

ICautjblttn
Wanda Laughlin died December 17
in Oakland. CA after a long illness
and a bathroom fall. Services were
held on December 22 and entombment at the Sunset Mausoleum in El
Cerrito. She traveled widely and entertained as a songstress under the
name, Wanda Warren and in a
double magic act with her husband
of some 30 years Lyle (Carlylye). She
leaves also two sons. Robert and
Richard as well as a host of friends
she made in Magigal and magic activities. She was 66 and a native of
Tacoma. WA.
Our svmpathy to hubby Lyle in
particular who will no doubt now
move to Paradise. CA with a son.

i-facfcrt
ANOTHER
TOWARD
OBLIVION/

International Brotherhood
of Magicians.
Society of American Magicians.

The WORST LINES in magic

LET N\E H/\VE YOURTMANI).
TUECLAA/ONE ' OH/ TUAT

YOUR CLEAN

April, 1983

JJQ/
WAS

In tlie archircs
of the Magic Art
'Ttcill he written
of his
association:
Nerin was a giant in
stature,
in knowledge,
skill and
dedication.
He is deserving
of the greater
glorti
in his hohi task in
heaven.
There, his earthhi
deeds
trill
he
rewarded
and continue
as tfie Artist
Nerin.

Benjamin J. Kleinman

246-