The World's Best Simple Bar Tricks

by LANSKY, DOUG

• ISBN13: 9780440508267
• ISBN10: 0440508266
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-03
• Publisher: Dell

Summary

Have a blast with bar tricks that can keep the party going for hours! Join in the fun by learning the secret of the "healed" broken matchstick...the mysteriously moving cigarette...the miraculous liquid handcuffs...and the "can-you-line-them-up?" three-glass challenge. Here are 50 entertaining and exceptionally easy illusions, brain benders, games, gimmicks, and unnatural phenomena that require little or no physical skill to perform. Whenever conversation fizzles, the food runs out, or boredom threatens to set in, you can get the good times rolling. All you need are items at hand like coins, glasses, and a napkin...Plus the exciting insider information you'll find in this, the biggest, most entertaining guide to bar tricks anywhere...for great fun anytime! Each and every bar trick is... Fully illustrated Risk-free and safe Great entertainment for club nights, parties, outings, sporting events

Author Biography

Doug Lansky, a writer and a traveler, has chronicled his travels around the world in his hilarious and vividly descriptive column, "The Vagabond." His travels have included cruising up the Amazon on a cargo ship, living and blowgun hunting with Jaguar Indians in Peru, buying a horse and riding it to Colombia, hitchhiking through Syria and Jordan, where he befriended sergeants in the Iraqi military, riding a camel across the desert in India, and sailing down the Nile.  Doug's articles have appeared in <i>Spy</i> and <i>Might</i> magazines as well as in numerous major U.S.  daily newspapers.  He is also the co-author of <i>How to Survive High School with Minimal Brain Damage,</i> published when Doug was just sixteen years old.

Excerpts

Introduction

I've traveled all over the world as a journalist, and on my journeys I have found that wherever there are bars, there are bar tricks.  From Nepal to Norway, Turkey to Thailand, Greece to Guatemala--every bartender seems to have a trick or two.  I began collecting these tricks in my journal, trading with people for new tricks along the way.  After six years and more than sixty countries, I had quite a collection.

Unlike magic tricks, bar tricks require virtually no skill.  The props for these tricks can be found easily in bars, restaurants, and even your own home.  So sit back, have fun, and enjoy!


1.  The Walking Coin  (SPAIN)

Santiago de Compostela, Spain, has a bar named "Paris" and another named "Dakar." There are about twenty bars located between them.  Naturally, students in this town have developed their own Paris to Dakar rally--endurance bar hopping.  It was somewhere along this route that I learned this trick.

What You Need: a glass, two quarters, and one dime

The Trick: Get the dime out from under the glass while staying six inches away from the glass in all directions.

The Setup:
Using a table with a fabric tablecloth, place the glass on the quarters and the dime between the quarters, under the glass.

How It Works:
Use your index fingernail to scratch the tablecloth along the threads that the dime is resting on.  The coin will slowly appear to "walk" out from under the glass.


2.  The Cork Escape  (COLORADO)

At a restaurant in Colorado, a waiter put a bottle with a cork in it on the table.  "Try to get it out," he challenged us.  My family just stared at it.  My dad tried sucking it out.  My mom tried jabbing it with her knife.

"Easy," I said, taking the bottle and raising it over my head.

"No breaking the bottle," the waiter told me.  "At least not on my shift."

What You Need: a wine bottle, a cork, and a cloth napkin

The Trick: Get the cork out without breaking the bottle.

The Setup:
Push a cork into an empty wine bottle.

How It Works:
Twist the cloth napkin into the bottle.

Jiggle the bottle until the cork falls lengthwise into the napkin fold.

Pull on the napkin . . . and the cork pops out.

Tip: This trick works better with a lightly starched napkin.

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Excerpted from The World's Best Simple Bar Tricks by Doug Lansky
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