The following is a guest post from an author who wishes to be known as The Magic Demon.
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NEW OKITO BOX PATTER
Exclusively for readers of Canada's Magic
by The Magic Demon
Some time ago I purchased a brass Okito Box from the Browser's Den of Magic in Toronto (although I'm sure Perfect Magic in Montreal carries them too!) If you don't already have one and you are into coin magic, you need one.
What always used to bug me about it was coming up with an explanation for the unusual looking prop. It isn't something you see every day. Inspired by recent events in the UK, I came up with the following story. I hope you will enjoy using it or a variation of it in your act.
I use a large old English penny. You can also use multiple pennies if you wish. You could use this as a module in your coin act or as a stand alone item. I won't go into the mechanics of the trick; use your favourite method. But here's what you can say while demonstrating the effect (in this case, that of making a single coin disappear from a seemingly secure brass case).
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"The Royal Family in England never carry cash on them. Do you know why? It used to be a problem for them years ago when they wanted to "spend a penny". Do you know what that means? In England it means to use a public toilet which used to cost a penny in the old days. They cost more today but the expression is still the same.
Now, in the old days they created little gold cases for the Royals to store their precious pennies, in case they needed to spend one. The cases had room for 3 or 4 pennies, more than enough for any Royal on tour. Now the original cases were made of gold or silver but they kept getting stolen or mislaid. So they decided to manufacture a number of them in brass. They still looked elegant but they were less likely to get stolen. I have one of them here, but I won't tell you how I got it. Let's just say the Royals were very absent minded about where they left them.
So they would store their precious pennies in their new brass cases - all safe and sound. But what they could not have foreseen was the unusual effect that the brass casing had on the old fashioned copper pennies. Now some say it is a purely chemical reaction between copper and brass. Others claim it is because Britannia (who is on the the coin) hates being imprisoned in such a tiny space. Well, whatever the reason, you can still see what happens - it's gone!
And that's why the Royals don't keep any money on them to this day. What would be the point? They couldn't even hold on to their pennies!"
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Thank you The Magic Demon
for guest posting at Canada's Magic!
