The order of the effects has to be considered, so that all transitions happen smoothly; I don’t want to jump from one thing to another without some (apparent) sense of reason. Where there is a change, it needs to be segued by something tangible, most often by words of explanation. Also, since misdirection can happen in time as well as space, I need to think about what has to be set-up ahead of time so that it can appear spontaneous later on.
The way it’s shaping up right now, the Zener Board will be the opener, then a short (<30 second) intro speech, and then toss out the napkin for “Silent Running”. By the time we get here we’ve covered 5-6 minutes, and the audience is scratching its head. This gives me opportunity to explain the reason for random choice of participants and introduce the goody bags that allow me to set up for the dual-spectator ACAAN and the question reading at the end.
I haven’t described the goody bags yet. All guests will receive a small gift bag at the door. In addition to some souvenir trinket, each bag will contain a pencil, a 3x5 file card in one of four different colors, a white 3x5 card, and a small, sealed “invitation size” envelope containing a business card. Some of those business cards will be blank, others will bear a symbol of one form or another. This is to allow me to choose “randomly” who will assist with each demonstration. There are various subtleties and instructions involved, but that’s the gist of it.
While I’m telling them about the stuff in their bags, I’ll go ahead and ask them to use the pencils to write a question on the colored card, using all of the directions from the Banachek lecture (lined side only, folded once only, etc.)
We’ll move on to something else, something simple and not too distracting, then when it looks like everyone’s done writing, we’ll pass around the billet box to collect the cards. As soon as it gets back to me, I dump the cards into a big glass bowl and shake them around a bit. Explaining that I want to get to know them (my guests) a little better before answering the questions, I’ll leave the bowl in plain sight and move on to another effect.
That’s not even a skeleton of a routine yet, just a couple bones lying in close proximity. But it’s a reference that I can begin building around. The order may change (like packing a room full of boxes, sometimes they get moved around when a better fit is discovered), but right now I like the opening mentioned above, because it’s quiet and believable, it gets attention without being over the top. It leaves plenty of room to build; and build it will!