Obedient marble

Press, 24 August 1976, Page 10

Obedient marble

For this trick you need a marble, a fairly large plain ring, thread, a table, and a tablecloth. Show the marble to your audience and let them hold it and check that it is ordinary. Place the marble on the table and order it to roll towards you and then order it to roll away from you. It will mysteriously obey your directions. Yet, if anyone examines the marble they will see nothing wrong. The secret. Before your audience arrives, tie two strong threads to the ring. Next, place the ring in the middle of the table and stretch each of the threads out to the edge. Tie the

threads together under the table so that they don’t hang down far, but make sure that they are not too tight to move. Cover the table with a cloth. When you begin the trick, drop the marble on to the cloth inside the circle of the ring. Sit down at the table and, with your chest pressed close to the edge, lean forwards Use one hand to wave over the marble as you give it orders, and use your other hand to pull the thread backwards and forwards. If anyone wants to remove the tablecloth, break the thread and pull thread and ring out from beneath the cloth and hide them in your pocket.