Help us get to over 8,747 articles in 2024.

If you know of a magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them. Contact us at magicpediahelp@gmail.com

Any Drink Called For

From Magicpedia, the free online encyclopedia for magicians by magicians.
Revision as of 15:34, 21 December 2010 by Jpecore (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

Any Drink Called For (also known as "the Magic Bar) is an effect where the magician pours from a single container different drinks requested by the audience.

A precursor to the effect was the Inexhaustible Bottle in which a large volume of liquid, much greater than the its capacity, is poured out.

David Devant performed it with a teakettle instead of a bottle, apparently at the suggestion of his wife by the 1890s. Another British magician, Owen Clark performed it at St. George’s Hall in London.

Charles Hoffman developed a whole routine around this effect as "Think-A-Drink Hoffman" performing at American vaudeville houses. Hoffman out did other magicians by pouring any drink merely thought of by a member of the audience.

According to historian Milbourne Christopher, De Roze poured martinis, Manhattans, beer, milk and soda from pitchers of crystal-clear water. Others magicians performing similar acts were Milton Woodward, Val Voltaine, Mystic Craig, Dell O'Dell, Danny Dew and Les Levante.

Hoffman filed a copyright for his patter under the title of "Think-A-Drink Hoffman." He successfully through the courts even stopped a "Think-A-Drink Count Maurice" from using the name and his patter, but not from eventually performing a similar act.

More recently, Any Drink Called For has been performed on television by Paul Daniels, Lance Burton and Steve Cohen.

The trick has enjoyed a rich history, and I am doing my best to

References