Putty Uppy


Most civilized beings understand that Silly Putty bounces, stretches and sort of duplicates printed images. A not-so-widely-known putty property is its ability to alter engraved images...like those found on a common penny.

E-ffC-CT - You make a crude paddle out of Silly Putty then press two pennies into it, one on each side. Both pennies are clearly shown heads up. A slight shake of the putty paddle and one of the imbedded pennies turns tails-side up. Another shake and both pennies are showing tails. The two pennies are removed and placed into a pocket. A quick shake of the empty putty paddle and both pennies instantly return...a second later the two pennies become two dimes! You take one dime for yourself and give the other to your putty buddy, who clears an easy eight cents on the deal.

If you are unfamiliar with the paddle move, see the notes at the end of this routine (I have a hard time believing you don't know the paddle move but I'll keep an open mind).

i>TE-P TWlO - Hide a dime in your left front pocket. This is not hard to do unless you have transparent pockets. And if this is the case then hiding a dime is the least of your worries.

5TELP TtlE.E-E- - Borrow two pennies from someone who wants to expand their putty paradigm.

.5TE-P F0\M. - As she gets out her pennies, bring out the Silly Putty and form it into a rough wedge shape. Hold it between your right index finger and thumb by the skinny end (FIG. 1). This is your official Putty Buddy Paddle. (The skinny end should be as short and thick as possible. If it's too thin you risk a paddle melt-down in mid-effect.)

5TEP HN/E. - Get the two pennies in your left fingers so they are both heads up and stacked one on the other.

.5TEP 6IX - Slide the putty paddle between the two stacked pennies and press both coins firmly into the wedge so you end up with a flat paddle that has a coin pressed into each side of it as in FIG. 2. (The visible coin will show heads, and the bottom coin is secretly a tails.)

i>TE.P 6E.\/ELNl - Tip the paddle up toward yourself, and do the paddle move to display two heads-up pennies. (The paddle move shows the top coin twice, and the bottom one with tails will stay hidden.) Tip the paddle back down once again doing the paddle move so the top coin still shows heads.

6TE.P Q.\C;iIT - Give the paddle a side-to-side shake as you quickly roll it over so the tail coin shows. It's like a paddle move without rotating your wrist. Slow down the shaking, and the top coin seems to have magically flipped over.

¿TE.P isllNlE. - Tip up the paddle for real to show the other coin is still heads. Tip it back down.

■5TEP TE.Nl - Give the paddle a side-to-side shake like before, but this time don't flip it. Just bring the paddle to a stop and then do the paddle move to show that both coins are now showing tails. Show them a couple of times to make sure the change registers.

5TOP E-LELN/ELNI - Without letting it be clearly seen, remove the heads-up penny with your left hand, and pretend to put it in your left front pocket. Secretly keep the penny at the tips of your left fingers.

5TE.P TW/E-LVE. - Show the second penny still stuck in the paddle. Come over with the left hand and pretend to remove it, but actually just bring the coin from your fingers in view and flip the paddle over quickly. It should appear that you plucked the second penny out of the putty. A few minutes of mirror-practice will tell you all you need to know about this.

6TE.P TJ-llt2-TE-E.Nl - Put the penny into your left pocket with your left hand and secretly get the dime at the tips of your left fingers. You can leave your hand in your pocket for a moment if you don't like holding out.

STOP FtfLIR.TE£.N - Give the paddle a quick shake and quickly flip it over. A penny reappears. Tip up the paddle and do the paddle move to show the second penny on the other side. This is a startling two-cent moment of astonishment.

6TE.P HFTE-E.Nl - Bring the dime out secretly with the left hand and pretend to press the pennies into the putty a bit...but actually put the dime secretly under the paddle (the penny is still on top) Your left fingers press the dime into the putty as the thumb gives the penny a little squeeze. It should seem like an innocent adjustment or steadying of the two pennies.

5TE-P 6IXT^tN - Do the paddle move a couple of times to clearly show two pennies. Shake the putty paddle back and forth one more time and quickly flip it. As it stops the penny has become a dime. Do the paddle move to show two dimes.

6TE.P - Reach under the putty and remove the penny and pocket it without letting it be seen. (Your audience has no reason to believe it isn't a dime. Just pretend that it is and put it away.)

5TE.P □^tlTE.E.N - Allow the person who loaned you the pennies to remove the last dime. She gets to keep it. Hey, that's what putty buddies are for.

PUTTY &UPDY - You could start the sequence by putting the plastic putty egg into your pocket. Then at the end when you put the "dime" into your pocket you could steal the egg. Your other hand rolls the paddle into a ball. You then cover the ball with the concealed-egg hand (apparently just the ball is cupped inside your hands). Squeeze...then lift your hand to reveal the ball's transformation into an egg (the ball is concealed under it). Crack open the egg and let the putty ball drop out, apparently from the egg. Thus ending a routine that was already over.

Tilt PAPPLE. M<?VE. - (You really don't know the paddle move?) Hold the paddle as shown in FIG. 1. Now roll the paddle over with your thumb. Good, roll it back. It should turn halfway over so the underside is up.

Now turn your whole hand over at the wrist. All you have to do for the paddle move is combine the two actions and do them at the same time. Turn your hand at the wrist and roll the putty paddle with your thumb. It looks like you're showing both sides, but only one side is shown. Twice. Who invented the paddle move? This is a wonderful thing.

TYI^E. TIP - This is a great trick to show small children, especially using their silly putty. But be warned—they'll demand to see it over and over again. A way around this is to give them the putty and say you'll do it again...as soon as they transfer a cartoon from the comics onto the putty.

• You can create an improvised version of any known paddle effect using a hunk or two of silly putty with some stuck-on pieces of miscellaneous stuff. You may consider this a dare.

• Putty Buddy Encore - When you pocket the last penny you can finger-palm any strange little thing you happen to have in your pocket and load it into the underside of the putty paddle. Show both sides to be pure putty, then produce your strange.

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