WAYNE DOBSON in association with
ALAN WONG
presents
INVISIBLE COCKTAILS
by WAYNE DOBSON
INVISIBLE COCKTAILS is the sort of item that you can carry with you at all times, so you are always ready to perform a natural-
looking, powerful routine after hours with attractive, natural props.
It uses an ingenious principle that, for whatever reason, has seemingly been overlooked by magicians.
Wayne took the principle and added the all-important commercial angle of linking it with the sort of cocktail menu you’d find
standing in a contemporary bar, hotel or restaurant. It lists many different cocktails, from which the spectator freely chooses one;
there is no mathematical force involved, it really is a free selection.
With no funny business, mnemonics, arithmetic, fishing or questioning the performer is immediately able to
name the cocktail they are merely thinking of!
The joy of this routine is that it is super-simple to perform thanks to Wayne’s superior routining - it almost justifies being called self-
working.
THE PRINCIPLE
Simply stated: you have a pile of alphabet cards, on each of which are shown various letters of the alphabet. The spectator thinks of any
letter of the alphabet, then looks through the cards and places aside those that bear their letter - each letter appears on several cards at
random.
They can cover the cards bearing their letter beneath their hand, or place them away in their pocket, or under a napkin. They hand you
the discard pile, which you put away.
In doing so you get an instant, casual, unnoticeable peek of their letter.
The seven Alphabet Cards used for the choice of letter is loosely related to the ancient ‘Age Cards’ binary principle, but applied to clear
plastic cards that allow a clean but devilish peek. When you align the cards in the discard pile - i.e. those not showing their letter - there
will be one gap in the alphabet on the cards - as shown in the diagram. This gap reveals their letter to you!
That’s it!
What is so disarming about this version of the Age Cards is that attention is always on those cards they select that contain their letter.
Our principle depends on the discard pile, which you casually pick up, square and put away, sneaking a peek of the grid in the process
and sighting the missing letter.
© Copyright Wayne Dobson, 2019. Routine & working, Wayne Dobson. Apparatus, Alan Wong. Instructions & design, Bob Gill
THE COCKTAIL LIST
This is simply an A to Z list of 26 cocktail names. Once they have thought of a letter and done the business with the Alphabet cards, they
pick up the Cocktail Menu and look at the cocktail starting with their letter.
So if they chose ‘H’ their cocktail would be ‘Harvey Wallbanger’. They pantomime holding an invisible glass containing their invisible
cocktail - you mime dipping your finger in and touching your fingertip to your tongue, tasting it, then announcing their choice.
Clearly it would help your revelation if you could indicate what ingredients you are ‘tasting’ before revealing the cocktail. This will require
you to learn the ingredients of all 26 cocktails, or use a crib - that’s too much memory work for me, so I don’t name what I’m tasting, I just
look into mid-air as if savouring each ingredient as I ‘dip my finger in’ three times; most cocktails use a minimum of 3 ingredients.
Once they have consulted the cocktail menu, leave it opened on the bar or table so you can check which cocktail starts with their chosen
letter. As you use the effect more regularly you will get to identify the majority of cocktails from their initial letters - but it pays to avoid
a sudden brain-freeze to be safe!
I think these are the briefest instructions I’ve ever put out with an effect of mine, so simple is this one to explain - and perform!
A A B C D
E F G I J
K L M N O P 'H'
is missing: so
that's the one
Q R S T U V they chose!
U W X Y Z
