Tea with Buddha by Arlen Studio

Effect: The magician displays a small black velvet drawstring bag and from it removes a square felt pedestal, Chinese tea bag and a small Buddha figure mounted to a wooden base. A spectator is asked to examine all of the items.
While this is being done, the performer produces a length of satin cord on which is threaded an ancient Chinese coin. The coin is removed from the cord and placed on the felt pedestal. The cord is then bundled up and placed in the velvet bag with the two ends still visible. The magician then ties the ends into a simple knot and explains that the cord is actually a money string which belongs to Buddha himself and relates the following story to the audience.

“As you may know, Buddha is the God of Plenty. In other words, he brings good luck. He also has been known from time to time to grant wishes. But nothing in life is free, and that’s where the money comes in. See, we need to sweeten the pot if Buddha is to grant you your wish.” With that, the magician gestures toward the coin on the felt pedestal and picks up the tea bag and Buddha figure. He continues, “Like Buddha, tea is also considered lucky and if Buddha is to grant our wish, a little extra luck can’t hurt.” At that, the magician places the tea bag on top of the coin. He continues, “Now, to top off our lucky little stack, we will place Buddha on top.” The magician then adds the Buddha figure to the stack and asks the spectator to think of a wish. Once the spectator has confirmed that they indeed do have a wish in mind, the magician picks up the Buddha and hands it to the spectator to rub for luck while intently thinking of their wish. After they give the Buddha figure a few rubs, they’re asked to place it back down on top of the tea bag. It’s time to see if the Buddha has granted their wish-the magician grasps both ends of the string and pulls them away from one another. As the string is pulled in opposite directions, the spectator is shocked to see that tied to the middle of the string is the coin! The coin is laid down on the table and the spectator is asked to inspect the lucky stack. To their amazement, the coin is gone! Everything may be immediately examined.

Comes complete with velvet bag, Buddha figure, pedestal, tea bag, satin cord and Chinese coins.

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