Comedy Card In Balloon by Ron MacMillan

Milbourne Christopher conceived of the Comedy Card in Balloon premise and Warren Stephens was successful in marketing a number of versions starting with Carnival balloons c. 1963 and followed up by the modern standard using a tray and three balloons: Comedy Card in Balloon c. 1975. After Warren Stephens’ creation the floodgates opened with all sorts of variations culminating with Collectors’ Workshop’s P.T. Barnum’s Delight.

This version I purchased from Ron MacMillan’s International Unique Magic Studio c. 1979 and it was a popular part of my teenage act for some years.

It was finely made out of wood and it differs from Warren Stephen’s version because instead of the chosen card appearing in the center balloon, an extra section is added where a gun (blank gun or comedy bang gun) is given to the spectator to shoot at the target – which just happens to be in the bottom of the tray – and the hope would be that the card would arrive impaled by the bulled in the center of the target. But this fails too, and then the target swings down with a clatter and the performer’s face is revealed smiling through the hole left by the target and securely position on the end of his nose is their chosen card. It is a great piece of solid entertainment.

Effect: A card is chosen, tightly rolled up, introduced into the barrel of a gun and held by a child from the audience (or girl). You ask spectator to imagine to be a sharpshooter. You show a tray with three round inflated different colored balloons (for adults you can use a sausage balloon for the middle one, this being the naughty bit – sic), red, yellow and green.

Magician explains that the intention of the whole affair is that the spectator has to freely choose a balloon and then to shoot his card into the balloon. You ask the spectator to choose a balloon. Magician puts wads of cotton into his ears and takes up the tray between his two hadns. Spectator chooses fe.e. the red balloon. Magician says he will count to three aid at the count ci three the spectator has to shoot his card into the chosen balloon. Spectator aims. Magician counts: “ONE … TWO…” .. . but before saying ”three”, the red balloon bursts prematurely producing big cloud of white powder.

Magician offers his apologies and proposes to start the whole thing over again. He asks the spectator to choose one of the two remaining balloons. Spectator chooses, f.e., the yellow balloon. Spectator aims. Magician starts to count : “ONE … TWO…” … but before saying “three”, the yellow balloon becomes detached from the tray and flies in the air until it is deflated … Again magician offers his apologies and proposes to start again. He says that the spectator still has a free choice and asks him to aim at the remaining balloon. He starts to count: “ONE … TWO …” but again, before he is able to say “three”, the remaining balloon slowly leaks out until it is limp.

Magician looks bewildered … Suddenly he states that he has an idea and that there still is another way to try to succeed the trick. He turns the tray bottom towards the audience. Onto the bottom of the tray there is depicted a large target. Spectator aims. Magician holds the tray in front of his face and counts: “ONE . . . TWO . . . TWO AND A HALF . . . THREE” . . . spectator shoots . . . “BANG” . . . The target drops open and … through the round hole in the tray . . . magician’s face with the chosen card stuck to his nose.’

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