Boo-Boo-Bar by Carl Williams

The Pom-Pom Prayer Stick was invented by Louis Histed and published in his book The Magic of Louis S. Histed c. 1947 as the effect Papyrus (pg 55). The effect was made famous and very popular by the great Ali Bongo (William Oliver Wallace: 1829-2009). You can read more details about the origins here. It is really a beautiful effect full of comedy and mystery.

This high-end version of the prayer stick expertly crafted by Carl Williams is beautiful and perfect for walk around and even parlor settings.  At just 9″ long it fits neatly inside your jacket pocket and can be seen by a good sized audience.  It can do everything the standard prayer stick can do.  It is the first version I have seen since Milson Worth’s Wizard Wand that uses actual pulley’s for the cords to flow smoothly on inside the stick.  Ickle-Pickle also released their own Boo-Boo-Bar but it is much smaller and lighter and nothing like the quality of Carl Williams’ version.  I believe that Carl Williams released the first version and Ickle-Pickle produced their version a few years later using the same instructions. (The last photo shows them side by side.)

Effect: The Boo-Boo-Bar is a precision trick device designed for the close-up magician or, to augment another effect being performed at the close-up table. The bar has been designed for ease of carrying in the breast pocket of a suit or jacket or may be separated and carried in separate pockets as the situation dictates. Generally speaking, the Boo-Boo-Bar must be considered as a magical support prop and, therefore, the degree to -which the effect can be exploited is dependent upon the performer ‘s skill. In this respect, the Boo-Boo-Bar is similar to the classical Chinese Sticks, but considerably more versatile. No attempt will be made here to dictate a formal modis-operandi, however, a suggested routine is offered as follows:

Ladies and gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to introduce for the first time on this earth the infamous Boo-Boo-Bar – (produce the bar from the pocket). Before we go into the many wonders of this precision piece of abnormal apparatus I would first like to aquaint you with some of its more ridiculous features. First, we have the shaft from whence dangle four vividly colored fuzzy squeezable little hemispheres, referred to in the trade as four vividly colored fuzzy squeezable little hemispheres. These delightful little goblets are com­monly called Boo-Boo-Balls which I shall shorten to Boo-Boos to save time. Notice we have two Boo-Boos on the top of the shaft, a red one and a yellow one and we have two Boo-Boos on the bottom of the shaft, a blue one and a green one. Now notice this situation can be reversed by a simple rotation of the shaft which just gives you a small insight into the versatility of this cost clever and useful device – (rotate the bar and readjust the pom-poms). Oh, yes, one other important feature which you probably haven’t seen on the previous Boo-Boo Bars with which you are famliar is the articulation lanyard which passes from Boo-Boo to Boo-Boo (grasp the upper pom-pom having the long string and show the connection between pom-poms is free). This lanyard is provided just to enable me to pull a Boo-Boo at anytime I please. Let me demonstrate (pull down on one pom-pom and the other will go up).

This is what is known as pulling a Boo-Boo. Now there are many different ways in which a Boo-Boo may be pulled, for example, some people like to pull the left handed Boo-Boo like this (pull the left pom-pom down) while others insist on the more socially acceptable right handed Boo-Boo like this (pull the right pom-pom down). Please notice that because of recent developments in the art of Boo-Boo pulling you may now pull Boo-Boos in almost any combination like this (go through a sequence of alternate upper and lower pom-pom pulling). Now one of the more embarrassing things is when you pull two Boo-Boos at the same time and get caught with your Boo-Boos hanging down (gra3p one lower pom-pom and swing it over to the other lower pom-pom and pull so both pom-poms are hanging at full cord’s length). Now, during a demonstration such a3 this, there are always some intellectuals in the audience who axe torn with emotion between the sheer beauty of these dangling Boo-Boos and an inward suspicion that some sort of magical chicanery is being employed such as a lateral articulation lanyard connection from Boo-Boo to Boo-Boo, As you can so, no such connection exists (separate the Boo-Boo Bar’ at the middle joint turning the open ends toward the spectators for a moment and place the two pieces side by side and demonstrate that the two lanyards are free to pass through the end holes), yes indeed, you may go home tonight and say the magician you have seen here pulls nothing but good clean honest Boo-Boos! But enough of this trend toward suspicion that trickery is standing in the way of honest Boo-Booism .

Again, as I said, pulling a right hand Boo-Boo will always result in the tempta­tion to pull a left hand Boo-Boo (again go through a sequence of pom-pom pulling both down and up). How what does all of this prove, you ask? Nothing at all which X think makes this whole thing worth while don’t you? Oh, yes, remember, if you must pull Boo-Boos use your Boo-Boo-Bar and get the most out of every Boo-Boo you pull.

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