Like most magicians, I have a weakness for paddle tricks...  I am fascinated by them and collect them, in all their myriad shapes and sizes, effects and variations.   I guess it is because even though the method is pure simplicity, the effect on lay audiences is huge -- way out of proportion to the rudimentary sleight of hand involved.

Of course, magicians love to combine methods and so adding some clever gimmicks to the basic paddle method, and the many, many variations are born.

One of the classic gimmicked paddles was the Enardoe Mystery Paddle, a small round paddle, on which a penny appeared and vanished, multiplied, etc.   These paddles are hard to find now, and highly collectible.  

In 1995, Terry LaGerould used the basic gimmickry of the Enardoe paddle, gave the paddle a zany new look (that of a miniature Ice cream Bar!) and came up with Ice Cream Schtick.    Although a miniature Ice cream Bar is a very strange thing to introduce to your audience, it gets a great reaction from lay people, who get a kick out of its wacky appearance.    I patter about how everything seemed bigger to me when I was a small child, and that most people remember Ice Cream Bars as much larger than they really were!   Then I bring out the mini ice cream bar.

The effect is simple:  a card is selected from a deck.  A miniature ice cream bar is shown, and a penny appears on the bar.   ("Pennies seemed to buy a lot more when I was a kid also!")   The penny is vanished, and appears back on the bar, and then is vanished again.  In the end, the Ice Cream bar "melts" a little to reveal the name of the chosen card in white ice cream under the chocolate coating. 

The card revelation part of the routine is (I think) optional -- I often perform the effect without the cards at all -- just make the penny appear and disappear.   The paddle is small emough that it can also be vanished with simple sleight of hand at the end if you wish.

This paddle is not often seen 25 years after it was introduced, and is a great collectible.  But I also recommend that you practice it and show it to an audience -- you will be very surprised how well it plays and how charismatic lay people find this weird mini Ice Cream bar.   

Brand new and unused, with original instructions.    This is from new-old dealer inventory -- never previously owned, and complete as issued in 1995

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