The Waiter's Tip
By George DeMott
Eight small, individual size boxes of dry breakfast cereals--say, Corn Flakes, Shredded Wheat, Post Toasties, Wheaties, Bran Flakes, Puffed Rice and Kix--are in a row on the performer's table. A plate is also on the table. Five men are requested to hold coins aloft. One man, a penny; one, a quarter; one, a nickel; one, a dime, and the last, a half dollar. The performer asks a traveling man in the audience what he would consider a suitable tip for the waiter at breakfast. Suppose the man says a quarter. The magician instructs him to borrow the quarter from the man holding it. The other men are thanked and requested to put their coins back in their pockets.
The magician instructs the traveling man to mark the coin so that he positively will recognize it whenever he sees it. While this is done, the magician returns to the stage and gets a napkin. He wraps the quarter. It can be felt through the cloth. The traveling man selects his favorite of the eight cereals. The "waiter's tip" vanishes from the napkin. The top of the selected cereal is torn off and the breakfast food is emptied onto the plate. Along with the cereal the coin is seen to fall and heard to hit the plate. The box is ripped into pieces and discarded. The plate is passed to the traveling man. He verifies his mark on the coin. The coin is then returned to its owner.
Secret: A good sized slot is cut through the rear of each box on the side away from the audience. Backstage, in a row, are five napkins. Each has a coin of a different denomination sewn in the corner under an extra flap of cloth.
No matter which size coin is selected you have a gimmick ready for its vanish. The borrowed coin is palmed as the sewn-in coin is wrapped in the center. This is what is felt through the folds. Hold the napkin in the same hand that has the coin palmed to mask it.
Command the coin to vanish. Shake out the cloth, holding it by two top corners. Lay the napkin aside or put it in your pocket. The palmed coin is introduced into the selected box through the rear slot as you pick up the box to tear it open. Dump the cereal and the coin on the plate. Tear the box to bits and toss it away, thus no one can ever discover the slot.
The plate is handed to the traveling man, he identifies his mark on the quarter, then the coin is returned to its owner.
Your assistant, in the meantime, has removed the other boxes. If you work alone, you can put them in a shopping bag and set them aside, so that no one can find out about the slots. And there you have the mystery of "The Waiter's Tip."