The Three Little Pigs - Pocket Packet Version
By Professor Spellbinder

One of my favorite story effects used to be Supreme's (probably Edwin's) Three Little Pigs. It is no longer available, and the Wiz Kids asked my help in restoring the old effect that they had kept under my front porch for the past ten years or so. While I was at it, I designed a new pocket packet version of the effect in Edwin's honor. It's good for hospital bedside shows, or any kind of close-up time with kids.

Effect: You tell the story of The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf (we include a variation of the original 1886 version by by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipp just in case you are not familiar with the tale). As you tell the story, you act it out using playing card sized pictures of the pigs and the wolf. My modern version of the story is designed for urban kids who might not know much about straw and twigs, but certainly know about potato chips and plastic. In any case, the wolf disappears, changing places with the last little pig, and ends up in a pot of water, taking a hot bath. Improvements include a much more deceptive switching device than the one Edwin provided so many years ago.

As a bonus, I'll also show you how to make the special stand that you see Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki working on in the photos above, in case you want to make the jumbo stage sized version. In the video at the top of this page, he makes use of the same stand for his pocket-sized version of the trick for parlor shows.

04/08/09 Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki has done it again. He has come up with a "new and improved" way of performing the trick that gets rid of some problems found in the Edwin Hooper's original handling and makes it even more deceptive as a magic trick. All previous purchasers of the effect have been e-mailed with the Addendum. If you didn't get it, e-mail me from the same address you used when you purchased the original and I will make sure you get this new version promptly. The videoclip at the top of the page shows Qua-Fiki performing the standard routine as handed down from Edwin Hooper and as it has been performed by generations of magicians.

This video shows Qua-Fiki's improvements- the Wolf suddenly appears (actually that's Qua-Fiki's cousin's move - Wiz Kid Rider's Surprise Count move for the four card monte). But now Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki keeps the Wolf in full view through most of the routine. The transformation of the Wolf to the Pig happens as usual at the end, but the houses are completely ungimmicked... merely envelopes to hold the pigs. At the finale, Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki gets all of the cards to "bow" to the audience, showing both sides of each card. We think you'll like these cleaner moves with Wiz Kid Qua-Fiki's attention to details.

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