The bunny wand is a great old gag trick. They have been made by numerous companies, and can be seen as much more than bunnies. I have seen wizards, frogs, cowboys… the possibilities are endless. I opted to make a standard bunny. After all, what is a stage magician without a bunny?
As I have mentioned in some of my videos: I am old, I am retired, I am arthritic. So that is why I teach, and no longer perform. Since I no longer perform I do not want to spend a lot of money on my magic hobby. I like to support the arts and artists, and a vast majority of my effects are store bought (or bought directly from the magician/creator). I have seen this trick sold for $30 to $75 and quite frankly for a piece of printing, that is far too high. There is no magic secret being paid for, just some printing.
The trick is very simple. You get a volunteer on stage to help you. You can say y’all will be producing a rabbit, or making them into a rabbit, depending on your routine. You begin with the tarp rolled into a wand, then it unrolls to turn them into a rabbit. Your routine will provide the laughs, the bunny wand is just a silly prop – but a fun silly prop.
The printed tarp is 18″x45″. When rolled it is about 1″ wide. The hardest part is finding a piece of clip-art that can be printed at 18×45 without getting pixelated. I went online to find a free piece of royalty free clip art. A site had this bunny and said it was free. I have been burned by those “free” sites before, so I no longer trust them. I will use this clip-art for my example, but will not provide it to you, as I cannot be sure it is in fact free to use. If you can work Photoshop and design this, I am sure you can find some clip-art.
I made the Photoshop file in actual size – 18 inches by 45 inches, and set it to 300 DPI. It usually defaults to 75 DPI, which is fine for online use. For printing you will want a higher resolution. I used the actual size to make it easier to see that it will blow up to full size without pixelating. The rulers were also useful in item placement and designing the cutout.
Each item is its own layer, for ease of editing and placement. The “cutout” layer was used in the design phase, but not printed. I just wanted to make sure the bunnies face was big enough to cut out a piece for the child’s face. It did get cut exactly where I planned but I liked having the option to adjust it if needed.
You may notice layer 7 is not being used. It was an experiment where I put my magic logo underneath the bunnies feet. It worked ok, but I just did not care for it. If I am already there performing – they do not need to see an ad for me. Seemed a bit much, so I turned it off. I just did not bother to delete the layer.
The printing costs, here in the Philippines, is crazy cheap. The tarp is 18″x45″ and only cost $2 (USD) to print. I am unsure what it would cost in the US. A commercially produced bunny wand may be a good idea in other countries.
Because of the well laid out Photoshop file I knew the actual size to make the cutout. I marked the height and width on a piece of paper and freehand drew an oval. I cut it out to test fit it. Surprisingly (to me) there was no adjustment needed. It was the correct size. I surprise myself sometimes.
After worrying for a few seconds I put the tarp on my cutting pad and used an exacto knife to cut it out. Once cut… you are committed.
The tarp was giving me some issues unrolling completely, so I needed to add some weight at the bottom. Not heavy, just a little weight. I found a car sunscreen with a plastic roller inside. It was only $2, so I bought it and destroyed it. The plastic roller was perfect. I could not think of anything better.
I ran a bead of superglue on the bottom of the tarp and glued it to the roller. Being very careful to get it straight. I then added a bit of packing tape… just… because.
The bunny wand rolls up much easier and neater with the plastic roller inside. It also unrolls much smoother and more reliably. The roller does not add any appreciable weight and is safer than a wooden dowel or metal rod.
The printer added a white border around the picture, that I was not expecting and do not want, but when rolled it just makes the white ends a little longer. On the bunny portion, no one knows what it is supposed to look like, so it only matters to me. I think the finished wand looks pretty good. And for $4 total.. I am very happy with it.
To see the trick performed check out the video on YouTube at FreeMagicFun https://youtu.be/5CyBPt3PN8A
