?In 1965 I was lucky enough to learn the Multiplying Bottles from Ken Brooke, who used it to close his show. I learned the routine in half hour lessons and when I finally finished my tuition Ken turned to me and said, "Now you will always have a strong closer to your show for the rest of your career." He was so correct! After 50 years of using this trick it has always been a fantastic audience pleaser. I am excited to be releasing a DVD that teaches Ken's basic routine plus the many additions and subtleties I have added to it over the years.
My first lesson (and at the time it cost a great deal of money!) consisted of just learning how to pick up the genuine glass, throw it in the air, catch it and place it back on the table. Ken said, "Now you can always make it obvious that you are working with a real glass!" His second lesson was all about how to pick up the loaded
?stack of bottles and make them look as unprepared as the glass. It was an object lesson in good magic and worth every penny I spent learning from the true master that Brooke undeniably was.
On a later lesson Ken told me that he was teaching someone else the routine and we were both at the same learning point, he said he was going to run our lessons jointly. To my shock and delight the other magician who joined us was the great British comedy magician Tommy Cooper. It was the first time I met Tommy and that half hour remains a treasured moment in my magical career.
Picture
?Over the years I have developed the routine and it has become a truly magnificent mini-illusion that has been a highlight in my professional show. The routine is all about the timing and rhythm that is essential to really sell it to an audience. For the first time I am sharing every nuance and detail that I have learned about this wonderful piece of magic.