BANDIT by Darryl Davis & Daryl Williams

That strongest kind of magic. A vanish and reappearance INTO YOUR SPECTATORS CLOSED HANDS. 

The most shocking magic doesn't happen in your hands. After all, you do sleight-of-hand; magic is SUPPOSED to happen in your hands. 

TRULY SHOCKING magic happens INSIDE YOUR SPECTATORS' HANDS. 

And BANDIT not only happens inside your spectators' hands??WHEN it happens, they lose their s#!t. 

Here's how the trick looks:

1) You CLEANLY display two rubber bands. You place one of them inside your spectator's hand. She can see it there??just one band??until the very last second, when she closes her hand. 

2) You take the second rubber band??and make it disappear in the CLEANEST WAY CONCEIVABLE. It goes into your hand??and then IT'S JUST GONE. You can show both hands front and back. Nowhere to be found. 

3) She opens her hand??and, you guessed it: The second rubber band has REAPPEARED INSIDE HER HAND, along with the first one. 

4) She FREAKS the f*#k out. (I include this as a step of the trick because it happens pretty much every time.) 

SPECIAL NOTE FOR BEGINNER MAGICIANS: If you've never done a trick like this before, prepare for the biggest reactions of your life.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR ADVANCED MAGICIANS:
If you're familiar with 'the sponge ball trick' you know how powerful this premise can be. Also, if you're familiar with THAT trick, you're going to LOVE all the thinking and refinements that made THIS trick possible. Both the 'load' and the 'vanish' are accomplished in COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAYS??ways that take advantage of the basic properties of rubber bands. And, of course, the biggest advantage of using rubber bands in place of sponge balls is: Sponge Balls look suspicious??like they came from a magic shop. Whereas everyone already knows what rubber bands are and how they're supposed to look. So using bands puts the focus on the magic, not the props. 

FINAL NOTES TO ALL: 

; you'll get TWO FULLY SEPARATE vanishes. Combine those with the original two-phase routine and really you're getting 4 tricks for the price of one. 

-Unlike so many rubber band tricks out there, you don't need sleeves or trick rubber bands to make the magic happen. Short sleeves and regular rubber bands will get the job done. And in this case "getting the job done" is code for FREAKING PEOPLE OUT.

-Rick Lax

Notes and credits: The core of the vanish comes from James Chadier and was presented on a DVD produced by Kyle Marlett. Further trick refinements come from Rick Lax, Jake Roeber, and Justin Flom