[Thanks to Wand Gang member Jeff Black for submitting an interesting article]

According to CNN, materials scientists have created a new "superwood" that is "stronger than steel." Because Lignum Vitae, our original Ironwood Street Wand, now has a finite limited availability, I was intrigued by the possibility of a new ironwood, even if it's synthetic.

The headline is a bold claim-- wood that is stronger than steel. Even the hardest natural ironwoods are not actually as hard as steel. Based on the details in the article, I don't believe we're going to have a new Street Wand wood.

A big part of the claim revolved around iron being much heavier than wood. A long dowel of the superwood can support weight similar to an iron bar. Obviously, the bar is significantly heavier, and has to support its own weight as well as any load added. But that's merely one metric.
They boast that it is up to "20 times" stronger than common woods and "10 times more resistant to dents." This appears to be a claim about Janka hardness. This is a known number when it comes to our ironwood wands.

The average common wood like pine has a Janka Rating of about 350lb. That means it takes 350lb of force to press a half-inch metal ball into a pine board halfway. If the Superwood process 10x the Janka Hardness, it would be roughly 3,500lb. This is in the ball park of our many of our ironwoods. It is still not as hard as Genuine Lignum Vitae or Snakewood.

The process of making the wood so hard involved removing the materials that aren't cellulose and compressing the remaining cellulose. This would make for a pretty plain looking material that is dry and not resinous. It wouldn't be as smooth and pleasant as natural ironwood.

As far as competing with steel goes, no wood can complement concrete structures the way steel rebars do. Steel rebars and concrete coincidentally have matching fluctuations in size due to temperature. This means steel reinforced concrete can stay strong year round. Superwood can't do that.

It sounds like a promising medium size project material, like furniture, floors, or stairs. Superwood street wands will probably be off the menu, though. 

Get your own natural ironwood street wands Here. 

Jeff Black, "Hollywood's Favorite Magician," has been studying the cups and balls seriously for just about ten months. Whereas most magicians learn a variation of the Vernon routine as a jumping off point, Jeff dove into the deep end and synthesized ideas from many performers, including Cellini, Smayfer, Ammar, Williamson, Kaminskas, and myself. The result is an original routine with deliberate designs and decisions that emphasize clarity and effect. 
Although the roots of the routine are from "the streets" Jeff had mostly been performing it for friends and fellow magicians at jams, to get stage time and experience. His first professional performance of the full routine, pouch and all, was a special occasion. He got to help change a couple's life.
Jeff had invested a lot of time and money in developing his cups and balls act. He had just acquired the final piece of the puzzle for performing it at any venue he wanted. The Luxury Cups and Balls Pouch freed Jeff from having to wear special jackets or trousers. The classy ostrich and vachetta tanned pouch can be a self contained cups and balls act.
Equipped with the tools and skills of the trade, Jeff was able to deliver on a custom request from a client. They had him "street perform" on a pier as the sun set over the ocean. The client had Jeff produce a boxed ring at the end of his performance, so he could propose in a romantic and memorable way. The client's ideas for producing the ring box were impractical, but they were excited to learn that the box fit snugly under a cup. He used it as the last final load in the cups and balls.
For helping a couple transition to the next stage in their relationship, Jeff earned a cool grand in under fifteen minutes. An he'd tell you-- he couldn't have done it without his luxury cups and balls pouch.

Despite family obligations, I was able to visit The Orleans in Las Vegas for a few hours to see friends attending Magic Live. Had the pleasure of discussing wands and leathers with several of you wand owners [you know who you are], and got to see some great coin and wand manipulations. 
Ran into some friends on my way in, and they recorded a live demonstration of the Wand to Coin Purse.
One of these years, I'll find the time to formally attend again, but it was fun stopping by Magic Live 2025.

    Grandmaster street magician Jimmy Talksalot tells a legendary story about Jim Cellini stopping crowds and starting shows by bowing and striking the ground with a magic wand, *tap tap*. Jimmy and his own school of busking follow in Cellini's footsteps and use magic wands as "thumpers" to make noise and attract attention.
     When using a sawed off drum stick or cheap dowel, one can whale on the ground without concern. Hickory, a common wood used for drum sticks, is loud and resonant, and inexpensive. When the ends splinter or the shaft snaps, they are easy enough to replace.
     Luxury ironwoods, on the other hand, are more exotic, rare, and valuable. Although they are tougher and more robust than softer woods, jagged concrete sidewalks can wear away at the ends over time. Cellini himself tapped his Lignum Vitae street wands on the ground, but he also had a supply of them. To get the most out of your own street wands, one factor to consider is how you hold the wand while striking the ground.
     

     In the left image above, the wand is held firmly with each of my fingers contacting it securely. While this grip is useful for other aspect of magic with wands, it mutes the vibration of the wood. To get the most sound out of tapping the wand, it needs to be held at two contact points, the thumb and first or second finger. In the above right photo, even though the wand is held with the thumb and first finger, the location of the grip is incorrect. Holding the extreme end of the wand also mutes the noise it can make.

     This is because of the way the wood resonates when struck. The image above shows another incorrect grip, as well as an illustration of how the wand moves then it resonates. The white line shows the exaggerated end positions of the wand as it vibrates. The green circles show the "nodes" where the wand doesn't move. The "anti-nodes" are the parts of the wand that move the most-- the tips and the center. 
     When the wand is held at an "anti-node" the vibration from tapping the wand goes into your hand and gets muted. When you hold a wand loosely at the "node"-- 1/4 or 3/4 of the way up the wand-- the wood is able to vibrate and make the most sound.
     What this means for you and your wand: you don't have to hit the wand as hard to get more sound. Hold the wand correctly and you can lengthen the lifetime of your thumper. If your wand is 12", hold it about 3" from the end between your thumb and first finger when you tap it and you will feel the difference.

     Go out there and make some noise!

   Are you a busker or street magician who would prefer to stop specific types of people rather than others when starting your shows? There are tactics for starting shows that involve getting large groups of passersby to stop and watch all at once, and they are important techniques to learn. But every pitch is unique, and some require a different approach. For the pitches where the best procedure is stopping one person or group first, then building a larger crowd with them as the core, the first people who stop matter. If a street person smelling of piss, cigarattes, and alcohol stops to watch, you're not likely to get the show you want. It's often best to be friendly and show a quick trick or two then move them along. If a happy looking family is enjoying your magic, other families will be interested in joining the fun.
    To get the right people to stop, elements like costume, characterization, jokes/lines and strategies come into play. In this post, I am only addressing the words we use to engage passersby. Reciting patter, telling people to stop, having everybody watch a coin or stick, or addressing people directly ["Hey, you! Pick a card"] are reliable and common strategies. These are effective at festivals, fairs, casual hang-out pitches like beaches and parks, and established pitches where people expect performers.
    If you busk in the city, downtown, tourist traps, or indiscriminate shopping areas, you may want to pick out particular people in a large wave of passersby to stop. There's only a chance they'll stop anyway, but by intentionally selecting, you increase the odds that they stop, while decreasing the likelihood that someone you don't desire stops.
    For example, suppose that after a green light down the street, five groups of people walk past you within ear shot. A group of young teenagers, a family of five, two couples, and a group of barhopping women. Announcing a magic show, telling everyone to watch a coin, saying "Free beer"-- all strategies we've seen. You might stop everyone, just the drunks and teenagers, or just the family. It's left to chance. But if you had a choice, wouldn't you prefer to stop the family and the couples on dates?
    In advertising, there is a term called "flagging the audience." I've used it twice in this blog post to get your attention-- in the title and opening sentence. Presumably, if you've read this far, you're a busker or street magician. One who is curious about being more selective about your audience. Flagging is similar to what Jim Cellini called "qualifying" the audience, though his process came after the crowd had gathered, before starting the main show or finale. Qualifying a crowd you have ensures that those who remain understand that they are expected to tip. Flagging stops the people you want, rather than those you don't.
    To get back to our example of the five groups. The family and the couples all consist of a core of people on a date. So a specific joke or line related to dating, or relationships, will get their attention, but not the teenagers or drunks'.
    "Make your date night seven times more memorable by watching a great magic trick!" And if it gets any of the couples or parents to pause at all, a tag, "And you'll only remember the good parts of the night in ten years."
    Or to be edgier:
    "Couples who watch magic are 36% more likely to stay together."
    Pick your own ideal audiences and write your own lines, but I hope you get the idea. It's an opportunity to really build rapport and good humor right off the bat. I recently got a $20 tip from a couple who only had time to see a couple quick bits, because I had noticed the guy obviously went to the gym and worked out. He was wearing a tank top and had defined arms.
    "Watching magic boosts your gains 50% more than creatine. You look like you take creatine." The guy laughed and said he did. "I bet you do, you're looking swole." Not particularly funny to most of the people who were on the sidewalk at that moment, but it charmed him and started a show. His date had to go along for the ride.
    You can write lines that attract broad categories of ideal crowd cores-- couples, families, tourists-- but you can also connect with people who you recognize care about specific things you're familiar with. In my example, fitness and supplements was something I knew someone like the guy probably knew about. People often wear clothing or accessories that show an association with schools, trades, sports, favorite music or films etc. It's like a cross between crowd work and cold reading.
    Like I said at the top, this is not a holy grail strategy to use all the time at all pitches, but in certain situations, it can be useful. Let me know in the comments below if you have effective flags you use, or ideal people to stop for starting shows.

If you've wanted to own a luxury quality magic wand with classical tips and the practical durability of ironwood, there have been obstacles that previously prevented its production.
Normally, to make a black wand with white tips, there is some compromise in structural integrity. The joint where the two different material meet is weak, and often breaks. Wrapping the wand with leather is a solution. It only adds additional protective material to the ironwood underneath.
To ensure that the wrapped wand is as street strong as the ironwood core beneath, I've found the toughest, strongest leathers to work with.
The results are dazzling, robust wands that can amaze audiences through decades of use.
The all-Stingray wand has maximum luster and toughness.

 When you get a Makoto Street Wand, you're getting a wand that is handmade from a single piece of ultra-dense ironwood. The species I select share exceptional qualities-- they are tough, sink in water, and have high resin content, allowing for smooth polishing. Being wood, they will patina over time, but you can take a couple simple steps to keep it smooth and shiny for as long as possible.
Your wand care begins with how you use it. As strong as ironwood is, it can only handle so much abuse. Tapping cups, table legs, or coins is fine, but bouncing the wand off of concrete sidewalks, or scraping it on the ground can wear it out. Use your common sense.
Avoid leaving your wand in a hot vehicle for an extended period of time. Depending on the specific wood, the resin and moisture may dry up, which may lead to warping.

To polish your wand and make it look shiny and smooth, use liquid beeswax and super fine #0000 steel wool. Evenly spread a thin layer on the wand. It takes very little to cover a whole street wand, just a few drops. Give it ten minutes to dry, then polish it smooth with the steel wool. Polish it until you are satisfied. It can reach close to a mirror polish.

Note: This process is not recommended for all magic wands. Many wands on the market are covered in lacquer or paint, which would not take the wax, and get scraped off by the steel wool. The ironwoods used for Makoto Street Wands are specifically capable of a beautiful natural polish.

Many street magicians use the gibeciere, or buskers pouch, when performing. It's a useful accessory for cups and balls, coin magic, and manipulations. Pioneered extensively by Jim Cellini, the busker's pouch has regained popularity among magicians. I have been using a pouch for well over twelve years.

Most pouches are made of leather. In general, leather is durable, pliable, and stylish enough to look good with a magician's costume. The leather quality can vary greatly between manufacturers, though. On the low end are thin bovine upholstery leather bags, factory made by machines. Higher tier gibecieres have been made by hand out of exotic, durable leathers. Regardless of their origins, all these leathers require conditioning and care.

If you can figure out the specific leather of your buskers pouch, a quick search online for specific care should be educational.

In general, you will want to clean, condition, and protect your gibeciere. You don't need much for it. Some scrap fabric like old clothes, a horsehair brush, some conditioner like Bick 4, and a waterproofing spray like Saphir Super Invulner or Collonil Waterstop will help keep your pouch looking and being its best.

A few times a year, wipe your pouch down with a damp cloth to clean it. Don't let the leather get too wet, though.
Once the leather is dry, use a cloth to apply the Bick 4 to the pouch, applying it evenly like you're moisturizing your own skin with lotion.
After a couple minutes, when the conditioner has been absorbed by the leather, brush the leather with the horse hair brush. This step is optional, but can help give your pouch a shine.
Finally, spray your gibeciere with Super Invulner or Collonil Waterstop. Follow the directions on the packaging. This will weatherproof your pouch, in case you get caught in the rain with it.

Congratulations, if you've followed the simple steps to pouch care, your gibeciere should have extra years of use on the pitch.

Note: more exotic leathers like Stingray, Shell Cordovan, Ostrich, or Pachyderms require more specific products and care.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with a magician who uses leather bags,