Happy Holidays! iTricks is getting into the spirit of the season by sharing some free Christmas magic from Michael Lauck’s Santa act. Over the next week or so we will post a couple of tricks that will either take items from your magic junk drawer and give them a holiday make over. Even though Michael actually performed as Santa, these Santa themed tricks can be done by anyone.
As Santa, one of the most common concerns I would hear from children was that their house did not have a fireplace. Since everyone knows the Big Guy slides down the chimney, this was a major cause of alarm for many kids. I would assure them that it would be okay because even though Santa was famous for taking the rooftop to fireplace shortcut, he could still get through any door thanks to a very special key. Producing a haunted key, I would show it to the kids and explain that it was made by the elves. Santa does not need to open every door, of course. He only needs to open the doors that belonged to houses with good children waiting for his visit. If they wanted Santa to come inside, then their thoughts would turn the key and open their door!
I am not going to get into how to use the haunted key here; if you have one then you should know how it works. If you are not playing Santa you can pretty easily introduce the subject of how Santa gets into houses without fireplaces whenever you are talking to kids (or even adults who still believe) about Christmas. Personally, I like to maintain that I actually know Santa and he has shown me a few of his secrets.
When performing for adults you can add a little comedy by explaining that the key only opens for those of the Nice List. After it turns for one or two spectators you can hold it in front of someone without it turning… thereby proving that they are on the Naughty List! Don’t ever pull this prank on kids, though, because they take Santa seriously and you will end up on the Naughty List.