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- Page Nine
-A CANDLEWAX COCKTAIL -
This is a cute little effect that I have used successfully in restaurants and clubs, at least where they have those pear-shaped colored glass tip-proof candles on the tables.
When the talk starts getting around to the fact that I'm a fire-eater and a few heads start turning in my direction, I'll casually hold up the candle, studying it like a connoisseur with his brandy snifter, then proceed to "drink" the molten wax. A few moments later, a lump of solid wax about the size of an egg is produced from my mouth, which I'll either drop back into the candle or set aside for the gawkers to stare at.
The stunt is actually quite simple. But as with all the effects I describe here, it helps to know what you are doing. First, while "studying" the candle, you are actually doing just that: checking to make sure there is sufficient molten wax within the glass. If it's almost burned down to the bottom, the management will thank you to just leave it alone. You can set it down and make some remark about what the burning candle reminds you of, or nothing at all. You have not said a word, and the others do not know what you are up to. But if there's a fair amount of molten wax (there will be if it's been burning for any length of time) and preferably a good amount of wick still in it, then it's show time!
Make sure you have a fairly large amount of saliva in your mouth. This is your "fireproofing." Go ahead and take a fair mouthful of the molten wax, being careful not to swallow it. Molten wax in a candle is not really as hot as most people seem to think It's not as if it was cooking on a hotplate. The wax in a candle is only hot enough to remain molten, and no more. The candle wick just doesn't provide enough heat to really get the molten wax up to a dangerous level. When you stick your finger into the candle's mouth, you feel the rising heat of the flame itself, and that's what scares people. The wax is actually about the temperature of a cup of hot coffee, maybe not even that.
Now when this molten wax enters your mouth, you want it on your tongue. Some is going to stick to your teeth, and you have to keep rolling it around as much as you possibly can between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, all the while keeping up the saliva on it. It will begin to harden almost immediately, and you keep up a bit of pressure on it with your tongue in order to form it into a ball, and not a bunch of pieces and bits. Once it's firm, you can slowly and casually push it out and either take it with your fingers or plop it into a spoon, depending on how stylish you want to look. The ball doesn't even have to be solid all the way through, just firm enough on the outside that it stays together. People are not going to hand it around for examination after they see it come out of your mouth anyway. Don't be too surprised at the wide-eyed astonishment around you. Just smile humbly and go back to whatever you were doing or talking about as if this is just a normal thing you always do (and discreetly pick the excess wax from between your teeth!).
Before beginning this trick, if you have a cold drink handy, you may want to casually take a sip of it, and maybe even a bit of ice, if you can do that without attracting undue attention. Slush it around inside your mouth quietly, or just suck on the ice to assure you have a bit of extra moisture and coolness in your mouth. Another casual drink after the stunt will help dislodge bits of wax clinging to your teeth. Have fun with this, but don't repeat it for the same crowd. Overkill ruins the effect.
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