I made and use my own soft magician's wax. Buy one block of pure beeswax, it is more than a lifetime's supply, from eBay for cheap (only $20AU) and use the cooking oil in your home. Here's the recipe I use that emerged from experimentation:
Ingredients:
- Beeswax
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Equipment:
- one small cooking pot
- Spoon
Procedure:
- Melt the beeswax in the cooking pot on the stove by holding the block against the bottom of the pot while the flame is on. Remove the block when desired amount has melted.
- Add olive oil slowly. Adding less is better than adding too much as more can be added later if the wax is not soft enough. My estimate ratio is for every 5 parts of liquid beeswax, add 1 part of olive oil.
- Set aside and allow to cool. Be patient.
- Once solid, get a spoon and scoop bit by bit. Roll the shreds in your fingers and they will emerge into a soft feeling of pure magic.. wax
- Mold desired amount. Carry around in small container or in Glad Wrap. It's fun to play with
Precautions:
- Do not allow beeswax to boil, only melt it, otherwise it seems to make loud cracking and popping noises while spitting specs of hot wax.
- If you do not know how to use the stove get your parents or older siblings to help you, or just learn, it's extremely easy.
- The cooking pot you melt it in will not be able to be used again for cooking purposes, unless you can be bothered scraping all the beeswax out or you like eating beeswax with your food.
- This recipe is for soft magic wax specifically for Card on Ceiling, I have not tested it for other purposes. Have used it as dental wax several times.
Other
- I haven't tried but I think any vegetable oil can be used.
- I was once able to make a perfect texture for hard wax although I do not need hard wax so I never bothered to engineer the perfect recipe.
- For the perfect stickiness and right texture for your purpose you have to experiment with amounts of ingredients and possibly types of oils.
- Before Card on Ceiling performance ensure you warm up the wax with your fingers by rolling it, so it can mold easily and is nice and soft not hard. If you don't do this, you'll be playing pick up 54 with a strange sticky thing on the back of one card.
Or here's a suggestion, just go buy some Michael Ammar's Magician wax. I use this recipe because I really cannot be bothered to keep buying wax, I just scoop some from my lifetime supply.
I know this is a very simple recipe, but it has worked for me.
Sometimes I use the same wax to my magic which I use to my hair. I think it's good enough in some situations!