RING  & PEN

PERFORMANCE
That's a beautiful ring, may I borrow it?  Personal objects like these absorb a life force from us.  Some times they almost seem to take on a life of their own.

People often attribute these occurrences to the spirits.  Spirits like this perhaps.  It's tough to keep these forces bottled up.  Hmm... must be a light beer.

HOW-TO TUTORIAL
I will demonstrate this using a white thread for added clarity.  Use a black or invisible sewing thread in performance.

Ask a spectator for a ring.  Remove the pencil from your pocket and hold it in the left hand with the eraser pointing up.  Hold the pencil close to the body and drop the ring over the end.  Bring the pencil forward to take up the slack.

Lean back slightly and the ring will rise.  Lean forward and it falls.  Repeat making it rise higher to the top.  Remove the ring and hand it back to the spectator.

Now pick up the bottle with the right hand and hold it close to the body.  Drop the pencil in, eraser side down.  Lean  back and move the hand forward.  The pencil will rise.  Bring the left hand over the neck of the bottle so that your thumb goes over the thread and moves down the bottle.  The pencil rises even further.  Hold the thread against the bottle with the left thumb.  Take the pencil out with your right hand and remove it from the bottle.  The thread will automatically disengage from the eraser.  The pencil and bottle can be examined. 

HOW-TO TIPS
The use of thread to cause an animation is preferable to a floating effect, as there is less suspicion of thread as the method.  To camouflage the thread, this effect should be done in subdued light and the background or your jacket should be a pattern rather than a solid.  Also, try to keep the pencil in front of the thread instead of to one side.

The rising action should be slow with an apparent concentration of effort.  Don't overdo the rising and falling.

The rising from the bottle is a coordinated action of the arm moving forward and the body leaning back.  If you use a larger, heavier bottle, you can put it on the table and have the pencil rise.  In this case you could use a wand instead of a pencil. 

PROPS
1 pencil
An 18-inch length of black or invisible sewing thread
1 safety pin
1 bottle

PREPARATION 
Take a piece of thin black or invisible sewing thread 18" long and tie one end to a safety pin.  This is pinned inside your jacket close to the edge behind the right lapel.  Take a knife and make a slit in the eraser of a pencil.  The opposite end of the thread is placed into this slit.  Place the pencil in your pocket.  You also need a small bottle.