Can you balance a handkerchief on the tips of your fingers and make it rise and fall at your command?

Insert a soda straw into the hem of a handkerchief. This and the following step should be prepared ahead.

Tie a knot at the corner of the handkerchief, and push straw up to the knot. Place the handkerchief carefully in your pocket, so you don't break the straw. Now you are ready to show your friends the trick.
 
Materials: A handkerchief with a wide hem, and a soda straw.

Take the handkerchief from your pocket, holding the knot in one hand. With the other hand, stroke the handkerchief downward two or three times. Still holding it by the knot, bring the other hand down, grasping the lower end of the straw between the tips of the thumb and forefinger. Release your hold on the knot, and it will look as if the handkerchief is balanced upright. Make this look difficult, as if you are making a great effort at balancing the handkerchief.

By a sliding movement of the forefinger and thumb, allow the handkerchief to come down slowly, saying "Down Billy." Then say, "Up Billy." You can do this several times. At the end, throw the handkerchief into the air, catching and crumpling it up before placing it back in your pocket. If you have two handkerchiefs prepared, you can satisfy the skeptic who says, "Bet you can't do it again!"

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