I was wondering what tricks have the highest crowd pleasing effect compared to difficulty. (and why) My votes are for.
Boomerang - Show someone what is a top. Throw a spinner, then a boomerang. Wow!
Short Circuit aka El Raton Loco - What just happened? The result is so unexpected
Elevator (not acensor just the string pull) - Kids seem to love it and ask to see it again and again
Corkscrew - OK it's not that easy, but I had Gus teach me this one last year. Even 2 wraps get a reaction
Orbits - I'm just learning this one. Do just 2 and folks notice
Helicopter - just fun
I would say corkscrew is not more difficult than short circuit or a few orbits. Definitely a great effect trick that should be learned as soon as possible.
An easy one that is impressive is
pole dancing, especially impressive if you reverse it by swapping the hands. It can be learned immediately after merry go round.
The one I like to do with kids, specially very small ones, is
gyro flop. I bind the top in the middle of the string and ask them to blow on it. Then I do the gyro and they get the illusion that their blowing did it: they love it! If I want to tease them, I first wrap the top in the reverse direction and accused them of inhaling instead of blowing as instructed. It is a little more difficult than the previous tricks mentioned, but worth learning.