Oh Reallys...

[smokemist]

What are the most ridiculous things you've heard in magic?


Such as:

"If you use the TT correctly, it can be bright pink, & the audience would never know it's there.."

That one has to top the list for me.

[Max Maven]

The statement is only ridiculous if you came up in magic after around 1970. Prior to that, the standard thumb tip was metal, and smaller than those used today, only coming down to the first knuckle. This meant it was used differently than the in the post-Vernet era.

So, the statement is not ridiculous; rather, it's out of date.

[stereo]

Yes this statement is not ridiculous at all, and even today I think because if it work at the time, it work today too.

[Bob Farmer]

I thnk it's still as true today as it was when it was first said. I once saw Jack Chanin prove the point by doing a routine and then revealing (to magicians) that the tumb tip was red (or maybe it was chrome) -- or maybe, knowing Chanin, he used a flesh-colored tip then switched in a colored one for the reveal.

[Tom Stone]

What are the most ridiculous things you've heard in magic?


Such as:

"If you use the TT correctly, it can be bright pink, & the audience would never know it's there.."

That one has to top the list for me.

Watch Salvano's work...

[Jonathan Townsend]

Try my sponge ball or (folding) coin vanish using a distracting colored thumbtip and see how far you get.

[Dustin Stinett]

To play the game, here is the whopper that, I think, actually hurt magic:

"Easy to do! No practice required!"

[Jonathan Townsend]

fresh from underground
the real work revealed after years of
the latest and greatest
almost self-working

[erdnasephile]

"It's fun to be fooled!"

[Richard Kaufman]

They used to demonstrate with a thumbtip painted silver at Lou Tannen's to relieve the worry of potential customers. That has nothing to do with the artful use of a thumbtip when actually performing magic.

[I.M. Magician]

Here are some from various SS Adams packages:

Takes only a few seconds
Age: 3 years and up
No skill necessary
Anyone can be a magician

[erdnasephile]

They used to demonstrate with a thumbtip painted silver at Lou Tannen's to relieve the worry of potential customers. That has nothing to do with the artful use of a thumbtip when actually performing magic.

I'm having trouble picturing this (so I'm probably misunderstanding this)

The demonstrator does a trick with a thumbtip and fools a customer.
The customer buys the trick, and they take him in the back room to teach him the trick.
The customer gets nervous, saying that'll never fool anyone.
The demonstrator then repeats the trick with a silver thumbtip to assure the customer.

Wouldn't the fact the customer got fooled the first time be assurance enough?

or did the demonstrator use a silver thumbtip first to fool the customer and then tell them it'll even be less noticeable with the flesh-painted version?

------------------------------------------------

Personally, I think for many magicians, they give away the fact they are using the tip when they repeatedly keep pointing the guilty thumb right at the spectator. It's not a particularly common gesture for many of us, and if it's overdone, it sticks out like a...

(Same holds true for the way most people handle an expanded shell.)

Lastly, I got fooled bad watching Alexander de Cova's DVD on the thumbtip--very interesting concepts. There's nothing like being throttled with something you think you already know.

[smokemist]

Max:

I did mean when TTs where made presentable. I have heard the "pink" comment at castle lectures within the last couple of yrs.. But, I do agree if they where goblin style & basically metal nubs. However my original post was a normative statement, thereby very valid.

I thnk it's still as true today as it was when it was first said..]

Yikes... I couldn't disagree more. Technology can be a beautiful thing, especially in magic. Today, extremely realistic TTs are on the market. I take advantage of them, pointing them at the audience to show my hands totally empty. ( Ala Copperfield Bill Switch )
The device is called a TT.. made to resemble a Thumb. If they do this job very well, then why not take FULL advantage of its use & capabilities? Otherwise, I guess you can always Tenkai palm your bills, etc.

[i]Try my sponge ball or (folding) coin vanish using a distracting colored thumbtip and see how far you get.

Bingo! Jonathan gets it.





ps. Don't get me started on the Silk to Egg

[Rick Franceschin]

It doesn't matter what tricks you use, it' all about entertaining the audience.

[Richard Kaufman]

You have it backward. Customer wants to buy a trick.

Lou Tannen says I'll sell you a great trick using a thumbtip.

Customer says he doesn't want to use a thumbtip because he's worry about getting caught.

Lou Tannen says, "Look! I happen to have a thumbtip right here that I painted silver just to prove that no one sees the thumbtip when you use it properly."

And then Lou does a trick and you never see the thumbtip, leading to many people doing bad thumbtip magic.