Titan's Finger by Titanas

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Tom Frame
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Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Tom Frame » December 28th, 2009, 5:01 pm

Titans Finger (DVD and gimmicks) by Titanas $35.00
Running time: 22 minutes
Available at: http://paulharrispresents.webs.com/apps ... how/834236
Dealers contact Murphys Magic Supplies, Inc. (916) 853-9292
http://www.murphysmagicsupplies.com


Achtung, geeks! In this morsel of masochistic magic, the performer grips the first joint of his finger and twists it around a full 180 degrees. After twisting the joint back into proper alignment, both of his hands are clean. Click on the link above to view a demonstration video.

This is a home-made DVD with meager production values. Titanas does an adequate job of teaching the material. The format switches back and forth between Titanas speaking directly to the camera, and silent footage of his hands accompanied by on-screen text.

Four gimmicks of various sizes are included with the DVD. These allow any size of finger to be used to create the effect.

In what appears to be a web cam segment, Ben Harris discusses how creating a crunching or cracking sound heightens the effect. I agree. He teaches a clever, device-free way of generating the grisly sound.

Titanas describes several other well known ways of producing the creepy sound. Because they require the use of additional objects, I prefer Mr. Harriss method.

Titanas teaches an impromptu method of creating the illusion that utilizes a common magicians tool. Unfortunately, the resultant illusion looks terrible. Since the supplied gimmick can be unobtrusively carried with you at all times, I dont understand why he bothered with this version.

He discusses the use of make-up, which is worse than unnecessary.

He doesnt provide any patter or presentation for the effect. He states that he performs the effect silently because, The more silent I am, the more Wow theyre going to be. Now theres a compelling rationalization!

Titanas states that the illusion may not look convincing the first few times you try it. He encourages us to continue practicing and performing the effect, assuring us that the effect will eventually look realistic.

I practiced this effect for a week in front of a mirror, using different fingers, lighting conditions and distances. When I got the illusion to look as realistic as possible, I performed it for my wife.

She was not amazed. She was curious about how I produced the sound effect, and she wondered how I momentarily caused my finger to look weird. But she was not amazed. I assumed that she was jaded or cranky.

I practiced the effect some more and over the next few days I performed it for four more people. The results were the same. No one believed that they were seeing my fingernail.

Part of the problem is the design of the gimmick. For reasons that I dare not elaborate upon, it simply doesnt create the illusion of a realistic fingernail.

And maybe Im part of the problem. Perhaps Im anatomically incorrect or digitally defective, but the texture and coloration of the fingernail just dont look normal. My meat simply wont permit the creation of a realistic illusion. Imagine my shame.

Considering the limited production values and the questionable design of the gimmicks, I believe that this product is overpriced. $25.00 is a more reasonable price tag, provided that you can actually produce an effective illusion.


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Bill Duncan
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Bill Duncan » December 28th, 2009, 8:26 pm

I was puzzled about this bit of information:
To end the one-finger freak show, you untwist back to normal. And since there was never anything else in your hands; your audience is free to poke and prod any of your fingers as they commune with the mystery.

Can you shed some light on that without exposing anything?

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Tom Frame
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Tom Frame » December 29th, 2009, 11:28 am

Bill,

Yes, it's true. You have nothing in or on your hands before, during or after the effect. Prior to performing the effect, you use the gimmick to create the temporary illusion of a fingernail on your finger.

That's about all that I can safely say.

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Matthew Field
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Matthew Field » December 30th, 2009, 4:50 am

Tom Frame wrote:He doesnt provide any patter or presentation for the effect.


Happy to oblige.

"Want to see a trick? Here, pull my finger."

Titanas
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Titanas » December 30th, 2009, 5:33 am

Dear magic friends,
I would like to say something about the lack of any patter in the DVD.

My main job, when I don't work as a TV consultant, is a Mentalist.

I love writting my scripts and I totally understand how important the scripts are. I also believe that writting a script is a personal thing. For this specific effect, I really don't want to say much when I perform it.

I could easily provide a script but it would be usefull to anybody else than me ONLY if he wanted to be me. (Don't find many reasons that someone would like to be such a giant)
My 2 cents.

Best wishes and happy new year,
Titanas

Mark.Lewis
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Mark.Lewis » December 30th, 2009, 8:16 am

I agree with Titanis concerning the patter. Mentalists talk too much anyway. And I hate the word "script". It reminds me of Pete Mc'Cabe. The word is PATTER. It has always been "patter" and "patter" it should remain. It is the end of civilisation as we know it to call it anything else.

Only daft magicians who have taken acting lessons or who wish to be pretencious use that silly word. Scripts indeed.

Pete McCabe
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Pete McCabe » December 30th, 2009, 2:26 pm

Well, I don't wish to be pretencious.

jason156
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby jason156 » December 30th, 2009, 3:53 pm

Matthew Field wrote:
Tom Frame wrote:He doesnt provide any patter or presentation for the effect.


Happy to oblige.

"Want to see a trick? Here, pull my finger."



Actually, in some circumstances I can see that line working. I am assuming the trick only takes a few seconds to perform, how much patter/script would you really need. What about:

1. "I had to become a magician, I'm triple jointed....look"

2. "I think I should see a doctor, check this out...weird, huh"

Brandon Hall
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Brandon Hall » December 30th, 2009, 4:39 pm

Presented like that, it's merely a stunt.
"Hope I Die Before I Get Old"
P. Townshend

jason156
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby jason156 » December 31st, 2009, 1:36 am

Brandon Hall wrote:Presented like that, it's merely a stunt.


Based on the description of the effect, I didn't see it as some deep mystery......

Arnon
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Re: Titan's Finger by Titanas

Postby Arnon » March 31st, 2010, 2:15 am

Not meaning to be pretentious, I DO believe that those who write professionally ought to know how to spell "pretentious."


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