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Combustion by Arron Jones

Effect: THE DEAD MATCH RE-IGNITES ITSELF IN THEIR HANDS!

A match is taken from a matchbox. It is then lit and blown out. A spectator holds the dead, blackened match, at their fingertips. They are invited to focus feelings of rage and anger towards the match. First it smokes and then a few seconds later it combusts and lights. They can then blow it out and keep it!

Cost: £20.83 (£25.00 inc VAT) Exclusive to - http://www.worldmagicshop.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

Difficulty (1-5) 1. This really is a good effect and simple to master.

Preparation (1-5) 4. This effect does require considerable preparation, the length of time to set-up depends on the amount of performances the performer wants to do!

Review: Although there have been similar effects to this in the past this one is a real killer! it does exactly what it says on the tin.
I have performed this effect numerous times now and the reactions get better and better - I usually steer towards card orientated effects aside from a few which I have in the arsenal this one is a definite worker and I will probably use it for years to come.
Once you get through the relevant disclaimers on the DVD it is really well presented. It has good clear audio and really clear instructions for prep, set-up and performance.

Negatives: I was slightly gutted when I opened the package for the first time as all it contained was a DVD (what was I expecting lol) There are quite a few other materials and bits which will need to be purchased, some are really easy to get as they may be lying about the house, but a couple of items may be more time consuming to get hold of. Don't let this put you off this great effect though because I'm sure you wont be dissapointed!
Besides the cost of the DVD I spent an additional £10 - 15 getting the items that are required.

Although I am not new to magic this is my first review on TM.
Hope you find it useful and feel free to leave feedback especially anyone else who owns and works this effect

That was a useful review thanks, although I have one question about the product. Can you prepare a bunch of matches beforehand and then carry them around safely in your pocket or in a packet of some sort?

Jean wrote:That was a useful review thanks, although I have one question about the product. Can you prepare a bunch of matches beforehand and then carry them around safely in your pocket or in a packet of some sort?

Yes you could prepare as many as you like (the more the merrier) these would be safe to carry around in a match box etc

Are any of the items you need to buy really difficult to obtain in this country? I can think of ways chemicaly this could be done but it has been a long time since you could walk in to Boots and buy these. I am old enough by the way to remember when you could buy satpetre and sulphur over the counter as a child and everybody had a chemistry set with ground charcoal. The rest is history as is the tip of my mates Peters left little finger which didn't survive the blast

Effects using chemicals are always a problem unless the user/performer really knows what they're doing. Add the element of fire and you could have a serious situation if it doesn't go right. Having said that, we ought to assume that only the truly dedicated performers would want to spend time, money and effort obtaining the 'ingredients' and preparing the items ready to perform, those who are only casually interested will probably move on to the next shiny thing which takes their attention.

I picked this up recently and, although there is a fair amount of prep (lessening as you gain familiarity), I think the effect is certainly worth it. I haven't had the time to collect all the required bits as yet, but nearly all are easily enough found around the house, and the one that has a fair few people worried will already be in the possession of any magi who've dabbled with chemical ignition based effects (or tropical fish tanks..). The one criticism I would have is that that the measurements suggested by Arron on the DVD are generally done by eye and, although the quantities of active ingredients involved are very small, it would have been preferable, at least for me, to have had a little more detail regarding specifics. That being said, the effect is straightforward to create and I think it'll be a nice addition to my repertoire after some tweaking and a little practice.

E

Johnny Wizz wrote:Are any of the items you need to buy really difficult to obtain in this country? I can think of ways chemicaly this could be done but it has been a long time since you could walk in to Boots and buy these. I am old enough by the way to remember when you could buy satpetre and sulphur over the counter as a child and everybody had a chemistry set with ground charcoal. The rest is history as is the tip of my mates Peters left little finger which didn't survive the blast

All of the items needed are available in the UK no problems. It was only time consuming for me because I tried a couple of places mentioned on the DVD where you could purchase from and my search came up short. Infact a couple of people looked at me funny when I asked about the items....or item in particular. Everything else that is needed is readily available from loads of places locally to people I presume.
In the end I decided it would be better off purchased online and I had no problems getting the required stuff from a shop on a well known auction site.
hope this helps

Mandrake wrote:Effects using chemicals are always a problem unless the user/performer really knows what they're doing. Add the element of fire and you could have a serious situation if it doesn't go right. Having said that, we ought to assume that only the truly dedicated performers would want to spend time, money and effort obtaining the 'ingredients' and preparing the items ready to perform, those who are only casually interested will probably move on to the next shiny thing which takes their attention.

I agree. Obviously safety precautions and a lot of common sense needs to be applied when using any effect of this nature. I should have also mentioned in the review that the product is only sold to over 18's. Just incase any younger budding performer reads the review.

I am usually careful when prepping these kind of effects, although one of the substances I bought had a small hairline crack in the cointainer, which meant it was leaking, and I did end up getting it all over my hands. I did admittedly disregard the "irritant" warning on the label, thinking I would be fine by washing my hands with water and soup, although within a few minutes I did feel my hands and arms getting very itchy and it did go red. This is because I underestimated how much of an impact it would have. In fairness I really didn't exercise caution, although do finger point to the fact I got a duff container, which meant the substance got everywhere. It won't happen again, as the DVD teaches a very measured way of applying substance to thingy.

I now have all materials but have yet to make up the matches, but my experience hasn't put me off the effect.

My only concern is being a roll up smoker, and whether any residue on my hands could contaminate the tobacco. I raise this as whilst there are partly different substances involved with Flare by Alpha Magic, I did once actually smoke the gimmicked cigarette, and I felt it did affect my lungs for days after.

I like the premise of the effect, and other than my silliness believe that it is safe to construct and use as long as you take some precautions, such as avoiding getting one of the substances in particular all over your naked hands.

Yeah an extra precaution would obviously be PPE especially latex gloves when handling any chemicals. This may be enough to stop it contaminated your hands when preparing for any effect of this nature

I've made up a few of these & tested them alone, some work, some don't & i've no idea why really. the dvd doesn't answer all the questions such as how long to they keep before becoming unuseable? The instructions don't give exact measurements so it seems to be guess work & hope for the best. I tried it with friends the other day with 2 matches & neither relit. It's early days & I'm open to suggestions but hoping for the best isn't something I ever do in my paid performances so it's not going to get used until/unless I can figure out the answers to where I'm going wrong, if indeed I am going wrong.

russpie wrote:I've made up a few of these & tested them alone, some work, some don't & i've no idea why really. the dvd doesn't answer all the questions such as how long to they keep before becoming unuseable? The instructions don't give exact measurements so it seems to be guess work & hope for the best. I tried it with friends the other day with 2 matches & neither relit. It's early days & I'm open to suggestions but hoping for the best isn't something I ever do in my paid performances so it's not going to get used until/unless I can figure out the answers to where I'm going wrong, if indeed I am going wrong.

Hi mate,
Same thing happened to me when I started, If you PM me I will give you some pointers, as I had to have a play around to get it all working correctly everytime. Think I had the same problem as you with measurements etc. Now I have it down nicely

Just received this

In pretty sure I could go out today and get all the items I would need. I have all except 3 of them so would have to spend around £10. The one most are worried about should be available on a few places and if not amazon sell it for £3.50

The effect looks amazing so I look forward to doing it. I think it will get great eating with a good presentation

eating??? I meant reactions..

Hi everybody.
I am new in the forum. (magician from Spain... canary Islands)
The last month i saw COMBUSTION by Arron Jones... i think it´s perfect to close up.. so i bought it to my magic shop.

i HAD SEE THE dvd ABOUT.. 5-7 times and i have all the necessary to do it..
i had make around 40 matches... but.. impossible.. only obtain a little smoke ... but never start the flame..
What can i do it wrong??? someone have some tips? someone can help me?
Maybe... will be better by email... to don´t brake the magic...

in any case.. THANKS for all and best regards!!!

Note: sorry by my bad English... i hope you can understand the message! XD