talkmagic.co.uk

Name: Miraculous Penetration

Price: £17.99 From Abrakazam

Type: Illusion

Difficulty: 1 poss 2

Performance time: 1 to 3 minutes depending on patter

Examinable: Yes Very thats the best bit

Reset Time: easy to reset but you need to have quite time to yourself

What you get: A long pin with a big plastic grip a block of brass.

Effect:
The magician produces a matchbox from his pocket he then produces a long needle and proceeds to insert the needle all the way through the matchbox showing both sides of the box and moving the needle to prove that it has penetrated right through the box.

He then removes the needle and passes it to the spectator to prove it is solid, at thish poin the audience is thinking 'so what' until you hand them the matchbox which turns out to be very heavy and when they open the box they find a solid brass block.

Comments:
This is an excellent trick it has everyone baffled they can examine the block and will never find out how you did it. you do not need any special slights. You will however need to get a match box for yourself as it is not supplied but this just adds to the realism as it can be an ordinary match box from a supermarket I reccomend the cheap card variety not swanvesta (too big) or the ones mad from paper coated wood as these would hinder the working. If you want to really baffle everyone and leave them thinking you a top magician this is an easy but highly efective routine my advise buy it it is worth the dosh

Overall Rating: 10/10

I completely agree with this review. An excellent trick that has baffled everyone I have shown. Use a pin to make slight hole first though.

J

This is one of my favourites - my version came supplied with an all-white match box but I found the ones which are given away in some bars and hotels are the same size - thinner than Englands Glory size boxes. This adds more realism to the trick and if you can do it in the bar or hotel named on the box then the effect is even better!

Rather than use a pin or cocktail stick, I sharpen one live match and stick it between the box and the drawer which means I can take the box out of my pocket and be confident that the match is where I want it to be and ready for use - I always seemed to lose the cocktail stick or pin which was most embarrassing. The rest of the rountine carries on as per insructions after the match has been lit and the burnt end removed or broken off. I agree than a pilot hole is essential but it can be a small pin hole which merely acts as a guide for the cocktail stick/pin/matchstick/Nelson's Column or whatever you prefer to insert.


As someone who works in an industry where brass is a common material, I just love brass type tricks!

I also agree as well. This is a great prop for carrying around just on the off chance you are asked to show a trick.

I love the initial "So whats the big deal with that" attitude you get just before you hand it out.

I notice that it isn't on the emagictricks web site, but is still on the old abrakazam site. Am I right in assuming that these are both emagictricks? in which case it may be a good idea to add it to the official emagictricks pages - as this really is a beauty.

These are still available on e-magictricks - without the matchbox it's
http://www.emagictricks.co.uk/product_i ... ts_id=3265 and with a matchbox it's http://www.emagictricks.co.uk/product_i ... ts_id=2501.

Fairly pricey 'one trick pony' things but I still reckon either would be a great item to buy!

These are still available on e-magictricks

So much for my skills with a search engine!!! I was going for Brass and Matchbox...

OK, I have to confess I cheated - I was clearing out some old paperwork yesterday and found the printouts of both pages. A swift check to make sure they were still available and Hey Presto!

I got it yesterday.
I showed it to 3 people up to now. 2 clouldn't find out how it was done, but one of my friends looked closely at the brass block for a few seconds and found out how it had to be done. While he could not find how i did it, his explanation for the trick was exactly how it worked. Now i have to add that when he got his eyes tested once. There is a level they call 100%, which is the level of vision most people have, he tested out with a 120% level of vision.

How did he find out you might be wondering ?
The brass block is not square at the edges, but they rounded the corners a bit. Here is where you can clearly see what the gimick does. This is also what i saw, but then i thought i know how it works, so i know what to look for. That must be why i can see it.

When showing it in a room with dimmed lights it gets hard to see. Also if people only take a quick look at it they probably won't notice it. But those "i will find out how he did it even if it takes me all night" kind of people will be able to discover something strange when looking at the brass block.

I will try it out with more people, some of them also do magic, some of them are technical people with a realy good eye for these kind of things and some are 'normal' people. I'll add some more comments about this trick when i have showed it some more.

OK, the basic rule here is to let the specs look at the props but never examine them closely - all they need to see is that it's a block of solid brass and then you put everything away and move on to something else.

My friend had the brass in his hand to see it was a solid piece, then he started to look closer at it. If i pulled it away, he would know there was something wrong with it, spoiling the trick.


My prediction for monday at work:
The programmer will look at the brass, and see something strange at the sides of it in about 4 seconds. Then i can quickly take it away, but then he will know that it is not an ordinary piece of brass if i want to hide it from view quickly, which takes away the effect of the trick.

The same prediction will also count for my boss at work.


Every time i look at it, i can see it at the sides. When you see it at the sides, you will be able to follow it across the top also. Maybe it's because i know the secret behind the trick, but i think more of my friends will be able to spot it.

But as i said, i'll test it some more this weekend, then see how it went ...

I have only ever had trouble with this on one occasion.
I had the block in a matchbox and on revealing it there was a small piece of paper from the drawer stuck in the gimmick. I get round this now by making the pilot holes as suggested but making sure I have trimmed them up neatly on all edges to ensure no small parts can become trapped.

I hope this makes sense. I'm sure if you have the trick you will know what I mean.

Ok, a few hours ago i showed it to a friend of mine.
I must also add that he has a rare infection in his eyes, so with his left eye he only sees about 20%, and with the right eye he can only see at the edges, meaning there is a large blind spot in the middle of his vision.

I perform the trick and drop the brass block on the table, so he can hear it's solid. He then sais, can i pick up the block? So i say go ahead.
It took him about 4 seconds and then, even with his bad sight, saw how it was done. Again the sides of the brass gave the effect away.

Maybe i just got a not so well made gimick, but otherwise i think this trick can onle be performed for completely blind spectators.

Also, i can't get the gimick to 'open' right now. Maybe because it's quite hot in my room at the moment and the brass has expanded ?

I have just checked the links that Mandrake gives above and the photos look nothing like mine.
These show a smooth brass block where as mine has deep lines all over it, in a grid like formation. These mask perfectly anything that may be seen on a smooth version.

The prices are a little different too. Mine cost me £30

I wonder if I just got a better version ?

You get what you pay for I suppose !

No, i've got the same, with the scratches all over it. The one from the first link. It has the scratches in it, but the photo is a bit blurred so you can't see them clearly.

While on the top and bottom the 'secret' is cover by these scratches, the sides don't do a very good job. the problem, at the sides of the block it looks like there is a much deeper scratch which stands out from the rest. And when you notice that on both sides, you can even trace it over the top and bottom of the block.
I also tried cleaning the brass, there was a small layer of some sort of grease on it, but that didn't help.

Oh well, my grandad will visit us today, another victim to test it out.
And on the downside: he used to be a carpenter, so he has a really good eye for small indiferences

So far, out of 5 performances, it has been found out 2 times.
But my sister didn't really look at the brass, because my mother said she already looked at it and found nothing.