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I really want to get into levitating but am not sure which road to go down. Spider pen looks nice but the snapping makes me think again about spending £35 on this gimmick.

I also really want to find a card from a pack (haunted deck style) and levitate it to my hand, so this really eliminates spidey.

Or perhaps I should just stick to the reel...

Cheers,

Alex

Reels are fine to use. Have you tried spooked by Einhorn? that is a great haunted deck effect that i still use now.

hmmm - Spooked seems to have had some nice reviews, but can this effect be achieved by the reel alone? Seems like a lot of money for £60?

I use Jon LeClair's Animator for my IT performances. It's a superb system you may wish to check out. I have Jon's book, The Art of IT. I think he did a version on DVD, too.

ultimatecreate wrote:hmmm - Spooked seems to have had some nice reviews, but can this effect be achieved by the reel alone? Seems like a lot of money for £60?

It is that price because (a) Einhorn really did not want to let go of the secret (i am sure he will correct us if i am wrong!) (B) You get all the props (except the cards) with it. It is worth it if you are a worker.

...the props...i truly hope this is more than a reel otherwise I will cry.

The overcomplexity of threadwork and 'which reel/itr/device' are blown out of the water by watching the simplicity of both method and setup which Finn Jon employs.

Anything from floating, levitations, and even vanishes.

It makes you realise that even a human hair can kick-butt when compared to forking out over £35 for a gimmick which you will probably give up on.

I think what I am trying to say is that sometimes the simplest and most convincing of effects require the least expensive and elaborate hookups.

Fay Presto gave a mini-lecture on ITRs the other day. She swears by them, but pointed out that the cheaper large ones break easily (the housing, not the thread), the thread on the small kevlar ones is too short and the Spider pen eats batteries - it easily turns itself on. I'm going to have another look at the LeClair book sitting on my shelf.

Barry