talkmagic.co.uk

This question is posed in light of perhaps one of the most underrated unpleasant examples of magic going wrong. So last night I was meeting up with a friend's new batch of colleagues, which was awesome.

Starting off with Richard Sanders' Ultra Gum for the first time on the lay public in Trof in the Northern Quarter in Manchester.... Picture the scene: crowded, warm outside (certainly an influencing factor), hectic, millemetres of space, etc. Being billed as a magician, I was so pleased when the reactions really were reminiscent of those glossy American magic manufacturers with "in the street" audiences, where a ripple rings out of a sheer shock: "IT'S SEALED!!!" (first revelation). Incidentally, the revelation and suspense and build up to the climax (magic terminology is so bizarre, isn't it) is multiplied ten fold if you leave the face obscured by gum.

Anyway, after all this and several hours later when trying to open a gimmicked Sharpie for an effect I won't expose, but is my favourite trick to do, the ink ran EVERYWHERE. Ink of the hands and fingers, which made it worse by being all over the Sharpie, and spreading to the drinks menu, to the bizarre repellant of having possible ink transfer to spectator....

So when you open it, it doesn't seem to screw off like most pens. Is there a knack to doing it? Also, is it easy to place an object inside the Sharpie when dismantled?

In simple terms, rather than purchasing "How To Make A PK Sharpie" can anyone help?

The idea is to use the lid as leverage. So uncap the lid but don't remove it, instead place it about half way down the....shaft, for want of a better word.....then grip the sharpie as if you were going to snap it in two with your thumbs pointing towards each other at the point where the sharpie should come apart and either end of the sharpie deep in your hands.

Give it a good bend, first one way then the other. Keep flexing it in this manner and it will work itself free. This takes some doing when you first try it, I almost gave up initially. But, it is possible and I can do it straight off now. You have to bend it more than you think the pen can take, but they're durable blighters and can take the abuse.

Hope this helps. PM me if you have problems and perhaps I can provide some photographic assistance.

I wrap a piece of heat shrink sleeving around each half, grip them with pliers, twist and pull. Hard! I've never found anything inside but a wick like a felt tip inside.

Thanks for the pointers guys. I will give it a try. Don't have access to shrink sleeving, however. I am still apprehensive as have a fear that all the ink will go everywhere. Be quite good to have a duplicate card in there and reveal if the Sharpie could open easily. I think this effect has been done before though. Def could do with a good size PK block in there, will have to shop around for a suitable size. There's a market for everything, sure there's a suitable magnet out there!

Just wrap it with anything that grips, really.

Rufio wrote:Be quite good to have a duplicate card in there and reveal if the Sharpie could open easily

My advice for this would be to open it up (wear latex gloves or marigolds), let the ink 'stick' dry out completely and reassemble. Keep opening it up and reassembling and soon enough it will become pretty loose so that opening it up in an actual performance won't be much of an effort. And of course, as the ink has dried out you don't have to worry about ink everywhere in your performance.

The problem is that the card in Sharpie was an ad lib after thought. Main goal is to put a PK magnet in and still retain a lot of ink so I don't have to replace all the time. If you can do that without drying out the ink that'd be ideal. I know you can get PK Sharpies, but the magnet has to sit mid way in the Sharpie.

Rufio wrote:The problem is that the card in Sharpie was an ad lib after thought. Main goal is to put a PK magnet in and still retain a lot of ink so I don't have to replace all the time. If you can do that without drying out the ink that'd be ideal. I know you can get PK Sharpies, but the magnet has to sit mid way in the Sharpie.

Open up the Sharpie as discussed and have the neo on a little stick with a bit of magician's wax. Throughly glue the side of the neo that isn't waxed to the stick and use the stick to place it midway inside the Sharpie, applying pressure to the stick to place the neo in position. Not at all difficult. If you have trouble sourcing a neo small enough to allow the ink rod to go back into the Sharpie then perhaps consider having a 'duff' Sharpie which you can switch from the one you've been working with.