Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

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Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby MrCat » Nov 6th, '14, 12:37



Well, here is it hahah! This could be a tough review but here goes.

The effect:


Take any small object and make it vannish in a few different ways, show both hands completely clean and empty, then make it re-appear in your hand/s or from a pocket or some other location you can reach. 'Any time, anywhere!' they say. I'm sure you've seen the promo vid by now.

Or...

From the mind of Sean Fields, Hidden Hand is a brand new utility device that allows for stunning vanishes and productions. With NO sleights necessary, you will be able to manipulate items within minutes of learning this secret.

Roll your sleeves up, show your hands completely, unmistakably empty and from out of nowhere produce a small object. No suspicious moves. Just pure magic.

Multiple vanishes including one handed and drop vanishes
Multiple versions of Ring to Anywhere straight from Sean's own working repertoire
How to install, modify and repair your Hidden Hand
Bonus moves, ideas and routines by special guest Eric Jones
Nearly two hours of instructions will give you a complete arsenal of moves, routines and ideas that will stun your spectators.



The cost:


About £25 at present.

Difficulty

(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)


I'm going to say between 1 and 2 - The handlings I have watched so far seem pretty easy.

Review:


Well, before I get stuck in, I have to say I did have a little rant about this elsewhere on the forum, and I have now since only watched the first few sections of the included dvd :D And yes I'm still a bit disapointed. So let's look at why.

If you're considering this effect for your repotoire, you may have already read that a few people have been sorely dissapointed when they opened their hidden hand for the first time and looked at the gimmick included. Let me say for the sake of the proper review aspect here, the gimmick is well made and is constructed of some special materials, I discovered when I finally gave it some closer inspection. It does what it says it will do. However, and this is a big 'however'...the marketing is absolutely shocking. This is because; If I were to change their marketing patter somewhat I would say "Vanish any small object any time anywhere there's nobody else around, or you're on a stage with your audience about 15' away. This may be unfair as to be honest I've not tried it on anyone yet, so shame on me but I rarely get the chance to be that far away from people and perform magic to them. This is where the marketing is flawed. It is certainly not a walk about trick for any kind of close up routne I would say. I think this is why it has disapointed so many people so far. Maybe it could work close up in a poorly lit area. Further shame on me for not testing this yet but I promised my girl I'd show her when I'd practiced a trick, and this would likely be at close quarters round a table, but I really can't se it fooling anyone close up and I'm an optimist :) I'll try it from further back and see how it looks. It's the sort of thing I have considered using as an exit of sorts; i.e. just as you're leaving the room you could turn around and do a little 'oh by the way, watch this' kind of vanish before running away perhaps?

That said, there's still a part of me that wants to like it, maybe as I spent 25 quid on it haha and I do feel if I had a stage show I could work it in there and maybe even begin to love it but I don't really see myself doing any stage shows in any near future. It is Not Angle Proof or 'close proximity proof' as far as I can tell at this stage but feel free to chip in and let us know your experience of using this gimmick...
I think for the more imaginative amongst you it may have some merrit.

Rating
out of 5

I'm giving it a 2.5 just now sadly, mainly because of that 'any time, anywhere' phrase used a lot in the selling of it. Not true guys. I was going to give it a 2, but I added a .5 because in the right situation and hands I'm sure it has the potential to be a great effect. As said I haven't really had a good play with it largely because I can't see it working in my general performing circumstances and have a lot of other stuff that needs practice I'd consider more worthwhile just now.

Overall

The gimmick is well made, and does what it's supposed to do, just as long as you're in the right place and angle of view etc. to your spectators to perform it. It's very over priced, the adds are mnisleading, but when you see Sean use it I have to say it does look amazing. It's a tough call realy.

For all you walk about magicians who want to vanish stuff close up, I don't think this is really for you.

It seems to look great on videos for what that's worth.

I will be trying it on my prefered new trick test spectator crew, and will report back here on how that went :) ...and who knows, maybe I'll be a little more up beat about it.

I hope this is a useful review to someone :) ...more on this to come later...maybe.

Cheers

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby Mandrake » Nov 6th, '14, 13:25

An excellent and well phrased review - thank you!

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby MrCat » Nov 6th, '14, 14:03

Thanks mandrake! I should add that the 'no suspicious moves' depends on how you have the gimmick set up in advance. So this is of course up to you and your general skill at being prepared in advance, which of course we all should be, that said tho it's about as easy to set up witha bit of distraction banter as, say, fiddling with your pockets I'd think. If you catch my drift. Not a biggie and easily done I'm sure. I spotted his suspicious move in the promo vid :D

And of course feel free to pm me with any questions and I'll do my best!

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby magicdiscoman » Nov 6th, '14, 15:11

so essentially this is like the baldichi levitation without the extra crane assisted shot ala Blaine :) or the arming system which is very versatile but slightly anglely, certainly not surrounded as suggested.
still leaning to the fox holdout for switching stuff / vanishes rather than this.

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby moonbeam » Nov 6th, '14, 15:48

How does this compare with the Raven ??

I could never quite get to grips with mine and ended up selling it aaaaages ago :(

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby MrCat » Nov 6th, '14, 16:48

I haven't seen the raven, heard of it and will look up what I can find, but best answer at the mo is 'Not sure'! I do remember contemplating raven when I firs heard about it but it seems to have slipped off my radar again.

And yea I looked up fox holdout a while back, but am more inclined to focus on my cards and coins just now, witha few other (carefully chosen) gimmicks thrown in :)

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby mr_flash » Nov 18th, '14, 20:07

I cannot underestimate how disappointed i am with this. The gimmick has to be put together yourself and in all honesty took forever. It then simply doesn't work as advertised.

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby Mandrake » Nov 18th, '14, 22:46

From comments here and elsewhere, this seems to be a most disappointing item.

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby deano0010 » Nov 19th, '14, 06:05

I saw this product for the first time last Friday, I'm so pleased I wasn't the magician that had spent £30 on it. Very Very Angley, I can't see how anyone could possibly perform this to a group. In my opinion if I were to perform this to 2 people I would have to keep virtually side on so as not to flash. i would imagine the majority of people who have purchased this,to be very disappointed.

Steve

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby MrCat » Nov 19th, '14, 12:15

I think I may frame mine on the wall as a perminant reminder to be careful whilst shopping and watching promo vids :D

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby Lady of Mystery » Nov 19th, '14, 13:12

I think we've all been fooled by those swanky promo videos, I've got far too much stuff at the bottom of cupboards that I've bought and am never going to want to use. The good thing I think is that as time goes on, you do get better at spotting the duds.

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby simplymagic » Nov 26th, '14, 06:19

I bought it and am not disappointed. I can't use it in my professional act, as despite trying, haven't found a way to use it with a jacket on which is what I wear when performing. That said, for a casual situation it's fine. Yes you do need to watch angles, but then in many effects it's all about audience management.

I've "tweeked" certain bits of the gimmick to make it more practical for me too, which has helped.

Have performed it several times, and it got gasps - including from my wife! Nuff said.

So, an everyday item - no. But it will have its place for me.

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby Lady of Mystery » Nov 26th, '14, 12:37

Thanks for the comments, simplymagic. I've got a couple of questions, I'd be more interested in this for use on the stage rather than close up, how would you rate it for the stage? Also, how clothing dependant is it? You've said that it couldn't be worn with a jacket but would it work in a dress?

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby mr_flash » Nov 26th, '14, 12:46

Lady of Mystery wrote:Thanks for the comments, simplymagic. I've got a couple of questions, I'd be more interested in this for use on the stage rather than close up, how would you rate it for the stage? Also, how clothing dependant is it? You've said that it couldn't be worn with a jacket but would it work in a dress?


From my little experience of it, it requires sleeves of a certain length. As for stage my only concern is the your restricted to the size of the objects you can vanish

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Re: Hidden Hand - by Sean Fields

Postby simplymagic » Nov 26th, '14, 22:33

Hiya. I think this is a close up item as objects are small to vanish and hence not really a stage thing. A dress with sleeves would be ok, but a shirt with rolled up sleeves is ideal.

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