talkmagic.co.uk

When the STS first came out, I had trouble finding a good, solid review. Each person I looked at was either very unclear or just talked about how cool the effect was or whatever. So now I'm going to give my own review on the STS.

Ok, lets start with the gimmick. The gimmick is very easy to use and I couldn't believe I didn't figure out what it was! The effect is completely impromptu and the can inspect the shoe and your foot till' the cows come home.

The effect, as I'm sure everybody knows is your shoelaces tie themselves. With a flick and a kick there tied!

Jay's teaching is awesome so the clearity of understanding is 10 out of 10. He gives you tips on how to perform and different methods on the trick as well. Giving step by step instructions to me, is very helpfull. The STS also comes with a booklet with pictures and the explanation on it as well.

Also, I've been hearing some people talk about a sound issue with the STS. There is a slight sound problem but I'm not totally going into specifics on this because of explanational purposes. You can mask the sound with patter or whatever you want.

So overall the trick is awesome and I give it a 10 out of 10 rateing. Hope this helped and see ya later!

I purchased STS as well and I'm very happy with the effect! Simply yet clever gimmick used. Would highly recommend to any cool street magician.

10/10

Come on people, go on and buy it!!

Is the gimmick something that you would be able to carry around?

You can carry it on you all day if you want and it won't take up any space in your pockets .

I received my STS last week and I totally agree - simple to do and looks so effective.

The "3 second reset" isn't really 3 seconds, but hey, you can't have it all. The 'sound' issue can be covered by, as Ed says, a bit of patter or in other ways.

I'd give this effect 9/10 for any street/close-up magician. But I'd say do as Jay says and don't point out your laces are undone, be patient and wait for someone to say something!!

i have bin a magician for quite a few years know on and off. when i saw this trick on drowned alive, i canot express how blown away i was. then i found out how it was done and it lost its magic. thats besides the point. if i was blown away i wonder what the layman would think(or muggle, lol)i give it a 10/10. your gonna kick yourself when you realize what the gimmick was.it wasnt even a day before i got 1. i had no clue were to get one then all of a sudden i was in the dollar store and there it was right infront of me. i ended up creating a different trick with it because i didnt give much care to the sts. know i think ill go and pick another one up soon.
so march down to a local magic shop and pick it up, or get right on penguin and order

ed... your review was really good... i think you and the other guys have convinced me to go out and buy this now lol

thanks again

Yea STS is awesome! after watching videos over and over while waiting for my package I made a prediction on what the gimmik was.... and i was correct. I just cant believe i didnt think of it myself. I give it a 9/10 awesome trick! the reactions is get are priceless.... I suggest buying two becuase the usual response is "Do it again" or "Do it with your other shoe" This is one trick i bring almost everywhere i go.... highly recommended

Am I the only one who thinks the method behond this trick is completely obvious? I worked it out almost immediately and I'm hardly experienced or knowledgeable in magic. And I could probably fashion a suitable gimmick myself using materials readily available on the high street.

I suppose though if you did it in a very off-the-cuff way you could probably get away with this trick, if you only did it once.

However I have seen another STS type trick which you can supposedly do in your shorts, i think it's called animated shoelace or somthing. Anybody got it?

I watched the demo vid. at penguin because I was intrigued. It was totally obvious for me too -- I could see what was actually going on immediately and that was with a real artist like Jay doing it.

Not that I'd put anyone off the effect, but I would be interested if those that think this is killer, do you get the same reaction from your specs or just groans?

Animated shoelaces:

I have heard quite a bit about this, though I don't own nor do I know anyone that does.

What I have heard is that the gimmick is pretty hard to make, the instructions to make it look as though a four year old has drawn the pictures in a sharpie then photo copied it. I know that people have had both a hard time making it and understanding the crude drawing.

STS:

I didn't buy this one, I figured it out when DB performed it on TV. I knew what it was the instant I saw it. The device I had to think about for a bit. Now I have put it together, and I am having much fun with it. I don't seem to ever have the problems that everyone else seems to have.

Noise...I have never experienced anyone hearing it. I don't even say anything for patter either. I let the laces do the talking.

Reset...I don't see what the big deal is for reset speed anyways. You will never need to reset that fast regardless, unless you are breaking the rules and repeating the trick.

Overall, I would put this above animated shoelaces any day. Due to the simplicity of making the gimmick overrules the fact that I can't do the trick in shorts. I live where shorts don't need to be worn that often, so my need for a tropical shorts trick just isn't there.

I received STS last week. I had figured out how it was done by watching the demo on Penguinmagic. The gimmick is quite easy to make with access to the right materials. The actual hook-up and routine is what your getting the most value from.
The reactions to the trick are great. I've shown this to the same crowd a couple of times after a new spectator noticed my shoelace was undone and no one has blurted out they knew the secret.
Simple to set up. Can be worn all day and set in a minute, (with a bit of privacy). Should last a long long time. One point: I use brown shoelaces, but white will work much better. This way the untied lace is spotted quicker. You wont regret spending the purchase price.

I use this trick sometimes to begin my performance..... its clean and very visual...

Forgetting the 'street' side of things for STS, would anyone recommend this for, or actually use this for kids' birthday parties?

I'm picturing turning up with both undone, and just waiting for them to tell me. Maybe the start of the act, or a welcome bit on the side during proceedings...

Now that I've had STS for a while I've had different experiences with it. The other day at a Wendy's for lunch I walked around with my lace "afloppin". No one noticed or if they did they didn't say anything to me. You would think seeing a senior citizen walking around with his shoe untied, that someone would alert him to the fact. Nope! Well, I'm not the type to bring it into someones face so I passed on the opportunity to do the trick.
With family or friends I can bring it to their attention by saying "these Darn laces wont stay tied" then proceed to do the effect. It gets raves. I had another family walking by see it and you should have seen their faces. It is a good trick.
I've found after making another gimmick to wear two of them and have them both tied. Then untying one secretly for the trick, I can repeat the trick by untying the other in front of them showing there is no "hanky panky". Go for it.