The Effect
A system to create inexpensive thread loops. For those that don't know, thread loops have been released commercial by Yigal Mesika and can be used for PK, levitation and mentalist effects. Their usage is limited to your imagination.
This release from NUMS includes a booklet of their popular download and a generous reel of Silk Worm thread.
Cost
£22 from
www.nothingupmysleeve.co.uk
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)
Not really applicable as it more a system to create the tool needed for the effects rather than the effect itself.
Review
One of my recent biggest magical disappointments was on buying Mesika's Loops. I had experimented with thread reels and Loops seemed like the solution to the effects that I wanted to create.
A great concept and nice and easy to use and you end clean. The downside is that they cost £7 per packet for only 5 loops. (Some places sell them for nine quid a pack!)
Now this price wouldn't be so bad if they were durable and long lasting but the thread Mesika uses (in my opinion) is incredibly poor and they snap if you so much as try and move a fork with them. The routines that come with the loops themselves aren't in the main suitable for the kind of thread he uses and seems (to my cynical mind) like a good way to get people to buy more. Many of the effects in his Animated Miracles book seem too ambitious for the strength of the thread used.
Fourteen quids worth of Loops lasted me a week and a half and that was just as I was getting used to what their limitations are. Most of the breakages ocurred when trying the Haunted Deck and fork PK effects included with the loops.
Hmm, so what's the solution?
Well, I'll tell you the problems first. What I want is:
1) cheaper loops
2) loops made with better quality thread.
And I've found the answer. Nothing Up My Sleeve's S.T.EL.TH Loops system is just what I was after. As the advertistment says, you will have you own Loop making factory. And you will.
So what does it entail?
With this package you receive a hard copy of the original PDF (which I much prefer as for some old-fashioned reason I resent paying for downloads after being stung with mobile phone games that don't work).
The eleven page booklet describes the building of your loop making device as clear as possible with diagrams showing you where everything goes. The most joyous thing is that most of the materials needed to make it, I (and probably you) already own, so it was a couple of cheap, easy to find bits and bobs I needed to pop to the shops for.
The whole thing will cost you well under a tenner to make and once you've done it, it will last you a long time.
Are the loops easy to make?
Well, yes, but as with anything it will take you a few attempts to get going. IT is notoriously fiddly to work with, so a slow approach with a gentle touch is the best way to approach it. You will have to fine-tune your device to make the size of loops that suit you, but once you are off, you'll be making them like there's no tomorrow and will save yourself a fortune if you had intended to use he commercially available loops.
Luckily there's enough thread supplied so that it's not problem that your early attempts will be discarded.
It's all too easy in the magic industry for people to make as much money as they can by producing something that's ovepriced but desirable and this is a refreshing antidote to that. Something which will save you a hell of a lot of money for a small outlay and the miniumum of work.
The device itself takes no longer than half an hour to make and is simple to use once you have got the hang of it. I can now make loops to suit myself being the size and strength that I want.
Also, there are some routines in the booklet which are not only great uses for loops, but much more practical and realistic than Mesika's fanciful routines.
Overall, an excellent package. If you are using Loops by Mesika, unless you are inherently lazy, you'd be a fool not to go for this. The minimum of time will save you a lot of money in the future and also making customised loops means you can expand the possibilities of them. Make giant ones if you want!
If you are interested in thread work, I'd recommend buying one pack of loops so you feel the joy then frustration, then this to show you that loops needn't be expensive and frustrating, but easy to make and fun.
The "Oh dear I'm down to my last few loops" feeling will be replaced with "I'll go home and knock up another five."
An excellent, essential package for the thread worker.
Overall
10/10
(My Loops frustration being relived in such a painless way has bumped the score up.)