talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect
From the product description:

This kit contains everything you need to become a sponge ball magician!

Let's face it, there is no magic that brings a smile to peoples faces than sponge magic.

It's visual, easy to understand and it gets the audience involved. EVERY magician should know at least one sponge ball routine and this kit has LOADS!!!

And if you think it's going to be the slightest bit difficult learning a new area of magic then think again. This toolbox comes complete with a full 2 hour instructional DVD, where the worlds finest sponge ball magician, Steve Dacri, takes you step by step to learning some powerful and fun magic routines.

Kit contains:

Range of premium quality sponge balls
Sponge bunny and shapes
Purse frame for routines in the DVD
Secret concealment gimmick
DVD with 2 hours of tips, tricks and routines


See how highly rated this product is:

"Learn the secrets of the sponge balls, from the king of sponge ball magic himself, Steve Dacri. The DVD is fun to watch, and it is the best instructional program I have ever seen." - Simon Lovell



"Steve's innovations are powerful material! His DVD advances sponge ball magic twenty years." - Aaron Smith



About Steve Dacri:

A regular featured performer at the Magic Castle for 33 years, Steve Dacri has banked over 3,000 headline performances at Caesars Magical Empire, plus a multitude of television appearance with Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, and Steve Martin!





Cost
£15. I got mine from www.worldmagicshop.co.uk but they are currently (as of writing this review) out of stock but you can buy it at many places including of all places, Amazon, and here : http://www.wizmomagic.co.uk/spongeball- ... p-148.html


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)

3. Sleights used but they are easy to pick up and most of them require minimal practice.

Review

I have been interested in spongeballs for a while and have some routines I perform (nothing too complex) using the excellent quality Goshman sponges. Not only are sponge balls immense fun, they also astonish the spectator, whether they are adult or child as the magic literally happens in their hands.
Finding (and buying) all the props needed can work out to a small outlay and a lot of searching, but this kit has all you need for just fifteen quid!

Recently on TM, there has been a bit of a crusade to put spongeballs back where they rightly belong and dispel the misconceptions that many magicians have towards them. Lady of Mystery is the main instigator in this crusade and anyone whose interest in spongeballs has been piqued by recent posts could do no better than starting with this set.

First off, the DVD is excellent and teaches all the moves needed for great and effective sponge magic and has some of Steve Dacri's performances which are very enjoyable. He's a good teacher, a touch wacky but not annoyingly so and his teaching is clear and well explained and the DVD is well filmed so you are never in doubt at to what it going on.
There are also clips and contributions from other magicians such as Pat Page which make the DVD not only very educational but enjoyable and well presented.
The props included are of the usual great Gosh quality and you have all you need to start performing solid and effective sponge routines. As well as four red sponge balls, you receive a yellow one for colour changes, some sponge discs, a small 3D sponge rabbit (not one of those awful flat, cut-out ones), a purse clip and a vanishing gimmick.

All good quality and all usable. The value for money here is excellent, you could buy an hour long DVD on sponge balls for the same price and this is the ideal set for beginners in sponge magic and old hands who would like some nice props and a DVD with great material on it.

Well worth the money.



Overall
10/10
Can't find fault with set at all.

A nice review there and I'll check this one out.

i'll pm you.

ps sponge snack, worth getting hold of, if theres not a version on the dvd.

It's a great DVD which is worth the price alone. Some good routines and handling tips and well filmed and presented. One of the best magic bargains I have obtained this year.

Nice review, I've been looking at this set myself. Might just have to get myself one.

Go on, treat yourself!

It's really worth the money, I wasn't expecting as quite a comprehensive DVD as there is but it has everything, vanishes, steals, routines and contributions from other magicians. There's a really nice clip of Albert Goshman doing a double coin roll and making it look so effortless!

One of the bonus bits is Steve Dacri performing various bits of magic on a US tv show and it's very enjoyable and impressive. Great value.

I think I will, going to have to wait until pay day, xmas shopping and a big MOT bill have left me a little low on money at the moment.

I'm sure you could peruade someone to buy it for you....

If I smile sweetly enough when I get home, I guess I might find it in my stocking on Christmas morning

Thanks for the review, I have been dabbling on the edge of sponge magic for my childrens set, I have ordered this today!

Wise choice!
I'd dabbled with sponge balls, mainly with the material in Mark Wilson and some ideas of my own, but this DVD has for me thinking of many new ideas. Some of the performances show how impressive sponge ball magic can be and it's all performed with adult spectators.

Good review, thank you Lord Freddie.

I had been hoping to start using sponges but never found the inclination. Now I have no excuse.

Thank you. I was very pleased with it. The range of odd sponge items that Davenports and the like stock look very tempting too.

There is a routine with multiplying sponge bunnies which looks great, I bought one of the bigger bunnies from Davenports for a fiver then realised the set of eight was only £13!!!

The multiplying bananas and carrots effects look like good fun too. It seems so obvious to us that the sponges are so com******e but specs, young and old are still astounded when they multiply in their hands!

That's the sort of reaction I like, the one of astonishment.

It still amazes me the number of people that think that sponge ball magic is just for kids. Good on you Lord Freddie for taking the plunge, and trying something a little bit 'different'.

I think there's quite a few neglected classics of magic that magicians these days would do well to reconsider, and the sponge balls are definitely one of them, and are really only limited by your imagination.

I think I'll have to check out this sponge ball toolkit as well, I've just been working my way through the World's Greatest Magic Sponge Ball DVD (which is very good), and I'm looking for a purse frame, and a few more ideas to add to my own little routine.

There's some great ideas on this DVD and the purse frame is easy to use and visually effective. He shows two handlings of it, the second of which I prefer, as you can show your hand empty before producing the balls.

I think a lot of old magic is neglected these days as younger magicians are more interested in being cool than entertaining people. The oldest routine, well-rehearsed and performed will charm the pants off an audience. Sponge balls are neglected because they're not 'flashy' looking and many youngsters are buying the Ellusionist Ghost decks and the like before they have even learnt the most basic of sleights.

Once the effect of having a 'cool' looking deck of cards has worn off, people will expect you to something with them and if you can't it's a case of "all fur coat and no drawers".

Sponge balls may not be 'cool' looking but, and I can vouch for this as I perform in places other than a webcam in my bedroom, that people LOVE them.