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.