by Dr. B.A.Loonatic » Feb 18th, '07, 11:46
Yes, the DVD is repetitious in many respects, specifically he does the same trick (or variations on the very same trick) several times with different items. There is a reason for this. He wants you to think beyond silks, paper money and flash paper. As he goes through his daily routine, he literally considers every object he holds in his hands as a candidate for use with the TT. Mr. Toucan, you said yourself it "led you to other thoughts". That's the exact reason he does it. It was never intended to be simple "filler" to bulk up the content of the disks. When I said in my original post that many of the effects are "groaners", this is what I was talking about, I just couldn't put it into words effectively at the time. Also, please don't think that I am attacking your post. Rather, I'm simply answering the points you raised. You are absolutely right, you have to almost "force yourself" to sit through the same trick several times, especially with something as "old hat" as the TT. By the time we have been performing magic for a few years, we tend to overlook the versatility and multiple uses of this extremely common prop, which is known to many lay people. You will not be "wowed" by the entire set of disks, that much is true. But while watching the same trick for the third time with 3 different items, your mind begins to wander and inserts other objects that never made it into the DVD. There is one more point I want to make, I know this post is getting long. Many lay people do know what a TT is, but if you use it with anything other than a silk, they never suspect a thing. They have learned to associate the TT with a silk vanish/production ONLY. If you do anything else with it, even those who know what one is will be completely baffled. The converse of this is true, also. If you perform a silk vanish with anything other than a TT such as the small wooden "pull" device (sorry I don't know the correct name of this prop), they are totally stumped. If you have a spectator that knows the TT, conceal a pull in one hand. Load the device with a silk, then cup your hands together, one overlapping the other. Extend your hands outward toward the spectator while ditching the device. Have the spectator hold onto your wrists, and "vanish" the silk while they hold on, immediately opening your hands and freely showing your palms, fingers, and thumbs. To the lay person who knows the TT, this is a true miracle! I hope I was able to express this without revealing the mechanics of the device I was talking about.
Just my $.58 worth, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Dr. B.A.Loonatic