by bmat » Apr 24th, '17, 17:29
I absolutly love the original Tarantula. Yes, chances are you will end up leaving it in the drawer simply because it is IT. Sorry no matter how you slice and dice it thread is always a pain in the bottom. And to add to the misery it is mechanical and to add to that everyone's hands are different so before you can even play with it and break it in the first 30 seconds you first need to adjust it to your hand, get out your scissors people.
With that out of the way, I love this product. (don't have version 2 nor will I purchase it because I really do like version 1) Can you walk around with it? Certainly because you can hook it up on the fly so to speak. It is also important to figure out exactly what you are going to use it for. For example I would never recomend a reel of any sort for a rising card or a haunted deck routine. Loops are the way to go for that and much more user friendly. Want to float a handkerchief from the table to your hand, then a reel is the way to go.
The wonderful thing about Tarantula is that you can set it to release a pre determined length or just have it so it lets out as much as you want when you want it with the bonus of having it retract of course. Are you familiar with Steve Fearson's floating cig? I think it is a great piece of magic, I don't use a cig I use a little disco ball. In short the ball is on my palm, floats up and down, then almost to the floor, then up about waist high them moves off to the right then left. I can have the spectator place his/her thumbs and index fingers together creating a large circle and float the object through the spectators hands. If you are gutsy you can then give the spectator the object. Steve Fearson gets around this by floating the cig and having it float to his mouth where he smokes it, or he uses a lifesaver and he floats it to his mouth and eats it.
The problem with the Fearson's approach is that you have to be set up before hand so the thread is always in the way. Sure he has a way of positioning the thread so it is not in the way, (but it is in the way, or broken by the time you get to it) Then years later out comes Tarantula. You can use the exact set up but it is never in your way. Literally just set it up and take it down right in front of the spectator using a most natural gesture.
Is the mechanism going to break, sure is it is mechanical. More than likely what will happen is the thread will get caught up in the mechanism and you will spend many hours with home made tools using and a magnifying glass yelling at everyone who crosses your path while you attempt to get the thing untangled and eventually buy a replacement anyway. I actually fix mine but I am stubborn that way.
I am willing to bet that out of every 10 that are sold, nine end up in the drawer of magic never to be looked at again after the first few hours. That one person who does use it is slightly insane but also has an insanely fantastic effect on his hands.
And why won't I purchase version 2. A few reasons. The cost, although I understand it, but it is still expensive. 2, I really don't perform as much as I used too.
3. I am fifty two and simply can't see the thread enough to do any major repairs anymore. 4. first version does everything I need it to do and I already own it.
Granted I haven't looked at version 2 and I'm afraid too because I don't want to be tempted.
Just watched the link in the first post. Most of that lifesaver stuff is the same set up as Steve Fearson.