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I think I'm going to have a look at this metal bending lark, it seems stunning to the audience

When I was in Ireland I saw Ronaldo work and he had the lady members of the audience astounded. His bending was simple and caused severe damage to his trousers though

Believe me it is very entertaining for the spectators. It is my single most favoured trick with table hopping. Just make sure you find a cheap place for cutlery, because you will be going through a LOT of cutlery.

So...which is the better one to try - Liquid Metal or PK Silverware? I see that Liquid Metal acknowledges the use of the tine bend and corkscrew from PK Silverware so that tends to suggest it's a better buy. Or I could be wrong!

I would definitely go with PK Silverware, then Patrick Kuffs "Metal Bending the real work".
I wouldn't even bother with liquid metal. I own them both (and Kuffs' stuf). Liquid metal was a bit of a disappointment to me, although there will be people who swear by it. I don't know if it's his presentation or his style, or what but I didn't like it. I didn't like Bavli's style - but i would recommend his series on metal bending any day. But Morgan - he's probably a great magician. I've never seen any of his other stuff, but with his routine i felt "hmm - that's an interesting take on Banachek's routine". I'd rather go with Banachek. He covers the phsychology and everything you need for a good metal bending routine.

Here's a link to a thread on another forum that debated this question:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=97983&forum=111&25

Hope that helps

Thanks - that link returns an error message about access but I can see it's a Steve Brooks production so will go visit in due course!

I had a look at the promo vids for both the routines mentioned and I guessed the Banacheck one was the better in terms of the apparent content and background. I was very disappointed with his PK Touches booklet so was reluctant to spend more in the same direction in case it turned out to be similarly disappointing. (And before anyone leaps to the defence of PK Touches, the idea was excellent it was just all that unnecessary padding which got on my wick!) I'll give PK Silverware a whirl and see how it goes. I was so confident that someone would come back with this sort of good advice that I went out and invested all of 99p in some forks from our local Wilkinson's to use in practice. I understand that these are the same as those sold by ASDA and are particularly appropriate for metal bending routines! Cheers

Liquid Metal has been my only venture into metal bending so far and if you look right through the Americanised presentation and instead concentrate on the actual routine itself, I've found this to be a killer, despite being skeptical at the beginning. I thought that there was no way you could do the moves under people's noses without being caught out. How wrong was I? After perfecting, I've now added my own presentation. It's just so visual.

I work in an office with over a thousand other people who I treat a guinea pigs. This is my most requested routine and the only problem is that it can cost me a fortune in forks.

Wilkinson and Asda forks are identical, just different packaging. I've noticed that the new stocks of Asda forks are even easier to bend which is good news for the corkscrew. They still stand up to the scrutiny though!

I tend to prep two forks and put them back into the plastic wrapper with the two un-prepped ones and then staple the cardboard lid back on top. They always look un opened and no-one thinks suspiciously of them.

Thanks for that as well! I bought a spoon bending effect in Blackpool and I noticed that it used the Wilkinson/ASDA type of cutlery so the forks I bought will blend in very well.

My table hopping will have to go from full pockets to a bum bag full of cuttlery Or as our cousins over the sea call a fanny pack And that's worrying

I have found that with metal bending - as with any other routine - it's good to get hold of as much material as possible. I'll often find myself in a position where doing a certain routine or bend isn't possible, so I can then adapt my routine 'on the fly'. I now have my own routine that I use often, but it's thanks to all the other stuff I've watched.
What I've done with spoons/forks is find out where the majority of the resturaunts buy there cutlery and then order straight from them. The advantage is that I can then use the resturaunts cutlery - and then just replace what I've bent.
I have a jacket with the one pocket full of spoons and forks. If I'm not performing in a resturaunt I'll joke about having just been at a resturaunt as I take all the cutlery out my pocket.

A while ago a magician challenged me (in a nice kind of way) as to what I am doing. Is the spoon melting, am I bending it with my mind etc. ie - what do I want the audience to believe - what is the story behind why I'm bending metal. That was a really good question and coming up with my own answers has really helped in being confident with my routine and having it look more believable. A helpful thing to do is to watch yourself bending a spoon/fork in the mirror and try and freak yourself out. You need to really live yourself into the moment when you're performing a spoon/fork bend. Sometimes the hair stands up on the back of my neck when I'm performing for someone - because it really looks real

I have found that with metal bending - as with any other routine - it's good to get hold of as much material as possible. I'll often find myself in a position where doing a certain routine or bend isn't possible, so I can then adapt my routine 'on the fly'. I now have my own routine that I use often, but it's thanks to all the other stuff I've watched.

Taneous is so right!

This not only applies to metal bending but to a lot of magic. In my opinion, being able to adapt to unexpected changes when they present themselves is what makes you stand out from the rest.

I find restaurant forks to generally be much heavier and therefore the whole routine may not be able to be performed. However, if handed a fork by a spec then using just part of the routine, such as doing some tine bends etc. will often be an equally strong display and reinforce the thought that it wasn't a trick fork that you were using after all.

By widening your knowledge I find that you can also perform some (and I do stress some) routines twice to the same audience whereas you would not normally want to do this because of the risk of revaling the method.

so I can then adapt my routine 'on the fly'

OK, it's confession time! Last Saturday Mrs.M and I were at a party and it occurred to me that what was needed to liven things up a bit was a bit of good old fashioned magic! I hadn't taken anything with me and it helped pass the time by trying to figure out, just as a mental exercise, what I could have done if the opportunity had been there. I had coins in my pocket, but apart from a matrix type thing with a paper serviette, no real idea about using them. I had a couple of TT's in my pocket but not a great deal of other items to utilise them effectively. After a short while I realised that I had all I needed in front of me to do a bit of cutlery bending - despite all this cutlery being cheapo white disposable plastic! As it happened there wasn't any real opportunity to 'do a bit' but I did 'assemble' and 'adapt' all I needed for a basic fork bend and eventual complete break. As white plastic cutlery is very brittle, it would have been fun to get someone else to do as I do with another 'freely chosen' fork and see them shatter the plastic all over the place instead. Ho, hum, perhaps one of these days! Assuming I get one or the other (or both) the above DVDs, I might be able to work in some metal bending as well!

Some of my friends bring out plastic cutlery when I'm around - as a joke (I hope). That's one of the cool things about metal bending. There are almost always 'props' available (even in a gym!).
Patrick Kuffs does a bend with a plastic spoon right at the end of his dvd, but he doesn't give an explanation (well I can't find one). I have figured out a nice bend with plastic spoons - although I think it may depend on the plastic. I'll post it in the restricted area..
I did a fork bend yesterday for a friend I hadn't seen ages. He's a real intellectual. Unfortunately he was on to me straight away. He didn't see what I did - he just guessed that that's what I had to be doing. Guess I was just getting too confident. He was impressed with the fork twist, but for the rest he just found it amusing that I had destroyed the resturaunt's cutlery. Not quite what I had in mind - but I guess you win some and you lose some..

Gavin.

Nowa days not even the plastic forks are safe from you.

The only reason I bring out plastic ones now is because I can no longer keep metal ones around. By the end of an evenings practice it looks like Uri Gellar, Banachek, taneous, etc. all came to dinner and had a bending party.

I must say that I have not seen liquid metal, but so far the responses that I have gotten is that PK Silverware is better.

I must admit that your plastic bend is coming along nicely Gav.

Mental NOTE: Hide the plastic stuff when Gavin comes to visit.

When are we having our evening of magic?

Regards
Wolflock