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I don't know if you need really long nails for these but mine never stays on and so I have to sellotape it down but its too much hassle.
I wonder if there was a alternative version I could use. Does anyone on here have the vernet writer and if so do you recommend it? Thanks

Edit: just realised this should be in support and tips, feel free to move it (Mesage from Mods: Have moved it and also edited things a little to preseve the illusion!)

i'd be careful about exposure to be honest with you...

I have the Vernet writer and after experiencing the same problems as you, plus the difficulty in replacing the lead, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

If you are using the Sam Dalal ones from India there is a problem with them at the moment. They have painted them white and this makes them slip off easily. I wonder if these are the type you are using.

Is it the under the nail gimmick you are using?

yes it is and yes they are white

You do need long nails to keep the thing in place and be able to manipulate it. It also depends on what your thumbnail is like some people have a naturally better thumbnail for swamis. If youre having too much trouble try a boon instead. It has its own problems but none of them thumb related.

edit - last line should have read thumbnail related.

It sounds as if Misanthropy is a victim of Sam Dalal as I am. At one time Sam made the gimmicks without the white paint and they worked perfectly. Now that some twit in India has had the not so bright idea of painting them white they jump off the thumbnail like demented fleas.

Richard Osterlind has addressed this problem in his blog. He also says that Dalal has agreed not to put that white paint on them in the future. I found the Dalal gimmicks a bit of a nuisance to put together with the lead and everything but the book he wrote is very good value as is the fact that he gives you 4 swamis.

Osterlind says that you need to go to Walmart and get something called Klean Strip and spray it on the gimmicks. It is a paint stripper. After a while you scrape off the paint.

I couldn't get the Klean Strip so tried some other stuff which didn't remove the paint but has made the surface sufficiently rough so that it doesn't jump off the thumb any more.

I have used swami gimmicks for years and always worked with the under the nail type. You just have to grow your nail a little longer. When Dalal didn't paint the things they worked great. Now that the paint is on they won't stay on the thumb.

How about switching to a boon I've heard good things about the "Lincoln's Best Boon".

I use a variety of nailwriters dependent on the situation. For the Swami the nail does need to be a couple of mm long. I also slightly bend the clip and file down the inside of the clip with a needle file to the exact shape of my nail.
If I need to write more than a couple of words I'll use either a boon or make up my own as per Bob Cassidy's method as described in the Artful mentalism of Bob Cassidy.

I use the Vernet TT writer (essentiall a Boon inside a TT). It's a little bulky and difficult to use. I'd much rather use a nail writer, but I have this annoying habit of biting my nails...

Misanthropy wrote:sellotape

Good grief!

How did you get away with that?

I haven't tried it on anyone yet although I'd imagine it would be no less noticable than having the swami gimmick on you

I used to use the nail writers but found them irritating and was never too happy about writing using a light pencil. I switched to a boon writer some years ago and have never gone back. They stay in place, are easily hidden and the heavy pencil line you get from them is far bolder and easy to see.

Andy

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

If nail writers seem clunky and fragile to you, invest in a decent boon.

You may never look back, as the Swami gimmick is practically the simplest and most portable item (except your brain) for creating mental miracles.

And no, you don't have to be a smoking-jacket toting, receeding, low-voiced mentalist to use one...

i think i've tried them all, even the stage version by ed fowler, by far my favourite is the Lincoln...save your pennies, and spend £37.50 from lincoln's (best boon) site...

you get:
nice shiny tin to keep it all in
two boons
replacement "parts"
sticky substances
automatic pencil that matches everything
booklet of routines

you'll genuinely never have to buy another one again...alot that claim are refillable, are kind of, but it takes ages of fiddling about...these are pretty easy to change...

i dont leave home without my shiny box