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what would people recommend for close up magic involving a spectators ring? (cue guffaw's of laughter)

would a vanishing handkerchief be the best place to start or ive seen a wallet somewhere where the ring attaches itself to a keyring?

just trying to break up my routine a bit from all cards

cheers

You will need to consider along with the ring vanish, what you intend to then do to make it re-appear. The re-appearance of the ring in an impossible location is always seen as the 'actual' magical part of the routine and not the actual disappearance. Magicians are expected to make things disappear after all.

To answer the question it would also be beneficial to understand your level of skill before anything is recommended.

If you're relatively new then get one of the encyclopedias of magic where a number of basic vanishes are taught. You can try a false transfer, french drop etc. and a whole host of others including a hankie.

I can recommend the Finger Ring Magic DVD in the World's Greatest Magic series.

Barry

Gregory Wilson's "Ring Leader" dvd is a great dvd for ring and string magic.
Not only do you get the "ring leader" routine explained but also many more techniques for this sort of routine meaning you can easily construct your own.
If you then combine this with Richard Sanders "interlace" you would really have a very strong piece of magic on your hands....

you know the sort, running, screaming, being sick, calling their mothers and saying their goodbyes, cats marrying dogs etc.

I've recently been working on a few ring routines myself. I've got the Worlds Greatest DVD and that is very good. Covers some brilliant routines that I'm sure you'll be able to use.

I don't know what your ability level is but Bobo is always worth a look, much of what is done with coins can work just as well with a ring and it'll also teach you som ebasic sleights too. Mark Wilson's book's also got a few nice routines involving a ring too.

cheers,

ive just finished reading RRCTM so i think ill move onto Mark Wilson's next.

Only problem is i like to read on the train to work and its a bit big to be commuter friendly!

PS are all the 'Worlds greatest magic' DVD's good then or just some of them?

I would second the call for Greg Wilson's "Ring Leader" - generally a great routine but plenty of utility moves to help you create your own.

Re. "the wallet with the keyring thing", what you are talking about is a Ring Flight. Be very careful! This is a powerful effect but there are a huge number of products on the market and many of them you really wouldn't want to trust with a spectator's ring.

If you do use a specs ring, for Ring Flight or for any ring routine really, choose one without stones and preferably one that doesn't look like it cost an absolute fortune, just in case.

By the way, I use a gimmick-free ring on stick which I learnt from Hugard's Modern Magic Manual, which has a full chapter on ring magic. It's a little dated but an excellent resource for sleight of hand magic of all kinds. There's a Dover reprint available.

Barry

On a note on rings. Try to stay away from Opals they shatter very easily it is the nature of the stone. A good quality opal usually has many colours blended together, not the usual milky white and can be as expensive as a diamond.

Stay away from rings with lots of baguets (little chips of diamonds set around the ring) as they notoriously fall off. And even one was missing before you started a evil person, (and yes, shockingly they are out there) may accuse you of breaking the ring.

So I would go with the advice of looking for one that doesn't look overly expensive, I'd also try to go with a band style.

At a convention where after the show a small crew of people spent the better part of two hours trying to find a diamond chip after a ringflight misshap. Fortunatly the chip was found and the only monitary cost to the magician was having the chip put back into the ring.

Still it is a great effect