talkmagic.co.uk

The Master Levitation System
by Steve Fearson


http://emagicsupply.com/112-masterlevit ... ustom.html


I ordered this about a week and a half ago and I have been longing for it to come for a while; the impatience I had was immense. Having said that I was certainly not disappointed. It came in a slick black box, which contained:


A 139 minute DVD.
A 2inch by 2inch square of "bee-like" wax.
50 feet of woolly cotton, each holding 40 'strands' of IT.
50 feet of multiple-stranded Kevlar thread.
A realistic plastic folk (light).
A highly realistic plastic ice cube.
A fake deck to assemble and float.



I shall go through each of these items one by one, starting with the DVD:
It was completely comprehensive. I was a total beginner to IT before the DVD, yet at no point did I have to stop and rewind the film, to see something a second time. It was COMPLETELY explanatory.

Fearson is the perfect teacher, he does not patronise you, but he covers all you need to know. Here are a few of the tricks he teaches you (though I am not permitted to expose them, and I would not want too):


How to form a hoop with your hands for the object to float through.

How to float objects above your hands.

How to float an object several feet away from you, and how to walk away from a floating object.

How to maintain, store, create and use your own IT and invisible Kevlar.

How to open a packet of crisps (or any snack food) and have the crisp float up into your mouth so you can eat it.

How to do a great entry into a table performance. "Did someone drop a fork?"... and the fork float up to your hand and into your pocket.

And MANY others.




I could go on, but I think you get the idea. I have not even mentioned Area 51 yet, which is a killer routine. This routine involves being attacked by a small glowing object in the dark, then getting the object under control and floating it around your body, before letting it fly off into the night sky, never to be seen again. (despite what you may think, the final stage of this Area 51 routine CAN be performed live and is very, very, very cool)



Now for the Master Wax:
It is quite a small square that you get with the kit, but it is good for maybe 100 uses or so. The trick is to use it sparingly and very little is needed for it to work. The wax smells of honey and is skin colored, so once it is on you it is almost invisible - keep your hands moving and no one will spot it.

I planned ahead and ordered another batch of Master Wax + Master Thread with my purchase of the MLS, and I think this will keep me going for several months or more. The wax can only be described as high quality and very sticky. It is NOT a trashy free sample.



The woolly cotton that you get at first looks absolutely rubbish. It is highly visible... until you realize that you can peel away one of the 40 fibers that make up the string, turning it from a cotton thread, into IT. And when I say IT I MEAN INVISIBLE.

This stuff cannot be seen except in very certain circumstances. I impressed by brother and sister by holding it right in front of their faces, and they only believed it was there when I rubbed their noses against the thread. I could not ask for a better thread. Its so invisible I cannot see it when I work, I have learnt to "feel" for it.
10/10 for invisibility.



The Kevlar thread is much thicker, and far less invisible. As such I would only recomending using it in either a controled enviroment, such as where you can fix the lighting, or during the night. It is very strong however, and I am hoping to perform Harry Blackstones Floating Lightbulb routine with it very soon.



The fake fork, ice cube and deck are all realistic looking, with the possible exception of the deck. Personally I will only use the fork, because it is an INCREDIBLE way to start a walk-around-table routine. It is worth noting that you can even use REAL ICE cubes with practise, and Fearson teaches you how. Water does NOT stick to the IT, as oil repels water, and the thread is made of petroleum oils.



So to summarize; a brilliant, brilliant purchase. I highly recommend it, and I am not someone who is easily impressed. I do suggest however that you also spend an extra $7 to purchase more Master Wax and Master Thread at the same time, so that you have an almost unlimited supply of thread and a very large amount of wax available to you. So I have but one criticism: I wish there had been a bit more wax. But saying that, there was still plenty for a hundred goes or so, and enough to practise with.


Invisibility: 10/10
Teaching method: 9/10
Special tricks: 9/10
Additional Gimmicks: 10/10

OVER ALL RATING: 9.5/10

Tom
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I know this is an old post and I see for some reason that no one has responded. Regardless I really appreciate the review and have just finished ordering my set. I'll update once i've had some time to look it over.

I've just posted a question about the MLS on another forum but I'm going to post my question again here. Is the MLS impromptu? In other words, can i perform street magic with the MLS or only perform in a sterile environment after setup? Thanks!

Yes, you could do it on the street but you must watch your lighting and angles here and there. But there is a bit of a pre-set (memory serving).

Thank you very much for this review. It convinced me to spend the money on the set, and whilst I'm not quite ready for performance it's certainly fun learning.

That said, I am a complete beginner and this is somewhat jumping in at the deep end. Most of the effects here are quite brief, and as Fearson says 'less is more'. This is not a magic routine in a box but it is a very cool effect and it is superbly explained.