talkmagic.co.uk

daleshrimpton wrote:The reason people get the thing wrong.... At the end of the routine there is a 50/50 choice.

your brain is saying its the one on the left, so you want to squash the one on the right. Unfortunatly , the pressure of performing, & Dyslexia can kick in, and you squash the one your thinking about. IE the one on the left... where the spike is.

I never thought of it like that but it makes perfect sense. Stupid brains! Proof evolution is a pack of lies.

We discussed this affect last year on this board and it is the only effect that I have seen members recommend people do no try it. It is not something I would do anyway as it does not entertain me. When I saw it on Penn and Teller I was surprised to see it being performed. But there were a few effects throughout the series that surprised me in that manner.

Nic

daleshrimpton wrote:

C.L.Ward wrote:well im not sure if i can post a link here to the ones ive seen, ones a brief clip from an E4 documentary and one of the magicians shown had womans under his own when he slammed it on the spike, nast sod didnt even apologise apparently!!! lol
!

Ah.. best not post a link to that. Both parties have had to suffer comments, and to be honest he was very shocked about the whole thing. And hes not a nasty sod.. hes quite lovely.

the woman said on the clip that he never apologised....... in reality im sure he did..... she was probably just too dissorientated from the pain of having a spike through the hand to hear anything!!

i bet he felt terrible, but in fairness he had to maintain composure on the stage, otherwise everyone would have gotten in a panic if the performer is on stage having a break down!!

i was only kidding with the nasty sod part

To keep things safe my smash and stab is based around taking hold of the spec's hand and doing muscle reading (or whatever) to pick up on their nervousness when it's near the spike. At no point do anyone's hands smash down on the cups. It takes away the danger element but still goes down really well.

The scorpion is best for me as, although it looks incredibly nasty, if it went wrong it has a bed of nails type feel to it and no serious damage would be done.

Scorpion to be fair always looked fairly safe to me. Needs a bit more poison on those spikes
There are a few non-lethal options on the markets with eggs and I think one with the tomato.

I like non-lethal roulette effects. My Poison Coffee spy routine, for example, is fun but tense. Fun, not pain, is what it's all about:-)

Steve Price does it with eggs instead of sharp spikes. But you still get stains on your blouse if it goes wrong so best not to bother.

I guess you could do it with a hypodermic needle to prevent serious injury and then you could be sure in yourself that the needle is sterile and clean. Also a large syringe can look even more gruesome than a knife if you think about horror ways to display it.

Or if it was a children's show you could do it with a huge custard pie and the kid gets it if it goes wrong.

V.E. Day wrote:Steve Price does it with eggs instead of sharp spikes. But you still get stains on your blouse if it goes wrong so best not to bother.

I guess you could do it with a hypodermic needle to prevent serious injury and then you could be sure in yourself that the needle is sterile and clean. Also a large syringe can look even more gruesome than a knife if you think about horror ways to display it.

last thing i need is stains on my blouse.......... it will spoil the effect of the flowers i have going on

the hypodermic needle is actually a really good idea!! a lot of people are terrified of needles......so whilst providing more H+S.... it could also add more intensity for those involved!!!

As Arkesus said, the method on the show is 100% safe so there is no danger what so ever of a metal spike going through your hand.

People have said that the smash and stab is one of few effects that are best left alone but I think that's it's fantastic. Any routine/effect that gets the audience to buy into it, that makes them wince and EXPERIENCE emotion is surely what we strive to achieve. As has now been proven, a very dangerous trick can be performed perfectly safely. I see no problem in that.

Danger is a big part in certain magical performances. Just look at Houdini! The public love getting involved and with SAS they get their money's worth.

Alec