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Jesse Feinberg's Cigapen

Available exclusively from Hank Lee Magic http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/s ... g=feinberg

Price: $19.95

Difficulty: 3 out of 5

They say:

Take a cigarette out of the pack and show it to the spectators.
Hold the cigarette at your fingertips and, in the blink of an eye, the cigarette changes into a normal Bic pen! The change is so fast, the audience will be left breathless!

Of course, you can show the pen all around, because it is a real pen!
Cigapen is easy to do, the special pen does 99% of the work!

No pulls. No body work. Do it in short sleeves! Only the one pen is used.
You can work Cigapen into an anti-smoking presentation. The cigarette changes into a pen because you have "signed off" on smoking! You are going to love this one!

A great stocking stuffer! Get one for yourself and one for a friend.

I say:
This is clever use of an everyday item with a standard in close up magic technique.

The prop comes ready to use but you will be able to make others with the items included.

Build quality is OK… but some inexpensive purchases will upgrade the Cigapen to a much higher standard within minutes. Tools, materials and skills needed to modify or make your own are very basic.

The moves needed to create the illusion are of a moderate skill level and will need to be practiced to make them effective…it’s NOT a self worker in the strictest sense. The effect will be somewhat angle sensitive but not too tough.

You will need to switch items to be totally clean at the end or you will have to do a simple “modification” on the fly as it were. I am told there will be modifications to the effect soon that will enable a “no-switch” option for examination. This will also be available to purchasers of the “Mark 1” Cigapen at no charge…that’s a good example of Mr. Feinbergs dedication to his products and customers…well done that man.

I think this effect will work well in combination with other pen and cigarette effects such as Jaxon’s “Outsmokin’”…especially in politically correct “no smoking areas”.

The instructions are personable, friendly and describe the construction of further Cigapen props but are a bit thin in terms of routines.

Non US performers may have difficulty finding matches for the provided prop pen…so be warned if you want to make more or switch out without the upgrade to “Mark II”.

Overall: 6/10