talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect

The magician takes a 240 modelling balloon and swallows it. The mouth is opened and no balloon can be seen, also the hands are empty


Cost

£8.00 from http://www.mreenterprises.co.uk

You need to either request a catalogue or email eddie to order as his website does not list all effects.

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

4 (makers state this) actually not that hard to learn (1-2)

Review

This is the effect you would have seen on 'Faking it'. I purchased mine a while ago but wanted a lengthy practise before attempting this.
The package you get includes the booklet and some practise balloons. Once mastered this trick is easy to perform and looks really good. I would urge caution though, this could easily go wrong, so if you purchase this then please be careful!

I would also say that you need to choose your audience with care. I would not advise peforming this for children in case they try to copy it. There are no angle problems, if you saw 'Faking it' then you know that you can have an audience member standing right by you and they will not see what you are doing.

If you are looking for a different effect then you cannot go wrong at this price, i also feel that some people should not use this effect including anyone very young or people with breathing problems.

I know a couple of guys that do this, funnily enough one of them is Matt Edwards (the magician that did it on the faking it program and soon to be appearing at the Ipswich Magical Society 2005 Convention), and it always gets fantastic reactions. Played with a lot of acting it always IS a hilarious piece.

I have seen it as part of a table hopping routine and as part of a stage act, it really is one of those totally angle free effects that can almost be fitted into any situation.

Personally i wouldn't have given it a difficulty rating of 4, I would have said a 2 or 3 at very tops, to be honest it's mostly presentation. Of course it could be that the version taught is slightly different to the one I know, but I doubt it.

Definitely a great effect though, and if there are long ballons about, a nice peice of impromptu magic.

Hmm funnily enough I just watched this last night on Geek magic grabbed a balloon and had a quick go. I can't see why it wouldn't be a 1 or 2. But maybe the method is a bit different or maybe I got lucky. The only thing that is tricky is hmm can't think of a way to say it without exposing, anyway this difficulty can even be got around by popping the balloon when it has about 2inches to go. This looks like you have popped the balloon while it's inside of you

sorry guys, my mistake. The makers say 4 , i think 1 to 2. They feel there is a risk of someone choking on it if done wrong (i disagree)

on the Fielding West DVD, he explains both the balloon swallowing, and the balloon reinflating!

prety cheap wahooooooooooo! :lo
and sounds cool
l:

Are there any demo videos showing this effect?

Yes, a demo would be nice.
Can it be done with regular baloons?

I can't find a demo, it was the trick performed on 'Faking it'. I think you need modelling ballons (i use them)

i got a demo by Thomas Medina in Geek Magic on how to eat a balloon

If you go to:

http://gorillamask.net/swallowballoon.shtml

there is a "Safe For Work" demo, plus the girl is hot!

cheekychap wrote:i got a demo by Thomas Medina in Geek Magic on how to eat a balloon

I've got the Geek Magic DVDs in at my shop, and they are flying out the door. I never realised this kind of thing would prove so popular!

I've seen John Archer do this twice and it does look great. He says that magicians have died trying it but that may just be to stop kids (or adults) going home, trying and making a mess of it. It builds suspence and adds to the effect as well I suppose.

He says that magicians have died trying it

lol - yeah. right.

Pitto wrote:I've seen John Archer do this twice and it does look great. He says that magicians have died trying it but that may just be to stop kids (or adults) going home, trying and making a mess of it. It builds suspence and adds to the effect as well I suppose.

LOL!

Yep, and you also have to be careful of horrific tropical blood diseases by using needle thru arm.