Tag, Your It!
Merry Christmas dear readers. I hope you had a wonderful
holiday with your friends and family, and that you took
time to reflect on the true meaning of the season with
respect to your own lives. Reflection is not something most
people do well. We tend to move on, never looking backwards.
This only sets us up into making the same mistakes -
personal, business, spiritual - and that's not healthy.
Speaking of reflection (get ready for a really bad
segueway), I finally received the lost DVD that was
supposed to accompany my set of Mirrors. The DVD is called
James Prince's Menu of Miracles, and I have yet to have
time to watch it, but hope to this weekend when guests leave
and I can go to my man cave for an hour of magic DVD
watching.
One reader had recommended that I check out a new effect
called Tagged by Richard Sanders. Well, I went to Richie's
site to watch his video demo of the effect and was not blow
away by it. I know it is rather popular. Then when I visited
ellusionist's site in a search of more information, I found
another effect called Tagged by Rich Ferguson.
Now if memory serves me right, there is also another Tagged
which I own by Shawn Farquhar which can be used to end an
Ambitious Card routine. In this version the selected, signed
card appeared pinned to the inside of your jacket with one
of those electronic security tags they put on clothes in
department stores so you can't walk out with them. I like
that effect a lot. Very clever and very funny.
Rich Ferguson's Tagged is quite different though and the
video demo is a mind blower. It makes Stigmata look like a
kiddie trick. Basically it a mind-reading climax where a
selected word or series of numbers of even a phrase appears
on a spectators' arm -- not yours. This element of having
the prediction reveal itself on the spectator's body is
amazing.
Now we're not talking about a one inch prediction. We're
talking a prediction that is an inch high and several
inches across. Go watch the demo to see what I am talking
about:
http://www.ellusionist.com/product/dvd+training/intermediate-advanced/tagged-by-rich-ferguson.do
I watched it and frankly never saw Rich "tag" the
spectator. Of course, the video is well edited, but it
definitely sparked my interest, so I purchased and
downloaded it.
Now the idea of imprinting something on a spectator is not
new as you all know. I'm not a historian but the first
effect I ever learned using this type of reveal was from
the Jerry Lewis Book of Magic (does that bring back any
memories for any of you?). It involved you drawing a
symbol, selected by the spectator, on the face of a sugar
cube. Then you dropped the cube into a glass of water, and
asked the spectator to hold their palm over the glass. As
the symbol dissolves off the cube (thus vanishing), the
spectator turns his hand over to reveal the symbol is now
on their palm! A very strong effect indeed for a kid's
magic book.
Next, I saw Jeff Spiller during my college days make
cigarette ashes penetrate the back of a spectator's hand so
they appeared in their palm. I think the effect was called
"Hex" and I have no idea whose effect this was originally
(nor do I really care). I developed my own handling for it
and had great success with it. Amazingly simple but very
strong effect because it happens in the spectator's own
hands. But as cigarettes became passe, ashes are not
usually readily available and I don't really want to carry
ashes with me. I don't like getting my hands dirty.
Next, came Rocco's Stampede which enables you to imprint
one of several different symbols on someone as well as
yourself. The gimmick was nothing special, but the
accompanying VHS tape showing live performances of Rocco doing
different performances was worth the price of the effect.
And it came with a kit of different rubber stamps and pads
to play with. I bought it but never used because at the end
of the day - while it was novel - it lacked the awe that Hex
created. It was a little too cute for me. Not quite as
mysterious as the simpler Hex.
Well, Tagged is a horse of a different color. The gimmick
approach is relatively easy to construct in a variety of
sizes and may be customized to reveal literally anything
you want. I could see using this at a trade show and making
the name of a company or product appear on the arms of many
people during the course of a work day. Rich says he has
made his own phone number appear on an entire room of
people. Neat promotional opportunities though you probably
need to be selective about the type of person you imprint.
Some people will probably be amazed while others very
pissed off. It is, after all, ink on their arm, and a lot
of it.
The best part of this video is the performance tips and
live demos of Rich tagging various people on the street as
he performs his mind reading. Here is where the effect
shines. It seems as if he never touches them. And some of
the predictions run down the length of a spectator's arm,
making it seem virtually impossible. The spectator must
wonder how and when did this guy get this on me, and how
did he know this is the word I was thinking of? As Rich
suggests this double bang climax really messes with
people's brains. It is a mind blower of an effect. Having
had great success with Hex I am anxious to build my Tagged
gimmicks and start trying Tagged. I recommend you check it
out, especially for restaurant work, trade show or walk
around work.
If you want to receive an immediate 5% discount on Tagged
or any other ellusionist effects, please click here.
My new Christmas gifts to myself, Hello My Name Is and
Departure have arrived. I've just cracked open the packages
but will share my findings with you next week.
Until next time,
Steven
P.S.: Please, please, please, share this blog with other magicians!
holiday with your friends and family, and that you took
time to reflect on the true meaning of the season with
respect to your own lives. Reflection is not something most
people do well. We tend to move on, never looking backwards.
This only sets us up into making the same mistakes -
personal, business, spiritual - and that's not healthy.
Speaking of reflection (get ready for a really bad
segueway), I finally received the lost DVD that was
supposed to accompany my set of Mirrors. The DVD is called
James Prince's Menu of Miracles, and I have yet to have
time to watch it, but hope to this weekend when guests leave
and I can go to my man cave for an hour of magic DVD
watching.
One reader had recommended that I check out a new effect
called Tagged by Richard Sanders. Well, I went to Richie's
site to watch his video demo of the effect and was not blow
away by it. I know it is rather popular. Then when I visited
ellusionist's site in a search of more information, I found
another effect called Tagged by Rich Ferguson.
Now if memory serves me right, there is also another Tagged
which I own by Shawn Farquhar which can be used to end an
Ambitious Card routine. In this version the selected, signed
card appeared pinned to the inside of your jacket with one
of those electronic security tags they put on clothes in
department stores so you can't walk out with them. I like
that effect a lot. Very clever and very funny.
Rich Ferguson's Tagged is quite different though and the
video demo is a mind blower. It makes Stigmata look like a
kiddie trick. Basically it a mind-reading climax where a
selected word or series of numbers of even a phrase appears
on a spectators' arm -- not yours. This element of having
the prediction reveal itself on the spectator's body is
amazing.
Now we're not talking about a one inch prediction. We're
talking a prediction that is an inch high and several
inches across. Go watch the demo to see what I am talking
about:
http://www.ellusionist.com/product/dvd+training/intermediate-advanced/tagged-by-rich-ferguson.do
I watched it and frankly never saw Rich "tag" the
spectator. Of course, the video is well edited, but it
definitely sparked my interest, so I purchased and
downloaded it.
Now the idea of imprinting something on a spectator is not
new as you all know. I'm not a historian but the first
effect I ever learned using this type of reveal was from
the Jerry Lewis Book of Magic (does that bring back any
memories for any of you?). It involved you drawing a
symbol, selected by the spectator, on the face of a sugar
cube. Then you dropped the cube into a glass of water, and
asked the spectator to hold their palm over the glass. As
the symbol dissolves off the cube (thus vanishing), the
spectator turns his hand over to reveal the symbol is now
on their palm! A very strong effect indeed for a kid's
magic book.
Next, I saw Jeff Spiller during my college days make
cigarette ashes penetrate the back of a spectator's hand so
they appeared in their palm. I think the effect was called
"Hex" and I have no idea whose effect this was originally
(nor do I really care). I developed my own handling for it
and had great success with it. Amazingly simple but very
strong effect because it happens in the spectator's own
hands. But as cigarettes became passe, ashes are not
usually readily available and I don't really want to carry
ashes with me. I don't like getting my hands dirty.
Next, came Rocco's Stampede which enables you to imprint
one of several different symbols on someone as well as
yourself. The gimmick was nothing special, but the
accompanying VHS tape showing live performances of Rocco doing
different performances was worth the price of the effect.
And it came with a kit of different rubber stamps and pads
to play with. I bought it but never used because at the end
of the day - while it was novel - it lacked the awe that Hex
created. It was a little too cute for me. Not quite as
mysterious as the simpler Hex.
Well, Tagged is a horse of a different color. The gimmick
approach is relatively easy to construct in a variety of
sizes and may be customized to reveal literally anything
you want. I could see using this at a trade show and making
the name of a company or product appear on the arms of many
people during the course of a work day. Rich says he has
made his own phone number appear on an entire room of
people. Neat promotional opportunities though you probably
need to be selective about the type of person you imprint.
Some people will probably be amazed while others very
pissed off. It is, after all, ink on their arm, and a lot
of it.
The best part of this video is the performance tips and
live demos of Rich tagging various people on the street as
he performs his mind reading. Here is where the effect
shines. It seems as if he never touches them. And some of
the predictions run down the length of a spectator's arm,
making it seem virtually impossible. The spectator must
wonder how and when did this guy get this on me, and how
did he know this is the word I was thinking of? As Rich
suggests this double bang climax really messes with
people's brains. It is a mind blower of an effect. Having
had great success with Hex I am anxious to build my Tagged
gimmicks and start trying Tagged. I recommend you check it
out, especially for restaurant work, trade show or walk
around work.
If you want to receive an immediate 5% discount on Tagged
or any other ellusionist effects, please click here.
My new Christmas gifts to myself, Hello My Name Is and
Departure have arrived. I've just cracked open the packages
but will share my findings with you next week.
Until next time,
Steven
P.S.: Please, please, please, share this blog with other magicians!
posted by Steven at
9:31 AM
