Hi,

I would like to learn about topits, and have heard from magicians that Michael Ammar's is great. So I searched for it, but unfortunately the DVD was sold out, and it seems like no shops have it anymore. Michael Ammar erased the product on his own website.

So, is this DVD not produced anymore? There was a booklet called the New Topit Pattern which was written by Michael Ammar, but would that be enough for me to know how to use it efficiently and so on?

Or are there better topits out there?

I tried to search about topits, but the last threads that I could find were all from 2008, and I am curious if nowadays magicians don't tend to use them anymore?

Thank you.
Semin

Ammar was the first to put a reliable toppit on the market; he refined it over the years which became the New Toppit Pattern I believe.
The VHS for the toppit pops up sporadically for sale.

It would be well worth your time to look into Kaylor's TKO (v.1 or v.2) which incorporate very similar techniques. Not the same as Ammar's toppit, but with some interesting differences (no coat required, for example).

It's really a case of apples/oranges. Both have pros and cons.

You could try Bob Fitch's dvds Topit Workshop. More expensive, but there's more material and I think Fitch uses the topit much more deceptively than Ammar.

Do you wear a jacket? If so I would go with the Traditional Topit. If you don't, look at the TKO 2.0.

If this can help :

I have the Dvd from an early Michael Ammar. This Dvd is great for learning. I do believe you can still find it at http://themagicwarehouse.com/DV9769/Topi......mar.html but there is also David Penn topit dvd '21st Century Toppit'.

The Ammar topit pattern is very nice but it would be more difficult to learn how to use it with no dvd if you don't already know how to use a topit. But the Ammar topit pattern itself is for me the best on the market.

I first learn topiting with Carl Cloutier expert topiting, but this dvd doesn't explained how to make a topit.

As for Tko, this is also very good but completely different. It is for smaller object compare to a regular topit.

I use topiting and sleeving not to vanish objects but as a tool for some of my routines that requires to sw**ch or change something. They are like TT or IT which can be used not only to vanish or to make object fly, but for much other applications.

Benito

I vanish a deck of cards (without box), very visual magic. I saw Ammar do this effect many years ago and that was the starting point for me to use topit.

Hey I have the DVD but think I need the topid poster layout, if anyone has one (used) that they're not using send me a pm plz!

Hum. I have seen a Michael vanish things with the topit a few times, but I never liked it (I have never seen his topit videos, though). There's a video on youtube where, at the end of a card routine, he makes the deck vanish, and that other video during I think Magic Week last year, on Letterman's show. I think such uses of the topit are bad, for the vanish happes exactly where the topit is, and also when the object is near the topit. I reckon the best use of a topit is when attention is far away from it, just as you don't show your hand empty immediately after having done a retention vanish or anything like that.

Cloutier's video have similar problems as it looks like he created effects just to use the topit (IIRC, he admits it in Cloutier Superstar, when he explains the balls routine). He's got some great effects though, like bill in kiwi where the use of the topit is sneakier.

I wasn't fully satisfied either by Patrick Page's video, but I don't remember it. He did though have some very good vanishes.

I don't recall anything's from Jay Scott Berry's video...

I'd like to see how Salvano uses it, for I find the trailer of his DVD very convincing. I agree with the DON'Ts in Pitchord's DVD's trailer too, but I don't like the vanishes either as they don't look natural to me, although he's derived a method not unlike mine. I'll stick to my technique, though.


P!

The Topit - Michael Ammars web:

http://www.ammarmagic.com/topit1.html

I personally like the Cloutier topit design better. I don't do a lot of topiting but I have never missed with the Cloutier topit. I modified mine so that I can take my jacket off and put it back on with a split second set up.

I used his topit many years ago and I found it worked well.

Here's what I did. I bought several premade topits of various types. I safety pinned them into jackets and tried them out.

There are a lot of variations. And some are left or right side only. You can usually turn them inside out to make them go from right side to left or vice versa.

They also have different features like being able you hold the jacket slightly open without lifting your elbow. Or different methods of retrieving items from them. There are also ones with magnets that make it easier to take your jacket or vest on and off.

I ended up making my own using a combination of the different features I liked.

Does anyone know where to purchase a finished Michael Ammar TOPIT that can just be sewn into my coat?

As far as I know he sells the pattern. You have to supply the material, cut it to match the pattern then sew it in.