Just shipped, very soon....

Received and I'm happy with it.
My little boy has an imaginary friend, she's a fairy and every now and then she performs little tricks

https://vimeo.com/230583733/8ad4d6682a

Cute kid. Mine should arrive this week.. Umm The gimmick. Not the kid..

Lovely use of the gimmick Joel.🤣

Best endorsement ever! That right there is what magic is all about.

NICE!!!

Mine arrived this morning and I've had a little play with it. It's pretty much as advertised although not (in my opinion) totally self-contained.

The setup and reset are fiddly and I'm not sure that the special "stuff" included is the type described in the video tutorial. The stuff doesn't work well for me and isn't as clean as suggested.

On the plus side, Captive does come with a PK pen that can be used for other effects (the PK pen isn't needed for the cap effect itself).

Overall I'm disappointed with Captive and won't be using it.

Mike

Yeah, having watched the video last night, I dislike it far more than I like it...I think the reset is kinda clumsy, and the gimmick could have been made out of a different material to aid the reset and activation better...

I'm surprised you won't be using this or atleast trying it. At the price I'm buying a second to avoid a reset, the gimmick has worked perfectly for me every time with no questions.
I'm taking it out to perform at an event today and I will report back with an honest opinion.

Joel.

I can honestly say I've never had any problems with the gimmick and clean up. A lot of research went into finding the correct substance and believe me I tried different types, also I say in the tutorial that you need to get accustomed to the gimmick.

Please feel free to message me if you need any help or advice with captive my endeavour is to look after my customers and provide assistance.
JS

Just got mine today.

I will post more when I get to spend some time with it, but I'll unfortunately join the camp of disappointed out of the gate.

There are 2 things IMO that cannot be accomplished that the average lay person would very likely desire...

1 - After such a feat in a close-up setting, they will want to reach for it. This needs to be controlled and the spec can't be allowed to pick it up. Performer needs to pick it up and while I'm not a stickler for examinable props, this begs to be examined.

2 - Show me again... Also can't be done easily as the set-up is pretty finicky.

I'll be back with detailed thoughts, and will give it a real-world run before passing final judgement, but wanted to share first impressions.

My advice is to perform captive under a glass to eliminate anyone trying to grab the gimmick, the cap was designed so it can be handled after the effect is finished, but if your worried then just recap it and hand it out, but I've never been busted.
I've got a lot of gimmick props that can definitely not be handled, captive is pretty *** clean after use. JS

Hi,
May I share my thoughts as well.

A sharpie lid is a very small object.
Big objects are easy to handle and are not 'fiddly'.
But it would be a kind of magic to use a 'big' gimmick, self-contained in a small sharpie lid.

With all my respect and appreciation for everyone who is a part of this forum, if anyone thinks the gimmick is small, just imagine how much time has gone in the creation of each individual gimmick.

Bring small, makes the gimmick POSSIBLE to use.
It allows the performer to hold the sharpie naturally (whilst set up), with the same grip that they always use, with no risk it would be seen.

The reset is not instant. But if only takes few seconds and these seconds will get fewer and fewer, as you do it.
Because really, it's NOT some kind of special or difficult skill.

It is just not something that we would have been doing in our daily life.
Just try it few times to give your hands chance to get used to a new action.

It took me long time to learn how to tie my shoelaces as a child. Now I can do it with my eyes closed.

Some card slights take months, even years to master, this doesn't stop many magicians to perform slight of hand magic.

Every trick requires some level of practice. Otherwise it wouldn't be anything special. Because everyone will be doing it.

But remember that with Captive you can put a lid under a glass and without any suspicion that you are touching it or using magnets, you can make it fall.
And you can be fully aware of WHEN this would happen, so you can even change time perception and use it as a divining tool (as per the included card routines).

The tutorial is full of useful information and performance tips until the end.

In my performance practice, spectators are always curious to check the props, but never disrespectful to interrupt the performance in order to examine the gimmick.

Before - they can use the marker. No one expects you intend to use the lid anyway.

After - absolutely examinable. If you cap the sharpie, they will not be able to find it even in bright day light, even if they have all the time they want.
Under normal performing circumstances (or most of the time) there is no need to recap it. They will still not see it.

Passing the lid to a spectator appears like an action of fairness. Whilst actually that's all the time you need to make sure there is nothing the spectator can find.

I know that being magicians and knowing how props work, takes the excitement away.
Just imagine seeing this effect on TV (or anywhere) without knowing the secret.
I wouldn't have a clue and I would be fooled a thousand times.
How much more if I wasn't a magician.

Just being fair and honest here, during the video, you see Jimmy reset the gimmick, and he uses a car key I think it was...or the wooden stirrer you get in the package...and full marks to Jimmy, he kept that moment in...it's not a two seconds job. So you will need time to reset. Even if it's on the way to another table. I don't table hop, I have my own table...so this makes it a one shot use...again, fine to a degree, and yes put it under a glass...but...

What if I don't want to put it under a glass? If I did, I think I'd want to put a couple of other small light objects in with it and see if the tipping over can cause the other objects to tip over too...

I don't hate the gimmick, I just feel it's not as clean as it needs to be, and the reset is too fiddly...

Thanks for the feed back, it makes more sense to isolate it under a glass that's how I intended to use it when it was created, but their is no real reason why it can't be performed in the open with confidence.

Hi Iain,
I really value your comment and honest opinion. Jimmy has offered three ways to reset the gimmick.
From what I read, maybe the third one would be most suitable to you.
I know for sure that MANY methods were tried and these three were found to be most suitable.
It took me only a couple of tries to learn how to reset it. But I appreciate that it may not be as easy for everyone initially.
Trust me, it gets easier every time. Just try it a few more times.
Also, if you need, contact Jimmy, he really is the kindest man alive and I am sure will be happy to help you, as he had tested this in numerous ways and at different circumstances.

It is not recommended to perform the same effect twice for the same audience. Especially with this kind of effect, where the level of surprise and not knowing what is about to happen is essential. And if there is a change of audience, there will always be few moments for reset, if the performance is planned this way.

Performing under a glass is the main routine because it is a strong demonstration that the magician is not touching anything.
But it is not in anyway mandatory. And none of the other routines requires a glass.

There are options of routines to match the style of the performer.
For example the routine, appealing to me, as a performer is the Any card at any Topple routine (with it's two variations).
Because I simply love the idea of the lid toppling exactly at the right time to reveal spectators choice of card. I love watching the other routines, but they are not my performing style.

Talking about fiddly.. I have never seen anything more fiddly than a faro shuffle. After many trials and giving ups, I have managed to do it correctly with only 95% of the cards.
This is really fiddly. But I am still trying. And Captive is no where near that fiddly.

I think your idea of other small objects in the glass is absolutely awesome.
I wish I thought of this...

It would be very original if you implement it. I would love to see it.

Can this not be done with the cap with some it and black wax?

Im not understanding why some people here are having an issue resetting this. Its about 2 seconds at most and ive already got a handling to reset it right infront of them.

After the effect is done go in to your pocket and pull out yout keys. Transfare the cap over and put the key where it needs to be and go into your other pocket as if your looking for the pen. The spectator holding it should now remind you that they have it and you are done. Ive had a few run throughs of the move and its fairly easy to do.

I also don't get the" its not examinable" comment.

Im going to have no issue handing this out for examination.

I think its fantastic. It does exactly what it says on tin and it does it well.