I was not sure where to post this, I am looking for sometting that will help me with sleight of hand for on-the-spot stuff I have seen for sale - the raven - but was not sure a- what it can be used for b-if you can wear it any time. Please help-I have also heard that you can make one. please pm me if you know how this is done.

Careful. It sounds like you are asking for exposure which is not allowed here. If curious as to what the raven is, well without giving away anything I can say that it will not help you with sleight of hand as there is no sleight of hand involved when you use a raven. It is simply a gimmick that does the work for you. So if you are wanting to improve sleight of hand with coins I assume, check out "Modern Coin Magic" by JB Bobo. This is the coin workers bible. You can find it real cheap at amazon.com. It covers all the basic coin sleights including palming, vanishes, utility moves, and routines. Best to start there if you want to improve sleight of hand with coins. Also, check out some of David Roth's coin videos. Hope this helps. If you still want the raven, go ahead and buy one, but I was disappointed with my purchase. I choose not to use gimmicks when it comes to vanishing coins.
My 2 cents. And to answer your question, you can wear the raven all day if you like.

Phil

Thanksfor that feedback!!

The raven can be use to do much more than just vanish a coin. It is great to vanish other things as well, or make substitutions... The raven video goes a long way to fire up your imagination and get more out of it.

With regards to "modern coin magic" by Bobo, I only have one thing to say: don't get the cheap version on amazon.com, get the hardcover edition. It is more expensive, but you do get 3 more chapters in that edition. Chapters that are very good for building routines! You will not get those in the soft cover version.

Have a good day!

Louis

Buy the raven. It is a brilliant effect, that isn't overly difficult to get into the hang of. Also the Bat, is another magic trick, which has been called the raven sister. Look at penguin magic for more info on it though.

I would have to agree with Louis and Phil. Get JB Bobo's book Modern Coin Magic. It will serve you well. The Raven, although not overly difficult to use, does require a comfort level you will only get by practice and use. Same goes for the classic palm, etc. Quite a few "coin" moves described in Bobo's book are applicable to other objects. They cost about the same (the Bobo's book (hard cover) and the Raven). I would suggest the hardcover book as well, because of the additional info.

The Raven is good but it usually end up in the drawer. I actually prefer the bat. The raven is really the sister of the bat. The bat came out first.

I have the raven and it can be used for thing like paper clips and stuff. See you can do so much more than just coin vanishes. For example, I papercliped a small card with a metal clip and ravened it.

The raven can be useful and I have heard of people trying to make one. However most of them end up spending more and then buying the actual thing. Inventors of tricks go through a lot of prototypes and learn how best to make something. Even if you had one in front of you to copy you would not know all of the things they learnt. that's even without getting into an ethics debate. (If we all copy it magic inventors stop releasing it and you have nothing copy. Also the raven is probably one of the few effects that has sold well enough for someone to make a living from. You want their dogs to starve! Do you?!?!)

The raven is a pretty cool trick, but the setup for it is ridiculous. you can only do it once , and then you have to reset the entire thing all over again. In my experience, it was not a good buy. It looks awesome when done correctly, but completely impractical

I would disagree, DBlatt.

The Raven Brake that comes with the Raven, allows for use multiple times... I do this ALL the time, and it is wonderful. The thing about the Raven is that you HAVE to practice with it. You cannot just hook up and go. I know that there are props and devices that one magician will like and another wont. The Raven happens to be one of those things that you either LOVE it or you HATE it. I happen to love it and would urge anyone who has it that doesn't use it to practice with it. Think outside the box on how YOU might be able to use it better. that's exactly what I did. And now I use it constantly along with poure sleight of hand.

I kept getting hung up with my Raven. I put it away. At the time, I thought I would be able to learn other ways to perform similar effects, but nothing really compares to the visualness [is that a word?] of the Raven's magic.

Fizbin, when are you going to get with me (like you promised) and help me learn to love my Raven? It's been in the box since I bought it...almost a year ago.

Berkley,

Anytime you want... This weekend good for you?

Don't buy the raven yet. Wait until you understand slieght of hand and then you will know if you want one or not.

There IS no reset of the Raven. It's always ready to go. I think it's brilliant.

Yes I agree that the Raven is really visual magic at its best. It leaves you clean and to laymen this is pure magic.

The hook up needs getting used to and its not a straight out of the box effect.
You got to make minor adjustments and getting used to the handling.

When I first got the Raven, it laid in my drawer for some time befor I got playing around with it. Once you find the usefulness for it, its really a wonderful product.

The Raven is absolutely genius! I feel that the "reset" is so simple. I strongly suggest it!

are you kidding me? Only do it once? Reset?? I must be doing it wrong then cause its always ready to go on me even in a t shirt.. Its the best gimmick I use..

You could go all old school and practice, and learn how to vanish a coin with slight of hand. To the laymen it is the same thing and a lot less expensive to you.

Expense is relative. I don't find $20 to be all that bank-breaking. Secondly, time is money - he could spend a few hours learning to perfect the Raven, or a few years perfecting the sleights in Bobos. Depending on how much "real life" encroaches on your free time, it might be a lot more "expensive" to learn the sleights.
It all depends on how serious a level of magician he wants to take it to, too.

I like the Raven. It's not automatic, it does take work, it does take some practice.
I want to go on record here and say:
I defy the notion that "a vanish is a vanish to the layman". There is no sleight in the world where you can hold your hand, open and flat, with a coin laying in it, then hold your other hand, open and flat, several inches above it, and (relatively) slowly make the coin vanish with the straightforward motion you use with the Raven. Presentation is key. No hand washing necessary, no false transfers, none of that.
I think it's a benign but naive mix of condescension, generalization, and underestimation of the "layman", to think that it all makes no difference to them.
Perhaps in some cases this holds true, but I refuse to accept that sentiment as generally true.
The Raven is simply a tool; a good one, that can indeed be re-used and reset, maybe not as immediately as some might like, but with practice, quickly enough. It's not what I'd call self-working, but then, nothing truely is - that's just a marketing term. (I know, I'm the one that brought that term up... I'm just sayin' ..)