Can someone give me some tips on how to size the TT for bill switching? How long should the tip extend past your joint? How loose should the tip be? And also, if the tip is too tight, will hot water allow you to expand it a bit? Finally, what's a nice looking TT that'll be good for the bill switch? The recently maketed silicone one looks great, but I hear it's too soft.

thanks in advance,

Frank

Unless you have very small hands the Vernet, hard, TT is probably the one to use. Fit it as you would any TT (a search on TT’s will lead you to a thread that has a link to proper fitting). You can expand a hard plastic TT using the hot water method. You can tighten it a tad (but only a tad) using the same method.

It really does not need to extend very far beyond your thumb. The bill does not go all the way in but more rests against the ball of the thumb and inside wall of the TT.

When all is said and done any TT will work for this trick. Find one you personally like, that fits comfortable, and use it exclusively until it is second nature.

However, why would you want to use a TT for a bill switch? Even the Mike Klosowski in his original Manuscript "$100 bill switch" recommended doing away with the TT as soon as the moves are learned. There is a thread going back to the early years here on the Café discussing just that fact. I learned the $100.00 bill switch from Klosowski’s manuscript over 20 years ago. I followed it to the letter and did away with the TT; I thought that was how it was done! It is not that difficult and a bill folded to sixteenths is as easy to conceal as a large plastic TT.

Don't have any experience with the silocon TT, but a TT is just that, it fits on the tip, approx. to the end of the nail when loaded with an item like a silk. I am unique, as a Vernet is a perfect fit for me and fits on my thumb very comfortably all the way on. But you do not want this if you are doing a trick like the Bill Switch.

I have tried the vinyl TT for this effect. The bill just sticks to much. Use a hard one. Remember if you forget about it, so will your audience. That is the real secret.

Try rubbing a little talcum powder into the inside of the TT

I agree learn the moves then try and do away with the T.T.

Dean

I say keep the TT, as it allows for a far cleaner showing of the hands after the fact, It's no shortcut though, I agree with the authors of Switch that its actually harder to use the TT.

Marc the Magic Man

I have several TT's of varying sizes and materials. I use the Vernet hard for vanishing lit cigarettes, I use a deeper one for vanishing larger silks and a shallower one for a close-up mini blendo routine. If you're still thinking about color of TT to use, you need more practice before using one in public. It's like this, if color is an issue to you, it will be for the spec. You need to build enough confidence in your handling/technique that you completely forget it's there. Once that is done, you can put a clown nose on your thumb and no one will see it. No, it's really true! I promise!

Frank,

I have found that just about any hard thumbtip you like works well for the bill switch. Soft thumbtips, at least for me, have too much "friction" to work well in doing the bill change.

Bob Phillips

I couldn't agree more.

I use my hard TT for Foreign Affair when I end with a mis-made dollar bill. The softer TT just wouldn't work for me with this effect without a little fuss.

If you are truly concerned about the color, you can have a local artist "touch up" the TT so the tone matches your skin exactly. Other than that, I've always had success with the Vernet Hard TT.