I just received the Improved Fandemonium by Devin Knight. It is an extremely visual and entertaining alternative to the typical card sword or guillotin effects. I have not used it in a performance yet but I will give you my preliminary opinion about it.

You received an ingeniously gimmicked fan that is approximately 10" x 10". It looks perfectly normal, like any small fan you would see in any home or office. However, it is very cleverly gimmicked. You talk about how in the middle ages, if the magician did not perform well, the King would have the magician's hands cut off. You turn on the fan which is standing on your table. The audience can clearly see the fan blades spinning around. You say that you will attempt to perform the a trick and if you fail, you will push your hand into the spinning fan only to have your hand and fingers mangled. You hope you have practiced this trick enough. Just in case you don't succeed, you cover the front part of the fan with a board to prevent any blood and severed fingers from messing up the stage or getting on the people in the front. You heard about another magician doing this same trick and he forgot to put on the board. Not only is he now working as a shoe salesman but you should have seen the dry cleaning bill that he had to pay. (My line, not part of the instructions)

The cloth also has a panel to stick your hand through. Even though the front part of the fan is covered, there is a hole in the middle of the board so that everyone can clearly see that the middle of the fan is still spinning. There is a large star printed in the middle knob of the fan so that the entire audience can see that the blades are turning. The blades are indeed turning. You can also hear the fan turning. YOu can even pick up the fan and turn it around to show everyone from teh back that the blades are in fact spinning quite fast.

You take out a deck of cards and have someone select a card. The card is the nput back in the deck. You state that if yuo fail to find the selected card, you will thrust your hand, the hand that supports and feed your family, the hand that is your livlihood, the hand that keeps you out of jail (my lines, not part of the official routine) inot the fan and right through the blades leaving your hand a mangled, unrecognizable mess. You go through the cards and take out a card. You rpoudly show it to the spectator adn ask if this is her card. She says no. You then get a bit nervous, and again look through the deck with a bit more hesitation. You take out another card and show it. Again the spectator says it is not her card. A promise is a promise. So you take the card taht you took out and thrust your hand into the fan and right through the spinning blades. Your hand emerges from the other side with a torn, mangled card in your hand. The torn card that you are holding turned into the spectator's selected card. You remove your hand completely unharmed and you can give the torn card to the spectator to keep. YOu can immediately remove the board and show the blades are spinning around fast.

This effect is completey safe. It is very easy to do and I think it is a terrific, entertaining routine and effect. The instructions and routine by Devin Knight are detailed, well writen and easy to do. Fandemonium is a very nice alternative to the typical card sword or guillotine effects. I look forward in using it. Even though the effect is $395.00, it is worth it. It is lightweight and easy to carry. You do need a place to plug the fan in. It is available at Tilford Illusions at http://tilfordillusions.com/Fandemonium2AD.html. I highly recommend it.

Best regards,

Michael

The first magician to buy this: Hermann Carr did it at a show where a talk show producer saw him perform it. Hermann told me the guy came up and liked the trick so much he arranged to have Hermann do it on his talk show. Congrats Hermann, that is the kind of reports we like to hear. Good luck with the TV show.

Michael has a period a the end of the link. Here is the working link:
http://tilfordillusions.com/Fandemonium2AD.html

Here is a link to Hermann Carr's TV show offer!
http://tilfordillusions.com/fandemonium.html

Just for the record, the hand thru fan idea was originally a John Moyer idea. I got the rights from him, then totally redesigned the mechanics and the appearnace of the fan. Later I came up with the idea of the selected card and the punishment for failure to find. This has proven very commerical in my shows. I wanted to make sure that John got credit for giving me the basic idea for passing your hand thru a fan. I always try to make sure anything I release has credits to those who gave me the basic idea.

YES, sometime next week a VIDEO showing this in action will be put up. I just don't have time to make one until after the July 4 holiday due to a heavy show schedule.

I forgot to mention that Devin Knight's instructions also provides a way of having a spectator thrust his/her own hand through the spinning fan blades without being harmed at all and the spectator will not know even how it was done. Very clever and very entertaining effects are possible. While this is not to be done at children shows for obvios reasons, it is sure to be a hit with the adult crowds. I once saw a large stage version of this performed (different method) on a T.V. special some years ago, perhaps World's Greates Magicians, and it was a fantastic effect. Fandemonium is a very clever and logical and entertaining way of doing this effect for stage or parlour shows. Highly recommended.

I will be performing this next weekend and I will give an updated review afterwards. I am looking forward in performing this. It has a lot of potential for comedy and some stunning and unusual magic.

Best regards,

Michael

In addition to doing the routine as suggested by Devin Knight in the instructions as explained in my initial post, I have thought of an effect where you use the Improved Fandemonium as a card sword routine without the card sword. I have discussed this with Devin Knight. You can have a card selected by a spectator and have it signed and mixed into the deck. With the fan turned on and the blades spinning with the board in teh front of the fan as per the regular routine, you can throw the cards into the air behind the spinning fan, thrust your hand into the cards that are falling down and through the fan. Your hand is seen sticking through the spinning fan holding a mangled and torn card, torn by the spinning blades. It is the signed, selected card. You remove your hand unharmed and you can give the signed, selected card to the spectator to keep as a momento. I am going to do this routine next week. I think it is a great and entertaining routine and effect.

I think you can get a lot out of this mini-illusion. I am very satisifed with my purchase. It is a lightweight, small illusion that really plays big.

Best regards,

Michael

I am happy to report after much thought and effort I have come up with the perfect method to do what Michael suggested. Mel Strouse challenged me to come up with way to do it in REVERSE which seemed near impossible...but I was able to solve this problem too. This was tested in two public shows yesterday and was by far the strongest thing in my act. You could hear them saying after it was over, "how could he do that?" This wasn't a single comment but a murmer that was heard constantly thru out the audience. I'm revising the directions to include the method. If you have the fan already and want to know how to do this, I will email you the directions. I have a list of ALL customers who bought so I know if you have one.

Anyhow here is what you can do with the fan thanks to Michael's suggestion.

Have a Card selected and SIGNED by the person. There are NO switches. The card is returned to the deck and left with the person to hold. Magician shows the fan and says he will try to most dangerous card trick in the world. He will have the person throw the deck at the fan and the magician says he will attempt to magically reach thru the spinning fan blades and catch the SIGNED CARD.

The fan is turned on and magician shows his hand empty. BTW there is NO PALMING used at anytime in this method. The person throws the cards at the fan. Magician thrust this hand thru the spinning blades and catches the SIGNED CARD at his fingertips. The audience can plainly see it is the sign card and the card is intact. They also notice that somehow your hand is passing thru a spinning fan blade and yet unharmed. NOW HERE IS THE REVERSE PART that Mel Strouse challenged me on. Remember the signed card is intact. Magician then pulls his hand back thru the fan along with the card. When his hand (unharmed is removed) he is seen to be holding the signed card. ONLY NOW THE CARD is ripped and tattered due to passing thru the spinning blades. This card (the same one signed by the spectator)is then given to him to keep.

Thanks Michael for an excellent suggestion. It was tough to come up with a practical NO SKILL, NO PALMING method but I think I succeeded and it has been done
on real world audiences.

Michael, several people have asked me where your show review is? We're still waiting.

Devin,

It was a veery busy July 4th weekend. I am getting things back in order. I will post a candid review within the next couple of days.
Thanks for asking.

Best regards,

Michael

I had a chance to use Devin Knight's Improved Fandemonium illusion on several occassions. Without exception, this illusion (it is more of a mini-illusion than a simple trick) received a terrific response from the spectators. I presented it once as a comedy routine and on a different occassion I presented it as a more serious effect. Both times the spectators' reactions were the same:wow!!!

Fandemonium is extremely easy and very lightweight to carry and to set up. The fan is only 10" x 10". even though it is small and lightweight, the impact that it has on the audience is strong and powerful. I cannot lug around heavy equipment. Fandemonium was the perfect effect to intoduce an illusion into my act without getting back pain or headaches in carrying it around and in setting it up. This effect is unusual, differnt and will entertain the audience. The audience will remember this effect. After everytime I performed this effect, without exception I was approached by members of the audience telling me that they could not beleive how my hand went through the spinning fan blades.

The price of $395.00 is very low considering you are getting a complete mini-illusion and routine that is extremely easy to do and will entertain your audience. If you are looking to add something different and a mini-illusion to your show that is easy to carry and to use, I would highly recommend this effect.

Best regards,

Michael

I really like Devin Knight's products, and I'm thinking about getting this item. The ad copy states that the fan is quite noisy when it is turned on and running. How loud is the motor? Could it be heard from the back row of a small theater?

Also, this may sound like a "dumb" question, but does the fan itself actually blow air when it is on and spinning? I don't know why I'm asking this question in the first place, but I'm just curious if the fan really is a fan that one could keep on their desk at work to stay cool, etc..

This looks like a great item. Glad to hear to hear that so many people are having a lot of success with it!

Hoodrat,
You can hear the motor, but it is not as noisy as the earlier ads stated. The ad copy has been updated. As long as you don't have background music you can hear the fan in a small theatre. If working a larger place I will temp lower the mike stand, if you are working with a wireless mic, you bring the fan close to it while passing your arm thru and the mic helps pick up the sound.

However I have used this in small theatre settings without mics and had no problem. You have to remember, that the ALSO SEE the center of the fan moving, so even if at the back they can't hear it, they can see it.

The fan was designed as an exhaust fan, we didn't want it blowing things off the table when turned on. When the splatter guard is closed, the cloth flaps do move a bit from the breeze. However this fan was designed as an illusion, it was not designed to keep one cool at work.

Another great product from Devin Knight. Thumbs up.

Magicbuilder,

Thanks for the information!

I am a huge fan (no pun intended) of the concept of this illusion, but I asked Devin (in another thread here on the Café) why this couldn't be made in a larger version, as in a standard 20 inch box fan?

My issue is that I am a platform/stage performer, and this current release is mainly a close-up, intimate effect. To me, Fandemonium is a really cool mini-illusion that some of the card workers can place on top of their table and work it for the 4 or 5 people that they are entertaining.

Mind you, I am not trying to get a cheap "Windshear", full body penetration illusion out of this. But rather, a more menacing, one-arm penetration effect from a bigger fan, that could actually be seen, and appreciated, from a larger crowd.

Anyone else here agree?

I want a bigger version!


Anyone else have any input on this?

Curious is this now available for viewing.

Thanks.

Bob

Video was made today and sent to the webmaster, I expect it will be up later tonight or tomorrow. I will post a link as soon as it is live, but the video is finished.

Hello,

Just for the record, I came up with the hand thru fan Illusion . I sold the building rights to Devin Knight and Doug Tilford. And sent Devin one to copy the mechanics off of The appearance of the fan is also done by me.Devin Knight Later came up with the idea of the selected card and the punishment for failure to find. I just wanted to let you all know that I had much more to do with this then just the basic idea of passing your hand thru a fan. Yes Devin Has some good add-on's but the hole illusion would not be here to day if John Moyer did not come up with it.

Thanks!

John Moyer.

Improved Fandemonium by
John Moyer and Devin Knight

John was given credit back at the start of this thread by me. Although the appearance of the fan is the same, and the basic method is the same, our shop totally redesigned to mechanics of the fan to make it work smoother and to allow for some things that the original design would have been more difficult to pull out. Still I give John Moyer full credit for the basic idea and method. We are using the same method, only improved mechanics and workings.

Devin

Hi Devin,

I was not saying you.I was talking about others on the Café.Both you and Doug have been great about giveing me full credit on this illusion.




John....