Hi guys,

I have a TT for a certain effect I'm doing. How do you guys make your TT match your skin? Paint? Makeup? It's a Vernet soft BTW.

Thanks!
Michael

PS
I tried searching, but didn't find anything that really addressed the issue.

This is going to sound harsh but... you don't. You learn to handle a TT so that it isn't seen. Back in the early 1990's there was an African American magician who was one of the street performers at Pike Place Market. He did the vanishing silk as part of his set, using the same TT we all bought from Market Magic.

The great Scottish magician John Ramsay used to teach a routine in his lectures that used a TT. After performing the effect he'd ask if anyone had seen it, and then would hold it up to show them... it was painted GREEN.

The basics:
1. Don't poke things into your hand with your thumb.
2. Practice in front of a mirror, making sure the TT is naturally hidden behind the rest of your hand, or an object.

I remember someone years back fooling us with a chrome plated TT.

Alright, that's fair enough. Yeah, I think I just read one of your posts, Duncan, in another thread. I just did two performances of Gaetan Bloom's Flying Ring and nobody noticed the TT (and the reactions were incredible BTW ). I was just thinking of disguising it as a precaution. Cool! Thanks guys.

Actually, if you feel better painting it to match your flesh color, fine, go for it. Go to an art store and ask for some acrylic paints you can use to mix together to get the desired tone. Ask someone to help you make the selection. You may need to spray it with dull clear coat after you paint it.

I think that was Harry Lorayne that used the chrome TT but I could be wrong.

-Ron

For me the TTs available to me were also off-colour, but what really put me off buying them was the size. I couldn't fit my thumb in there if my life depended on it. If the audience didn't notice the color, they'd sure notice my thumb changing in size during the routine.

Do thumbtips come in a one-size-fits-all size?

I'm pretty sure that it was Roy Benson who used three slightly different shades of "flesh" colored paint on his TT. Very few things are completely monochromatic.

They do make a king size thumb tip.

Often a fingertip is more deceptive than a TT.

Gary Darwin made the point that while you could probably fool the majority of the crowd using a bright red thumbtip, it wasn't a good idea. That said, proper technique with a TT should ensure that people don't get a good look at it except from head-on (or, at worst, strongly camouflaged amongst the rest of the fingers), at which point you just need something that's dull (ie: not super-reflective) and approximates your skin colour.

I think that the key advantage of a TT versus, say, palming an object, is that you CAN show it and people don't see anything. You can flash your hand empty in a natural way. This would be difficult with a chrome TT. Sure, they should see the TT as little as possible, but being able to give a brief flash of an "empty" hand is what makes the TT so powerful, in my opinion.

The good news is that it doesn't have to match your skin super well, and painting it is overkill. Besides, once the paint starts to chip you'll have a TT that's actually more noticeable than before (I've seen this happen).

Guilt will bust you before the colour of the TT will.

-Travis

Thank you all for your replies. I've taken all your advice into account. Once again, this is for Gaetan's Flying Ring Routine, which utilizes a special TT. I only felt like some disguising should may be necessary because I feel like my hands are under some serious fire when I make the ring vanish under a hanky or anything. I'm thinking that spectators would automatically look to see if I put the ring on my finger or something. I may just be looking at it with magician eyes, though.

I perform that as well. You really don't need camouflage, just be confident! Of course you need to stick to some basic rules of blocking but the TT will be essentially invisible to your audience. Like Travis pointed out, guilt will bust you first.

Of course you can color yours if you like.

As a side note, I think the green and red and chrome TTs are pointless...nothing more than bragging with "superior" skill-for magicians, as there is no need for that with a layman audience. Like pointed out, the strenght of a TT is the ability to show-even if briefly-your hands empty.