The pins are together as they are separated.


Brian

The Bernstein routine is pretty much Dan Garrett's routine (available on the Sheet's DVD Grab That Pinhead), plus and ending where he links his finger ring on one of the pins.

Having learned the Andrus routine, I have to say that Dan's routine, as performed by Dan or Bob Sheets, is amazing.

What are the thoughts on the Mad Hatters Timco Linking Safety Pins. Has anyone handled these. He says they can be handed out and examined all they want. Here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsqtI02qu08

I don't think all of the pins can be examined. Having said that, the routine has it's good points.

Slydini's and Sol Stone's routine. The gimmick is different than Andrus's.

My two favorites after years of playing with these routines are Grab that Pinhead by Sheets and Garrett and Geaton Bloom’s pin routine. An added bonus is that the pins can be examined after both routines, though, I never hand them out because of the convincing nature of both .

What set of linking pins uses the cut pin opposite the end where the pin actually opens and closes?

The Jerry Andrus pins.

I'm not one to usually chime in about credits, but I do think it is worth noting, for reference, that Jerry Andrus actually used a gaff that was published 11 years previously to his routine being released.

It was first detailed in an issue of Phoenix and then later described in Bruce Elliott's "Magic As A Hobby", which is where I first encountered it, which was contributed by the book's editor.

The reason for mentioning it is, if you 'follow the breadcrumbs' there is more unmined gold to be found!

Without doubt, Jerry Andrus popularised safety pin magic and his work is seminal, providing the springboard for many routines, gaffed and ungaffed. Likewise, many routines using the 's**t pin' go back further than usually recognised.

The linking safety pins is a fantastic effect to have in the close-up magician's bag of tricks and something that is really quite astonishing to laymen if played well, but I will say the real challenge with it is to make it as engaging as possible, which is something I continue to work on after 25 years of using it!

Alan