Hello,

I understand this is in the "Tarbell Course in Magic". It's called "The Needle Mystery" but I think I've heard it called "Houdini's Famous Needle Trick".

Either way, I've always been interested in learning this but would like to know before I spend £150.00p on the "Tarbell Course in Magic" if is is dangerous or not?

I don't fancy a trip to the emergency room to have needles sugically removed from my throat.

Thanks,

John.

I'm not going to do all the legwork for you, but if you do a search of the sponsor sites I'm sure that you will find the effect as a single. This is similar to the "Razor Blade" trick.

Cheers!

Buy the book anyway! It's well worth the money, as usual!

Since you are in the UK, Kovari has a very nice method that is easy and safe to do. I think he has a web site as well.

If you want to own the "Tarbell Course in Magic" (I recommend it!) but the book is too expensive for you, you can buy it at http://thelearnedpig.com.pa/order.html
on CD. It costs $38,50 - a really good deal!

Ulli

My main question was, is it dangerous?

I would be quite happy to invest in the entire set (as I'm sure I'd get more than it from just that one trick) if the trick is safe to perform.

However, purchasing the entire set and not being able to add that trick to my repertoire would be a disappointment. I'm very fussy when it come to adding things to my repertoire and I've browsed the entire table of contents for the books and "The Needle Mystery" is what most appeals to me.

Thanks again,

John.

The answer to your question of “is it dangerous?” is no. It is not all that dangerous. Pete Biro above gave you a resource for a very nice, fairly easy to perform, and safe method that is available to you right there in the UK.

You will be putting needles in your mouth and you will be pulling them out again. The only risk you have is to accidentally swallow them. There is little danger of you accidentally sticking yourself. Still, this is a safer trick to perform than, say, using flash paper.

That said, you might want to check out other discussions here on the Café about this trick, the Razor Blade trick, and Mouth Coils. There has been some interesting discussion on the whole “things-from-the-mouth” issue.

Thanks,

I've actually seen Teller do this on TV and (lets say that in the first phase of the trick you are putting a small group needles in your mouth) the way Teller really throws his head back and swallows the needles looks very, very convincing, and dangerous.
What I mean is, is that if he isn't really swallowing the needles (which I assume he isn't), then the way he throws his head back makes it look like they could actually, accidentally (from a magicians point of view) go down his throat.

It's the way that they are on his the tip of his tongue and he throws his head back, it looks like he has no control over the needles and that the throw is enough to fire the needles down his throat.

I'm guessing that he does it that way because it is so much more convincing than just placing somehing in your mouth and pretending to swallow it?

Is he taking a chance of really swallowing the needles in that case?

In other words, is he putting his life on the line to make the illusion convincing?

Thanks again,

John.

P.S. The last statement wouldn't suprise me if the answer was "yes". As far as I'm aware Harry Houdini invented this trick and he was always putting his life on the line for the sake of a presentational showpiece (escapes come to mind).

The best version of this is David Williamson's. I think it can be found in the Charlatan's Handbook if you can still find it but you'll never get the same reactions as David. He's one of a kind. If you are into razor blades, Tim Ellis has the best version I have ever seen. It was so good it fooled a room full of magicians.

There is also a method by Jim Steinmeyer that -- I believe -- does NOT have the loose needles go into your mouth.

Look, if you have a bunch of small needles in your cheek area, and don't swallow... you won't swallow them.

Think about it.

Acting and selling is 90-percent of this effect.

I know what you mean, but the needles are on the tip of his tongue and he thows his head back violently.

Not only that, he coughs up a single needle a spits it out after the swallow and he also has the man assisting check his mouth THROUGHLY with dentists tools.

Thaks,

John.

P.S. Razor blades don't appeal to me, I like the idea of doing this impromptu (or at least so it appears that way) so needles and thread are perfect.

I've also seen Paul Zennon do this on TV and his technique was so sloppy (but his misdirection satisfactory) that I saw him blatantly switch the needles after examination.

He didn't have and subtleties or convincers after that (like Teller did) so I have a pretty good idea of how he did it, I think even a layman would with his technique (if they ignored the misdirection).

Anyway, I've never seen reactions like what Zennon got with any other trick I've ever seen with that method and presenatation.

So what does that tell you?

The strength of this routine is absolutely phenomenal.

Thank you again,

John.

I remember watching a 90 yr old magician do this at my SAM with razor blades in complete silence for a stage competition. Each time a blade went in the actions were slower and slower. I'll tell you, I've never been so engaged in a magic effect before in my entire life. He got the biggest standing ovation and he deserved it. He explained it all to me and it's all about acting, and he was marvelous.

Well lucky for Zennon he's a good actor. His misdirection and presenatation are perfect.

It would however, be nice to see him invest more time on technique.

Take care,

John.

John:

Another version to consider is in John Booth Classics...he gives a very direct version of doing the needle trick as well as a nice version of the razor blade trick.

The book is out of print, I believe. But I see it from time to time on ebay.

Ron Reid