For those who use Abbott's Mutiliated Parasol......

About 4 years ago, I purchased my 4th Mutilated Parasol from Abbott's. The parasol came with center-cut thin silks on the frame, and I just haven't liked the way they looked....because, well....they looked thin........

A couple of years ago, I took the parasol with me to Abbott's Get-Together and asked Greg Bordner if he could "re-do" the silks on the frame to a heavier full silk, and they tried, but, no luck. Greg told me that they are somewhat at the mercy of the umbrella frame makers in terms of the thickness of the frame they use, and that this determines the fullness of the silks that will go on the frame as part of the trick.


Last weekend, I purchased a set of six 12" Diamond-Cut silks from Jay Scott Berry and replaced the half-cut silks that came with my parasol.

They look a LOT nicer and fuller......so I thought I would post this here......

A little change in a prop can sometimes make a big diffference.

I guess it's all what a person likes, I like the Diagonal Cut Silks over Diamond Cut Silks.

You are right, Jay Scott Berry's Diamond Cut silks are better then the others on the market. Jay's has a nice flat hem that the others do not. I think he uses Italian silk over the china silk. Do not know for sure, but they are better it seems, a little heavier weight.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but the Jay Scott Berry Diamond Silks seem to "flutter better" and display more color overall when shown...probably because they have true corners and a bit more area.

The silks they replaced were not the nicest silks I've ever got from Abbott's.

One good thing though, since I like my props to "troup".....I had Greg have his crew "hand reinforce" the parasol cover at the nibs and the top for me when I took it to Abbott's....

I still think that Abbott's silks, particularly their tie-dyes, Blendos and Streamers are exceptional silks.

The cover, I believe, is made from the same 8 momme China silk.......mine has the blue center graduating to the red outside, which I personally find prettier.

I am replacing my silk hankies as well. I have found the Abbot's silks to be unsatisfactory on my mutilated parasol. I was having trouble finding Jay Scott Berry. So I found Vincent Di Fatta. The silks I ordered from him are 12 inch diamond cut 100% pure silk. I ordered twelve. One set for my bag and another to put on my mutilated parasol.

By coincidence, I just replaced my silks on a custom-made mutilated parasol (which I bought second hand but in great condition from Jonathan Levey) with diamond-cut silks of the same color (the umbrella is a bright yellow). For productions, I have tended to favor the diamond-cut silks because they pack small but offer a big display..................... I'm sure Bob Sanders will jump in at any anytime here. I know he likes the diamond-cut silks as well. Rainboguy, you are spot on with your comment that diamond-cut silks "flutter better" and display more color overall when shown...probably because they have true corners and a bit more area."

I use all kinds and sizes of silks for different silk tricks, including diagonal-cuts, but through experience, I've definitely determined that Jay Scott Berry's diamond-cuts are the best for my Abbott's Mutiliated Parasol, particularly in the "Twirl Display stage", which is done when opening and then twirling the parasol with the now-vanished tie-die cover gone and showing the silks dangling from the parasol nibs following the "Change".

The twirl display stage of the trick SELLS the trick, and the "flutter-ability" of the Jay Scott Berry Diamond-cut silks makes for a noticeable difference that helps SELL snd POINT the entire trick, in my opinion.

I never felt comfortable explaining why my silks are so small to my audience. I explained that mice made them. Now, with the new 12 inch diamond cut silks I am going to install, my audience will see more colour, larger hankies but they will not be so big that they will jam up the trick either. I believe your silks have to be 100% pure so they will allow a smooth operation of your parasol.

My Abbotts parasol has a miner fault, I need to buy the framework again, sent two e-mails to Abbotts, and no reply??????

If you have an old original Abbott's Parasol, then you might have read that they no longer can get the original frames or ribs. They now get the Skelton ribs from Europe and they are longer then the original. So they will not work with the original parts. Then none of the covers will fit as well.

So I suppose they did not answer because they cannot help you with a replacement parts.

No wonder they are not replying, I will try to fix it, Dam.

Wally!!! I HAVE SOME 'ODD' PARTS FOR AN OLDER ABBOTT MUT. PARASOL. I'll try to get out to my storage facility (high class name for "shed") If I can find them,I'll let you know. I'll be happy to give them to you, if you can use them.

It might take a few days before I can get out to the "facility"! (8' snow banks yet, up here in Northern Michigan)

Looking for 6 coloured silks for my Abbotts parasol. Bob sanders not replying to mail. any other decent thin diamond cut silks out there,

J scott berry, stop selling them.

Bob has had a lot of email/computer problems. You can get in touch with him at amazedwiz@yahoo.com

I don't do diamonds but I can supply silks for the parasol.

Richard:

It's great that you can supply silks for the parasol.

Just curious.......could you tell us more about the specifics of the silks that you would supply for the parasol? I, for one, would be interested to know from you...

Richard Hughes Silks are custom made, he does not, to my knowledge, sell any of the supplied silks from Asia. He cuts, dyes, sews all his silks to your specifications.

He made me some diagonal silks, and they work very well.

Richard Hughes prefers, if you are in the market for custom silks, to email him your desires and he will do his best to make them reality.

Richard Hughes has different weights silk to make the silk that fits your needs.

Here is a question. Have any of you used a Massal tube in conjunction with Parasol ? Would allow you to show tube empty, when part of apparatus is still inside tube. It would need to be about 22 inches long. IS there a MAssal out there that is about that size ?

There is the Zebra tube, it is very large, made in Europe. It costs $120.00 last I seen it on the web. The name may be incorrect I gave as it has been a long time since discussed here on the Café. Opens like the Massal tube to show empty. If you find it, you would have to see the dealer would give you the size information.

You can make your own (we call it the Curly-Q Tube) of just about any size, with instructions for building and multiple uses in The Wizards' Journal #32. You can also make your own Parasol trick from Dollar Store (collapsible) umbrellas (sources given) following instructions from The Wizards' Journal #36. It doesn't have to be a rainbow color parasol unless you really want a rainbow parasol, because we have a way to perform the same trick using black umbrellas with various color symbols painted on the umbrella, making it a whole new trick (that we call a "Bumbling Bumbershoot").

***** Curly-Q Tube ***** ***** Bumbling Bumbershoot *****