Hi All,

Need an advise here though the reply may be subjective..cos I am buying some items from Dan Wolfe & one of the item is the Dovided

However, I am cracking my head now whether should I get this Dovided as I am very tempted COS is a very cute effect to add to my dove act.

As I am doing mainly family shows & birthday parties & ocasionally DnD or grand show.....in your personal view, do you think parent will be upset to see me doing this effect in front of their kid, not knowing whether the kids will imitate or not....or if some kids will cry when seeing me saw the bird in half..etc

Though the bird is fine at the end, my concern is the overall effect & the initally reaction from the audience....etc

Is there anyone out there who own this & has gotton great reaction,

Hope to hear some views, thanks
dove-boy


http://www.smmagic.com/livestock/dovided.htm

It really depends on how you present it. It can be bad to use as a start. People might quickly view as an animal abuser. But using it later in your act after you made a friendly connection, the audience will feel more comfortable.

Are you planning to use music or patter? With patter you can control the audience with many themes.

I think this is a bit too intense for young kids, junior high and up Id think would be fine.

Ofcourse, people show little kids slasher movies these days so maybe Im totally off base.

But even if the kids arent freaked by it, you want them old enough so they can understand they should not try to do this with a bird themselves..

I could see using this for somewhat younger children under the right conditions such as a Blue & Gold Banquet - But I believe first you must do enough so that all know you love and care for your animals, so they understand what you are doing is merely an illusion, the same as when a magician cuts a young woman in half. If they understand it is an illusion you are okay. I agree it is not an opening piece.

It's kinda like what happens in horror movies. People can see humans hacked apart all day long but whenever an animal is the victim it's automatically unsettling and sad. For that reason unless you're a shock magician I'm not sure it's wise to do a mutilation effect with an animal.

That's an interesting observation. I wonder if, in some way, we feel that the human had a choice (even though in many cases their death is predictably pre-ordained) whereas animals don't...

You know, sometimes I think we read too much into things and create our own problems. Looking at the video, it's obvious that the effect was not performed as an opener. As Dynamike said, if you create a feeling of caring for your birds, this effect wouldn't be a problem.

Remember we are magicians and are expected to fool the audience. I think older children would be impressed with the effect, or at least puzzled. I don't think younger kids are going to get a bird, put it in a box and try to saw it in half. By restoring the dove to it's original condition, you've completed a cycle and I think that's the important factor. I showed this video to my granddaughter, 7 and 5, and they both just thought it was funny.

Of course this is all just my opinion and I could be way off base but it's the way I see it.