I have found that when I vanish a silk, the size matters. That is, the reaction of the audience is a function of the size of the silk. Vanish a 9"; not bad. Vanish a 12"; better. But, vanish a 18"; wow!

So, does size matters in silks?

Bye for now

Harold

Hi Harold
I use 24" silks in two routines I do, I think they look better and last/wear longer.
Joe

Absolutely!

That is one of the reasons for the recent popularity of Diamond Cut silks! The Look big, but I you can put a 18" DC silk into a TT.

Conceptually, that is why Copperfield vanishes things like the Statue of Liberty, the bigger the item, the greater the impact.

BroDavid

I totally agree that in terms of silk magic, both productions and vanishes, that bigger is better. I think that a full 18-inch silk is the minimum that should be used. I use 24- and 36-inch scarves in performance.

I honestly don’t like using the diamond cut silks. In fact, I don’t like the diamond cut silk at all! I guess because they don’t really look that full when produced and cannot be flattened out for use in a second effect. I rarely produce a silk that is not going to be used in more than one effect. I don’t vanish a silk that I haven’t first magically produced.

I believe that vanishing a silk with a TT is a poor use of a TT! There are much more powerful uses for it and a huge silk can be easily vanished without one.

Yes, it is just as easy to vanish a large 24 or 36 inch silk barehanded (or using a pull or hank ball, if you absolutely must use a gimmick!) as it is to vanish an 18- inch diamond cut silk using a TT.

I produce four 36-inch scarves, barehanded. I use the instant appearance for two of them and steal the second two from a load site. I later vanish one of them barehanded. No TT, no pull, no die-tube, no hank ball. Just a barehanded vanish, right out of Rice volume one!

I do have a corner of a silk glued in a fingertip for a gag vanish that I will perform from time to time. In this vanish the audience thinks that they see the silk in my fist when it is really already gone! This could be done with the silk corner glued into a thumb tip.

Harry,

I totally agree. It's as easy to vanish a 24" silk as it is an 18" any day of the week!

Plus, you can get printed 24" silks that are large enough for people to read. Printed 18" silks are a real compromise. They are hard for the audience to read!

Bob
Magic By Sander

Bigger is better. At least lay people think that. You could easily hide a 6" silk in your hand, but an 18" silk is impossible.
-Tyler

Tyler,

That's why I use 24" ones. It makes the magicians wonder how!

Bob
Magic By Sander

I use the Slydini silks. They are 18" and I feel that they are just the right size for all perfomances.

The 18" silks are a very practical size. They look like handkerchiefs. Tony Slydini's silks were an odd ball 21". But Tony was no tall guy himself.

As I recall, and it has been over thirty years, he told us the perfect size silk for a magician is measured from his nose to his belly button. (For 21" to be right for Tony, he had to have held his nose up high!) He used all kinds of body measurements as reference. In his other life Tony was a good tailor.

I have heard others say to measure the perfect silk use from the tip of your longest finger to your elbow.

Most of us just have to live with what is for sale. (At least it isn't like my Navy days when they had two sizes: Too Large and Too Small.)

Bob
Magic By Sander

I am willing to bet that Slydini's silk size was also related to width of the raw fabric. 21" with hemming is an even cut out of 45" raw width .

Richard,

You are a practical man!

(How did you end up in magic?) LOL

It would not surprise me. Everything in silk now is cut from 90 cm. As a result, 12" silks are going to over populate the world! The 24" is the one increasing in popularity. That leaves a 12", 2 - 6", or a 9" and a small streamer. Every one of them costs more for the hem than the silk. (You can cut 9" diamond cuts but again, in this case, even a bad hem cost more than the silk.)

We've just got to talk to those silk worms!

Bob
Magic By Sander

Right you are. I am constantly trying to figure out ways to use 9" and 12" silks. 24" silks are a real pain, cut wise to make.

I got to admit that I chuckle to myself everytime I go the the silk section here and see the header for this post. There are so many lines that are better left unsaid.

Richard

Ya know, my wife was telling me the same thing the other day. (Rim-shot right here)

But seriously, the only time I use anything less than an 18" silk is at birthday parties, or when I am in a parlor or close up situation. 18", 24" and 36" look so good on stage.

There you go Darkwing! You put on a really big show! Larger silks enlarge the act. No question about it.

Jeff McBride makes a point of that in several of his tapes. He's right!

Bob
Magic By Sander

Thank you, Bob. I really value your and Richard's extensive experience to be the best I can be.

I agree: use the larger silks while on stage, but for close up 12” silk’s are my preferred choice. David Williamson's "Whirly Bird" vanish only uses a 12" silk and has great impact! Further more it could be done with only a vest on, which to me is an added benefit.

MM

There is a reality check that goes with silks sizes. Larger silks make the show larger and make it easier to guide the audience's attention. However, all silks are somewhere all the time! They take up space. Here is a basic guide for space requirements of square silks.

36" = 16 silks 9", 9 silks 12", 4 silks 18" or 2 silks 24"

24" = 7 silks 9", 4 silks 12", nearly 2 silks 18"

18" = 4 silks 9", 2 silks 12"

Bob
Magic By Sander