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islayhawk New user 11 Posts |
Just getting into magic and have ordered my first supply of Invisible Elastic Thread. How 'invisible' is the thread - ie how close can spectators be standing without noticing.
islayhawk |
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Bulla Special user Honolulu, HI 674 Posts |
Fairly close granted you are not in direct light.
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MRSharpe Special user Never a dull moment with 940 Posts |
Remember, the word 'invisible' in the name doesn't mean it can't be seen. Try it under a variety of lighting conditions to see what it will do. And practice using it a lot before you try it out on the public. Also keep in mind that IT has been exposed a lot online and by those who don't practice enough with it before performing with it. Don't be one of those guys.
Custom Props Designer and Fabricator as well as Performer from Indiana, USA
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lcwright1964 Special user Toronto 569 Posts |
Most teaching videos on thread magic (I have seen ones by Ben Salinas and Michael Ammar) do caution that some lighting conditions are not friendly to IT work--fluorescent lighting and bright daylight in particular. Apparently incandescent lighting, overcast daylight, and dusk is more forgiving. Keep in mind that even the keenest vision has finite resolving power, so IT may not be visible even under glaring conditions to someone a few feet away, but they may begin to make it out if they are on top of you. Goes without saying the the magician wearing dark clothing and working around darker surfaces is helpful.
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Not necessarily dark clothing and working around darker surfaces...you want a BUSY pattern. I wear a brown Paisley patterned shirt. Never work in front of a black background! Face a direction that casts a shadow over your work. And for God's sake be BRIEF!
One of the biggest errors I see is the levitation going on too long! It FLOATS! How long does it need to do that? 5 or 10 seconds is long enough. Doing a ballet for 2 minutes with the thing is just asking for bust-ation. ATTITUDE. Is this MAGIC, or a puzzle? Think about that. How would you really act if you could actually DO this? I, myself, act amazed. Short and sweet. It's over before they even realize what happened! Doug |
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Snidini Special user 776 Posts |
Well said Doug.
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
There is a world of difference between Invisible Thread and Invisible [i]Elastic[i] Thread! The two are not compatible. You cannot wind IET on an ITR. You cannot make loops with regular IT. Well, you CAN, but it does not work well.
This class of Magic is exclusive. It is most definitely NOT for beginners! A good thing to study is Ralph Wichmann's book: http://www.lybrary.com/the-invisible-thr......399.html Doug |
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Endless West Regular user A town called Malice 185 Posts |
Great advice dougini!
On the Will Stelfox DVD he uses a levitation of a coin to draw in a crowd and then puts it away as someone approaches. Why keep it around to scrutinize? Blow their mind and move on to the next effect. |
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SolidSnake Special user 534 Posts |
I think all magic should be open to anyone. If you were a card and coin expert and had never used IT - you would probably be just as useless with it as anyone else.
So please if you are interested in IT go ahead and get some and start playing with it. Ammar has a great set of videos easy to master thread miracles.
There is no holy grail!
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Ammar is a great choice! So is LeClair. Peki has a unique twist on it with pearls from an oyster shell. My recommendation though, is Steve Fearson's Master Levitation System. A beginner can start right away if they want. Everything is included.
Doug |
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vinh.giang Regular user Australia 132 Posts |
Wow definitely agree with Doug, well said mate.
"Rather a mind opened by wonder, than one closed by belief."
_________________________________ www.vinhgiang.com.au www.facebook.com/askvinh www.twitter.com/askvinh |
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Thank you Vinh!
I don't want beginners to be discouraged. I just don't want them thinking they can "open the box and go." It isn't about floating stuff. It about performing an art. Etherical. Enchanting. Tell a story. Pre-sell it. I always end up quoting Walt Anthony: "Well, are you a “Trickster” or a “Conjurer”? If it is a truly well thought out and executed levitation, the audience is enveloped in the wonder of the moment; they should only care about the beauty and mystery, not your method. What could be more poetic and delicately beautiful than an elegant lady, defying gravity and floating above the stage floor?" "All I ask is that we examine our magic in a new light and in new ways. Look at it from a stance of Wonder and Enchantment, not trickery and doubt..." "The trick is (no pun) to systematically coax them out of their puzzle-solving left brain and into their creative mode right brain as soon as possible. I can’t go into all that here, it took 270 pages to get the point across in my book." Walt's book ($35): http://www.leapinglizardsmagic.com/aaa_n......ales.htm Doug |
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neoinwonderland Regular user 112 Posts |
I would also start the search for an invisible thread reel if you like to perform with IT. A reel has saved me a lot of set-up time, and you can basically do all your basic IT-effects and even add some nice extra's to effects depending om the reel you have.
I'd also like to suggest that you take a look into loops(invisible elastic thread) if you really love levitation and psychokinetic effects. I prefer to use loops because I love to do more subtle levitation and psychokinetic effects and I find them more practical for those effects. |
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Ihop Inner circle Glen Spey, NY 1604 Posts |
Islayhawk,
I enjoy using IT. I know this isn't what you asked but here goes anyway. I would recommend using plain IT before going ahead with the ITR. Once you have some experience deciding which thread you like, learning to strip, watching the above recommended videos, practicing and performing, then you can start your search for accessories. Dougini's book & video recommendations are right on. One of the first must-have accessories is a "web spinner". Inexpensive and very useful. Then you can start your search for an ITR. You will have valuable experience to decide which one you want and/or if you want one at all. Don't be impatient. There's tons of recommendations here for specific thread help, stripping lighting, clothing, loops, IET, ITR, etc. Just use the "search" function. Good luck! You'll have a lot of fun with it. Welcome to the Café
Ihor
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Casey Sparrow Regular user 106 Posts |
I agree with Dougini Steve Fearson's Master Levitation System is a great place to start it covers different forms of levitation and working, stripping and storing your IT, defo a must have for beginning in Thread work!
CS |
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donrodrigo Special user U.S.A. and Europe 635 Posts |
Most good sewing stores carry such an item. Save up and consider Ammar dvd on threads. Is done a great job putting it all together.
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Proxy Veteran user 336 Posts |
Quote:
On Mar 10, 2014, donrodrigo wrote: Carry what item? Do you mean unstripped invisible thread? If so, what do they call it? |
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scottds80 Special user Victoria, Australia 730 Posts |
Wooly nylon is what you can strip to make invisible thread
"Great Scott the Magician", Gippsland
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SDMoore1 New user 71 Posts |
And for a full understanding of the importance of I.T. to our society, I recommend everyone go to YouTube and search for Penn & Teller's film, "Invisible Thread". LOL. (great stuff, even if dated & 1990s-ish)
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1KJ Inner circle Warning: We will run out of new tricks in 4385 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 20, 2014, Dougini wrote: This is really great advice! I like to pretend no one is watching when I levitate something. I will do it while sitting in any waiting room. I pretend to focus on a bill and just make it move ever so slightly for about a minute or two. When I catch someone looking, I'll make it levitate for about 3 seconds and then let it drop to the floor. I've had people come up to me and ask what they just saw. I always tell them "I can't say... I mean it was nothing. It's just an optical illusion." In performance, I prefer to do levitation making it look like something other than levitation. For example, balancing a bill or coin on the tip of my finger. If you do these sorts of things, not even magicians will suspect you are using IT. Think of things that you might do where even magicians won't suspect IT. For example, Gaeton Bloom has a routine that involves a card trick and culminates with the selected card standing upright on the table. Everyone suspects he has bent the card a certain way. No one suspects IT. Here is something I've gotten a ton of fun from: Take a small piece of IT and tie it to a ring on your finger. glue a tiny piece of a toothpick to the other end with crazy glue. Place a small piece of putty over the tiny piece of wood (This keeps the thread from falling off if the putty gets warm). Stick the putty to the underside of your ring. You will have to play with the length of the IT. Borrow a coin and remove the putty from the ring and stick the putty to the coin. Balance the coin laying flat on your finger. Then, balance the coin standing on it's end on your finger. If you position your hands just right, it looks like you are just releasing your finger hold on the coin. You can use the same hookup to levitate a coin between your hands. In all of these cases, as Doug suggests, be very brief. Only hold the balancing for 3-4 seconds and the levitation for even less time. In fact, when I am doing the levitation with this hookup, I leave the hookup on the top edge of the coin and I just make the coin rise to a standing position in my hand. To end clean, just remove the putty as you hand the coin back. When I do this, I ask for one of the old quarters, under the pretense that they have a different metal content that will interact with the electric field of the body. I hope you enjoy. KJ |
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