Looking into a geek magic act.

So, I'm looking at:

Needle Thru Arm
Knife Thru Arm
Poking out your eye
Wrist Chopper - one where hand falls into basket - then Living Hand Illusion

etc.

a) Any further suggestions of effects would be most welcome

b) What's the best Knife Thru Arm? The best Wrist Chopper? etc.

Thanks for any help you can offer

Best knife thru arm is Jonathon's. Best Geek hand chopper is M. Diamonds. (I had a proto of this for a student of mine; with minor alterations it's pretty hairy.) If interested PM me, OK? Personal opinion of course.

Check out the Karson two-hole wrist choper from Owen.

Personally, I HATE the term "Geek Magic". It seems to have come from Harry Anderson. I kind of look at it as the "N" word of this class of performance.

First off, the geek act was (and still is) a specific act that involves biting the heads off of various kinds of animals such as chickens, snakes and rodents. Unless you are referring to a way of gaffing this act, you really are not talking about true Geek
Magic.

I know that there was nothing negative intended with the use of the phrase in the original post. It's just that I am a little ticklish about the subject since I have spent an entire career trying to take sideshow performance to places it has never been before by putting as much class into it as possible. Therefore, I find the term Geek Magic demeaning and dismissive.

Bravo Todd, and thanks! To me, since my beginnings in the business more than 50 years ago, Geek is a dirty low word. It's an ignorant, offensive, and inacurate, use of the language.
Slim

Todd & Slim,

Thank you for your point.

I'm a Brit and we certainly don't use the phrase but looking on here and around the Web, 'Geek Magic' appeared to be what you Americans used to describe the sort of magic I was enquiring about.

I'm sorry if I was wrong.

Now, moving on, you say you do this sort of thing? Can you fill us in?

Sideshow arts need a special attitude. While in some cases we may augment an act, the basic acts are real and as you see them. Usually, they take advantage of human anatomy,and science, and push the limits of the body into areas the "normal" person does not recognize. They are not faked, they are not "tricks" and often can be truly dangerous. The books that you see often include innacuracies or incomplete information. Believe me, the only right way to learn them is from a hands on teacher with real experience. There is a morbid satisfaction to pushing your personal physical envelope into its limits, but from my own awareness, no performer has made a career of being a sideshow working act who has not been injured to some degree. I am sure that Todd (and can add much to this. The acts are not to be taken lightly, they require commitment.
Slim Price

James,
To get back to your original post, there are a number of great routines out there that look real and have a bit of shock value to them. The Arm Twister is wonderful close up trick as you can do it anywhere at any time. Meir Yedid is the man to see for instructional book/DVD on the bit.

I've even used the bit on the bally stage when I'm talking the front of the Coney Island sideshow to show what the Rubber Girl is going to do on the inside. It's great for this as the tip has to move in close to see it and it freezes them (Slim will know what I'm talking about). I usually bring a kid up to do it with me and then I reward the child by letting him in free to see the show, so the kid becomes and impromptu stick! I know many have no idea what I am talking about, but for those that do, I think you can appreciate how well it works.

My suggestion is to learn the trick and add to it the plastic cup under the arm crunch as the arm is coming around to make it even more gruesome. I have pinned a small cloth bag under the arm hole of my coat to hold the plastic cup.

There is also a cigarette up nose currently on the market that has been favorably reviewed.

There is also a skewer through tongue and the balloon swallowing stunt that is on the No RX Required video fits well in this catergory ( and I do mean GORY).

Human blockhead is easy to learn and makes a real impact on an audience

I have a "sideshow" style trick that is guaranteed to make adult males cringe, and old ladies lose their cookies. I featured this in my German lecture in 1992. I didn't think anyone remembered it, but a couple of years ago, I was back in Berlin, and one of the magicians there came up to me and asked if I still did the one where I run a toothpick up underneath my thumbnail.

I don't do it any more, but I can. I performed this for MarcoM's son, who is a retired Navy Seal. He said, "I'm a trained killer, and I can't stand to see that! STOP!!!!"

PM me for the work.

For the BEST knife thru arm go to amazingj.com You'll find it there.