I am curious if there are any companies that sell thumb tips in different colors besides pink/light brown?

I have a friend who is just getting into magic and he would like to buy a thumb tip. The issue is that he is African American and we can't seem to find any tips that are dark at all? Does anyone know where we could find some?

Thanks!

Http://ustoymagic.com/african-american-thumb-tip

http://themagicwarehouse.com/VE1810/Thum......B%20TIPS

But.... May I say this is a pet Pieve of mine.

All the great demonstrators would use brightly colored TTs to teach that it's not the color but the technique.

This is completely different then what color balls you should use for sleights because your costume, the lighting, the background or curtains might make you change the colors do the DO stand out. The TT my mentor used during lectured and performances was a metal TT with all the paint removed. It was as shiny as it could be.

Being new is no excuse to NOT learn the correct way to use a gimmick- this is the exact right time to learn.
--------
The differences that DO matter are how easily paper slides in and out, and if it moulds slightly to accept a silk so the silk will automatically throw-out an end when you remove your a Thumb.

That's the big two. You should be able to do ANY trick with a purple TT once you know the techniques.

OK...The late Harris SOLOMON, President of the IBM, back in the '50s, told this story in the Linking Ring, MANY years ago..............

After World War II, when Mediterranean travel was again possible, Harris was on vacation, and part of his trip was a visit to Egypt.

He was in a village market place, and, saw a very old magician, squatting on a carpet, doing the cups & balls. A crowd had gathered, and Harris joined the group. The magician, obviously had done the trick many times, and, finally, produced a baby chick under each cup. Harris contributed several coins to the bowl being passed. When the crowd dispersed, Harris invited the old man to have coffee. The old fellow said, "You magician!" Harris asked how he knew. The old man said, "You watch the right cup!"

They had coffee and visited in the old man's limited English. Then, Harris vanished his lit cigarette in the "standard way" (a TT). TTs in those days were metal, and about an inch and a half long. The old timer was AMAZED. Harris decided to share the secret, and showed him the method. The old timers eyes "lit up"! Then, knowing that there were no m*g*c shops "nearby" (!) Harris gave him the TT. (TTs were fifty cents in the mid '40s.)

Harris later said, "I KNEW that he WAS A MAGICIAN! --Although, his skin was BLACK, he didn't say: "IT DOESN'T MATCH MY SKIN!"

NOW! Scroll up and READ JAY'S POST A G A I N !!!

You guys are wasting your breath, that is why I listed what the OP requested and moved on.

Everyone want a nice new gimmick to do their magic tricks with. The real trouble with many African American hands, it that they are very large. Even the XXL TT will not fit.

Do to the limited demand, it is not feasible to mass produce such a size. Just not profitable enough.

Thanks Bill Hegbli for the links.

I completely understand that the TT should never be seen. My friend and I were more just wondering if there were TTs in different skin tones.

Thank you everyone for your replies, and Dick Oslund I love your story!

Thanks! I never got to meet Harris Solomon, but, I sure wish I had.

Re: different skin tones... YES! There are MANY different ski tones! I must have half a cigar box full of TTs, 6fngrs. dye tubes, reels, ETC.! Some are "pink", some are "tan", some are "somewhere in between"! TESTOR'S "usta" make a paint color called "Desert Tan". I used it to paint gimmicks & fekes. (I'm a very fair skinned Swede/Norwegian.

If your friend has LARGE thumbs...someone was selling BIG TTs to use in a BLENDO. I had a couple of the blendo TTs and gave one to a fellow talent booker with National School Assembies. I gave the last two to George (from Spain--I can't remember his last name)

That Flat Desert Tan was also my "go to" paint color for many gimmicks. I have not seen it available in a looong time. The best I do now is find a couple different colors that when mottled together do the task. It's kind of a hit/miss process, but carefully stippling and a good eye for color will give good results.

Right! With the advent of "Vernet", and the "inevitable" copies, I haven't painted a TT in years.

Michael's point regarding "mottled" and "stipling" are "key" terms. I learned, too, that the paint job didn't need to be sprayed on, in a perfectly even coat. A "Q-Tip" and a tiny bottle of "Flat Desert Tan" were all I needed in "them there distant days" to touch up the TT. (I only owned ONE, then! --$.25, from Percy Abbott's clearance sale!)

Read Maskelynnes "War Magician" to understand principles of camouflage!

I didn't know that Testor's Flat Desert Tan had disappeared! ("Sic transit gloria mundi"!)

Oops!! Actually, I see now that it is available in the small bottles. I had always looked for the spray cans and I haven't found it for many years.



Translates to: Gloria threw up on the bus Monday.

O Tempora! O Mores! hee hee

You get an "A+" in HUMOR!!! heeheehee (you get THREE HEES!)

(Your translation reminds me of "Caesar adsum jam forte" (Caesar had some jam for tea.) OR "Mea mater mala sus est!" (I'll come back tomorrow with THAT one!!!

So! I'm a day late!

Mea mater mala sus est! to a neophyte would mean: MY MOTHER IS A BAD PIG (!) (Mea = my, mater = mother, mala = bad, sus = pig, est = is.

BUT! Mea, in this case does not mean "my" MEA is also an imperative of an uncommon verb which means "hurry". MALA, in this case, is not the adjective for "bad", it is the noun for "apple". EST is not the verb "is", it's also a verb which means "eats".

So, the correct translation: HURRY MOTHER!, (THE) PIG IS EATING THE APPLES!

--AND, YOU THOUGHT THAT AMERICAN ENGLISH IS DIFFICULT! 13% of our "every day" words are Anglo-Saxon derivatives! Thus, "spring" can mean: "season of the year", a "bit of metal hardware", or, an "action" (like "leap")!

GHOTI spells FISH! ("GH" in "enouGH", "o" in "wOmen", "TI" in "acTIon". I rest my case!

Or a visible upwelling of water du to hydraulic pressure.
Hearing it is worse:
I'm going to raise/raze my house. Which is it?

My first-year high school Latin textbook had several cartoons in it, I guess to lighten things up for us. One of them showed a group of Roman soldiers ready to fire a catapult, and the guy in charge was counting down: X, IX, VIII, VII...

Now, back to the OP...

When I was a kid starting out in magic, I made a dye tube. I used flesh-colored paint from somewhere, but wasn't happy with the color, so I asked my Mom if I could use a couple of her face powders. I have no clue what went through her head, but she said sure. So I mixed a couple of them to match my hand and dusted them on the tube while the paint was still a bit tacky. It was a perfect match.

I knew you were tricky as a lad

Great idea, George.

I used Testor spray paint, it was called "Sand", I don't know if it is still available, but it was great for TT, and any hand gimmicks that should be flesh color.

I just mix my own colors which I learned when I was 14. (So just a few years ago)
But you can buy a few different cans of spray camo and paint a lighter base cost with one color -then- hold the darker color further away and (spraying it dryer) lightly dusting the under layer and bring the tone down.

Similar to George's project, the second dryer coat (trade secret) will create a slightly flat (semi-dull) slightly textured appearance which is perfect for this sort of application.
Just remember that wet paint looks lighter in color then dry paint so stop shading (spraying ) about three shades lighter then needed.

However... If you mix a pint of paint then you have ready made colorant for years to come (as long as you remove the O from the container.

(Did that help or hurt?)

Jay, I use a similar spraying technique when making my Sausage Finger Illusions. One continuous color, regardless of how well matched, is never going to look like actual skin. It takes a basic knowledge of color blending, a good eye for color matching, and a careful hand when spraying. This can be done with rattle cans, too.

The technique is not vastly different than military camouflage. The surrounding terrain is made up of a variety of colors that are usually distributed in a specific patter... sometimes larger areas, sometimes finer. Ex: the pattern for desert sand is different than that of rocky terrain, even though the basic colors may be the same. Forests and meadows may have similar colors, but different patterns. The idea is to make the object that you want to hide, mimic that background.

This is also why black is not necessarily the best color for some magic gimmicks, even though magicians use it like it's a religion. Unless the gimmick is to be used in front of a black background, it should look like whatever is actually there if you want to hide it. If you wear a plaid shirt, paint the object at least one of those colors. Watch Levent's act to see this idea at work. He deliberately exposes it, too, as a gag. I once saw a magician with a red jacket using red flowers, red silks, red rope, red sponge balls, and a couple other red objects in the course of his act. He could have stood up there and waved his arms about with no props at all for all the audience could see.

Hey Dick -

Just a little FYI...

Though you might like to see the rules regarding posts:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......rum=39&0

Scroll down to see this very important one...

"Written Language:

Although The Magic Café has a global membership, with many members speaking several languages, we are based in The United States.

That said, we ask that you write all postings using the English language. If you wish to speak to someone in a language other than English, please use our private message system, or contact the other party by email.

All postings that do not comply, will be deleted with no explanation given."