I’ll never forget the time that I was talking with a clown at an event that I was working. The clown--a low-end performer who makes all clowns and entertainers look bad--said that she did magic and listed off the usual coloring book, ball in vase, coin in tiny sliding box and more. What caught my ire was her mention of "the stupid trick with a handkerchief and a thumb thingee."
I managed a small smile and nod--I wasn’t going to waste the effort of an explanation–I could only think about how this well known trick is only “stupid” in the hands of an incompetent hack. There’s a reason why this “stupid” trick appears in lots of professional acts. In competent hands, it’s a good one. It’s a shame that the prop is so openly sold to the masses.
Master of the Prop
The best of the tricks, Rosediction, is an astounding prediction effect. The magician brings out a rose and sets it on a table. A spectator is selected from the audience and asked to name a dollar amount and a date, which the magician writes down on a pad. When the price tag is removed from the rose, the spectator’s amount is found to be written on it.
Rosediction completely fried me and if I didn’t know that the trick used said prop, I wouldn’t have suspected its use. This one is not difficult to perform. The only issue I have is that the secret and workings rely on a European convention, and while I didn’t have an opportunity to actually adapt the effect for American conventions, I think that it will work just fine with a little thought.
Money in the Purse
In the third effect, Vitamin E, a signed bill is vanished from the center of a handkerchief and found inside a pill bottle. Again, most magicians will know how this is accomplished with said prop, but de Cova offers brilliant handling that mask the use of the prop. Both The Scottish Purse and Vitamin E are mindblowers for lay audiences.
The Discussion
While Examining The Thumbtip only offers three effects, the DVD is innovative and thought-provoking. I give this one two thumbs-up.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
