Trick Review: Sharp-Ring

This variation on a magic classic uses a Sharpie pen that’s been gimmicked to work like a standard “Ring Flight” magic prop. Using “Sharp-Ring,” you can cause a spectator’s ring to vanish out of your hand and appear on the clip of a Sharpie pen that is in your back pocket.

The effect offers the potential to update the classic “Ring Flight” effect and relies on an object that looks like something that spectators recognize and know. On the other hand, there’s more to the prop that calls for other considerations.

I once worked-up classic “Ring Flight.” I originally wanted to follow-up my four phase ring on string routine (based on Dan Fleshman’s) with the disappearance of a spectator’s ring onto the classic “Ring Flight” prop-a keycase that reveals the vanished ring on a clip that normally holds a single key. I like “Ring Flight” but ran into two problems.

First off, my spectators often didn’t know what a keycase was. Keycases are definitely out of fashion. Second, the Ring Flight gimmick had to reside in a back pants pocket. During my strolling gigs, my real wallet and keys reside in my back left-pocket, and my trusty card-to-wallet wallet resides in my back-right pocket. There was simply no room to carry “Ring Flight.” But now, with the prop in the shape of a pen, there are some definite possibilities.

“Sharp-Ring,” for all practical purposes, is a Sharpie pen that works just like “Ring Flight.” For those who are unfamiliar with “Ring Flight,” it’s a gimmicked, mechanical keycase that allows for the fast vanish of a ring, and the revelation of the same ring on its clips, alongside keys.

As a “Ring Flight” style gimmick, “Sharp-Ring” competently makes the ring disappear and then appear on the clip of the Sharpie pen. A small point, I found the Sharpie’s clip to be easier to latch onto the ring than a conventional “Ring Flight” clip. Also, because the clip is plastic, you’re in little danger of scratching the borrowed ring. However, just as in classic “Ring Flight,” there’s still the danger of causing a ring to fly off or to break off a jewel.