Newbie dove question:

What's the diff between a dove holder, pocket, harness, bag and a "quick release" holder?

Doug,

This is a very reasonable question that if more people asked, they would be better satisfied customers.

Dove holder - about anything that could contain a dove. It is not limited to body loads. Many box and tube props also have dove holders.

Dove Pocket - A pocket (usually sewn or pinned into a magician's costume to hold a dove already secured in a dove harness. It is not a harness.)

Dove Harness - Apparatus that attaches to a dove to facilitate production of that dove. It may be as complex as a full garment to encase (sheath) the dove to one as simple as straps to allow the magician to move the dove by the strap. (An invisible harness stays on the dove after production.)

Dove Bag - The most primitive of dove harnesses. Often it is a piece of cloth folded diagonally and closed to contain a dove.

Quick Release - refers to the closing on a dove harness. Sometimes it actually means an instant opening catch to allow fast opening of the harness by using only one hand. The term is also often exaggerated in the ease and speed of releasing the dove. Look before you leap!

Most vendors give fairly accurate descriptions of gimmicks used to produce doves. The weak link is "Quick Release". That is a relative term. In practice, the quickness of the release catch is secondary to the speed with which the dove can be freed from the harness. They are not the same measures.

My best advice here is to shop around and actually look at the harnesses and releases before deciding what fits your needs. Speed of freeing the dove from the harness is much more critical than the ease of opening the release mechanism. Look at the time required when the time for both steps are totaled together. (The real results here can be very surprising! A faster catch may not be the solution that was expected.)

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Thanks! I'm surprised there's not some type of stickied FAQ in the forum, as in others.

Staff note. Doug, sticky topics are usually set up when a question is consistantly asked. This question has been asked before but only once or twice over the course of the Magic Café's existance. Also, most members don't read stickies topics anyway.

Bob, good description of each of these items.

Here is a demo of Tony Clark showing a holder: http://www.tonyclarkmagic.com/cgi-bin/video/tcvideo.cgi?10