Charming Chinese Challenge DVD – Troy Hooser

Available from your favorite dealer - $30

Okay, this one isn’t new. It’s been on the market for five years. I knew this routine existed, but I never really sought out a demo performance. My excuse for this was that I own Greg Wilson’s Ring Leader. I’ve done it in the past, but it never worked its way into my performing repertoire on a consistent basis. I know people swear by Greg’s routine, but I could never get into it. You put the ring on the cord, the ring comes off. You put the ring on the cord, the ring comes off. I’m sure I’ll take some heat from this, but that’s okay. Well, I finally got a chance to see the Charming Chinese Challenge, and I found it to be a beautiful routine.

Three Chinese coins are threaded onto a ribbon by a spectator. The coins and the ribbon are all completely examined. The magician takes back the coins and ribbon and with a tug, the first coin pops off of the ribbon into the spectator’s waiting hand. Your spectators’ jaws collectively will hit the ground. The other two coins are left dangling from the center of the ribbon. You give them a shake and the second coin falls with the first, into the spectator’s hand. Your spectators’ heads begin to spin simultaneously. The last coin melts off the ribbon and then melts back on. Your spectators’ heads most likely fall off of their shoulders. Hold the phone. You’re going to want to reassemble your spectators so they can see the end of the routine. A recently-mended yet slightly disoriented spectator tugs on the coin on the ribbon. It’s really back on there. You close your hand around the coin threaded onto the ribbon. You have another dizzy but rebuilt spectator hold onto the two Chinese coins that have already been released from the tyranny of the solid silk ribbon. And then it happens. You slowly open your hand, that moments ago, surrounded the final Chinese coin. It’s gone. And then the jaw-dropping, head-spinning fun begins again. The spectator holding the previous two coins opens her hand to find…the final coin! Your audience freaks out and erects a statue in your name.

And that’s really how the trick plays. Just about. Kidding aside, I’ve received some of the best reactions with this routine that I can remember. While I added an unhealthy dose of hyperbole to my description of the effect, it wasn’t without reason. People really do freak out during this effect. Plain and simple, it is a strong routine. The spectator threads all three coins onto the ribbon herself after completely examining everything. You take the ribbon with the coins back, tug on the ends and the center coin jumps directly into her waiting hands. Each phase is crystal clear, and in my opinion, this routine has a directness that the aforementioned Ring Leader does not have. Three Chinese coins are threaded onto a ribbon. The first one melts off. The second one melts off. The third one melts off by disappearing from the ribbon and reappearing in the spectator’s hand. The End. You’ll notice that I left off the bit about the final coin melting off the ribbon and then melting back on. That’s because I leave it out when performing. It’s a beautiful sequence, it really is. But for me, it puts a screeching halt to the direct, crystal-clear nature of the effect. It breaks the rhythm of what is, to that point, is a linear progression.

Bob Kohler always produces a quality DVD. This is no exception. Troy Hooser’s teaching is very clear, and there are even added touches from Thomas Wayne, Shoot Ogawa and Apollo Robbins. While Shoot and Apollo have some interesting ideas with the coins and ribbon, the Thomas Wayne display for the second phases of the routine is the only one that fit for me. And don’t be ridiculous; use the Thomas Wayne display.

If you held a gun to my head and forced me to come up with one complaint, I’d have to say: it would have been nice to include the necessary coins and ribbon with the DVD. Sure, it would raise the retail price a little, but I would have hated to have purchased the DVD to find out I have to go back to the magic shop to buy Chinese coins (or different Chinese coins because the ones I bought don’t work as well as the ones Troy recommends) and then over to a craft store to buy ribbon. That said, I bought mine from Troy at a lecture, and he was selling the DVD, the coins and the ribbon all for a special price. (C’mon you were holding a gun to my head; I had to come up with something. It was a theoretical situation, where I picked up the DVD from a magic shop. Okay, fine. There’s no convincing you. Whatever.)

Also, worthy of noting, the routine instantly resets (so you know how much that makes my toes tingle), making it ideal for me when strolling through the park or when doing strolling magic (kidding about the park). So is it worth it to buy the DVD, the coins and the ribbon, and then devote the time to learn this routine and work it into your current performing repertoire? For me, it definitely was. Maybe you already get too many “David Blaine-esque” reactions, where people are running away screaming and freaking out. And that is not hyperbole. It’s really THAT good!

This is an old trick but would I would like to agree with the above review. This is a beautiful trick, one of my favorites and truly the unusual one trick DVD worth the money. I believe at the time I bought it, the site was selling the coins and ribbon together in a package seperate from the DVD. You do want the correct coins, they are flat, brass with a round hole in the middle, almost like washers which some have said the uses to do this trick. Many "advanced" variations are taught for different portions of the routin. Again, highly recommended

Hocus-Pocus has a supply of the coins used in the DVD, they are made by Sterling. Joshua Jay recently changed the coins he uses and sells for the CCC on his website. Personally, I don't like them. But this routine is phenomenal!

Guys, must be ribbon be very small or not? Because I already have a spool of ribbon wich I use for Jay Scott Berry's Ring and String Symphony?

Is that the kind of ribbon we are talking about here??

The ribbon for Jay's routine would probably be too wide. But come on, another spool of ribbon would be about $3. I've been using this for years and it's one of my favorite routines to do. It always gets killer reactions.

Hey guys, how would you compare Troy's routine to Joshua Jay's routine?
Josh has a routine based on Troys and I've never seen the original.

thanks!

Josh Jay's is routine is very close to Hooser's if not exact.

Rich B.

I learned it from Josh... great routine!