I wanted to ask which are the cleanest blendo.
I got an red white parasol act, so I thought that red and white stripe-blendo would be appropriate. In my act I'm left with a red and white silks approximately 24 inches in size. I though I maybe can tie them together and make them into one. I know I have seen something in the Rices silk encyclopedia, but maybe anybody can lead me into one in particular. It must end clean, so it would be better if the other silks are not in my way, because then its better to produce a parasol from it.

Thanks,
Fred

You only have two ways to do a blendo. it is either a double silk or a sleight of hand non prepared method. There are advantages and drawback to both.

The sleight of hand method will allow you slip the vanished silks off and only uses a single large silk. The prepared method gives you a cleaner finish but the silk is thicker to deal with. Bobo used to use the prepared method to produce two of my sleeve bouquets. I suspect the parasol production would be similar in your case.

Hope that helps.

Richard

So maybe you know where I can one of these prepared blendos or maybe I can make one myself, using rice encyclopedia. Then whats the particular name to seek from rices book and what volume. I think I saw a very clean blendo in Fantasio silk act on Youtube. How´s that done?

-Fred

I would recommend Kazu Katayama`s Blendo silk. You can find it on UGM web site, Stevens Magic or Mark Burger`s House of Magic.

To buy that I need some time to save up. And then when I buy it I still cant use it because I need to modify it or make a new one to fit my needs. I was hoping that somewhere is a tutorial or something like that so I can make my own.

-Fred

I like this one, but I haven't been able to figure out where to purchase the effect. It may just be from Rice Encyclopedia... Does anyone know?

Go Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5wC0DZeZGI

Please let me know.

sdmagic

This isn't Blendo, is Zebra silk. Nothing to it you need a reel.

Hi Pete. Thanks for that. I bought El Duco's commercial version of Zebra Silk, but his instructions are different, and the effect doesn't end very cleanly. I looked in Rice Volume 3, and didn't see it there (I could have missed it, but I looked in the PDF file, checking the Blendo Silks section, and the Blendo section in Volume 4.

I can figure out a way using a good fold and a reel, but what baffles me is this: I saw a guy do this live, then he repeated it immediately without any visible "reset".

I was about 10 feet away when he did it. Looked amazing.

sdmagic

The video shows an old Rice effect which does use a reel. El Duco's Zebra Silk doesn't use a reel. It does however not end as clean as you may need to proceed with a large load steal using the same "blended" silk.

I have used this version for many years. When I was working with doves, I would produce a dove from it. Standard holder, not invisible. The fact that the silk was bunched kept things from "falling apart".

I currently use it to grab a large silk fountain, which is then used to produce a very large item. Because there are so many silks involved that the blendo rig is highly unlikely to become exposed.

I would imagine that a simple containment device could be rigged ( a locking strap or small pocket) that would secure the parts of the blendo that you need secured. It would not leave you with a silk that is as free to show as a plain silk would be, but it would surely allow you to steal a load. It would probably be the cheapest way to do it, too.

You could use the double silk blendo, as Richard mentioned, but you'd want to pay attention to weight distribution, so the blended silk acted like a silk and not a bag full of laundry.

I'm a bit confused on the "repeating" blendo mentioned by sdmagic. If it is the Zebra silk, it would be very possible to go from 2 silks to one zebra and back again, ad nauseum. If you are referring to the effect in the video, it can be repeated as often as you'd like. Reset would not be noticable.

Check out laflin magic as he has a wonderful blendo.

Michael

Thanks for the info you provided. The repeat I mentioned was not back to 2 silks, but he repeated exactly what you saw in the video. Trying not to expose here, but if a reel was used for the transposition, he would have to get the reeled silk, do some re-folding and then he could repeat the effect exactly as shown. He did not do any of that, but just simply said "do you want to see it again?", and then proceeded to duplicate the change exactly. That's what was a bit baffling to me.

Can you tell me the name of the effect in the Rice Encyclopedias?

Thanks

sdmagic

My Rice books are buried in boxes awaiting a magic room "make-over". Can't dig for it at this time, and I don't recall the exact name, although it may be what Pete said, The Zebra Silk. It is different than the El Duco trick of that name, which is a blendo, although not of the more common variety. The effect in the video is not a blendo. It uses one striped silk and a reel. You may be mistaking a reel for a pull. They are two different things. In the effect on video, you are looking at the same silk the entire time.

To do the effect as shown in the video you must obtain a silk with stripes that run horizontally (or vertically, depending on how you are holding it). The El Duco version has diagonal stripes.

Bob Sanders can tell you how to make what you need, if you cannot find it commercially available.

I like DUKE STERN'S blendo for a gimmicked version and NEIL FOSTERS for a sleight of hand version..Cordially,Howard

Magic, Inc. in Chicago used to make and sell
the “Bongo Blendo” which was Ali Bongo’s delicious take on a bag-blendo,
it was small, deceptive, and smooth,
at one point they would be willing to make them up with custom silks.
Anyway I found that method clean and useful.

Magically, Walt

Walt,
You are correct in the Bongo Blendo being 100% practical. I remember Ali showing me how to fold it up with one the Magic Hands had made at FFFF.

Suds Blendo is very similar. The main difference is where the pocket is placed. One is in the center and one at the corner. It is purely a matter of preference. I have made them both up for guys. They are a darn sight easier to make than the normal blendo with the whalebone.

Richard

Richard,

You mentioned the Ted Suds blendo which he marketed as "What's New". That has the centered load which I really like for balance and appearance. There are cases such as an American flag blendo where the dark star field makes using a side load more practical. But I would recommend the center load hands down over the side loads.

People aren't going to believe that this came from the silk importer, but I actually think heavier synthetics are a better material for building this prop too. Pretty silks can be used for the outer "skin" but the other parts of the prop really need to be heavy and not float like silk. The production needs to "pop" rather than flow. Because there is nothing in the lower half of the silk, weight needs to be added to affect the proper hanging appearance desired.

I often use this style blendo to "clean up" silks and other items that accumulate as the show progresses. Thus, I can leave the stage clean except for the blendo produced and a last dove produced after the blendo (and thanks to the blendo!).

They are real "eye candy" for an audience.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

PS --- What became of Ted Sudds? I have not had any information since the early 80s.

I just had the "double silk" made for the blendo effect from the Encyclopedia of Silk magic... definitely the cleanest looking.

The kazo katayma is one of the best get it from stevens you wont regret the silk is so smooth and it comes with a video wich explains a table load I do a body load using a modified holder by alexander decova.