I searched the site but I could find very little on thimbles as a close-up effect. It seems that most of the books and DVDs are for stage. I was thinking "Great!" when I saw Jeff McBride's Manipulation DVDs but then I saw on this site that most of the moves are for stage.

At the minute I'm using the tops of Lypsyl's to practice the moves in "Now You See It, Now You Don't" but I'm hoping to get thimbles at the IBM Convention in Dublin next weekend.

So, what DVDs and books would you recommend for learning close-up thimble moves and routines?

Cheers,

Steven.

Davenports have a thimble set called Nimble Thimbles. The thimbles are only o.k. but it has a very good booklet of effects. Recomended !

One of the Ramsey books has good routines and Routine Manipulation 2 has a long, stagish one.
Many of the one books have thimble routines. Just look around.

The best advanced thimble book is by Steve Beam-The Magic of Joe Mogar. There are some excellent thimble routines in Ganson's Close Up Series as well as the Manipulation Series. These are fine for close-up. The Buckingham series is great-but is mostly for stage. By the way, Joe Porper has marked his exquisite brass nesting thimbles down from 200 to 138 for the set. Abbotts sells some small booklets that have some good moves. The Magic of Edward Victor's Hands will provide you with a great deal of meat, also.
David

Does the Steve Beam book teach the basic moves as well as the more advanced moves? You called it an advanced thimble book so I was wondering whether it was suitable for a beginner aswell.

Thanks for all the references I'll look them all up.

Cheers,

Steven.

Hugarad and Enochs produces great thimble books... I would say thimbles are better close up than for stage owing to the size. I marketed a comedy thimble routine through Ken Brooke, "Pete's Peeper" but they are not available right now. But will be again soon.

Everything for stage can be done close up.

You just have to watch your angles and be good at what you do

I agree on stage thimbles being able to be done close-up. you just have to adapt to different angles and situations that come up. I also would stress whether doing thiumbles on stage or in close-up, that you work on the routine and not just showing a act of pure skill alone.

Certianly thimbles as close-up can be a skillful thing. But you can add so much more to it to engage the audience more. This is even more crtical when performing close-up. You have the ability to engage the audience on a different level then the stage performer can. Use this to your advantage.

Kyle

Steven's orignal requrest was resources. If some of you are responding to my satement that certain resources are more stage thimble than close-up, then I am impressed. For some of you to steal 4 thimbles out of a h****** under your jacket while reaching for another thimble withthe other hand, without the table behind you noticing any funny busines is great! Those are the kinds of moves and set-up in Buckingham's works.

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm just starting thimbles so I don't want to dish out on the Porpers just yet. I think I'll get the book by Steve Beam and a DVD to give me a better idea of the basics. Which one I wonder?

And I think I'll pick up a set of either vernet or nimble thimbles at the convention this weekend. Which is better by the way? I have quite thin fingers if that makes a difference.

Cheers,

Steven.

There are an array of caps that can be substituted for thimbles. Have always used thimbles for close up, they play very well. Also, they're almost angle proof.

Good Luck!

I've only found tops of lypsyl's so far. I tried nose spray tops but they are too small. I should easily be able to get some at the IBM convention.

Still want to know what DVD to get. I want to perform close-up so I don't know how compatible Jeff McBride's DVDs are. I had a look at Brad Burt's DVD and Goeff Buckingham's DVD too. Not sure which of the three to get.

Steven,
As I recall, the Buckingham DVD teaches a classic manipulative parlor routine, with multiple loads. Whereas, McBride's DVD is purely instructional and amasses a larger catalog of move's in which to choose. Were I starting out, I'd select McBride's series.

Kregg

Hmm... OK. I think I'll get the 1st one and see if I like it. Thanks for your help everyone.

Now is the choice of thimbles. The nimble thimbles look nicest to me. However I have small fingers so that puts mogar up there aswell. Which would all of you recommend.