I have had both, like others have said, if you can think outside the box, they can be used in other ways.

They both have their strong and weak points, just the knowledge the guys are willing to share with you is worth far more then what you pay for the effects.

John

HI

Sorry for revealing quite old plot but I am very interesting in that.
And I have some question about Final Answer.
Can be the bill load in any other fruit ?? Kiwi, orange or somethig else or even in potato ??
Don't you think that when you take out the bill from lemon it can be very moisturized or even wet with lemon juice... And when you give the bill back to the spectator it can be uncomfortable for him because of lemon juice??

Offer to exchange the bill problem solved =)

Joshua Barrett - I think it is not quite good to solve that problem.
If you take the bill from spectator and you give it to sign, so at the end of routine when you take out bill from lemon it would be very strange if you will offer to exchange that bill...
Spectator expect the same bill he/she gave you... :/

If presenting "Bet Your Bucks," it would require a fruit that is about the same size of the appropriate lemon to use for the routine. Cody Fisher goes over the issue of the lemon juice, so that is of no consequence at all really using his method.
I wonder how it is with The Final Answer. I am also very interested in Scott Alexander's gimmick, seems like they are back on stock at bobkohlermagic.com. I'm going for it...

Load the bill into ANYTHING with Final Answer, it can be a Kiwi, Lime, Orange, Watermelon. Actually a potato might be a really great idea:
Performer has a spectator sign a bill, it's displayed, rolled up, and held in full view by specatator.
A child is offered a bowl of potatoes (loads of gags possible here about mash, chips, etc). Child selects one potato.
Magician has a "Mr Potato Head" set, with which the potato is made up into Mr Potato Head. Kids will love this, as Mr Potato Head is massive right now (at least in the UK).
Mr Potato Head is held by the child, whilst the adult's bill is taken and lost/destroyed/vanished.
After much by-play, Mr Potato Head is cut open by the spectator, and the bill is found inside!
WOW! I plan to work on that routine right away. Captain Potato Head the Pirate is born! Thanks, Wizzzzard!

I don't beleive a potato would be an option with the Final Answer.

That is, unless it was a "Baked" potato.

A RAW potato would be just too difficult.

=Frank=

I believe you could use a potato, and use the Final Answer, but you'd have to do a little more preshow work. It wouldn't be as clean as a lemon or orange, but with the right handling, it would be manageable.

Ken

Downunder, we have plastic money, this works out great for the juice problem also signing with a marker, they can get their name off it if they wont latter. It does present other issues though, one being that plastic money wants to constantly spring open which was a small problem with the final answer for me, although Scott talks about plastic money on the instructional DVD. A slight release of pressure and you have a problem loading. I don't have BYB's so I don't know how the load is with plastic money, anyone out there with BYB in a country with plastic notes!

Using a potato is really easy with Final Answer. Load it, draw a pair of eyes on the potato, then sit the potato on a pair of plastic "feet", which "seals" the evidence. the kid can then pick up the potato and continue adding Mr Potato Head parts. It actually makes the handling very clean indeed.
Money doesn't go soggy when it gets wet, it's water resistant. If a spectator is unhappy about being given a damp bill with his name written all over it, offer to exchange it for a new one if he'd like.
I can see that plastic money would be a problem loading, but I'd guess that's just about practise. I've found that even with paper money, the bill can unroll a bit at the wrong moment. But now I'm aware of that possibility, I don't allow the bill to unroll. Even so, should that happen, I find a simple twist to tighten the bill works fine.

Hmmm....I still have my doubts on the potato.

Brilliant!

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can watch a demo of The Final Answer?

Thanks,

Richard

This is been discussed before. you can;t

A really hard new potato isn't as good as an old soft one. They both load fine, but the hard potato is tricky when you come to cut it open.

Mr. Potato Head...hilarious.

Some good news on The Final Answer. Thomas Wayne suffered a very badly broken arm which has kept TFA off of the market since last summer. He's finally healed and is working again. I just received a bunch of TFA
so we have them in stock.

I will finally be able to offer replacements of the gimmick. We've never been able to keep up with the demand until now. Only registered owners who have forum access will be able to purchase the replacement gimmick.

Speaking of the Inner Circle Forums. After we finished the DVD I decided to release part of my original corporate routine on the forums. I'm sure many of you have read it but if you're working for a company with a high end corporate official such as a CEO this idea is the bomb. It's easily worth the price of TFA.
I know this is a cliche but it is...

I've also published a handling on the forum that uses the gimmick in a clever way that it will NEVER need replacement. It's really easy to do. It breaks down the handling into bite size portions. Scott's original handling is brilliant. I worked this out a few months after we releeased TFA.

Back to the Mr. Potato Head. Personally I don't think you can improve on using a juicy lemon. It's sealed by God. In TFA you can have the spectator cut it open if you want to and the bill is DRENCHED with lemon juice. You don't get the drenching from most other options. Perhaps the most important concept however is a lemon somehow is FUNNY. It's a classic for a reason.

How many of you are using it close up as opposed to stage? Curious to hear from the workers out there.

Best,

Sean Macfarlane

Sean, honest, once you've got the "move" down, the rest is up to you, like Scott says. Perform it close up or on stage, it's no matter, the dirty work is VERY cleverly disguised. I use FA almost exclusively for my "Treasure Game" now, which is a parlour/stage routine, but it works just fine for close up too.

The adv on TFA suggested that you gives the lemon out before you take the signed bill. It also said that the spectator can cut the lemon himself.

So does it means that the magician NEVER touch the lemon after handed it to the spectator? Without demo VDO, sometimes it is very hard to judge the effect.

Yes you do hand the lemon out in a bag before you have the bill signed. The load can be done at the last moment while the lemon is in a clear plastic bag still without taking it out, in front of the audience. You do obvisously need to have it back to do the dirty work. because it is in a bag though it looks like you never touch it. A very small amount of spectator management is required when they take it out of the bag and they cut it open. I found the right shaped lemon makes a big difference as well. The load does feel a little ballsy because it is in front of all, but not a problem for someone competent either partime or pro. They address the issue of plastic money on the instructional DVD. Hope this helps.