Hi everyone,

I've spent the last few months searching the market for such an effect.


What I´m trying to do is the basically the same thing David Copperfield did on his last TV-Special.
He made water vanish from a champagne glass and then had it reappear again under the cover of a black cloth.

The way this effect is designed makes me believe that this couldn´t have been the first attempt of a magician to accomplish such a magical effect. I´m sure since the bible was written, several wizards and magicians starting with Merlin and ending with David Copperfield must have thought of making water appear in an empty glass ..?!!

I'm surprised that the magic market doesn't seem to offer an effect that comes even close to it.

Besides the "Chen Lee Water Suspension", Wonderwizard´s "visible filled glass appearance" or the vanishing glass of water from Tenyo, I haven´t found ANYTHING!!! Besides, even though the Wonderwizard's effect comes closest, it´s again not a glass where the audience can see through without any questions, but it´s got scrambled walls like any average mirror glass and I´ve known those since I was 5 and got my first magic-toy-set! Anyway, therefore it´s supposed to fill in full view the whole time, but the company (for some reason..!) won´t ship it to Germany, where I live! Bummer!

I already got a few tips from other fellow magicians but maybe there are others in here that can give me some help on this!

Thank ya all!
Alex

Alex,

I see that you are still on the quest for the self-filling glass.

Abbott’s has at least two versions. One is called the “Pixie Glass” it will visibly empty or visibly fill. It looks like a fairly regular drinking glass (it is made from clear plastic). It does not have that silly scrambled up outside that you note on some mirror glasses. It is not a mirror glass.

The other is a wine glass called “The Great Gizmo Glass”. The description of the effect is similar to what you describe as what you want.

Go check out the Abbott’s web site at http://www.abbottmagic.com. The glasses can be found in their online catalogue at: http://www.abbottmagic.com/pdf/glasses.pdf.

I think that one or both of these glasses will fit your need.

Good Luck

Greetings Alex!

Harry has you on the right path. The Abbott's "Gizmo Glass" is the closest thing to what Copperfield did. Of course Copperfield has a much bigger budget!

Cheers!

Thank you so much folks, for your help and thank you Harry for getting on this subject with me again!

I checked Abbott´s and I believe you´re right! I´ll order it right away and I´m very curious about it!


All the best to you both!
Alex

Alex,

If you get either (or both) of the Abbott’s glasses, let us know if they actually produce the effect you are looking for.

Your search turned into a bit of a challenge for me. I knew that someone was producing the very glass you wanted. I just needed to find them. It was fun looking.

I will enjoy hearing about how they worked for you and how you finally incorporate it into your act. Keep us posted!

I am sure you could get that special something made from a glass blower. I don't think it would be too hard, or even that expensive.

In a Genii magazine from the 1970's there was a cover article on U.F. Grant with many Grant effects and "ideas" . One of those clever ideas involved the use of certain small, easily breakable latex items.

Did you know that you can easily conceal one of those items loaded with enough liquid to fill a champagne glass ? Think about it and then see what you can do with your "water appearing in empty glass effect " .

Dai,

And Alex gets the water to vanish...? That was part of the original equation.

Cheers!

Oops. I skimmed over that part too fast.

Still fun to play with Grant's liquid hold-out idea.

UPDATE: Feb 21, 2003

Continuing to ponder this one.......

I'm hooked now and trying to work out the vanish and the reappearance, but not using the Abbott's Gizmo Glass gimmick. (which is actually pretty clever if you can still find one. I don't think they are making them anymore , but maybe so ? I saw one on eBay not long ago, but I didn't bid on it since it wasn't something I needed to use.)

I never saw the effect DC did. Can someone describe it to me ?

Was DC's effect done standing clear of any tables or trays or did the glass of water start out on a table or tray ? Was the glass held in his hand the whole time or did he pick it up and set it down on a table ? I have a couple of ideas about where the water could go to, but it would be interesting to know if DC did it stand-up , away from any other props. Getting the water back in the glass is not as hard (see my post above about U.F. Grant's idea for producing water)

To everyone,

It´s nice to see that I´ve started a discussion in here finally!

Thanks to everyone trying to help!

NYCmagician, thanks for the hint. I´ve been thinking about asking a glasblower lately, but therefore I needed to find the perfect solution before. Thanks to Harry Murphy I got a glass now which might be worth having reproduced by a glasblower since the original glas is made of plastic and has its limitations.

Still, eventhough the "Everfilling Glass" is indeed not badly made and has a very nice visual effect on it, but you should be using an opaque fluid like milk to be visible enough.

Therefore this item might not fit into the fish-finish, but I´m very happy I got this version now. It´s a lot of fun to play with!!! (Thanks again to Harry!).

After all tips and a lot of thinking I did myself, I came to the conclusion, that the gimmick might not be the glass (like so often, the gimmick is not at the place of action). It´s got to be passive, it´s gotta be the cloth.

I already have some new ideas but I´d rather not discuss this here. If anyone´s interrested please send me private messages..!

Now thanks again to ya all, keep thinking and discussing! It´s a very nice topic I think!

All the best,
Alex

Why not use a mirror glass?

Get a quality one. The cheapos all leak.


I'm thinking of using one for a goldfish production and vanish.

I've worked it out. Should be pretty cool.

How about the glass use by Salvano? Will it be the same? Me too, I have been searching for a similar glass that Salvano uses.

The Gizmo glass idea using tubing instead of a bulb syringe would work. Having an assistant "holding out" the tubing and water reservoir takes the heat off the magician. This could be used as a vanish or production depending on the position and height of the hidden reservoir. A transparent insert could be used for the vanish or production in combination with the Gizmi type glass.

I agrre with stanyon! Gizzmo is ace! but Copperfield can do "anything" with his budget and"cameras" "!

Copperfield's isn't a camera trick and it isn't the Abbott's *Gizmo Glass* method . There's currently a discussion of this effect (*Tides*) in Secret Sessions for those who want to take a look .

I like Larry Barnowsky's idea of adapting the *Gizmo Glass* prop with a flexible attachment . Seems like it would be easy to attach and detach , so the glass could be shown fairly at first .

The only version of the Abbott's *GG* that I've seen is made as a small "cordial" glass , though I have seen a photo of one that looks like a slightly larger cocktail glass version. The cordial glass would be hard to see from stage , but good for close up or on television .
Search Martin's Magic to see an example.

I was working on something similar with a vanishing and reappearing cup of coffee last year when Alex first posted this topic.
I already had the U.F. Grant method of holding out liquid (from the Genii magazine I referenced above , Volume 39 , Number 9 ) .
This discussion pushed me to search out a practical method for the vanish , which I believe is from an idea I read as attributed to Patrick Page . I'm not sure if this is what DC is using for his effect , but I'm reasonably sure that DC is not using a mechanical glass (like the Abbott's ) . If you look at a video clip of DC's *Tides* the wine glass is clearly held by the base of the stem , with no possible connection to DC's hand or the assistant's hand/sleeve)

Iam thinking of buying the Artist dream from hocus pocus, has anyone used this routine, or is it way too expensive. pm me please.

The old Dunninger's encyclopaedia has a means, easily constructed (i did one!) using a "plastic" champagne or wine glass. Liquid will vanish, and re-appear. I suppose it would also not be hard to vanish a clear liquid, and have a colored liquid re-appear, or the reverse depending on the chemistry chosen.
I think it cost me about $3 to make at the time. and that was for enough of the plastic glasses to have plenty of spares.
Kay

12 years later I would like to ask you how your quest turned out. Did you crack it or are you still on the hunt?

A similar item... http://www.fabmagic.com/inbo.html

I have a self-filling wine glass that I think came from Germany. It is extremely delicate, so I only keep it as part of my collection. If you know a glass blower, you might be able to get one made.