I love this piece of magic. I have never been one who cares for this type of stuff. However my thoughts have dramatically changed. EXCELLENT JOB

Quinn: Excellent review! Best one I've read for this DVD.

Will this be made available through UK dealers also? Not that I have a problem ordering from your site (well, apart from not having PayPal), but just wondered..?

Skinny Man-

Pinnacle will be available practically everywhere shortly, as the dealers will probably be getting theirs in hand by the end of this week/ beginning of next week.

I think
http://www.magicbuzz.net

is currently the only place that has it in stock.

Russ

Just got this in today!

Only one thing to say -- EXCELLENT!

Great Job Russ!

Thanks for the responses you have given to the magicbuzz items. It would have appeared that I was paying off Quinn and Andy for the glowing remarks! Thank you Quinn, Andy, and for that matter, all of you who receive product and posted your thoughts. I think that both new items Pinnacle and Just Passin' Thru have been really satisfying to the buyers. Please keep the thoughts coming.


It's off to the IBM Convention this weekend. I sure hope I get to meet some of you there, as I will be taking part at the dealer's tables.

Be reminded, too, that I have prepared myself for orders to be taken on the fly at the show in Kansas City. I will be shipping directly from the convention to you if you feel the urge to press the PayPal button!

The response has been overwhelming! I cannot wait to meet with those face to face and gauge the reactions to Just Passin' Thru, Pinnacle and also Switch*a*roo. I will be setting up remotes in a few jackets so not only can I demonstrate the switch, but others can try it out, too.

I appreciate everyone's support to date. It has been a fabulous kickoff, and I believe especially that the new items, "Just Passin' Thru" and "Pinnacle"- seen live for the first time are going to be the buzz for some time. At least, I hope so!!!

Same here Reed. Thans Russ for changing my mind about such efects. And also a thanks to Troy Hooser's Charming Chinese Challenge. I have never seen such visual penetrations before.

Ordered mine yesterday and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival!

GlenD

I thought it was pretty good but I still prefer Simon Aronson's 'Ringleader' myself. I was 'wowed' by the 'Miracle Finish' but unfortunately it is FAR from impromptu and I can't see any practical way to utilize it as a 'Finish' since that implies you'd first be able to perform the earlier phases - which due to the impromptu nature of the 'Miracle Finish' just wouldn't be possible.

Russ - if you disagree with the above, how about explaining to purchasers how you use your 'Miracle Finish' as an actual 'Finish' to the routine ???

Cheers,

Jamie.

Jamie, I don't know if that is possible without talking methodology. I have done it and Russ has done it (and fooled ME badly). You may want to contact Russ directly via PM.

Tim

As I posted in the JPT forum, Pinnacle is an amazing looking piece of magic. On its own it's a winner that I believe I will learn and use for a lifetime.

However, as others have mentioned, don't expect to use Miracle Finish with this effect. It's not a matter of impromtu vs set-up. Without saying too much, it just doesn't naturally make sense to use it with Pinnacle. If you're going to try to work it in with the Pinnacle handling, you may as well just use a Himber ring and perform a mindblowingly clean penetration effect from start to finish. As a completely separate effect, miracle finish is quite a beautiful thing.

Great Magic. 10 out of 10.

I watched this yesterday, and it is a great piece of magic. I agree with most of the reviews here. The Miracle Finish, while looking great, is going to be very difficult to do in real world situations. The rest of the routine is great. It is very deceptive, and the 1st, 3rd and 4th phases are just breathtaking. I found the 2nd phase slightly confusing, but maybe that is the magician in me that realizes its not really penetrating when a ring sits on the two bands. Once I have this effect mastered I'll start using it in shows, as it looks so great in Russ's hands. Great job!
-Oz

I have to agree that this is extremely clever, and I also think that it's explained well.

I also have to be honest and say that I was disappointed. I purchased this before finding out that the "Miracle Finish" would be very difficult to do with a borrowed ring (I can think of a way to do it, depending on the kind of ring you borrow, but it would be extremely limiting) and before I realized how angly the "Miracle Finish" is. I do feel that the advertisement of this effect was deceptive with respect to the finish.

My advice would be to watch the video and to totally disregard the "Miracle Finish" to determine if the effect is worth it to you.

Don't get me wrong -- as far as ring and rubber band penetration effects go, this is extremely clever and strong, but it's the visual "Miracle Finish" that was the SOLE reason I purchased this and that's what resulted in my disappointment.

For a visual rubber band penetration effect, I think nothing beats "Ebony and Ivory," although the video on that is deceptive as well.

At the bottom line, I'd give this a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Regards, Larry D.

P.S. - I also received "Just Passin' Thru" and liked that much more! But that's a topic for another thread.

I'd agree with ozer that phase 2 isn't the clearest and cleanest phase to enjoy as a spectator. Furthermore, I didn't think it was clearly explained. I picked up on Phases 1,3, and 4 after just one viewing. However, after watching the explanation of phase 2 for the perhaps the 30th time, I still don't know exactly what Russ is doing.

Although I also love the main effect, I agree with Platt. There should have been an "over the shoulder view" of each phase, especially with rubber bands going all sorts of directions. Watch the Dan Harlan rubber band videos, and see some fabulous views, as he makes his hands look like yours from your viewpoint.

This is the best $20 I have spent in a long time. Kudos to Russ on this one. Awesome effect.

Also, I think people are being too hard on the miracle finish. I think there is a way to work this into the routine. I intend on buying a ring for this and not necessarily borrowing one, in which case, after a short examination and pause, you can set up to finish with a miracle.

You know the spectator will ask you to do it again after you pocket the items, or you can just offer to show it to them again. That is a practical method for the effect; although in most instances you can't use a borrowed ring.

Miracle finish aside, if you don't know this one, buy this video. I watched and tried to figure this one out and I couldn't do it. Heck, even some of us have to watch over and over just to understand the mechanics once we see the secret.

This will become a sure classic. Thank you Russ!!!!!

I too have just received Pinnacle and have thoroughly enjoyed the routine. Russ has done an outstanding job with this.

I must also echo the sentiments of those who found phase 2 a bit difficult to follow. I had to watch this part of the DVD over and over again and play around with the fingering a bit on my own until I finally figured out the correct finger positions. I picked up the rest of the phases fairly easy.

All in all, I've found this effect to be a great impromptu miracle. I'm trying to work on a good presentation for this great effect as I continue to practice it. With some great patter it will be a jaw dropper.

Thanks for sharing this, Russ.

I have heard all the good comments and I KNOW this is a great effect, but nevertheless I am still disappointed as the main reason for buying the product was because of the miracle finish. It was a dilema between this and Russ' JPT which I really love as well because I'm pretty broke right now. I should be receiving my DVD in a day or two and I'm sure I'll love it. The other penetrations in Pinnacle are great and visual as well! Thanks for this amazing contribution Russ! Great work!

At the end of the basic PINNACLE routine you can go into THE JOINING. Where at the end the borrowed ring appears to be on the band and the volunteer gently pulls down on thier own ring and it seems to melt right off the band. Also you can immediately hand them the band too if they ask to see it.

I now use a 3 set of rubber band tricks, those being the following, they seem to follow each other very nicely!

CMH
Pinnacle
Broken and Restored Rubber Band

A great 3 set of rubber band impromptu tricks