I'm thinking of buying these DVD's sometime and I was wondering, would you be able to do the stuff from Ring Thing with the Banded gimmick? Also is it really true you can hand out the Banded gimmick immediately after performing it? And is the sleights taught in each of the DVD's easy to learn or will it take a while before I'll be able to perform them? I'm pretty good with some ring moves but not a master at them. Hope to hear from somebody soon.

Sincerely,

Matthew

I don't have Banded but I would say that the Ring Thing is not really knucklebusting stuff. I found it useful and it didn't take long to learn the basics.

You can do the Ring Thing moves with the Banded ring.

I got to see Kozmo perform Banded several times this past week. He did it several times in the restaurant we were eating at, both at the table and in the line at the cash register. The reaction was always great. In the routine, there are a couple of times he handed out the ring for examination.

Can the ring be used for Ring Thing moves? Probably. I need the ring nearer the tip of my finger to do the move. I thought the ring Kozmo used might be a little too big and would slip down toward the hand too much. But, I think the ring comes in a couple sizes.

Banded is certainly worth purchasing.

Ken Abbott

Thanks everyone for their replies and I'm hopefully going to be buying these things soon and Ken the Banded ring needs to be a bit bigger than the ring you would need to wear because if you take into consideration that your middle finger is bigger in width than your ring finger it has to actually fit onto your middle finger as well.

I got Banded this past weekend at Magifest, having seen Garrett perform it a couple of years ago for an astonished waitress. I was eager to get it, so sought out the Kozmo table as soon as I arrived. I was fortunate enough to find both Kozmo and Garrett waiting for business but no one else around, so I was able to have an extended conversation about the ring size. The published advice about "a bit bigger than normal ring size" is right as far as it goes, but there is a little more to consider. The ideal size for Ring Thing is larger than it needs to be for Banded. If you want to do both, you want a ring that is probably too loose to wear as a normal ring all the time. On the other hand, if you want a ring that you can wear all the time, it will be too tight for Ring Thing, but you could do Banded. I hope that is clear without exposing anything. The bottom line is that the size is not critical as long as you can get it on and off your fingers easily.

I will also mention that Kozmo was generous enough to say that he would exchange the ring if I was not satisfied with the size. It's a terrific effect, so don't let confusion about the size stop you from getting it.

I also purchased Banded from Kozmo at the convention and what Jimso said is what I was told also: you want the ring to fit loosely. A little too loose to wear as a regular ring is correct. I thought the effect was beautiful, and I'm looking forward to learning it. It is examinable both before and after.

BTW, I have got to commend both Kozmo and Garret for the amount of time they spent with everyone who had questions about these effects. They were very patient and helpful.

Ok thanks bsears,

When I eventually get some money (hopefully something will solidify when I do my Valentines Day gig at a local restuarant) I'll buy Banded and a few other things when I get some more money, unfortunately though I just bought a lot of stuff from Martin Lewis' lecture last night so it'll be a while before I can buy anything.

I just got Banded on Friday and I absolutely love it. I tried it on my mom & dad and they were completely fooled by it. So if I can fool them with it, then I can fool anybody with it.

And if the banded ring isn't right for you, it's very easy to make your own up in any ring you choose.

Yeah the ring is perfect for me, I'm just waiting to be able to get it in the 15 1/4 size.

Does anyone know if the Banded DVD includes Ring Thing training, or do you need to have both? Thanks!

I have it and it has the basic version of it taught on the DVD, it's the one that Garrett uses in his repetoire.

I purchased both Banded and The Ring Thing and received them just a few days ago. Both are excellent effects. And both require a fair amount of practice before you can comfortably perform the effects. Banded is nice, both the ring and the title routine. Very visual effect! And you get to hand out the ring multiple times, which stumps folks nicely. The Ring Thing is so chock full of effects I could perform a different one each time I decide to include it in a performance.

All in all a very satisfying purchase.

Thank you.

Jim

Thanks for the info, guys. Sounds like I will get both.

Jim

Is Banded the same as Jay Sankey's Mercuring? It looks like it is but with a bit of a different routine.

Well the only thing that's the same with Mercuring is that a finger ring penetrates your finger but that's where the similarities end, basically take Mercuring and morph it with Calen Morelli's Transit and you've got Banded, the gimmick for Banded is completely different from Mercuring's gimmick and imo is a lot better and the good thing is that you don't have to worry about people finding the gimmick because it is just completely hidden.

Thanks for that Matthew. I had reasonably expensive rings made for mercuring and use them quite a bit for Jay's effect. However I might check Banded out now.

Chappelly