Hi All.

I was thinking about trying to learn how to do this (especially after seeing Rune Klan's take on the routine), but don't want to spend a lot of money on Fakinis until I'm sure it's for me. What set would be a good starter one to get?

Also, what videos would you recommend for someone starting out? The McBride videos look good, but it looks like I'd need all 3 videos, given the way its broken up.

thanks in advance,

Frank

I think many here would agree that it would be harder to find a better billiard ball DVD than the one produced by Levent.

http://www.leventmagic.com/

Frank L.

I would START with Vernet multiplying balls before going to anything else, because they are readily available from many dealers, are inexpensive, and their "sure-grip" textured surface makes it easier for learning standard billiard ball "rolling" moves that you will want to have down pat before you move on to Fakinis.

As for videos, Tim Wright is all you need for starters.

The Tim Wright DVD is good, but when you are ready for a more thorough treatment, you MUST get the Levent set. Nothing else I have seen comes close to it for his look at all of the moves, etc, as well as a number of historic recreations of routines. It is a joy to watch. My personal opinion here...stay away from the Brad Burt video...or buy mine for next to nothing.

Mark

Guys, the OP is looking for a cheap way out, I think if he purchase any beginner DVD instrution, tha it will cover the Rune Klun moves so the OP can recreate the video moves. They are all very basic moves that any Billiard Ball instuctions will cover for him.

As he stated money is an issue with the OP and buying an encyclopedia for the information he needs is not necessary.

I would suggest the Frank Garcia Booklet for $8.95 will give him the basics as well.
http://www.magicinc.net/garciasbilliardballs.aspx

I agree with Bill, the Frank Garcia booklet is quite good. Sorry if I over-reached in my last post. When I start into something new in magic, I tend to accumulate everything I can find. That isn't what Frank asked for.

Mark

I wond if the Geoff Buckingham booklet is still out there?

It is still available. I recommend getting the DVD also. I would have loved to have met Mr. Buckingham. He seems to have been a delightful gentleman.

I looked up Rune Klan video, he does nothing more then the regular sh**l move for billiard balls. He also does the put and take as well, but I don't think this is on any BB DVD that I know of. That is it, 2 moves.

I say make everyone learn with wood balls and when they don't completely suck at it, then let them buy Fakini's... AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Earn your privileges!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

;)

Well, I actually liked Brad Burt's DVD on the subject. It also includes some good basics on thimbles. Worth my money and time, actually. I'm not looking to learn everything there is to know about this effect. I want a solid working routine and that's it. Billiard balls are magical, but they don't have the wonderful hook I get from cups and balls or C&R rope. You start with one, you end up with 4. Cool. What's next?

I also upgraded from a Vernet set to a wood set. I like the wood balls a lot better, though I admit they are a lot harder to hang onto. I'll get some Fakinis when I don't suck. But I make no guarantees on that being soon! Michael, I promise to earn that privilege before I shell out the cash for a fancy set.

-Patrick

Yeah, I hope everyone understood I was kidding. Working with wood balls is hard to do, but not impossible. For years, that was all that was available. Some of the greatest manipulators of all time used them. I would only encourage (strongly) anyone who wants to learn the multiplying balls to at least buy a set of wood balls and put some honest work into them. When you develop a touch for them, you'll have something good. Fakini's will take a slight adjustment after that, but the touch will still be there. The texture and feel of Fakini's will be the slight edge of security, not the basis of the action. Hard to explain.

It's not that hard to understand Michael.

That's what I did. Using wooden balls, before the Fakini came out and using rubber or silicon balls now. It was hard to learn, but the moves are all secured with the rubber balls. I'm waiting to get the money together to get a set of Fakini balls.

I'm looking aswell forward to get the Levent's DVD set, since I own already the McBride videos.

Oliver.

I think a popular hand treatment among manipulators is applying rosewater and glycerin just before a performance. It helps to make the hands tacky enough to handle wooden balls. This is one of the recommendations Lewis Ganson gives in the chapter "Modern Billiard Ball Manipulation" in _Routined Manipulation, Part II_. (page 96). I found that running cold water over the hands just before a performance was sufficient for my needs.

You might also try the hand lotion from Camirand Academy described on Denny Haney's website at
http://www.dennymagic.com/products/trick......academy/

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

The Buckingham and Garcia books would be excellent! An absolute classic and must have is Routined Manipulation by Lewis Ganson, as mentioned above by Sr. Narvaez. As far as DVDs go, I say that Levent probably has the most in-depth material available on the subject, and he teaches well. I learned the skills from watching the available footage of Cardini and from books like Greater Magic and the Tarbell course - long before I knew of the Levent video. I ended up getting it to see if I could get any more useable things for my routine and although I did get some, there are a lot of great pointers and insights on there that you will find nowhere else.

I personally started with wooden balls and never stopped using them. I still use them in my parlor shows to this day - sometimes with gloves, a la Cardini, and sometimes without. Any performer that has used wooden balls and gotten good with them will tell you - nothing else handles or feels quite the same. I do have a set of Fakinis for other purposes, and I also use them occasionally to warm my fingers up. On the few occasions where I had the opportunity to perform a routine under black lights, I broke out the Fakinis - a lot of fun in those situations!

Another great lotion for magicians is called Chamberlain Golden Touch Lotion, which is also glycerin-based. It works extremely well and does not leave any sort of residue on your hands. I know for a fact that Stevens Magic Emporium carries a little spray bottle, but you can also look up the company website and search for retailers (which is what I did) and I bought a big bottle of it at a local drug store.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Hand lotions,etc. are very subjective. Some people have the problem of sweaty hands. Such lotions do little to help. Drying agents work better. Even the cold water treatment can help as it closes the pores and prevents some of the sweating.

When I was younger, I made a mixture of rubbing alcohol and Merhon colorset powder. It worked extremely well for me. Now that I've passed age 50 my hands tend to be drier, even more so if I end up using solvents while building props, or even from just doing the dishes. Added moisture is what is needed.

I've tried many things over the years from rosin bags to that tacky stuff that secretaries use to thumb through pages. The only way to know is for each individual to experiment with many different things and find the one that works best for them.

Thanks Everyone!

Interestingly, I came across an old Genii forum post by Richard Kaufman, who prefers wood ones with the right varnish over Fakinis.
http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbt......r=193422

- Frank

Levent. NO contest

Well then, which member will be so kind as to purchase a set of BB DVDs from Levent and sent them to Frank L. the OP as a gift. He cannot or it does not fit in his budget financially to spend that amount of money at this time.

Hi Frank.

Here's my $0.02. To learn billiard balls on a budget you'll have to make a choice. Either put whatever resources you have into the balls, or put them into materials to learn from. If you already have a basic routine available (for example, the Mark Wilson Complete Course in Magic has an excellent first routine in it) then don't buy another book or DVD yet, and drop the $88 or so for a set of Fakinis. You will have professional balls and a basic but professional routine. The Levent DVD set (I don't own it, but I have other Levent products and I have no hesitation in recommending his quality) is on sale at $59.95 right now. If cost is an issue, you have a choice to make.

The Buckingham booklets are excellent, but if you want to do one of his routines, you need either 8 or 10 balls. This is a further expense.

In my case, I bought a cheat plastic set to see if I liked it. Within 2 minutes I knew I wanted to do a ball routine. So when the cheap set broke (in a couple of days) I bought Fakinis and learned the Mark Wilson routine. Within a couple of months I developed my own, supplementing the basic routine with ideas from a Jeff McBride video and bits I picked up here and there from magic books I already own.

I hope some of this is helpful.

John