Hi,

I'd like to add multiplying bananas to my opening routine but wondered whether there is any intrinsic difference between the following:

Dan Garrett Sponge Banana
Alan Wong Sponge Banana
Félix & C. Casagrande MagicLatex Banana

Have any of you ever owned more than one of the above and know whether one works better than another?

Thanks in advance,

Jack

The latex ones look more real than sponge ones, and they have a nice snap to them when you do the move. But they are harder to compress and maybe a little longer, so they were a little big for my hands. So I use sponge ones now, I forgot which one I have. Try the latex and if that doesn't work, switch. I think Randy rain makes them too - her stuff is really good.

Hi Jack,

I own all of them. The ones by Wong are a bit bigger than Garrett's. The sponge (in the Wong version) is slightly stiffer and the color is brighter. As such, they're a bit more difficult to conceal in your hand. Since I have a tendency to hold out a bit (instead of keeping both hands in constant motion) that ends up being a factor for me. I use Dan Garrett's in every kids' show, and have the other sets as back-ups. The latex set, like Wong's is a bit bigger than Garret's. It looks very real from a short distance, but ultimately, for me, it doesn't really matter.

If you're looking for a recommendation, I suggest starting with Dan Garrett's. They're the cheapest, work the best for me, and if you don't like'em I'll be happy to take'em off your hands.

Hope that helps.

Damian

Thanks for the advice guys, I've got a show in a couple of weeks and not much time to practice this last minute addition, so think I'll go for the sponge version first and see how I get on.

Cheers,

Jack

Let us know how it went, This is on my wish list!

I have the Wong version, very good and durable

I had Garretts's, they are Ok

I just purchased Randi Rain's version, the are great, the most realistic
and smaller than Wong's. Haven't used them in show yet

I would say they are easiest to manipulate but not the most visible, but very realistic
up close

The bananas - even Dan Garrett's - are harder to conceal if you have small hands because when you bend one in half in your hand, the top stem part sticks out at an angle.

The best bet for me is to use Dan Garrett's Multiplying Pickles or Carrots: when folded in half you have two equal halves and no bent piece like the banana stem sticking out.

Dan makes good sponge products that are soft and compress quite well in the hand.

Good luck!

Dan Garrett's bananas have my vote!

David Ginn also makes a set

Tom Frank has an excellent product. They have a great shape and combine the look of latex with the compression of sponge.
https://tomfrankmagic.com/

There's no comparison, but I do miss the Alan Wong bananas. Anyone sitting on a 'bunch'?

Came here to find some new latex ones, but these look great, so I ordered instead.

My old latex ones, can't remember who made them, but I've been using them for over 10 years, in thousands of shows, and one of them split recently.

The way I use them is that at the end of a misers dream, I hand the giant coin to a kid to hold on to for a minute (but I do a false transfer) and the kid is left with nothing in his hand. I notice that he doesn't have it and say " did you eat the coin? you ate the coin!". They know I'm kidding so it doesn't bother them and the volunteer and audience thinks it's funny. Then I say look, you must be hungry, here's a banana, and then I do the multiplying bananas. Sometimes I do that at the end of a sponge bunnies routine, handing the kid a bunny to hold and it's gone, then the banana thing. I emailed Tom Frank to see how long his banana is (OK, that didn't sound right!). Some are too long, I think I'm using the Alan Wong ones now, which are the right size for me, but they are getting worn out.

Get 'em while they're hot. There are a few Alan Wong Sponge Bananas on eBay.

I guess the Alan Wong Sponge Bananas are back in production. They're appearing everywhere.

The Tom Frank bananas look great. I would be interested in seeing a side-by-side high res. photo of the Tom Frank Bananas and the Alan Wong Bananas for comparison, if anyone here happens to own both and could take such a photo.

---

Speaking of bananas , Steve Myers makes quality latex items , including bananas. Most are sold out at the moment , but he is doing a new run and items should be available again in mid-to-late April 2026. These sell out quickly.

https://www.stevemyersmagic.com/latex-goods.html#/

I got this in an email update from Steve Myers Magic today (March 10, 2026) -



NOTE: These are full size bananas , not the small size for multiplying bananas , but could be used in a multiplying banana routine as a climax to have the smaller banana transform into a larger banana.

.

A thoughtful Magic Cafe user who saw this thread was kind enough to email me some photos comparing the Tom Frank Bananas to the Alan Wong Bananas, so I wanted to share these photos here for anyone else who may be interested.

It's an optical illusion, they are both the same length

I should mention that the photos above comparing the Alan Wong bananas to the Tom Frank bananas were sent to me from Cafe user PressureFan.(Thanks, PressureFan!)


PressureFan sent me some additional photos of the junior size Alan Wong bananas. He wrote:

"I dug out my three remaining sets of the Alan Wong 'Sponge Bananas Junior'. They last a long time because they don't take as much of a beating.

Here they are,regular to small."




-

Those medium size ones are a lot easier to use, I can do the move more quickly with less fussing, and they take up less space. I wish someone would make a set a size between the 2 larger sets, not everyone has Andre the Giant hands. On the other hand, the bigger ones are easier to see and I guess the magic may be more impressive at a bigger size. I've been using the bigger ones for a month, I can do it fine, but it's going to take a while to really get used to it and do it faster/smoother.