|
|
Go to page 1~2~3~4~5~6 [Next] | ||||||||||
imagealter Regular user Christopher Griffin 158 Posts |
I am trying to justify recently spending 30 bucks for this silly thing. Is anyone getting great reactions with Creature? Any variations to the minimal performance plot provided? I guess it is a novel idea but I am kinda feeling ripped after spending the dough on something that should have cost a lot less.
|
|||||||||
charliemagic Special user 545 Posts |
I saw it performed & was not impressed as I have been doing the same basic effect using a finger mouse. But, the spectators did react.. BUT again, I also get the same type of reaction with the mouse.
|
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
Hi All,
I have a very good demo of CREATURE being preformed by my Ozzi bro Andy Gordon from Down Under. I have not been able to get it up in a spot where all can see it as yet but will email it to anyone who wants to see it. CREATURE is really meant to be a strange moment inbetween effects. I get asked how I do what I do all the time during performances of card effects and I introduce CREATURE as my helper from under the deck. Also I like to grab up a hand full of vines or leaves still on the tree and talk about the wood nymphs living in the forest. Then reveal the CREATURE through the foliage. It gets some great reactions. |
|||||||||
imagealter Regular user Christopher Griffin 158 Posts |
Keith has just sent me a video on creature. I must say it looks REALLY good. This is what I needed. Thanks. I still feel that this little effect can create some serious mystique, I just need some support on how it is best used. Thanks for the fast response Keith!
|
|||||||||
benrl Regular user 127 Posts |
I first saw 'Creature' in a dark setting and it was impactful. An important part of the impact is a result of the ambience of the venue as well as demonstrating there is nothing in your hands after the creature has appeared. The instructions cover this in detail (including photos). I purchased a 'Creature' of my own soon after. Highly recommended.
|
|||||||||
philblackmore Regular user 199 Posts |
What is creature?
Where can I find it? |
|||||||||
mattisdx Inner circle 1614 Posts |
This same effect was taught a long time ago, in some book somewhere. They just renamed it, kinda like what happened with stealing pips.
|
|||||||||
Almost-A-Magician Regular user New England 158 Posts |
The Creature might work well in conjunction with "Glorpy"? After the ghost/creature has escaped the silk, you can "catch" it with your hands and show it.
|
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
Actually, Creature works a bit differently than the old Bob Farmer method. Incidentally, Bob and a few others are credited in the instructions for the initial notion and have given their blessing to the project.
As to the comparison to a finger puppet, Creature is anything but that. A finger puppet handling requires a lot of suspicious moves by most to execute. The CREATURE gimmick was custom sculpted by me to eliminate a lot of the handling problems with the finger puppet methods. Also, it blends in from the back so it is easer to manifest than a finger puppet. A finger puppet or dolls arm is not made to do magic with specifically. Creature is and it is the perfect image to produce as it is quite creepy when presented correctly. The glorpy notion is an excellent one. Here are a few others. I have hollowed out the eyes on a few so a "de-light" can be added in at the back to make for eye glow. I have produced the face through leaves, snow, the guts of a fish I had just caught and was cleaning. It about killed the Park Ranger. I told him I thought the lake may have parasites in it and showed the gimmick come up through the belly of the fish. I had a party host hold off the intestines of the duck she had cooked for gypsy fortune telling later in the evening. Using the gimmick in amongst the various organs, I was able to get a very nice reaction from the group. By gaffing a coin purse, you can bring it out at will. Lots to be done with this little guy. Happy New Years to you all! :bubbly: |
|||||||||
John Smetana ???? - 2009 499 Posts |
Keith, is it possible that you could point us to a site where we can see the video that was mentioned in one of your previous posts. I really like the concept of
"CREATURE" and of "WINTER SPIRIT". A demo vidio would go a long way toward making a buying decision easier. Can you help? Best thoughts, John Smetana |
|||||||||
RC4MAG Special user 563 Posts |
I have enjoyed using Creature since I got it awhile back. In fact it was I who showed Benrl (see his post above) that inspired him to make the purchase.
At first you look at it and say, "My Gosh, I spent $30.00 for this??" ...But it is indeed very well made and a great impromptu bit of entertainment. I showed this to Jonathan Townsend who gave me a nice handling idea where you hold an Okito box and close your hand around it and they can see the creature pops his head out into your fist. Apparently the creature was living inside this little box and only comes out in the darkness of your closed fist. Dan Rielly suggested to me a handling where after they see the creature in your fist, your hand gestures to toss it towards them. Of course they flinch, but the creature seems to vanish in mid-air before hitting them. |
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
Murphy Magic Supplies has a video demo you can down-load of my CREATURE effect by Andy Gordon. He did a great job! Check it out.
http://www.murphysmagicsupplies.com/index2.html Click on the search engine and type in Creature. The add page and demo is there for down-load. |
|||||||||
niva Inner circle Malta (Europe) 2970 Posts |
WOW! I have to start saving again. I like this one and Winter Spirit.
Perhaps it would be great to also have a gimmick of the creature's hand. That way one day he could peek out of your hand and the other he could reach out with his little hand. Keith, could you give us a little preview on your other similar effects that you have coming up?
Yours,
Ivan |
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
Hi Niva,
Thanks for the nice comments and interest in my offerings. I will be releasing two additions to CREATURE soon. One will be little hairy feet that will tap out the beat of a song or just stand adding to the notion that there may be more there than meets the eye. Also a little claw that will reach out and grab a penny placed on your thumb. I am working on the handlings now for each as well as a handling and routine where all three gimmicks will be employed. I may release a few other images using the Winter Spirit idea. I have had a few ideas but want to wait till I get some thoughts from the brotherhood at large. Other releases will include: Psychic Detective: Turn your audience into psychic detectives. Five photos of various people are shown to the spectator and turned over. The Mage states that one of these people will be dead before the night is through. The spectator is asked to pick one. Once selected, a CORONERS file that has been in plain site is opened and the contents revealed. The spectator was right! The kit will come with some killer props. Special photos, Coroners file with crime scene photos and notes and a very fine routine and handling. Cockroach: Two dead cockroaches are pulled from a make-shift catching container and set on the table. "Yuck! Even dead these things creep me out. But you know even dead roaches can breed. Look what I mean". Hands are waved over them and there are now four. Once again, and there are six. "Discusting! Someday they will take over the world!!! Of course they will need to be a bit bigger". All six are balled up and squished in between your hands. When opened, the six have become one big one and it scurries off the table and back into it's container. The routine is awesome and talks about how when everything else is gone the roach will reign supreme. I get some really great reactions from this. The roaches look real and just pulling one out is freaky enough. This is just a bit of what I am working on. As many of you know, I make magic for myself and my "Cabinet of Curiosities" show. If I like the effect and it get's great reactions from my audiences, I will generally release it. By the by, I will be releasing some extinctive written material about my "Cabinet of Curiosities" show and my particular brand of magic. More than anything, it will spend time on confidence building, skill building, technique and the presence needed to be an effective mage. I will also go through some of my pet routines kept quiet till now. This promises to be a book about magic unlike anything you have ever seen. There are so many books talking about how to do effects but few good ones on the presentation and imagination needed to effectively entertain your audience. This will cover all the "Yeah, but what if's" we have all had. My thanks go out to all of you for your support and interest over the last year and I will strive to do even better this year for you all. I wish you all happy conjuring in the New Year!!! |
|||||||||
redstreak Inner circle A.K.A David Kong 1368 Posts |
Arlen, can I put a different face onto the creature gimmick instead of the one that comes with it?
|
|||||||||
lewis Regular user 199 Posts |
Cool effects, one question. Is the final cockroach in 'Cockroach' real...or very realistic?
Thanks, Lewis. |
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
All the roaches are fake but very realistic. The final big one is to big to be real but it looks real in a mutated kind of way. I do not think it would be to sanitary to sell real ones. Yuck! Ha, ha. The container is a Chinese take out carton all dolled up to look like it just came out of a dumpster.
I came up with this one special a few years back. I was asked to put this homeless character together for a local shelter charity event. The idea was I would walk around as this odd ho-bo character doing magic. I came up with Cockroach as a themed piece special for the event. At one point I was asked if I wanted something to eat before taking the podium to speak. I said no I brought my own and pulled out the container and set it on the V.I.P. table. This was after dinner during a bit of a roast I put together around some of the celebrated workers. It killed!!! I had people pushing chairs away from tables and so on. Then at the end about three gals literally ran across the room when the big one was produced and ran back into the container. I did it a few weeks later for some school kids. I had picked up some gummy roaches at a candy store in SF before hand. At the end, the big one goes in and the kids all wanted to know what happened to the other ones. So, I dumped the pre set gummy ones on the table out of the box. They bounced a round a bit and the kids were really surprised but not as surprised as when I picked one up and bit it in half and ate it. "Actually" I said, "These are a very good snack. Tastes like, mmmm, Cockroach. Try one. By the end of the demonstration, most of the kids were munching on cockroaches. I'll post more about this one when it is ready to ship. Redstreak, PM me with what you are thinking about and we'll go from there. |
|||||||||
glodmagic Special user USA 501 Posts |
Arlen is a wonderful artist. The face is priceless.
My only issue is the coloration which is drastically different than required for full lighting conditions. I don't want to do anything that changes the shadow details of the face. Can you recommend the best way to paint this (what type of media) for a better match, Arlen? Also is it normal to have a flair out at the bottom? Can it be softened and reshaped? I would PM you but these things may be of interest to others. I Highly Recommend Creature ****!
Remember ANY of your posts here can be Googled by your customers and Clients. Just entering your name in Google can bring up your negative comments that stay for years!
|
|||||||||
Arlen Regular user Keith Arlen Lack 143 Posts |
Hi Walter,
The gimmick can be painter with acrylic paint any color you like but it sounds like you got a light one. I made up a ratio 10% light, 80% medium and 10% dark when I made up the batch for Murphy Magic. The idea was to put in a few light and dark with every order of a dozen. That way every one had a good chance or being covered. A few were sent lighter or darker CREATURES than they can use. I am happy to send a right color match to anyone that had this problem. You need a medium one Walter. PM me your address and I'll take care of you. The CREATURE is made in one size. Large. I wanted it to accommodate all size fingers so the foam spacer is included. The gimmick can be warmed a bit with a hair dryer and reshaped around your finger. Just put your gimmick in ice water once you have the shape right. |
|||||||||
imagealter Regular user Christopher Griffin 158 Posts |
Keith,
Creature has been very good to me after your advisement. Thank you! Please include me on your list when the new effects are ready. I want them! My creature even talks! : ) |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Tricks & Effects » » "CREATURE" Comments (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page 1~2~3~4~5~6 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.05 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |