On May 14, 2016, Alex DLF wrote:
Be careful, if you push the sharpie cap too much, the gimmick can stay locked inside it..

On Apr 12, 2016, Xcath1 wrote:
Make sure it's not too cold.. I have very little on my pen but mush it up a little with thumb and forefinger before I use it. Makes it softer.

On May 22, 2016, otreboR wrote:
Dynamo performing "Double Cross"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVJ7OFXLAOM

On May 22, 2016, pegasus wrote:
There's no way you could perform this on TV without edits. Just in the same way you can never perform this to anyone who has ever seen the effect performed before.

On May 23, 2016, MR Effecto wrote:

Quote:

On May 22, 2016, pegasus wrote:
There's no way you could perform this on TV without edits. Just in the same way you can never perform this to anyone who has ever seen the effect performed before.

Bam!!!!! See above

On May 24, 2016, scott0819 wrote:

Quote:

On May 23, 2016, MR Effecto wrote:

Quote:

On May 22, 2016, pegasus wrote:
There's no way you could perform this on TV without edits. Just in the same way you can never perform this to anyone who has ever seen the effect performed before.

Bam!!!!! See above

The last guy I performed this for was familiar with the ashes on the palm trick; used to perform it I think because he started to explain the working of "his" trick to the group. In my head I was thinking oh no...

Well, he and everyone else was still blown away because 1. Of the vanishing of the ink in my palm and 2. Because I drew an "X" on her palm without her seeing. He was trying so hard to get passed that mental block for several minutes and couldn't. He was convinced it was different method entirely. It was a lovely thing to watch.

On Jan 23, 2016, ruzifa wrote:
This could easily pair with Agus Cross and Alan's Smoke... Hmmm...

On May 22, 2016, pegasus wrote:
There's no way you could perform this on TV without edits. Just in the same way you can never perform this to anyone who has ever seen the effect performed before.

On Aug 7, 2016, Xcath1 wrote:
As noted in a previous post, a second sharpie cap over the stamp end of the marker will keep it clean in your pocket

On May 31, 2015, Jared wrote:
Double Cross is now one of my favorite strolling effects. I've had this for a couple of months but it stayed in my drawer because I was not comfortable with the "saliva move" for lack of better description. I also found that saliva was less than reliable at times. Somebody posted on this thread about a finger moist pad that you could put in your pocket, and so I found one on EBay. The finger pad worked great (erases the mark perfectly) but it was too large. The pad took almost an entire pocket. And so I visited a local Walgreen's store and found a teenager's eye shadow case, which is slightly larger than a half dollar. I cut the foam pad from the finger moist pad to size and it works perfectly! My pocket stays dry but yet it retains moisture for hours. I finally performed Double Cross over the weekend to great success. Trust me, this little finger pad makes ALL the difference...it's 100% reliable and the action is motivated (putting the pen away)plus you can get just the right amount of moisture without your fingers being dripping wet. If you own Double Cross you should give this a try.

On Aug 6, 2016, James Warren wrote:
Just got this, and did it half a dozen times at a strolling gig today, with great reactions. HOWEVER....

(1) On one occasion I pulled the Sharpie out of my jacket pocket and the gimmick wasn't on it! Evidently it had stuck to the bottom of my pocket. So after that I learned to carry the Sharpie upside down in my pocket so the sticky stuff doesn't contact anything.

(2) Another occasion was disastrous: I uncapped the Sharpie to draw the X on my hand, and instead of placing the cap temporarily into my mouth (recommended in the instructions, but which looks tacky to me), or placing it down on a table, I stuck it onto the end of the Sharpie. After drawing the X on my hand, I attempted to recap the Sharpie but the cap wouldn't go back on. For a few seconds I was confused and didn't know what the heck was happening. Then I realized that the gimmick had lodged itself inside the cap! I managed to get through the trick (which was still impressive to the spectators, despite my fumbling), and spent the next 10 minutes trying to get the ***ed gimmick out of the cap: squeezing the cap, banging the cap on the floor, using a stick to try to dig it out.... I ended up having to destroy the cap with a Swiss army knife. Fortunately, I had another Sharpie with me, which I sacrificed in order to have a cap for the Double-Cross Sharpie. (Didn't want the special ink to dry up!)

(3) One of the first spectators I did this for was a kid, I would guess about 12 years old. He seemed amazed. But 10 minutes later when I was doing the trick for someone else, he showed up and started blurting out, "You have a stamp and you stamped my hand, and you have a trick Sharpie!" I am convinced that this kid was not familiar with magic, or with this trick in particular, before seeing me do it, nor had he talked with anyone afterwards. He simply saw through the method, at least in basic principle, if not in precise detail. Generally, this is enough for me to throw out a trick, because it means that many adults will think the same thing if they take the time to reflect afterwards; but they are usually too polite to say anything. On the other hand, one of the reasons I bought this trick is because a magician friend of mine said that he was doing a gig in L.A. last week, and a woman from England came up to him and enthusiastically raved about a magician she had seen back in Brittan a few weeks prior, who made an X vanish from his hand and appear on hers. And then her step-son came up 15 minutes later and related the same story! Both of these people were academy award winning film producers. So, I guess I will continue to work with the routine for a while and see what the reactions are. I always do recommend, however, performing routines for middle schoolers if you want to find out if it is truly deceptive. LOL

(4) I found that a perfect lead into this trick is Ring Flite. I ask a woman to hold out her hands palm down, and I take a look at her ring(s), in the meantime doing the "dirty work." Then I do my ring flight routine. Then when I do Double Cross, it has been "ages" since I was anywhere near her hand, and neither she nor anybody else has any sense that I even approached, much less touched, her hand. Although it might seem risky to allow her (or him) to go so long with an X on their hand, hoping they will not notice it, I have found that in fact they do not notice it. And, believe me, after my experience with that 10 year old kid, I strongly emphasized the fact that I had not come anywhere near the spectator's hand, and that I am standing far back. This really elevates the impossibility and perhaps helps to complicate any idea that I "stamped" her hand, since I did it five minutes earlier, and I have emphasized my distance from her hands.

Finally.... would someone please check the cap that came with your gimmicked Sharpie, and see if it is a normal cap? Or does it have a kind of extra narrow tube inside of it. Because when I destroyed the cap on mine, it did have such a tube, and other Sharpies I have at home do not. I am wondering if that tube is purposefully built into the cap in order to further insulate the tip from contact with air that would dry it out faster. If so, I am going to need to get another cap or buy another complete Sharpie, I guess.