Dani: It is funny how I have both an 8 foot guillitine and the Impossible Penetration. I never thought of using the Impossible Penetration in my stage shows until once show I forgot to load in the guillitine and so figured why not just try the Impossible penetration on stage and use my comedy routine. It played incredibly well and the audience had no problems seeing and understanding what I was doing. The key was not so much the penetration effect as it was the comedy and the jopurney I take the audience on to get to the final effect. It worked so well, that it now has become a signature pieceof my show. I have added to the routine over the years, but it still plays just as well now as it did back then and packs much smaller.

Kyle

Donald,
Just read this.
What a story.
What "advice" did you give the mother?
Peae,
Parson

Well I would never never us either the arm or head chopper for a childrens show .....ok you can make it very comical but as I have said before here children like to copy what they have seen especially if it is in real life and not a cartoon ! If you want to do an illusion then the head twister is Ideal and can be made more funny in my opinion. And they cannot see the working it is not like seeing the knife or blade go through the arm.
Derek

Derek,
I'm not agreeing with you on this one.
The head twister might indeed play comicaly well but every time I pull my little thingy out (I'm talking about my hades), every hand goes up in the air as if that is what they have been waiting for the whole show (especialy the 7 to 9 year olds).

I do this close up and on stage and, like Kyle, this is one of the highlights of my show.
Infact, thinking back, I remember when I was a kid - the tenyo plastic see through model was one of my first "professional" props that I owned and used it for years on my young friends.

never, in all my born performing days have I ever heard of any negetive feedback or of youngsters trying to copy this effect at home.

There is great entertainment value in this material and a good history lesson on the use of guilotines and also tutorial on magic being an art that is learnt and shouldnt be tried at home unless the secret is known.

If you havent tried or tested a finger guilotine in your show, I highly reccommend trying. Infact, any item with any entertainment value should be tried at least 3 or four times throughout your career in order to upgrade yourself and your show. Trial and error are great and you shouldnt be afraid of making mistakes. Also, as the old saying goes, - "if at first you don't succeed, try try again."

enjoy,
Dani