Love the effect but having a slight problem. I shall try and word my problem accordingly being careful not to give away the secret.

The Last Phase - when making the pen vanish I often find I get ink on my skin. This doesn't bother me, but I find that other people find it suspicious. The ink is either on the tip of my index finger of underneath my watch strap. Does anybody have any tips? Greg didn't look to have any ink on him when he performed it on his dvd's (both off the cuff AND on the spot).

It's OK to put the cap back on the pen prior to that move according to the way Greg's Re-Cap is written up in The Art of Astonishment, Vol. 1.

If that is the case then the misdirection isn't as strong. I could try it though, what do you do to stop them looking at the pen though? Because this would be the 5th time they have been "had" if you wil, so they should be looking extra hard at what you're doing. I feel that is why the last phase works as well as it does.

I think it might be in the way you shove the pen into position. This is very difficult to describe, but take the pen at a flatter angle to that the sides of the pen (which are wider than the nib) ride along your skin, as oppose to the nib itself...

I hope that makes sense?

Kind thoughts,

K

Slightly off-topic but thought you might be interested. Have you seen Cultural XChange 2 DVD? Apollo has a fantastic version of Recap.

Its well worth a look.

TM

I use a bead elasticated bangle/braclet to slip the pen under - this is looser than a tight watch strap and the beads seperate as the pen goes in. I turn the pen so that the non-writing end of the pen goes under the bracelet so no pen marks on the wrist. I normally use two fingers to slide the pen under- not the tip of the first or second fingers and so haven't been bothered particularly by pen marks.

I don't wear a watch normally - I bought the bead braclet from a Shaolin Monk, honest. He was a Master ... a Master of Marketing!
They have Buddhist Chinese lettering on them. This may not match your persona, they don't match mine particularly!
Perhaps an elasticated watch band?

Hope this helps.

I always get marks on my skin, but have never had anyone mention it. It's actually kinda funny because I can do this effect 30 times in a night and I will ordinarily only have a few marks. It seems I hit the same mark several times

I could be wrong here but something sounds funny to me.

I don't see how the are seeing ink on the other side of your arm, and if they see a little bit of ink on your finger that should be a non-issue.

The cap is off of the pen basically the entire routine they should not suspect anything at all.

As for the last phase the second that pen makes it's apperance you should drop you're left arm and hand them the pen with your right, the end.

I thought rather than start a new thread, since this deals with the re-cap routine, I'd post my question in this thread:

This concerns the first and second bit actually. The cap, shown basically where it's suppose to be, then you pull it off, and lo' and behold, it's on the other end. OK?

Now, the second bit--the strike vanish. Boom, it's gone! Right?

(Now this has happened to me once, but it was real disconcerting and it was from these small kids.) They said, "It's in the other hand!" Meaning that it was on the other end of the pen JUST LIKE THE FIRST BIT!

It makes sense actually. Either these kids were especially astute or something, but it's making me routine the first bit entirely in a new way or to eliminate it altogether.

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

Do you mean they assume you just took the cap when you did the strike vanish? Or they think its stuck on the other end of the pen? If they think you grabbed it work on the vanish, if they think its on the other end of the pen like in the first phase just do a quick pen spin (or otherwise casually show both ends of the pen) after the vanish, that should dispel the notion.

Like kennedy said, the ink on the forearm can be minimized by shoving the pen under the watch strap at a softer angle. if you happen to be wearing a shirt with sleeves its not an issue.

after the strike vanish I don't linger, I do the all-around vanish and produce it from behind the knee. I also preface the second phase with, "now, this time the cap will really vanish. watch it go". hopefully, this stops them from thinking the same thing will occur.

These are all good suggestions to the ink problem. Personally, I have never had a spectator notice the ink. Maybe you should just work on not showing that part of your arm after the move. I watched my On the Spot DVD last night. If you look you will see in the performance, ANd explination there is actually ink on Greg's arm.

Regarding the first question, check to see if your watchband is too tight. I have small wrists so I have to crank the watchband and have the same problem, but I'm okay with it.

Regarding the strike vanish. If the spectator notes that the cap is in your other hand, just continue on with the around the body vanish and note that it's actually behind your knee. I think a pause creates the biggest suspicion has you give them a chance to question versus continuing on with the routine to reproduce it from behind your knee.

Regarding the pen mark.
I was practicing tonight and had nothing on my wrist.

I ended up gripping the blunt end of the pen at the base of the middle and third finger.
Althought the pen still points up your arm it is held at a angle from it. You can still do the baseball wave.
Does Baseball thing mean Home, Safe or Out? I'm more familiar with Cricket, old boy.

Try using the other end of the pen.

Yes, you have all the time in the world--as paulsmagic says, turn the pen around and put the blunt end in your wristband.

After the strike vanish, I still do the all-around vanish, but I don't produce it from behind my knee. I've never liked that. Instead, I produce it from the spectator's ear. After the next phase I say, "Oh, look, now it's in MY ear!" Then I do the rest of the phases. I also ended up with marks on my arm, but I started turning the pen around and it works out better for me to have the pen actually be produced with the cap on the right end.

I have this video and it is very good

Best to routine the effect with Doug Brewers coin from cap from the Unexpected Visitor book or DVD of the same name.

Hi I find that to but it doesn't worry me as it is near my watch band and my watch covrs most of it up.

Ricardo the Magician