Price$29.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryClose Up, Pyrotechnics
Date AddedSep 24, 2016
Finger Flasher
Jeremy Bracco
Bracco Productions
(Based on 1 review)
You can whenever you like produce a fireball in a dazzling flash!
This accessory is invisible to the public and can very discreetly disappear once the production of your choice is made.
It is also possible to charge this Finger Flasher with air bursts for even more impressive productions. Made with quality materials, this accessory is beautifully crafted and can be used with cotton flash dry (not supplied). This Finger Flasher will accentuate all your productions and will highlight any effect!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Before getting into what I like and don’t like, … this was a difficult review to write because the product came with NO INSTRUCTION whatsoever. While I have been performing magic for many years, I personally had never used any device that produces a flash from the hand. I suspect I’m not the only person who is not familiar with this effect. If you fall into that category, well then you will be discomforted to know that you won’t be disappointed if you were expecting no instructions. My English teacher would have loved that last sentence.
Before getting into the pluses and minuses of this product, I should give a brief explanation of what you get and how to use it since they don’t explain that. You get an elastic cord attached to a safety pin and a plastic device with a little triggering device, much like what is on a cigarette lighter. You place a small piece of balled up flash paper or flash cotton in the cup of the device, flick the trigger wheel and it creates a spark, igniting the flash paper. It doesn’t come with flash paper, you will need to purchase that separately. The way you hold it is to rest it against your ring finger and hold it in place with your thumb. It is designed to rest nicely against your ring finger, giving you the support to “light” it in performance.
WHAT I LIKE
It works very well and the design does have some good points. I will get more into the design in “What I Don’t Like”. It is designed with a plastic “cup” to hold flash paper and the device is ergonomically designed to rest on your ring finger for ease of use. It is also designed to vanish up your sleeve, something I haven’t seen in older versions of this device. Perhaps they exist, but I did not become aware of any in my modest research.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
Because I hadn’t used one of these devices before, I did a little research. For many years, there have been many designs of this sort of device. A very common design is a metal device that slips on one of your fingers like a ring. On the inside of your palm, it has a striking wheel just like a lighter has and a place to insert flash paper. Personally, I think the metal ring design is light years better than this more modern “ergonomically” designed plastic device. One of the big benefits to the older metal design is you can move your hand about more freely since the very tiny device fits on one of your fingers like a ring. With this new and “improved” design, you have to hold it. To be fair, this new design enables you to let go of the flasher and it will vanish up your sleeve. However, it could have been designed to be held between two of your fingers so you can still hold your hand in a way that doesn’t look like you are holding something.
The product is made of plastic and you are producing fire directly in contact with the plastic. I don’t know what sort of plastic this is made from, but I can’t help but think that in the long run, plastic and fire are not “friends”. I just can’t imagine this product lasting a lifetime as the older metal versions would.
There is no explanation for how to use this product, but once I figured out that it is as simple as holding it as you would a regular lighter, the method is pretty straight forward. However, since you have to hold the device, the method is not entirely clean.
The use of the item is fairly angle sensitive. Given you must hold the device, there is the potential that an audience sees something unusual even if they don’t see the product. I would think this would be best as an opener as you can’t do much with your hand while you are holding the device.
The instructions… hm… wait.. Oh yeah. There were no instructions. How lazy can someone be to put out a product and not put out any instructions? No safety tips, no handling tips, no clever routine ideas, nothing.
As for the ad copy quality… I can’t say much positive there either. It was vague about what the product is made of. It talked about how you can “charge this finger flasher with air bursts”. I have no idea what that means, and the average purchaser probably won’t either. The product comes with no explanation at all, so… obviously, no explanation about “air bursts”.
AT A GLANCE
Skill level required: 1 of 5.
Audience management skill required: 4 of 5.
Performance angles: You are holding a device much like a lighter. I suppose you could perform completely surrounded and it not be seen, or the audience could see that you are holding something from most any angle.
The reset time required: Couple minutes away from your audience.
The DIY time involved in advance: You will need to purchase flash paper or cotton and set it up in advance, a minute to set up.
VERDICT
I can’t say that I really like this one. I think there were better products designed in the past. I like that it comes with an elastic and you can vanish it up your sleeve, but perhaps a better adaptation to an old metal device would have been better than this plastic device. I didn’t like that it came with zero instruction.
Before getting into the pluses and minuses of this product, I should give a brief explanation of what you get and how to use it since they don’t explain that. You get an elastic cord attached to a safety pin and a plastic device with a little triggering device, much like what is on a cigarette lighter. You place a small piece of balled up flash paper or flash cotton in the cup of the device, flick the trigger wheel and it creates a spark, igniting the flash paper. It doesn’t come with flash paper, you will need to purchase that separately. The way you hold it is to rest it against your ring finger and hold it in place with your thumb. It is designed to rest nicely against your ring finger, giving you the support to “light” it in performance.
WHAT I LIKE
It works very well and the design does have some good points. I will get more into the design in “What I Don’t Like”. It is designed with a plastic “cup” to hold flash paper and the device is ergonomically designed to rest on your ring finger for ease of use. It is also designed to vanish up your sleeve, something I haven’t seen in older versions of this device. Perhaps they exist, but I did not become aware of any in my modest research.
WHAT I DON’T LIKE
Because I hadn’t used one of these devices before, I did a little research. For many years, there have been many designs of this sort of device. A very common design is a metal device that slips on one of your fingers like a ring. On the inside of your palm, it has a striking wheel just like a lighter has and a place to insert flash paper. Personally, I think the metal ring design is light years better than this more modern “ergonomically” designed plastic device. One of the big benefits to the older metal design is you can move your hand about more freely since the very tiny device fits on one of your fingers like a ring. With this new and “improved” design, you have to hold it. To be fair, this new design enables you to let go of the flasher and it will vanish up your sleeve. However, it could have been designed to be held between two of your fingers so you can still hold your hand in a way that doesn’t look like you are holding something.
The product is made of plastic and you are producing fire directly in contact with the plastic. I don’t know what sort of plastic this is made from, but I can’t help but think that in the long run, plastic and fire are not “friends”. I just can’t imagine this product lasting a lifetime as the older metal versions would.
There is no explanation for how to use this product, but once I figured out that it is as simple as holding it as you would a regular lighter, the method is pretty straight forward. However, since you have to hold the device, the method is not entirely clean.
The use of the item is fairly angle sensitive. Given you must hold the device, there is the potential that an audience sees something unusual even if they don’t see the product. I would think this would be best as an opener as you can’t do much with your hand while you are holding the device.
The instructions… hm… wait.. Oh yeah. There were no instructions. How lazy can someone be to put out a product and not put out any instructions? No safety tips, no handling tips, no clever routine ideas, nothing.
As for the ad copy quality… I can’t say much positive there either. It was vague about what the product is made of. It talked about how you can “charge this finger flasher with air bursts”. I have no idea what that means, and the average purchaser probably won’t either. The product comes with no explanation at all, so… obviously, no explanation about “air bursts”.
AT A GLANCE
Skill level required: 1 of 5.
Audience management skill required: 4 of 5.
Performance angles: You are holding a device much like a lighter. I suppose you could perform completely surrounded and it not be seen, or the audience could see that you are holding something from most any angle.
The reset time required: Couple minutes away from your audience.
The DIY time involved in advance: You will need to purchase flash paper or cotton and set it up in advance, a minute to set up.
VERDICT
I can’t say that I really like this one. I think there were better products designed in the past. I like that it comes with an elastic and you can vanish it up your sleeve, but perhaps a better adaptation to an old metal device would have been better than this plastic device. I didn’t like that it came with zero instruction.