SkyCap
Dancy, Luke; Harris, Paul, Linian, Alex; Jadguar,
Paul Harris
You start with NOTHING IN YOUR HANDS but an empty water bottle and it's cap. You tightly screw the plastic cap onto your bottle. It's really screwed onto the bottle and doesn't come off. The flat white top of the cap is seen to be normal, solid and trust worthy.
You turn the bottle upside down so the cap's toward the floor..then take a normal straw (or pen or rolled up dollar bill)...and SLOWLY push the straw up through the center of the cap and completely INTO the sealed bottle!
Rap your knuckles on the cap to show it's still solid....and immediately hand the capped bottle out for examination. Your hands are empty. A spectator can unscrew the cap, pull the straw out of the bottle...and EXAMINE EVERYTHING!
No Hands SkyCap: Move the capped bottle of water up to a straw in your mouth. The end of your straw penetrates the cap and goes part-way into the bottle...where you weirdly TAKE A DRINK through the cap with the straw!
No Bottle SkyCap: You don't even need a bottle for this one. Tightly wrap the cap in a paper napkin and push a pen right through so it TEARS the paper and PENETRATES the cap!
And yes, you always end with the SAME CAP immediately being examined!!
No Switches
Nothing to get rid of
Start and finish with empty hands
Easy to do
Use your own normal Aquafina water bottle (or other bottle that fits the cap).
Complete with Alex Linian DVD tutorial, custom locking SkyCap gimmick, and extra matching normal caps (for every now and then when you want to leave a cap with your audience).
100% gimmicked!
100% EXAMINABLE!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
In the late 1960’s Presley Guitar invented the Cigarette Through Quarter trick. Ever since then, cigarettes, pencils, straws and other objects had pierced, penetrated and otherwise breached numerous types of objects. Now, Luke Dancy along with Paul Harris presents Skycap. Skycap is a penetration effect where the object of choice penetrates a water bottle cap cleanly and can even be handed out for examination.Effect
The performer takes a water bottle and shows that it is a solid water bottle. He even takes the cap off and pours out a little water to show all is fair. Then with willful intent he takes a straw and penetrates the solid cap within full view of the spectators. They see the straw entering the bottle and with a shake, the straw is trapped inside, the cap is still in place. An amazing performance of a solid object penetrating another solid object without any damage to either one.Method
If anyone knows Paul Harris then just about anything released by him must involve some amazing and creative gimmick. Of course, Skycap is no exception. The cap and its clever construction allows you to perform this interesting and puzzling piece of magic. There is no sleight of hand to speak of but one will need to practice the choreography to make this piece look convincing. In theory, the cap never has to be taken off the bottle and can be passed around for cursory examination.Product Quality
The cap is engineered and made extremely well. Some care has to be taken when performing because it can be damaged if not handled correctly. The cap is designed as best as possible so it can be inspected casually. Naturally one would not want to encourage close examination as you wouldn’t with any gimmick. The DVD is a combination of CGI and live demonstration with virtually no talking. The instructional DVD is just shy of an hour and covers several routines. There are no clothing requirements which makes this something that can be performed in any environment.Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is accurate. Under most conditions the items can be examined. I would venture to say that when passing the cap around, I wouldn’t let someone inspect it too long because there is something odd if they scrutinize the underside of the cap.(Top ▲)
The DVD does a decent job of teaching the effect, however there are some small issues I have. For starters, the performances are in front of people in the lobby of the Luxor in Las Vegas who are obviously being coached. This is particularly tipped off by the fact the same kid is in two different performance clips of two different variations of the same effect. It would have been nice to see this in action in a party, or picnic situation, which is where many of the purchasers of this effect will be performing it. This situation made it feel staged, and left me feeling cold.
The teaching is done silently with text on the screen, silent shots of mostly just the performers hands, and some CGI graphics. This also left me could. With so many names attached to this project, it would have been nice to have one of them step up, and offer to ‘take my hand’ in a sense. This left a cold, almost mechanical approach to teaching magic. The great teachers on DVD make you feel like you are there with them, and no one even got the chance to in this.
Gripping aside, this effect really is quite good. The gimmick locks and is completely examinable. The effect looks good, and is quite deceptive. Perfect thing to take with to a house party, or outdoor picnic. It looks impromptu and definitely gives the strong impression that the performer is just creating this miracle in the spur of the moment!
The price is a little steep in my opinion, but the fact this looks exactly as it does in the demo, contains a custom made gimmick, and is something you will almost certainly use, the asking price is just a small investment in the long run.
(Top ▲)
Legitimate Ad Copy: Check
Hot Chick with Blue lips and Blue fingernails on the cover: Check
Backed by Paul Harris: Check
Awesome Bang for your buck: Check
The ad copy pretty much tips the method, so I'll be a little more open than I normally might, when discussing the method. First, watch the trailer. What you see is what you get. There are no funky cuts to hide the method. It's totally legit.
Production quality is top notch: clear explanations, good lighting, excellent close up shots, clean editing, etc., etc., etc. The only thing that was a bit of a bummer was that the entire teaching is done with text on the screen. It was sometimes a bit hard to keep up with the text and watch the footage at the same time. Other than that, I have absolutely no issues with the DVD quality and your the ability of the viewing magi to learn the effect.
In my mind, a product like this comes down to one major thing: how well made/easy to use is the gimmick. In this case: Check!
Don't get me wrong; you'll definitely need to get in tune with your gimmick and spend some pretty heavy time practicing, but once you've put the work and time in, you've got a killer effect that you can do pretty much anytime and anywhere, as long as you have your cap with you and there's a bottle of Aquafina (or similar bottle) kickin' around, you're good to go.
The gimmick will definitely withstand a casual inspection. In the trailer, you saw Luke Dancy hand the bottle out to a spectator who removed the lid, dumped out the water and then replaced the lid. You'll have problem with that because they have no idea what's coming. However, after the penetration is over, there is likely to be much more of a desire to really closely examine the cap. Depending on how well your gimmick locked after you perform the effect, you may be taking a minor risk here.
However, there are plenty of different handling techniques that increase the liklihood that your gimmick is truly (and safely) locked in place. Just make sure you're very familiar with how your particular gimmick looks and works - I imagine that each gimmick is a little bit different.
Finally, you'll be taught several handling pointers and presentational ideas. By far and away, the best handling is Sean Fields's handling. It looks like you're really seeing everything . . . including the top of the lid at the very last second of the penetration, and you don't have to lock the gimmick because it's already done at that point.
Considering that you get a locking cap gimmick, an extra locking "thingie", 5 normal "duplicate" bottle caps (in case you do want to do a switch and let them keep it) and a well made instructional DVD, and more . . . how can I NOT recommend this, especially at the asking price of $40 bucks.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!