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Drawing on April 1st, 2024
Details

Lady Bug

Paul Vigil, Paul Harris and Roy Kueppers

(Based on 3 reviews)
For that make-or-break performance when nothing but the creation of life will do!

Effect

You bring the crowd in close, then open a small pocket knife. Your hands are otherwise empty. The blade is seen to be normal.

Placing blade on bare flesh, you pierce a fingertip and squeeze out a single drop of blood.

Again, both hands are seen to be completely empty except for the single drop of blood on your fingertip.

You carefully show both sides of a fingertip from your other hand...and slowly press it down onto the drop of blood. You silently wait there for a moment...fingertip to fingertip. You slowly lift one finger...and the drop of blood is gone! In its place, perched on the end of your finger, is a living breathing ladybug!

The creation of life...on the tip of your finger.
  • Start and finish clean.
  • Practical, easy, real world handling.
  • Resets with another ladybug in 30 seconds.
  • Neither the performer nor ladybug is harmed during the effect!
  • Alternate "non-bug" presentation to transform the drop of blood into a tiny heart.
  • No actual piercing of flesh is required.
  • Optional handling leaves the ladybug sealed inside a clear plastic bag.
  • Includes custom-engineered knife, carrying case, and instructional DVD.
  • Ladybug resource guide: You can easily obtain enough ladybugs for hundreds of performances. The ladybugs are shipped in a self contained package and require no feeding or care.

Reviews

Dr. J. M. Ayala De Cedoz

Official Reviewer

May 15, 2015

There are a lot of presentational possibilities with this effect. It is strong and a provides a great way to connect with your audience in a way that most other effects do not allow or cannot allow.

I have always been a fan of using butterflies in magic effects or at least effects with a butterfly theme. This one is a bit more acheivable because it uses ladybugs.

The props that come with the DVD are custom made by Roy Kueppers, are very well made and are of great quality.

The quality of the DVD is iffy - the main instruction section is the best of them with pretty good video and audio quality, but the bonus sections were shot with a home video camera and the quality was poor. You still learn everything and the instructions on the whole DVD are among some of the best and most thorough you will ever see.

It also has a few sections that give you hints and tips which, depending on your screen resolution, may be hard to read because it is red text on a black background. These are excellent tips too.

On top of the great instruction, you get a few resources on where to find/buy ladybugs and how to care for and handle them.

The ad copy for this product is 100% accurate, though there is one teeny problem I had with it. The ad copy states that you receive a certificate that will allow you to send for live ladybugs. I received no such thing in my DVD case, but seeing as this product is quite old, I can understand that it may have been limited or the company may no longer be around or whatever. I just wanted to point that out because it is not really an issue as they give you a few resources and ladybugs are not expensive at all. You can even get them at your local garden shop, Lowes or even Home Depot from the gardening department.

If you do not like ladybugs, they give you lots of other ideas on what do use for production items in place of them.

One small thing that may throw some people off is the size of the blood droplet after you 'poke' your finger with the knife. Though it is by no means "obscenely large" for a drop of blood, but if you were doing this for real, it would likely not be as big. The size of it will not be noticed by most people except those that check their blood sugar levels on a daily basis and perhaps, medical personnel that see this sort of thing regularly. I would say that it is not really an issue, especially if you put some acting into the presentation.

The effect itself is easy to do and as I said before, the presentation possibilities are endless.

The ad copy and video trailer are 100% accurate - what you see/read is exactly what happens and if you like what you see or read, you will not be disappointed with this.

Highly recommended! 5 stars.
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Sherwood

Apr 12, 2011

I use this excellent effect with a religious theme as I am an ordained minister. The props are great and the effect is awesome. The reactions that I get are incredible. Just find a good reason for cutting your fingertip and you have a miracle in your hands! Literally!
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Bryce Kuhlman

Official Reviewer

Jul 02, 2007

As a teenager, I dreamed of having an effect like this. I was more into butterflies, but the ladybug is a lot more practical.

What can I say? It's a wonderful piece of magic. You produce a miracle in a seemingly unprepared situation.

The props are custom made and the quality is excellent. The DVD instruction is some of the best I've seen. They cover preparation, basic handling and plenty of alternates. You'll also find lots of tips on how to acquire and care for the ladybugs.

And if ladybugs creep you out, there are plenty of other effects you can do with the same props. Basically, anything the size of a blood droplet will work as a "production item".

I have only one, very tiny gripe about the product. There were several sections of printed "hints" on the DVD. They were done in red on a black background and were nearly impossible to read on my TV. Granted, I've got a little 32" tube TV, but still…

For any of you that purchase this, I have one piece of advice. Find a friend that has diabetes and checks their levels on a regular basis. My wife does this about four times a day. Use them as a model for what it actually looks like to draw a droplet of blood. The performances on the DVD were fine for an average person, but lacked a certain believability for those of us that see this type of thing every day.
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