Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: A Little Good News by Anne Murray

Exquisite Review

One gimmick, four full color pages of instructions, a 15 minute streaming video, $85 bucks and one Exquisite Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Exquisite Review: Effect

A levitating wine glass that has elements of Zombie and Losander's floating table.

Exquisite Review: Method

A very simple portable gimmick makes all of this possible. The gimmick is very clever and can be easily added and removed from the glass that you are levitating. It needs to be hidden under a dinner napkin, dish towel, etc. It's a little knacky and will definitely take some practice to master the load and unload of the gimmick. This is not a beginners trick. It's more like an intermediate to advanced effect.

Also, the shape of your hands and size of fingers, etc. seem to have an impact on ease of handling the gimmick. After looking at the pictures in the written instructions and watching the video, I could not quite get my fingers to bend the same way as Losander's and Ammar's. I think it's just because of the shape of my hand. I was, still, able to get it to work, however.

They recommend you practice with a plastic glass/cup until you've mastered the handling of the gimmick. I agree. It will take some getting used to. Once you get it, however, you feel it and will be able to "get there" again each time.

Lastly, this will only work with wine glasses and lighter weight glasses, no coffee cups and no heavy glasses. It also works with plastic cups (not disposable ones — although, those would probably work too) — think Tupperware cups . . . that style of cup.

It does take a little bit of strength in your right hand — it only works with the right hand. You'll need to spend a fair bit of time disciplining your right fingers to operate the gimmick the appropriate way. Also, different glasses have different weight, thickness and height and will all take a little bit of a different knack. Since this is officially called "The Floating Wine Glass" I would recommend picking a relatively standard wine glass and practice the heck out of it. If you don't properly operated the gimmick, it becomes the gravity glass trick (a.k.a. the broken and un-restored glass).

Exquisite Review: Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy (both written and video) is absolutely accurate. In the video, you'll see a couple of obvious "cuts" in the footage. However, I assure you that these cuts did not hide anything. It was most likely done for the sake of time — The trailer is very short. They did nothing sneaky with their editing. They do a fair and accurate job of representing the truth.

Exquisite Review: Product Quality

The gimmick is very well made and will likely last you a life time. As mentioned in the method section, it's a little knacky to operate, but nothing that some practice and a little bit of patience won't cure. The written instructions are detailed and pretty clear, albeit a little bit on the technical side. The photographs are very clear. However, there's a weird little quirk. Due to the nature of the gimmick, it's sometimes hard to tell which way the gimmick is pointing in the photographs. It's kind of like that optical illusion where you can't tell which way the book is open — is it open toward you or away from you?

Exquisite Review - Weird Book Illusion

The nature and shape of this gimmick makes sometimes creates an optical illusion in the photographs making it a little tricky to determine the exact direction of the gimmick. It wasn't until part way through the video that I was finally convinced that I had the same gimmick they had. I thought my was twisted a different way. I thought maybe I got the left handed version of it or something — I don't know if they even make a lefty version. Speaking of the video, it's about 15 minutes with Dirk Losander and Michael Ammar. They briefly go over the handling, loading, unloading, floating, moving, basic gimmick operation and animation, etc.

They did a few close ups that finally gave me the clarity I needed to understand the workings of the gimmick. They also recommend in the written and video instructions to practice with a plastic/acrylic wine glass until you've learned to not drop the glass. My experience so far is that different glasses have different "feels" and therefore different "knacks" to acquire for proper/safe usage. However, it's very minor and is much more dependent upon how familiar you are with the gimmick. Watch the review video for more information about the types of glasses to use.

Because they recommend practicing with a fake wine glass, I felt it would have been smart to include a glass. A two second search lead me to Shatterproof Wine Glasses for $3.99 each at Bed, Bath and Beyond. That's retail. I imagine if they bought in bulk, they could have gotten an even better price. However, even at full retail price, add the glass for the extra $4.00 cost of goods, and mark the product up to $90 or $95 bucks. I think that would have made for a better product, particularly if they used the exact same glass in the video that they would have supplied. Then they'd be able to relate to (and help us overcome) some of the technical issues they may have encountered while using the very product you're getting. That aside, this is solid. It's just a little knacky, and will take a lot of practice.

Exquisite Review: Final Thoughts

If done properly, this can look very much like a miniature version of Losander's floating table. It's very portable, so if you have a dinner napkin handy and a wine glass, you can do this any time you have your gimmick on you. If you like the effect, and you're willing to put in the time, and you're willing to put in the time, and you're willing to put in the time, then you'll be very happy with this product.

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.

Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.

8 Comments

  • paul kresky says:

    I will not get this. Only so much spending money. But I always loved the zombie ball effect. Including the close-up versions. I combined close up zombie ball with a glorpy cloth to make the ball vanish at the end. Makes sense to people in the know. Seems like a great updated version.
    Another great review, Jeff. Thanks!!

  • Bob says:

    I know you said nothing sneaky went on during the cut in the ad trailer, but does the gimmick really attach to the glass so hands-off and easily?
    Looks like a good zombie style idea though. Great review 🙂

    Keep on keeping on

Your email address will not be published.

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.