Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Stairway to Heaven by Mary J. Blige

Thumb Fun Review

Fifteen "special" little pieces of cardboard, 4 pages of instructions, $20 bucks and one Thumb Fun Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Effect

Show a small stack of cards (approximately half the size of business cards) to be blank on both sides. A card is "selected." You place your thumb on the stack of cards. A thumb print appears on the top card. Inside the thumb print is the selected card.

Method

The method uses misdirection and some basic handling of the cards that's taught in the instructions along with the special cards that are supplied. The cards are not gimmicked, so they can be examined after the effect is performed.

Thumb Fun Review: Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy mentions that Sid Lorraine created this effect and taught it to Doug Henning who "used it everywhere, including in some of his touring stage shows, showing it on a big screen behind him." I tried to get a hold of Doug on the Ouija Board to find out if that was true, but he wasn't home. I'll try later. For now, we'll have to take their word for it.

As for the claims about the effect and method, those are accurate and honest. The rest of the claims are not false per se, but they're definitely opinion, not fact. For example the claim that this is "[o]ne of the most novel and commercial card revelations ever invented . . ." is a claim that I think many people would disagree with, but alas, it is all opinion and therefore has no bearing on the final star rating.

Last, they claim that "the effect looks so good you will almost fool yourself." Um . . . based on the method, I'm not sure how that would happen. I mention this because it would be easy to assume, based on that claim, that the method happens automatically somehow. It does not. You must do some minimal handling of the cards and use some good old fashioned misdirection.

Thumb Fun Review: Product Quality

You are supplied with 15 small pieces of cardboard. All of them are blank on one side. Five of them are blank on both sides. The 10 that have something on them all have a thumb print. 5 of the thumb prints are blank in the center so you can write something that will later be revealed. Three of them have a playing card (3 different playing cards). One has the digits 1 through 9 on it, and the last one has the number two-and-a-half on it. Watch my review video to see them up close.

The cards are well made. They're much like glossy business card stock. They're slightly taller than a business card is wide, and their width is just shy of about half the width of a business card. The instructions recommend putting fanning powder or talcum powder on the cards to make handling them smoother. I didn't feel the need to do that. I was able to handl the cards just fine without that. Though they are well made, the printing on them is a little less than the quality you might hope for. Again watch the video for a look at the cards.

The instructions are well written. They clearly explain the method for making the thumb print appear. However, they do assume that you already know how to have the card "selected." They don't cover that. They cover a brief method for getting the spectator to think of two-and-a-half for one of the options. The card that has the digits 1 through 9 is used as a gag prediction. Think of any number from 1 to 10. It (and the rest of the digits) appear thumb-printed on the cards. As mentioned, the blank ones can be used for whatever you want. You'll have to provide your own "selection" process, however.

Final Thoughts

Lastly, there are a handful of thumb gags that Sid Lorraine used to do in his act. Unless you're a 75 year old Vaudeville act, don't use these jokes. They are clearly dated. There's much about this effect that feels dated, but I just can't quite put my thumb on it.

Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.

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