Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Silent Night by Bon Jovi
David Penn: Tie Shell Review
One DVD, one set of "stuff" to make your tie shell gimmick and $47 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method
I think the title is self-explanatory. So rather than telling you what it is, let's talk about what it is not. It's not an instant and/or visual change. It's the kind of thing you do when you're able to block your body or turn around.
This is, of course, a very easy thing to do. It's the kind of deal where you draw attention to the color of your tie early on in the show/act, then later you draw attention to it again to reveal the change. When turning your back while a selected card is shown around, or while putting a prop back in your case, etc. you simply remove the shell. It takes just a second or two.
The method is, as the title explains, a tie shell. It's something you create that slips over your tie. With the DVD, you get a "thingie" that you use to help create your Tie Shell. You'll need to buy a tie that you'll destroy to make the shell. Once the shell is made, it can be slipped over any tie.
The construction takes about 10 minutes and is a little bit of a pain, but it's a one time thing. Once it's made, you'll use the same shell for your "starting" tie in the effect. However, the tie that it changes to can change with every performance.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is very fair and direct. The one thing I will point out, however, is a point of clarification about the claim that "The change at the end of the trailer occurs in real time! No Cuts or Edits!" This is true, and it is that fast. However, if you watch the trailer and see the change they're referring to, you would never actually do the change like that.
To cause the change to happen, you simply slide the shell off of your tie that you're wearing. The shell is then ditched in a bin, box, toppit, etc. In the video footage, the change happened while facing the audience and they would have seen everything. So just keep in mind that this is the kind of thing where you really need to be turned away from your audience for just a split second.
Product Quality
The DVD is well done. It covers everything you could possibly imagine about this effect. Yet it's not "too much." The gimmick itself is simple and will last forever. You have to supply your own tie and destroy one to create the rest of the gimmick, but everything you need to know about how to do this is covered in great depth.
Final Thoughts
This effect is not the kind of thing where you openly change the tie . . . "watch my blue tie become red" — it's not that kind of effect. It's more like, "check out my red deck of cards . . . it matches my tie . . . (you perform color changing deck) . . . look now the deck's blue . . . it matches my tie." Somewhere during the color changing deck routine, you turned away for a second while they showed their card around (or something like that). During that moment you changed the tie, but when you turn back around, they do not notice until you point it out. If you like that effect, you'll be very happy with this product.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.