Fish Appear is a pretty good effect which does what the manufacturer promises: an empty bowl covered with a silk or other item suddenly has a fish, rubber or real, appear in it. I have only performed this for the public a few times but it received a very positive reaction after a nice lead up about how cleaning waterways will help fish come back.

A few factors must be considered. The gimmick can make some noise during the production process. If you are in an intimate setting with 10 people this could be an issue. For the 40 person, lots-of-background noise setting I was in, the noise was not a problem (yes, background noise is sometimes helpful). The gimmick has some flex in it which may have contributed to the death of one fish. This may have been due to my inexperience so this is more a word of caution to the user rather than a condemnation of the product. On the very good side of fish welfare is the feature of the gimmick not being a tiny restrictive harness or other enclosure that severely restricts the fish.

Perky fish may sneak into view unless the gimmick is placed just right...practice is a big must. Fish size may also be important as larger fish would have a more difficult time sneaking into view. By "large" I am still talking about goldfish 1.5 - 2 inches perhaps. Angles were also an issue. Audience members at a 45 degree angle to left and right are at the edge of your safe zone. This is another reason this may not be a safe parlor trick. There are also some angle issues in terms of height. I calculated that if I had the bowl on a table and someone was standing up in front of me they would see the secret.

Given all of this I think that Fish Appear is a good trick for a setting bigger than parlor but less than Carnegie Hall. The bowl is not that big but the angles etc make it tough for parlor.