Bottle Production
Penn, David
Wizard FX Productions
This was David Penn's opening routine when he won 'The Magic Circle Close Up Magician of the Year' and 'The IBM Close Up Competition' and the reactions are guaranteed. David Penn's Bottle Production gimmick allows you to produce a bottle in the most impossible of conditions. You don't even need to wear a Jacket! If your style is shirt over T-shirt, this will work too. If you wearing a Jacket you could open it up fully right before the production. There is nothing to see!
The instructional DVD supplied also teaches you how to produce two bottles using the same gimmick and David also teaches his full commercial routine. This includes the production of the spectator's very own drink!
David Penn's Bottle Production is a great stand-alone piece of high impact magic or it is a great finale to one of your existing routines.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
For $40 bucks you get a sock, 8 safety pins and 45 minutes of instructions on coin tricks . . .
The "sock" is actually very well made and very sturdy and made to hold a heavy bottle full of liquid. However, you have to pin the holder to your shirt . . . I'd be a bit concerned that the safety pins will rip or shred my shirt due to the weight of a full bottle. However, Penn has a great idea for making the bottle look full when it's not. I'd go that route.
The Ad copy claims that you can produce two bottle using the same gimmick . . . That's entirely false. The gimmick can only handle one bottle. The second bottle is produced from somewhere else, and not the gimmick. In fact, this is a gimmickless production that many performers have used in some way, shape or form for years.
The DVD teaches you David Penn's routine and Craig Petty's routine. In both cases, you're essentially learning a coin routine that is used for misdirection's sake. Once the coin trick is over and everyone relaxes you produce a bottle. Though it's shocking and surprising it's kind of a weird moment to produce a bottle for no reason. However, it'll be up to you to decide how you work this into your act.
Penn had a few cool tips and pointers that the working pro will appreciate. The "sock" is good quality, but other than that you're basically paying $40 bucks for about 10 minutes (if that) of a quick walk through of the use of the sock, and then the balance of time (about 30 or so minutes) learning coin magic.
If you're looking for a wine bottle holder for a bottle production, this one's worth considering, but all in all, I think this is basically on over priced sock with a few cool ideas and a couple of pretty standard coin tricks.
Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem . . . with a little "g."
(Top ▲)
The biggest difference between this bottle production and others is that the bottle load is not hidden in the same spot as in Bob Read’s classic production or the popular Splash production. One of the biggest benefits of this difference is that by combining methods one could then produce two bottles over the course of one’s act. Anyone who has used Bob’s wonderful production will also appreciate that David’s method is more comfortable and less vulnerable to flashing.
The instruction on the DVD is thorough and includes a number of applications and ideas, as well as a coin routine that can be used as an excellent lead in to the production. Most of the ideas are additional ways to use the handkerchief that will eventually be used to produce the bottle, and while some of these have seen print elsewhere, they are useful in this context, and there are several new ideas that are quite clever and interesting. The coin routine mentioned is a version of “The Expansion of Texture” with some twists and ideas added to it. It should also be mentioned that the production can quite easily be done in a close up setting, though the reset cannot be done in full view.
The included gimmick is of high quality and is specially constructed for this application, allowing for secure storage of the bottle, while still insuring it will remain out of the spectator’s view. It is important to note that while it is possible to produce a full bottle using this method, doing so means the production should be done at the beginning of one’s act versus the end. My only concern with the gimmick.is it wearing out over time.
It should also be kept in mind that while simple in execution, staging, blocking and misdirection are critical in making this production as effective as possible (just as it is in all bottle productions). Unlike other productions that happen in full view, Mr. Penn’s production requires a slight body turn that can be easily over emphasized. While it might seem that the off beat found in the routines and lead ins taught would cover anything, subtlety will take the production from surprising to impossible.
While there are a number of bottle productions on the market, this is a strong contender offering several advantages. In particular, if you want to delay the production or produce two bottles in your show, David Penn’s Bottle Production is an excellent solution.