Least Favorite Tenyo

Here you can talk about Tenyo subjects other than Performing and Collecting.
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Brett H
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Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:50 pm

I have a feeling I may have done this topic before. Ah well.

I like to stay optimistic about every Tenyo being usable in any sort of performance. But after learning that 'Money Cutter' is not exactly the most popular Tenyo amongst the community at large. It's inevitable that some Tenyo are just not as good as they could have been. I am curious to what other Tenyo also fit in the 'least favorite' or 'top 10 least favorite' list.

What are ones that are universally not liked? What are YOUR least favorites?
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SimonC
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by SimonC » Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:09 am

China surprise to me just looks crazy but it's more relevant in japan. check a video out and you'll get it right away. it's the kind of trick your uncle would crack out at a family meal, like pulling a coin from behind your ear. I'm sure done in the fight setting and off the cuff it could look quite cool. but for me it just looks to be a bit of a clanger.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by David DeTenyo » Sat Aug 08, 2015 2:38 am

To my surprise this question hasn't been asked on this forum, at least not to my knowledge. It must have been on TMC that a thread about this has been started in the past, I don't know for sure.

Anyhow, here are my 'BLEH' Tenyo tricks, in no particular order:
- Money Cutter, it is just not fooling anyone;
- China Surprise, looks akward where I live, but seems to be popular in Japan where you can tell a story about these dumplings;
- OH! NO, the idea is great, but it is so darn angle sensitive it usually doesn't fool anyone. More of a 'let me show you a cool illusion' kind of trick/thing;
- Cloud Money - could be me, but I just can't get this thing to look convincing ...;
- Ghost Card - this is actually a great illusion but oh so delicate, I'm afraid of using it;
- Mini Morphosis - WHAT? MINI MORPHOSIS? Yes. Dispite the great efforts and routines some members shared with us it just isn't something I use to fool people. CLING-CLANG-BANG!!! - did you hear the magic happen? Oh come on ... . It's obvious what's happening. And you can't give the lid, which is the suspicious part, out for examination. Sure, it's fun to perform, but I haven't fooled anyone with it.

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Richard W » Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:50 am

CLING-CLANG-BANG!!! - did you hear the magic happen? Oh come on :lol: :lol: :lol:
"let's continue on with this carnival-like atmosphere"

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Brett H
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Sat Aug 08, 2015 1:49 pm

Woah woah. I thought Mini-Morphosis was one of the few Tenyo that everyone unconditionally loved. I mean, that's why it fetches a high price tag, right?

Then again. CLING-CLANG! BANG!


I'll throw my hat in here.

I try to be REALLY careful with the Tenyo I get. I'm not so much a collector as you guys are because of how picky I am. But one has sneaked through the cracks:

- Hanky Penetration -

I tend to stay away from Tenyo with fragility issues, but I needed a Tenyo that worked with handkerchiefs. I checked out the video about 12 times and I couldn't figure it out. So when I got it and looked it the instructions...
'Oh s***'
Fragility issues, AHOY!
It's mainly why I'm seeking out a 7th Tenyo for my 'handkerchief' set. Because if it falls apart during a show, I'm sunk. It's clever, all right. But dammit, they got me.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Elliot W. » Sat Aug 08, 2015 10:06 pm

I never thought of Hanky Penetration as being that fragile. Although I can't say I have really worked it a lot.

I agree with Mini Morphosis that the sound kills it. Peoples reaction is always "What was that?" but it is not in my worst Tenyo list simply because I find it fun to play with. :)

One trick that does make my worst list is Magician's Finger. Never really figured out what to do with that.

I would put Cloud Money on there as well simply because it just doesn't seem like it is worth the effort to get it to look good.

I also never liked Illusion Truck. Just seemed a little too toyish and not that difficult to figure out although I think most people like it better than me.

China Surprise is not a bad trick really. If you think about it is isn't any worse than Silk to Egg. It's just that nobody knows what that thing is so you can't possibly perform it unless you are in a Japanese restaurant.

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by SimonC » Sat Aug 08, 2015 10:25 pm

The dumpling looks to fit in the hand more naturally than an egg for sure. I agree with Brett about hanky penetration, I'm always worried I'm going to snap mine too.
Brett if you're look g for a good hanky trick search out silk serenade it's great for the hospital shows and looks great too.
And I'm not going to make any jokes about figuring out what to do with a magicians finger
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Sun Aug 09, 2015 12:37 am

I'm assuming Magical Sushi is in the same line as Magical Dumpling; not popular in the states, but works wonders in Japan.

I actually have Cloud Mony, but haven't had the chance to mess around with it (as well as Ghost Lamp). I'll give 'Cloud a go this week. Just to see what the fuss is all about. Other than the fact that when I want to ale a picture of the tricks (as I've been doing weekly Tenyo reviews on another magic site); you really can't post a picture of what comes with Cloud Money.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Elliot W. » Sun Aug 09, 2015 1:09 am

I have done Magical Sushi with no problems as most people know what sushi is and besides, all the pictures are labeled. I don't know anyone that would know what that dumpling thing is.

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Sun Aug 09, 2015 4:08 pm

Cloud Money. Oh dearest me. Tell you what. I haven't got to working with Cloud Money yet.
I've been writing Tenyo reviews on another magic website (Theory11). This isn't meant to undercut this site, specifically the Focus on Tenyo section. I wrote few reviews and posted them, mainly to have an excuse to use the What I have and haven't had a chance to use and look them over with a critical eye. Since I have never broken out Cloud Money, and seeing it's rather bad track record; I'm completely interested.

I'll work with Cloud Money like a maniac this week and see what all the hullabaloo is about
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Brett H
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Tue Aug 11, 2015 6:27 pm

I've spent about a couple hours with Cloud Money.

It's not bad bad. I mean, a magician fooler, it is not. But I think the effect is good. But I think it's better suited for a younger audience.

There are several prerequisites that I think are part of the problem.

1) you need clean hands
2) you need a fresh bill (adults would look at you funny using a fresh-from-the-bank bill instead of a borrowed bill or one from your own wallet. I don't believe kids would take note of this sort of nuance).
3) because of both of the above, it's best suited as one of the first effects in a routine. And the problem is that it MUST be one of the first effects if you're going to use the same bill.

I'll have to look into it, but I really think the only way to make the effect work is to use an effect before it that allows the bill to be nice and crisp. Something like Money Shock, perhaps. I think it's neat, in the sense that it was built to do what it does and have the ability to end clean.

The practice, yeah, took me a bit to get down the nuances to make it look neat. Well, sort of. It is tricky, but I think it's much easier than say, Impossible Pen or Money Splash.

I think that Cloud Money does indeed have several weaknesses. The big one is that it's better suited for kids. You also have a lot of damning prerequisites and you need to put some time into it.

For you with more sizable collections: COULD you do Money Shock, pull out 'the bill' and do Cloud Money as your next trick?
Where's my colon?!

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by magicjeff » Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:30 pm

Magicians finger...HAH

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Wed Mar 08, 2017 9:11 pm

That would be a no brainier for me. Flying Carpet is the worse because no magician would be able to do it in front of a big audience without buying enough of them to give everyone a pair of those freaking glasses. Needless to say, it wouldn't exactly work on America's Got Talent because not only would you have to give everyone in the audience a pair; but you'd have to rely on the home audience having a 3D television; and those things are expensive. Ghost Pet is another one that I don't care for. I don't have mine anymore, but you'd have to pay me to take a replacement.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by BluBob » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:47 am

Magical Sushi???

I dunno, I gave up and ate mine ...
and now, on with the show ...

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SimonC
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by SimonC » Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:53 am

Dude that's gonna hurt on the way out
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Peter G
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Peter G » Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:13 am

SimonC wrote:Dude that's gonna hurt on the way out
hahaha!

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:04 am

I can understand someone not liking Oh No because sometimes people can figure it out; but if you want to creep someone out, you could use some food coloring in a small squeezable apparatus, palm it, and make it look like you're bleeding when you do it. I was creeped out when I went to see the Illusionists because one of them did a trick where he ate a Lifesaver and made it look like it was coming out of his neck. I wish I knew how he did it, and I'm not just saying that because I'm curious as to how it was done. I'm saying that because if I knew how the creepy looking ones were done, it wouldn't bother me to watch.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by magicjeff » Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:37 am

Jason...look for a DVD called saw by Sean fields and the magician who performed it is a great friend of mine..dan sperry

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:00 pm

I'd need a book because I can't get the DVD player and the DVR system hooked up to my analog TV at the same time.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:57 pm

I did a little google search and may have figured out how the trick was done. I'd hazard a guess, but I don't want to break the rules about revealing secrets.
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Peter G
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Peter G » Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:48 am

Jason,
You seem to be so focused on 'figuring out' the trick and 'fooling' your audience. For most of us, that's not the reason we like Tenyo. Many Tenyo are very easy to figure out, but are a lot of fun to handle, to look at or, with a good story, show to some spectators. If they are impressed, very well, but that does not always have to do with them being fooled. In fact, a lot of spectators do not like to be fooled, it makes them feel frustrated. For example when I go out and see a big illusion show I know how 99% of the illusions work. So if I went there to be fooled I would be very disappointed. But if I just enjoy the show and the art, I'll have a great evening! The same goed for buying tricks: if you only want to know the secret, you'll be disappointed since almost every trick is in her basic form very simple. It's all about the show you can make around it that makes it interesting or just flat out boring.

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Fri Mar 10, 2017 10:58 am

I can understand what you mean up to a point; but if you're on a show like America's Got Talent, you do have to be able to put on a convincing performance that'll baffle your audience, especially before you get to Radio City where people at home can call in and vote. If you do a trick that the judges have seen like five billion times and may even know the secret to, chances are you won't make it very far. It's also a good idea to have a completely different illusion for the next performance if given the chance to go on the show again. After all, if you go all the way and get called to put on a one hour show in Las Vegas, then obviously you're going to have about an hour's worth of magic. Let's say I had a lot of money and paid for David Copperfield's flying illusion. It's a good trick, and I know how it's done thanks to Valentino; but if I did nothing but flew for an hour, chances are the audience would get bored.
God bless, Jason Irelan

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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:57 pm

Truth be told, A LOT can baffle the audience. The real difference, in regards to these talent shows, is if the magician is more entertaining.


Look at Piff. He did a card to Impossible location (dog food can). Impossible location is an ages old archetype that can be done any number of ways. But most importantly, he and Piffles made the whole act entertaining. And that's what matters most.
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Jason » Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:12 pm

I remember Piff, and he was funny at times. I liked the way he used Heidi Klum once and did a trick where he was supposed to be wrong on the first card she picked, and he said that she picked the wrong card or something. I have ideas on how to do tricks so that there would be some entertainment involved. If I was booked to do a show where I was performing 4 Dimensional Trunk, I would not only use Doctor Who patter while doing; but I would try to have the theme song to the show playing. There are two main kinds of magic, illusions that magicians do and Hollywood magic where they make it look like Melissa Benoist is flying through the air as Supergirl or a science fiction monsters are eating people. I don't get as concerned with trying to learn about Hollywood special effects as I do with magic tricks. It would be nice to learn how special effects work, but I'd rather learn as many secrets to illusions as I can.
God bless, Jason Irelan

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Brett H
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Re: Least Favorite Tenyo

Post by Brett H » Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:24 pm

Learned g secrets to tricks is fine. But in terms of the entirety of a magical performance. About 20% of it is the actual trick.
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