This is my review of the Moving Tanline by Nathan Kranzo:
http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorderproduct.php?ID=8610You can see by the video what the effect looks like. Basically, the magician removes his watch to show a tanline underneath. He then places his hand over the tanline and begins to move it. The spectator sees that the tanline under the watch is gone. The magician continues to move his hand until stopping under his sleeve. The spectator can then pull the sleeve back to see that the tanline has moved up the arm and is now under the sleeve.
This is certainly an unusual effect, the marketing of which contains high praise from many well known names in magic, which is why I purchased it. It does look as it appears in the video, but I don't believe I'll be performing this much, if at all, for several reasons.
First, it requires substantial setup and, more importantly, a big part of that setup must be done shortly before you perform the effect. This might not be a big deal for some effects, but I think it is for this one. As Nathan acknowledges during his explanation, this is not something you would want to do as "Hey, look at my tanline. I can make it move. Watch!" It is much better if someone simply notices the tanline and comments on it, at which point you can go into the effect. But the necessary setup deprives you of the luxury of time. As the right opportunity will rarely arise in the brief window available, you will be required to force the issue, which will typically result in the less than stellar approach referred to above.
This is compounded by the second problem with the Moving Tanline. It is significantly affected by heat and humidity. In fact, when these are high, your "window of opportunity" shrinks substantially. In some cases (ironically, those in which this effect would be most suitable), you wouldn't be able to perform the effect at all.
I should note that Nathan does provide a bonus effect on the DVD involving a watch prediction. He suggests using this, or Banachek's Psychokinetic Time, as a lead in to the Moving Tanline, which would provide a reason for removing one's watch. The effect is similar to Osterlind's, but more streamlined. While this would address the problem mentioned above, it creates a different problem -- the mixing of two incompatible effects. Moving the tanline under your watch would, in my opinion, seem a bit hokey after a strong mentalism routine in which you appeared to psychicly manipulate the spectator.
All that being said, the DVD is of good quality and the effect itself is competently taught. The setup materials are cheap and readily available. The effect itself involves no real slights and should be accessible to all performers.
