I will be reviewing Pinnacle by Russ Niedzwiecki ($17 at Penguin) and Rhing Thing/Found Link by Vincent Mendoza ($21 at
http://flipsideproductions.com). I am reviewing them together because they both involve linking a finger ring to a rubber band and are best incorporated into the same routine.
If this type of impromptu effect interests you, then I would highly suggest purchasing both of these. Both use ordinary, ungimmicked rings and ungimmicked rubber bands. The secret is in the handling which Mr. Niedzwiecki and Mr. Mendoza have worked out, and which is, in both cases, very impressive.
Pinnacle provides you with a full routine in which the rubber band (RB) penetrates the ring so that they appear to be linked; penetrates the second band of the RB so that the RB is inside the ring; penetrates the band again so that the RB is again linked, and then is pulled off the RB. Russ presents a final phase in which the magician appears to throw the ring onto the RB and shows the ring to hang from the RB. This phase is NOT impromptu and is very angly. It also requires you to use a duplicate ring that is identical to the one used in the first four phases. Accordingly, I don't usually perform this phase, though if the conditions are right, it is an outstanding convincer.
Overall, this is a very strong routine on its own. The whole thing takes approximately thirty seconds to perform and proceeds logically from one phase to the next. The only problem I have with Pinnacle is that, unless you perform the final gimmicked phase, the ring cannot be shown clearly dangling from the RB when linked to one band. That is where Rhing Thing comes in.
Rhing thing is, quite simply, an excellent way to convincingly show the ring (or any other linkable object) linked to the rubber band. The ring appears to be hanging from the RB, just as in the final phase of Pinnacle, but without the need for the setup and gimmick. Rhing thing proceeds naturally from the second phase of Pinnacle, in which both bands of the RB are inside the ring. If you don't use Pinnacle to get to this point, you will have to thread the RB through the ring, which might seem unnatural. The moves taught by Mr. Mendoza really do allow for a convincing presentation of the ring linked to the band.
The one complaint I have about Rhing Thing (and even Pinnacle to some extent) is that not every RB will work. You will need a thin and very stretchy RB to make these look right. While you can get away with using most RB's with Pinnacle, many RBs simply will not allow for a convincing presentation with Rhing Thing. This won't be a problem if you intend to carry around your own RBs, but might be if you plan on doing these impromptu.
Pinnacle is taught on a DVD and comes with two RBs which meet the above criteria. The DVD is generally quite good, though I did have to stop and step through frame by frame a few times to see exactly what Russ was doing. Nevertheless, the presentation is professional and quite adequate.
Rhing Thing is taught through a PDF manuscript from Mr. Mendoza. The PDF is plenty long with many helpful pictures. While I would have preferred a video (and I understand that one is in the works), I thought the PDF was adequate to teach the necessary moves. Mendoza also teaches an effect called "Found Link" that uses many of the same moves as Rhing Thing, but teaches you to link and unlink two RB's instead of a finger ring. As stated above, if you play around with these moves for any amount of time, you will become proficient at linking just about anything with a hole in it.
While I know we can't all afford to buy two effects at a time, I believe this is one time when one effect compliments the other so well that a double purchase is justified. If you must purchase only one, I would start out with Pinnacle since it does provide a full routine, and then pick up Rhing Thing when you get the money. By then, there may even be a DVD.
