Ghostly Linking Finger Rings by Joe Porper

Effect: The Linking Finger Rings is in the repertoires of many working pros, including Bruce Cervon, Billy McComb, Nick Lewin, and The Amazing Kreskin. The gaff used is most often referred to as a Himber Ring (after bandleader/magician Richard Himber), but it was actually invented by Persi Diaconis c. 1961, who was inspired by French magician Freddie Fah. (Fah linked a finger ring to the key ring of his linking ring set.) Anyone who has attempted to learn a Linking Finger Rings routine knows that the trick is not easy to master. Pete Biro writes, “Well, the Himber Ring isn’t easy to handle. It requires mastering a series of difficult sleight-of-hand moves, as well as good stage/audience management, and guts. And opening and closing a Himber Ring and making the multiple switches is not easy.”

The difficulty of working with a normal Himber Ring inspired Pete Biro to create a finger ring that could be opened and closed with one hand, and could be linked and unlinked without looking at the ring. Pete brought his idea to master craftsman Joe Porper, and the result is The Ghostly Linking Finger Rings, which incorporates Pete’s new-style Himber ring.

At $695, the Ghostly Linking Finger Rings isn’t cheap; nothing good ever is. For your seven bills you get the gaffed ring (which looks like a man’s gold wedding band), a matching ungaffed ring, a special gaffed mechanical pencil, a wooden box that holds all the props, and a 16-page instruction booklet. The routine is fairly standard: The magician borrows three rings from three different spectators. The rings are linked together, forming a chain of three. With the rings linked, the magician walk back to the three spectators who loaned their rings, and each identifies his property. One of the rings is released from the chain and returned to its owner. Now the mechanical pencil comes into play. The remaining two rings are placed over the end of the pencil. The two remaining spectators can see that their rings are actually linked. The rings visibly penetrate; the lowermost rings drops off into the magician’s hand. The rings are immediately returned to their owners (no switch). This final phase is the invention of Al Koran; the gaffed pencil does all the work.

Here are a few things you should know before you invest in this product. If the gaffed ring were examined close up, a spectator could spot “the work.” However, the way this routine is structured (and this is a parlor/stand-up routine) the rings are constantly in motion; it is unlikely anyone would be able to spot the gaff. You may need to make a slight adjustment to the mechanical pencil to get the rings to hang in a manner that looks correct. You should also know that there is a discrepancy in this final unlinking. However, by this point in the routine the spectators are so overwhelmed that the discrepancy sails right by. If you have never performed a Linking Finger Rings routine, you should perform due diligence and track down as much information as possible on the subject. (Joe Stevens has a video devoted to the subject.) You don’t want to spend a lot of money only to discover that you don’t like the trick.

If you are a pro or part-time pro who already performs the Linking Finger Rings, you will find that the Biro gaff provides an ease of operation that makes the whole routine flow effortlessly. The Ghostly Linking Finger Rings provides the Cadillac of gaffs, and is worth your serious consideration. 

(Michael Close – Magic Magazine, November 2004)
Text Source: michaelclose.com – click for details

Found something wrong? Help us improve things by clicking here!