T-183 Impossible Pen

[JohnM]

Name: Impossible Pen

T-Number: T-183

Inventor: Lubor Fiedler

Year: 1997

[JohnM]

[JohnM]

Performed by SEO Magic


Performed by Botond.

[SimonC]

I remember first seeing this in the davenports catalogue whilst in there waiting to be served. The description of it seemed crazy (and it was accompanied by a hand drawn sketch instead of a photo)
The guy behind the counter tried to describe it to me and gave up half way through. He was like "well you get a pen in a pen case, and this other like, larger pen case and you take the pen out and get a scalpel out and cut a hole in the lid and the pen goes you know what it doesn't matter we've sold out any way."
I was intrigued and hit YouTube as soon as I got home. I love it as one of lubor fiedlers classic sideways ideas, a mad bubble that exists purely for the sake of creativity, fun and magic. It's bonkers really, but I love the thinking behind it.
The only problem is it's a little bit touch and go whether it works (I'm sure this thread will expand into successful performance methods, at least I hope so) when I first got it from eBay, it had NO INSTRUCTIONS so that was a fun afternoon. I read somewhere that lubors invented the trick after some 'magic materials' he'd been working with rolled off his desk and the duly vanished.
It's classic lubor, and mad as a box of frogs.

[Elliot W.]

I always found the trick fascinating but the routine seemed very awkward. There were just too many strange pieces and too much setup just to make the pen disappear. It just seemed to be a strange trick.
I much prefer the silk routine given in Tenyo's Hot Tips section.
http://www.tenyo.co.jp/magic_en/tips/ti ... l#Anchor05

To me it is a more natural and more magical way of doing it.
There used to be a video of that routine on ebay also but that seems to be another Tenyo Video that has mysteriously disappeared...

[David DeTenyo]

The only problem I have with this effect is the cheap, bulky look of the whole apparatus. This would be great to have in nicely decorated wood with a metal pen. The cover can be replaced with something else.
Nonetheless, great illusion of course!

[Rick]

I just recently got this and I think its great! At first it was kind of hit or miss until I reread the instructions. Its very important to have your pinky fingers resting on the front corners of the lid before lifting the cover. Once I did that my success rate went up to nearly 100%. It surprises me that this trick isn't more popular!

[VictorS]

My 1st impression : Stupid trick, the pen was over covered with that big purple plastic thing and it must be suspicious and it should be an idiot who cut the pen case with a plastic cutter.

My last impression (after having this trick in my hands) : WHAT THE .... !!! That genius old man Lubor Fiedler kicked my ass again with one of the best magic principal he has ever invented !!! I didn`t regret to spent my money on this.

[Greg C]

The oddball props always appealed to me. (Funnel Vision is a good example.) The plastic knife is totally out of place in this effect. Who uses a plastic knife to sharpen a ballpoint pen?

The result is patter about space aliens disguising themselves as pens and my doing an alien autopsy using a purple "splatter shield." Of course the alien is not completely dead. It escapes to its space ship that looks like a box.

[Rob Rand]

Great storyline Greg! I like it! Will definitely use it the next time. Reminds me of the X-files

[Greg C]

Thank you Rob Rand

[SimonC]

That would tie in nicely with the graphic on this box, if your version came in that one you could use it as photographic proof of the aliens existence

[SimonC]

...

[JohnM]

I love that graphic. It is like the ones used in the old Thurston and Keller Magic posters.

Here is a better image of the front of the package.

s1.jpg

[VictorS]

I saw no alien/devil works involved in the manual instruction. Hmmm.....!?!?!?!?

[SimonC]

It's pretty abstract for tenyo, but very cool

[ConorA.M]

When i first started performing this trick I often presented it as a penetration effect, which I discovered diluted its impact on the spectator. It was when I started presenting it as a vanish and reappearance that it starting receiving the full appreciation that it deserves.

One of Fiedler's best IMHO

[Brett H]

After Elliot pointed out to me that there is an alternate handling with this, I decided to actually open my copy of Impossible Pen instead of keeping it in the trade-box.
My daughter and I watched the video and she came up with a few different ways of how this one could be done. I reminded her of the other Lubor tricks we have and I told her that 'Lubor is a tricky one!'

And how tricky this one is! Good lord, it a rather involved piece.

Like all of Lubor's creations, this one requires a bit of practice to perform correctly.

I haven't yet been able to get to the alternate routine, but I'll make a video once I'm proficient in doing so (apparently, there is no trace of any multimedia of the alternate handling).

Lubor's stuff rank pretty high on my list, I gave it an 8 because it's not exactly the most compact of Tenyo effects--in fact it's one of the most space-consuming effects I have in any of my 3 children's routines. I'm not upset about the color schemes or the 'noisy' factor. These all, for me, can be easily worked around (plastic safety knife, and the noise is the magic happening); but the size of everything, to me, gives it a bit of a suspicious look.

Once you know the secret, you'll know that it diverts all attention away from what they THINK happens and that it really is IMPOSSIBLE.

But man, this is now my 5th Lubor effect, and boy am I sad that he passed away. Of all the Tenyo, I think I'm most excited finding out the secrets of his creations

[SimonC]

Here here, he was absolutely amazing

[Brett H]

All right. The alternate handling with the handkerchief. I believe it's so much better than the original handling.
You cut out half the props and I think it makes the effect much much stronger.

However, there's A LOT of little things that need to happen to get it to work that the written idea doesn't go into detail about. It practically needs its own tutorial.

If anyone is interested, I can make a video of what all would need to happen. As I'm now 3 hours into troubleshooting the best way to do this and I don't think troubleshooting the best performance for a Tenyo should take THIS LONG without assistance; considering the sometimes finicky nature of Impossible Pen.

If anyone is interested, let me know.

[SimonC]

could be the start of a new private members only section, a treasure trove of tenyo performance tutorials from us lot, you can make private vids on YouTube

[Brett H]

I'm so abnormally wary of YouTube.

I figure the best way to do it is how we send out English instructions: show your Tenyo with your username next to it.

Do that and instructional videos would be distributed by email.

[SimonC]

nice and I guess that would keep it only accessible to forum members.

[JohnM]

We have enough space to host videos on Funstuffonly that can only be access by Full Members.

If we every get to the point of needing that I will figure out a good way of hosting it.

[MadisonPresents]

I love this one. I found it on a trip to Vegas in 2011. I had so much fun with it in my hotel room. Talk about clever! I hate there isn't more Fiedler magic around. He was so brilliant.