Hi..
I have a disparate set of tricks involving rings...for example, using Sankey's "Leaving Home" -- which uses a key -- I use a ring instead; several "ring thing" effects from Garrett Thomas [I believe he is the creator]; a Harkey ring through finger; a Chad Long effect that appeared in "Magic" magazine many years ago, using the striking vanish of a ring on a finger.
Any suggestions on how to integrate these effects, what to use and what to leave out, and what to finish with?

thanks, fib

You have enough sleights to work with.
Think of a presentation, patter and decide what sleights work best with it.

I end by knotting the ring on the center of a shoelace.
I then cause it to vanish and appear elsewhere.
If I have Dushek's "Ringer" it will be found on the key ring.

Curtis Kam has a set of lecture notes in which he suggests a method for determining what sort of presentation a trick should have. Perhaps he'll let us know where they can be found, assuming they are still in print.

I suggest that you ask what you want the trick to be "about" and that should help to choose the presentation and the effects that fit the presentation.

If all the presentation is about is "look at how clever I am" then you can do pretty much whatever you want. Just end with the most impressive thing you can do and keep it short.

If you have something to interesting to say (that is express) with the trick, you can make it longer...

Did someone mention my name?

fib, the basics I'm sure have already occurred to you. In a series of penetrations on and off a wand, or string, or your fingers, it would probably be a mistake to pass the ring on, then slide it off just to put it on again, then slide it on just to magically take it off. Why not set up the routine so that the ons and offs are all magical, and each sets up the next?

Garrett does a good job talking about the presentational choices he's made for the Ring Thing on his Ring Thing DVD. Hs wants it to look like incredibly fast sleight of hand, rather than magic. He does other effects with the same principle that are intended to look more like magic, and they do.

My lecture notes suggest a systematic way of looking at the effect, and the possible choices for a presentational mode (I claim there are only three) and how to choose the optimal mode for a given effect. The notes also teach a bunch of neat coin effects and give full presentations for five routines, I think. The booklet is called "Dangerous Notions" and it may still be available from our friends at Themagicbakery.com. Or PM me if you're interested.

One last hint that's not in the notes. If you've got a good tight routine, and there are still sequences you want to include, don't. It's better to have two or even three good routines. That way, you have something for repeat customers.

Thank you very much -- I've just sort of hit on a presentational theme: many people think of rings as ornamental and sentimental -- when in fact, for others, they really represent key passages of time -- very stressful times. Toe rings -- pre-teen years. Adolescence: piercings. Twenty-somethings and romantic breakups. Marriage. Being left at the altar. Rings that won't come off: fingers that get too fat with the onset of middle age. Winning a Super Bowl. [Hell, I don't know]. fib