First is about the Needle Through Arm. I need to know if it's any good. From the looks of it, I want to get it but I'm going to ask you guys first.

Second is more of an illusion. It's the Phantom Clock. I need your opinion on this too, thank you.

As far as Needle Through The Arm goes, it depends on the maker. The Harry Anderson one is awful, so avoid that one at all cost.

The Needle Through Arm is a great effect but I can't do it as the skin on my arm is too tight. dpe666 is right, there are different manufacturers of the effect out there. Some are good and some are bad.

Give http://www.magicsmith.com a call. The people there will be more than happy to help you out and answer all of your questions.

Steven

The Phantom Clock is not an effect, it is a functioning timepiece that is an illusion. I have had one for about two years now and it is a nice item to have out on display.

I have the Needle Thru Arm and it is an awesome illusion. In my opinion, I believe the Harry Anderson version to be the best (sorry guys). I like the feel of it going through the flesh of my arm...He he he he he.

I got it and used it one year for a series of Halloween shows. The effect on the audience is unreal!!

It was a stage show so I had a stagehand with a camera and TV monitors on the edge of the stage so the audience could see a close-up but then once the needle was in...I walked down the two main aisles in the theater for a close-up look and then on the walk back I would fall to one knee, feeling faint from blood loss and "would require help from stagehands back on stage..."

People came up to me after the show to make sure I was alright. They really had no clue that it was all part of the show.

Be forewarned, I had a bad reaction to some of the prep work required. That is all I can say with out giving too much away.

It is a messy and time-intensive trick. I have never used it since that Halloween season.

I'll give it a try if geek magic fits...

All of the above contain truths. I personally like Harry's Needle. I've found no problem with the prop. The problem is the other one mentioned. When my skin was tighter and my arms stronger and harder, the trick did not work well. Twenty years later my body helped make the trick work better. It is a great trick!

I did add a step for making it more gruesome in the early 1980s. After removing the needle, do not clean up. Enlarge the hole and pull the needle out. Then I used a piece of 12-gauge copper wire about 16" long to push back through the hole. Next, twist the wire into a large ring. Let go and turn the ring to the floor to show it goes through the "hole". Rotate the outside of the arm toward the audience and pull the whole loop of wire straight toward the body. It looks like the flesh has been ripped to get the wire loop out. Now, clean up the mess and wait for the faint of heart to recover.

Messy? Yes!
Impressive? Yes!
For just any audience? NO!

I rarely get to do this trick anymore. College audiences love it.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

The needle trick is very good. God bless the perverted twist that invented that sucker! I used to do this as a major thread thru my Medicine Show, to prove the medicine was an effective pain killer. Built up to it several times thruout the show, finally did it for real towards the end. I had Carneys pulling Carneys over to look at it. They'd sneak behind to try to catch any fakey action, which they never saw.

I got tired of the delicate nature of the gafficus and ended up just using a nasty sorta-straight piece of coat hanger wire that I ground down to a point...and even used the needle thu balloon needle for awhile. Blood not necessary, and more hassle than it's worth at 4-a-day.

Sweet. Geeky on a stick. Get it.

Okay, I'll add my knowledge to this list about the Needle Thru Arm....Sun Magic actually produced the first version of the "Harry Anderson Needle Thru Arm" in the 80's. The bulb actually screwed (threaded) onto the needle. The bulb was actually a different material than it is today, and was damaged less by the blood than the ones today, but the stuff that held the little threaded piece to the bulb was extrememly sensitive to chemicals. The one being made today is just a pressure/friction fit onto the needle shaft. If you handle it right, it'll last a lifetime.

On the same subject...let's bring it up again. How many people out there own an effect from years ago called "AcuPUNKture"? I have one. Anybody ever heard of it? You take a needle, about 3" long, and push it into the back of your hand and it comes out the front. No adhesives of any kind. As the ad and instructions said, "..it'll fool your doctor..", and they aren't kidding. I'm just glad I bought one when it was available. The creator of that thing is a genius. And, yes...I know who it is.

Steve Thomas

I used to have one of the threaded-bulb models - it didn't last too long. I'm glad to hear they've been redesigned in case I ever wanna do this again. Great trick.

Hello,
I do have experience with this effect. I know the original inventer of this effect, Bruce Spangler. I HIGHLY recommend the ones built by him. The quality is unequaled! I have seen some of the knock offs, & they are very poorly constructed to say the least. I hope this helps!

Man, when I first saw this effect I was around 15...it blew me away, it was the Showtime special with my hero Harry Anderson.

I too have used this thing for the last like 18 or 19 years and it has gotten some of the best reactions...

Why I remember there was a time a big tuff dude was hittin' on my girl, the guy had the nerve to actually come to my apartment to see her...

I answered the door and was a complete gentleman, until I offered to show him a trick. It started out as a card trick and then progressed into the Needle Thru the Arm!!!

He never came back...the girl broke up with me...thought I was weird...?

Johnny