Would this ring be suitable for a Street Effect?? It's not cheap, and I wanna know if it's worth the price.
Also, it can be examined, but up to what extent??

Thanks all

The linking finger rings trick is best performed for a fairly large audience. It is not suitable for one-on-one or very small group performances.

The misdirection needed relies on the performer moving from one side of the audience to another some distance away. So while I think that this could be performed on the street in the sense of a real, buskers, street magic show I doubt if it will really work well with the David Blaine “hey look at this, look at this, watch, watch…” style of performance.

Can the ring be examined? The routine requires that three people identify their rings linked to the others. However, they cannot handle the rings (or the Himber ring).

Frankly you do not need the expensive Himber ring to do the routine. Simply find Al Koran’s version (amongst the first published). Al used a ring gimmicked like a key ring in a linking ring set and special pencil to help the illusion of two normal rings appearing linked (when they were not).

For the type of performance you are probably thinking of (the David Blain style) I think the linking rubber bands would be a better choice of trick. Check out all the threads here at the Café discussing CMH (Crazy Man’s Handcuffs).

Sadly I saw linking finger rings performed once, and wasn't greatly impressed. There's really only one solution, so it was pretty easy to figure out.

Then you saw a very poor performance of the trick. Check out Richard Osterlind’s version on his new DVD (or his older “Challenge Magic” videotape) or watch Billy McComb’s classic version on one of the Stevens Magic “Greater Magic” Video’s. The method is well hidden and the audience will testify that they saw all the rings genuinely linked. The owners will swear that they clearly and openly saw their particular ring linked to the next one in the chain.

A problem with this trick (maybe more so than others) is the ability to do it poorly! A poor presentation truly ruins this trick as your post evidences.

I think their pretty cool, I got mine for $25, and yes they can be examined but you have to practice this trick a lot before showing people since they could easily figure it out if you do the trick slowly.

I use the Osterlind routine on Mind Mysteries combined with a stooge.
Instant miracle. All 3 audience can come to view their rings at the same time.

Kidabra,

This is not a criticism, just my feelings and experience.

When I first bought a Himber ring over 25 years ago, I was desperate to use it but afraid do to the Koran routine or any others. So I planted the Himber ring with an audience member and did it that way. After I was through, even though the show was successful, I felt awful. First, I worried that the person would talk. Second, I wondered if anyone him asked to see the ring afterwards or made a comment beforehand like, "Where did you get that ring?" (especially his wife!) I figured even it it didn't happen that time, sooner or later it would if I kept on doing it that way. And finally, and this was most important to me, I hated myself for not having the courage to do it without a stooge and simply felt as though I cheated. As another pro said one time on here, "Anyone could do that!"

So I worked on it for a long time until I finally got my routine down. Now, I can do it anywhere at any time with no pre-show work or without setting up anybody. All three people verify their own rings are linked and can handle all three rings. No one can say afterwards that they were part of the trick or were a stooge. I have done this routine thousands of times even in front of small groups. I once did it in a jewelry store. You can even have all 3 people veryify their rings at once if you give it a little thought and know the type of people you are working for. (No, this is not published, but you can work it out with some good thinking.)

But most important of all, I feel good about myself doing it the way I do now.

Richard