Hi,
I am thinking about buying a magic tea kettle. Is it a good purchase or a poor one?
I have seen many routines and it seems like a very strong routine that can be done anywhere.
Any suggestions?
-Ben
p.s- here is a link with a description and video: http://www.abbottmagic.com/Magic-Tea-Kettle-P0841.htm

Since you are asking for opinions...

Mine... is a no.
Mainly because it uses liquid.
That's always a hassle.

I see...
Thanks!

I have it.but do not use it much. its a great product.but I much prefer the cocktail shaker to do a silk to liquid effect.

If it fits a need in your act, go for it.

I have to second Pete's response. You can ask 100 magicians their thoughts on a prop and come up with 100 different answers. Only you know what works for you and what you want your show to look like.

As Randi says, it does use liquid and liquid can be a pain. I have a tea kettle and it plays well, but I too don't like messing with the liquid so it sits on my shelf most of the time.

I have another act that uses liquid, and fits so well into the theming of the show it is in, that it is worth the extra effort to deal with the liquid.

Many magicians do not like using liquid for obvious reasons, so if you want to be different, then it might be an effect that is worth the extra trouble to you.

If you are simply asking about the quality of the prop, then I would have to say that most of the ones I have seen on the market are decent for what they are.

~Nanci

Keep in mind that to perform this trick you will have to practice it, and the practice takes preparation and cleanup as well and can be a messy pain just to practice.

On the positive it works well with almost all other liquid effects. I've done it with the Bamboo Chest, Uncanny Can glasses, and at Halloween with several Pixie Glasses. On another post I heard someone suggested doing it with Liquid Penetration which sounds like a natural.

No question its a pain because of the liquid mess, sort of like the desert sand effect in that respect.

It's a great trick and I find the best production is a banner of eighteen 12" silks with the help of a kid, and with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow story line. But the prep and cleanup is a real downside to me. It also takes up a lot of space in my suitcase table so I stopped using it. And that d**n f**d c******g is a real hassle if you aren't careful in your prep. Difficult to clean up after.

However, if I had a special need for it in a particular show, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

I had made my own. Use it just for the little ones when The need comes up.
There are ways of obtaining a colored liquid in each glass and as for the climax,you may personalize as desired. Need small TT silks( various colors that you will use for each glass you fill and a long silk multicolored streamer which can be used for the climax. The glasses you use are important. Plastic are good so they don't break. Pm me.

I also made one for my act. It was a necessity, because I needed mine to be a certain size. I searched forever for one that would work for me, and finally found it at an auction. I bought it and modified it, and it works great. It looks like a real teapot....mainly because it is!

It can be a hassle, but many things in magic are. You just have to decide if the effect is worth the hassle for you.

Regan

I use the teapot for the Liquid Penetration with the 3 glasses that are stacked. I use only one color in the teapot (red) and the same color streamer for the finish. Much easier to clean up by using only the one color water. It is much easier to perform the Liquid Penetration due to the teapot spout for those who are in the know. It works for me.

I could get used to the one color routine. I know practice cleanup would be much quicker.

I also have one. I do use it at bigger shows such as a fair or a festival. I never use it at a kids Birthday show mainly for the reason Bob and Randi gave, it's a hassle to set up as well as to clean up afterwords. For me, the trick always goes over really well, but as stated before, think it over before you purchase it. It's the type of trick that you'll need to set up once you arrive, so keep that in mind as well.
Take care, Bob.

Jim Steinmeyer has a great Teakettle, a self contained and simplified version of "Any Drink Called For" it does not however have the silk production finish. It’s in his “Conjuring Anthology.
Magically,
Walt

I have one and use it to great success. I use it in kid shows. I don't find the clean up, or set up a problem at all. It takes me about 10 sec or less on either end. I fill it extremely full. Thankfully, I haven't had an accident yet. It even fools the adults when done correctly. They can't figure out how you can fill so many cups with liquid then produce the amount of items you can produce from it. I don't just produce silks...

It fits my show, so I made my own. I love it because for each drink you get two applause cues. One on the pour, and one on the tasting. Not many tricks give you two rounds of applause for one effect!
I've not had too much trouble with the liquid nature of this effect. It's easy to set-up carrying liquids in plastic bottles, and I save the washing up until I get home. I use little plastic glasses that are given away to cut down on washing up! I custom made a tray to prevent accidental spillage, and so far there's been no problems. It's not for the children's party magician going from show to show, but if you're only doing one show a day where you can preset then it's fine.

Paul

I have this tea kettle and just like Paul Jester, I have found that taking certain steps and using certain custom props/holders for it has made it easier to use, and I have never had a problem with it. I have my own way of re-setting it for another show, but I would only use it twice a day or so, and usually not two shows in a row. Clean up can be a hassle, but once you work out your own system for it, it is not so bad. I have used both long streamers (40ft silk streamers) and the load of individual 12" silks and either way works just fine.

On the other hand, I LOVE using the Steinmeyer Any Drink Called For as referenced above by Walt Anthony. For me, I would rather set a bunch of these up and have them ready to go and if I wanted to, I could do the effect show after show after show. In fact, I do just that for one of my parlor acts when I am performing in one place multiple times a night. Very good effect and well worth looking into (the book is also loaded with LOTS of great material).

Mine just grows dust and I have to clean it every so often. Bought it awhile back and never used it. I got it in a box of magic I bought online. Did some research and it just never fit my acts so it sits on my shelf. Can be a really great effect I have been told as well as what has been posted here.

Steven

I jest, but I cannot help it: You must really have a truly magical tea kettle if it can grow dust!

I forgot to mention in my other post here that I also use the Jim Steinmeyer Hospitality Drink Act - that has to be my absolute favorite one.

I'm wondering if I have a different type of tea kettle. I have a prop called the Enchanted Tea Kettle, which I bought from Magic Max (or Old Town Magic Shop as it was then) in Florida, around about 1998. It's a Mak Magic prop from what I can tell, comes in a kind of metallic blue finish, rather than the usual green you see in adverts for it now.

The gimmick is located in the middle, holds three 18" silks quite nicely, and comes with 3 clear plastic tumblers. The idea is that you pour 3 different coloured drinks, then produce 3 different coloured silks matching the colours of the drinks, pour all the drinks back into the kettle, then pour out clear water for the finale.

Problem is, the cups are very narrow (about the same as shot glasses), but fairly tall. If you fill the cups up with more than about an inch of liquid (about a third of the cup), when you pour all three back into the kettle, the gimmick overflows and you cannot therefore do the clear water finish, and as a result, it's sat on the shelf since I got it.

Can anyone point out where I'm going wrong with this?