Fall – Banachek and Philip Ryan
$24.95
http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=57860

The Hype:
This is one of the strongest effects you can do with a Sharpie marker. A Sharpie is placed on a table or on a glass. The performer concentrates and the pen falls dramatically to the floor. Simple, direct yet powerful. Both Banachek and Ryan have had people screaming and even running out of a room!

NOTE:
With this updated version by Philip Ryan you can now control the timing of the drop - making it take 15 seconds or up to 2 minute depending on how dramatic you want this to be.

SOME KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:
You can control the time of the drop of the pen
No magnets or threads
You can be as far away as you like from the pen when it falls
Includes gimmick Sharpie plus download video
Perform surrounded anytime, anywhere
EASY TO DO!

My Take:
A few years ago, I purchased a pen that was supposed to do this same effect. The only problem was that I couldn't get it to work consistently and after playing with it for a period and getting frustrated, it hit the old "magic drawer" where it lived until I finally passed it along. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I really liked the concept and wanted to use the pen but it was just unusable. So I approached this product with some trepidation. The most comforting thing to me was that Banachek was involved with it and I have never known him to put out a product that was not thoroughly vetted.

The pen was designed by Philip Ryan and each one is hand made by him. The pen cannot be used to write with and it cannot be handed out. That being said, it looks like a perfectly normal Sharpie pen. Controlling the timing is much easier than it sounds although it will take some practice to get the timing down to the period you want to use. Reset takes just a few seconds. One hundred percent of this effect is in the presentation. The pen does all of the work and you just have to sell the premise. Unlike my previous purchase, this pen is dependable. It will fall every time without fail.

The instructions are in an eleven minute video download. I would have liked to have seen a performance video with spectators but you are given all the information you need to do the effect. Possibly Philip did not want to give away his presentation but this is something you should really personalize for yourself anyway.

This is not a "flash bang" trick. To make it most effective, you must take your time and tell a good story to sell it. If you can do that, you will have one strong item to add to your act.

I am so glad that I decided to give Fall a chance. This is highly recommended and is going into my pocket right now!

I buy this pen in a second hand magic day where can I find the instructions?

I love this effect so much. The reliability in the timing is amazing. From what I've been reading, this is an advantage Version 1 has over its successor. That said, I believe this is the only effect I own which I have genuinely no idea how it works. I know how to do it, and I know that it works. I have my guesses as to the gimmick but I'm not about to take the thing apart to satisfy my curiosity. I was a little surprised that no mention of the inner workings was given in the instructions/tutorial. No matter though. Specifics aren't needed when the gimmick works as reliably as it does.

I bought something similar years ago by Banachek. In fact I purchased more than one. They don't work now. I wonder what the shelf life is on the inner workings?

Considering it is probably over 15 years old now, wear and tear and also the fact the interworking will solidify if not used. Same as a good watch, the oils dry up and the watch will freeze over time. There is a shelf life.

Also, the ones made by Ryan, I simply gave my name. There was a point I took my name of the Sharpies as I felt they were not as reliable as the pens. Ryan is a good guy, but I had to protect my brand.

I may start putting out PK pen, Pad folio (if I can find a good padfolio manfuaturere, as I lost mine after covid), and a few other products again soon.