Hand-Picked Astonishments: Thumb Tips

Runtime: 36:48 including trailer

In sum: For beginners: Fantastic; For experienced tt users: Decent.

Joshua Jay teaches 5 routines that demonstrate a varied assortment effects, including vanishing and reproducing, telekinesis, transformation or translocation (depending on how you perceive it), and ability to tell the future.

He also covers types of tts, care, psychology, angles and tt steal and load techniques. Most of the aforementioned will not be new to the experienced user, although as is common when revisiting the basics, you may pick up a tip or two.

1. Metal Bending—a small coin appears to bend in a specs fist. Use of the tt in this effect allows you to show your hands empty throughout the trick.

2. Saline Solution—Garrett Thomas’ adaptation of Dave Williamson’s great effect. Uses paper coffee cups instead of glassware. This adaptation reminds us to use it in Starbucks type places, but otherwise is basically the same.

3. Dollar Bill—Dollar bill appears to transform into a small amount of sugar. Dollar bill is found to have traveled to a previously selected, sealed sugar packet. (Markings prove it is the same bill.) The transformation is pretty and surprising.

4. Salt and Pepper—This is a double vanish and reproduction. Small amounts of salt and pepper are vanished one after the other, from each hand, and reproduced in each fist. Spectators hold each wrist, which may heighten the sense of impossibility when the spices reappear. Uses a new tt technique and presents an interesting avenue of exploration.

5. Fortune Cookie—Predict a fortune cookie fortune.

These are all quality effects and showcase the diversity of magic the tt has to offer. I don’t know if I agree that these are the best effects, but maybe that’s not a point worth quibbling over. They are great effects. Besides, who am I to argue “best effects” with Paul Harris?

Production quality is a bit poor. Worst of it is the camera work. The wide shot during the explanations is a bit too wide, and the close-ups are poorly planned and too short. Some small issues with sound and lighting, but I don’t think anybody cares.

Overall, this is a very good thumb tip resource. Highly recommended for beginners. Experienced users will be happy to pick up a routine or two that they’re not using.

I thought this would be good ... but had no idea just how good it would be! I haven't seen most of these effects before. They live up to their sales pitch of being the best thumbtip tricks and I look forward to seeing more of the handpicked astonishments series!

I consider myself pretty advanced, and I just love using thumbtips. So I wasn't sure if this was just going to be very basic stuff or not...MAN this is great! He goes over the basics, as well as really, really smart strategies you can work into thumbtip things you're already doing. BUT THEN he does some material I had NEVER seen, and it's all really strong. There is even this nesting thumbtip idea I think is SUPER! You can vanish and reproduce salt and pepper! This gets my highest reccomendation and I have bought a lot of stuff here before. I'm very, very happy with this!

Wow! What I loved about this DVD (other than Joshua Jay doing an amazing job performing and teaching) is that the effects are so DIFFERENT. He uses a thumbtip to illustrate tricks with coins, salt and pepper, bills, a fortune cookie, and more. Who would have thought? DEFINITELY something for everyone here!

So far I have really only been doing magic for about a year. I got Joshua Jay's MAGIC The Complete Course and he was a great teacher, so I wanted to learn more about the thumb tip. Wow! I am blown away at what is possible, and I really felt like I could watch this from beginning to end and learn a lot at my level. Bravo. I want the rest of this series now. On to the card forces one right...now! That's the great thing about the downloads. No more waiting for the mail. Instantaneous learning.

I've been exploring the world of magic for the past 7 months. I needed a video to start playing around with my thumb tip, and here I found all I needed to explore the possibilities the tip offers.

Over the part seven months I narrowed my list of favourite artists to a few select names. Joshua Jay is one of them. Listening to him share his knowledge of all things magic is exciting.

I didn't give the video 5 stars just because the production could have been just a tiny little bit better if the video had been shot indoors or on a sunny day. But that's just It's me, I know. :)

I've been using a thumb tip for quite a few years now. I carry one in my pocket, loaded with a silk, every time I leave the house. (And I may be the only person to walk through a magnetometer in the international terminal at Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan with a loaded TT on his thumb--after the security officer felt the bump in my pants pocket.) But I learned a lot from this DVD. I'm glad I bought it, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn't think knows more about TTs than Joshua Jay.

There's no substitute for knowing the basics, and you definitely will learn them on this DVD. It will be perfect for you if you're just starting out with TTs--especially if you'd like to learn the right body language, hand positions, etc. If, when you load or steal, people assume you are trying to hitch a ride...this DVD is for you. I picked up a few tips--sorry; ideas--I wish I'd known when I was starting out. They would've saved me a lot of time.

And the tricks are great--definitely not beginner material. Done properly, you will fry people. Any one of them could be sold separately--they're that good. "Salt & Pepper" uses a brilliant technique I've never seen before. I'd be surprised if there are many magicians out there who could figure it out--even if they watched the tip of your right thumb.

If you rate yourself at 80% out of 100 or better in TT proficiency, then I'd recommend the Salvano DVD. (Greater Magic Vol.10, available from Vanishing Inc.) Otherwise, go with Handpicked Astonishments. Where else are you going to get such good basic instruction, AND effects by Joshua Jay, Garrett Thomas, and David Williamson?

Great ideas on here always looking for other ideas with one of the most underutilized tool we all have. This is a must if you're a magician, you won't be disappointed as a matter of fact you'll be thinking, why didn't I think of this? I love easter eggs like these, and a fair price.

From explanations of the various thumb tips too live performances plus Demos and Full Routines fully explained, this is great thumb tip magic by Joshua Jay, these routines are so worth learning, they are suitable for all levels and for any age, and doesn't take up any pocket space. Awesome fun easy to perform magic.

I've been in magic for almost 10 years and just decided to get into thumb tips now, love Paul Harris and Joshua Jays work so got this with some vernet tips and this was a great intro to this utility. I can't wait for them to arrive to try some of these out! Mainly the version of David Williamsons routine, which is why I wanted to get a thumb tip in the first place since seeing his lectures years ago.

I really love Joshua's teaching here, the salt and pepper routine is also something I'm interested in but the sleeper hit here is predicting a fortune from a freely selected fortune cookie, very clever and clean. Overall this was a really solid download.