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"B.U.I." DVD by Howard Baltus
Suggested Retail USD$25.00
Available driect from The Trickery
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Howard Baltus, of "The Trickery" fame, has released a gem in "B.U.I.", a piece of strangeness that summons disbelief in spectators by the truckloads.

"B.U.I." stands for "Bottled Up Inside" and that, in short, is the effect: a borrowed ring ends up inside a borrowed bottle. It don't get much shorter, or sweeter, than that.

Here's the whole run-down of what it looks like:

You go walking merrily up to someone who holds in their grip an empty plastic water bottle (think Evian). You have them remove the label so they can see clearly inside. You have them put the top on the bottle. They hand you the bottle. You borrow a finger ring. You toss the ring through the bottom of the bottle. They see the ring inside the bottle and they hear it rattling around inside there. You remove the cap and pour the ring from the bottle. You leaving the ring and bottle with them to be examined to their heart's content.

There's some major play at work here: the bottle is borrowed, the ring is bottled, your hands are seen empty before, during, and after the thing happens, the spectator seals up the bottle before you even borrow the ring... all of that adds up to a level of cleanness that sells this as something more than your usual magic trick.

But, if you're like me, you want a little more. That's where Baltus comes up with a second effect, something referred to on the "B.U.I." disc as a "Bonus Effect". This is the perfect follow-up to the first effect and, like that first effect, it's mindblowing in its appearance and simplicity:

You borrow a bottle. You put the cap on the empty bottle. You borrow a penny, holding it in your hand for everyone to see. You slap the bottle down on the penny and that quickly it visually penetrates the water bottle with absolutely no cover. You can leave the bottle and penny with a spectator so they can prove to themselves what appears to have happened really did.

Combine those two pieces, one after the other, and you have a routine whose short length is inversely proportionate to the number of jaws that will fall when they see this.

I have to admit, when I first saw this I had that "head-shake" moment when you get floored (oh, come on, you know you do it -- you get floored from time-to-time), and when I saw the working behind it I had that "kick yourself" moment (you have those, too, I know). Baltus has really put together something simple yet so visually appealing it's a flat-out winner.

Ah, but there is work to be done for these two effects: a little for one and a lot for the other. The first effect, with the borrowed ring, requires a gimmick. Luckily, you can make the gimmick in about a minute (or less -- I've gotten to the point I can make four of them in that time) and the cost is neglible... really neglible. I can't go into details, of course, but for about $2.00 you can have four gimmicks ready to go.

Once you've got the gimmick, all you need to do is practice the timing a bit, work through the handling (Baltus does a remarkable job of covering all of that for you, along with any misdirection you may need to apply), and you're all set to knock people for a loop.

The second effect is going to get you working a bit harder. There is a gaff, but it's minor; the sleight needed to pull it off is not. It took me a good long while to learn and a good while longer to get comfortable with it. I'm a klutz, so your mileage may vary, but be prepared to work on it for a while to get it all down. But be not full of dread: it's a useful sleight that, once mastered, you'll use it for more than this one effect.

By and large, this is the perfect effect: everything is borrowed, everything is open and above board, and still you pull of very stunning, very visual, magic. It don't get much better than that.

Are there drawbacks? Not really. The handling of the first effect for "B.U.I." is pretty straightforward; the gimmick does the selling for you. Angles are a bit of an issue, but not so much that you'll lose sleep over it (Baltus covers that in the video). Set-up? None for the first effect -- just pull your gimmick out of your pants and you're ready to go -- and very little for the second (you can even re-set in front of the spectator). Truthfully, I can't think of any serious drawbacks whatsoever, which just goes to make this even more of a stunner.

Now, for the sake of completeness, I have to say what you probably already know: "The Trickery" is a Visions sponsor. Also, what you probably don't already know, is that Baltus is a friend of mine. It's always tricky to review stuff friends may produce because no matter what you say, you're going to be accused of bias of one sort or the other. That's why I sat on this for so long, to give me time to work on it and come to a completely unbiased opinion.

Don't buy it, do you? I wouldn't either, because I really sat on this because I wanted to fry as many people as I could with it before it gets wide-spread recognition for just how neat this is and I have a spectator ask "Can you do that thing with the ring and the bottle I saw So-And-So do?".

Eh, So much for bias.

The truth is that this is truly slick. It looks good, it looks genuine, and it's all done with borrowed objects. People are already recommending this as perfect for "street magicians" and I agree with them, but I'd throw in performers in most any close-up situation. For the cost of some small pocket real estate, you're packing a reputation-maker that can be done almost anytime, almost anywhere.

For the price, you can't go wrong if you're looking for something apparently impromptu and as visual as it is direct. This is a keeper.

"B.U.I." DVD by Howard Baltus
In A Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
Two effects -- one making use of a brilliant gimmick, the other a tricky but beautiful sleight -- may seem a bit of a drought to the "quantity over quality" ethic of DVD releases nowadays, but these two effects make up one visually powerful and inherently attractive routine that is miraculous.

Practicality: 10
There's a bit of a set-up to the second routine (the penny-in-bottle piece), you'll be studying which water bottles your spectators are using, and angles can put a damper on things, but in the end everything is minor here but the effect. The gimmick can be made in minutes, shoved in your pocket, and you're pretty much ready to go.

Quality of Production: 10
Great production values, great use of cameras... there's nothing here that's wrong and a lot that is good.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Baltus does a wonderful job with the instructions, covering the fine points of what few moves there are and all the nuances you'll need to be aware of to pull off this little piece of wonder.

Presentation: 10
Okay, the visuals are really strong but that's not the big thing here. What sets the presentation of this in the minds of the spectator is everything -- everything -- is borrowed: borrowed bottled water, borrowed ring, borrowed penny. And that sticks in the spectators' minds solidly.

Originality: 10
The concept of the gimmick is old (as the credits on the disc show) but it's never been applied like this or, arguably, with this much visual deception packed into it.

Shane