What is it?

Although the video suggests otherwise, the Tarantula isn’t a trick in itself, but a cleverly disguised, battery operated invisible thread reel. It is self contained and can be used to apparently levitate or move small, lightweight objects. The main advantage of this thread reel is that this one can be held naturally in your hand without fear of it being seen as it’s made of thumb-tip style plastic. With a simple squeeze, you activate the reel and the thread is pulled tight allowing you to animate the object that the thread is attached to. The setup is small, self-contained and portable.

Effects

On the DVD, Yigal teaches a series of effects using the tarantula. This includes making a pencil roll across and off a table into your awaiting hand and a banknote levitation where the note jumps vertically upwards from one hand to the other.

All of this and more is easily possible with this tool and should get great spectator reactions.The effects that you can perform with the tarantula really do give the impression that the performer really can perform magic. This is some of the strongest effects possible.

Ring Levitation

The main effect is the levitation of a ring that first floats from hand to hand then finally onto a spectators awaiting finger. Sounds a little but like real magic, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, this last effect is a little ‘too good to be true’. Whilst the effect could work, chances are, if you perform this effect exactly as taught on the DVD for real people in the real world, you are going to get caught on the last phase which is landing the ring on the spectators finger. This is because, unless the spectator is extremely drunk, chances are they are going to notice that when the ring lands on their finger, there is still a length of thread attached to it.

There are ways round being caught. Firstly, you could use a stooge who knows to ignore the feel of the thread against their skin or secondly, leave out the last phase of the routine and simply make it land on your own finger.

I should also note that making the ring land on a spectators finger – even if you are using a stooge – is a little difficult and could expose the method as you have to be very accurate. If the spectators hand moves unintentionally, you may miss so if you do decide to perform this part, be careful.

That being said, its still a very very good levitation effect and one that, even if the spectators know the method, they will still appreciate it for its beauty.

The ring really does appear to levitate under the command of the magician – spectators will love this.

Value for money

At the time of writing, the Tarantula costs around £60. You may argue that much the same effects can be achieved using thread, wax and the Steve Fearson hookup for a fraction of the price (Under £10) but you sacrifice the convenience of a quick, easy and portable setup.

Difficulty

As the gimmick does all the work for you, performing the effect is not very difficult and is within the reach of most people, experienced or not. It is a little trickier to make sure that you do not expose the gimmick after the effect when putting the device away as you obviously have to detach the thread from the object that you just performed wit but the performance aspect is simple enough.

Conditions

As with all thread work, lighting conditions are crucial in order that the spectator does not see the thread in use. Also, appropriate clothing should be worn to avoid the thread being seen in front of your clothes.

Construction

I found the construction of the gimmick to be good but there is room for improvement. It could use some sort of cover on the inside as the tiny circuit board actually rests on your finger rather than being hidden away. There are small wires that are exposed and these could easily be damaged

I also really wish that it had some sort of small carry case as I have often put this in my pocket only to find that the wax used for attaching it to the levitated object has attached itself to the inside of my pocket or come off. This would be handy as it would be great to be able to carry this around with me at all times in my pocket and unfortunately there is no included case so you’ll have to obtain one elsewhere if you intend to carry this around with you.

Conclusion

Although there is still room for improvement in terms of price and construction, if you are looking to be able to perform stunning visual levitations with minimal setup, you are going to struggle to find a tool that is better than this. Reccommended.