//Thread by Wayne Houchin//
The Official Spam-
Disclaimer: This review is based on the DVD Download from Theory11... not the DVD.
To Clear My Guilty Conscience-
I want to get this off my chest. I did in fact purchase this from theory11, which I, in a sense, do regret. First, because I always seem to have problems with theory11 downloads. It took me 2+ hours to finally get the download to work (on the second computer, I might add). Nothing against theory11, because I love them to death, but their downloads just never seem to work with me.
But the main thing I'm concerned with is the fact that I purchased this from theory11. As I'm sure some of you know, I'm big on supporting the creator, not pirating DVDs (which I'm definitely not guilty of!), etc. So I really wish I would have supported Wayne and bought it directly from him. But anyways, let's get past the mushy stuff and move onto the actual review.
The Teaching/Teacher-
I think most of us already know that Wayne's an awesome teacher, and a fun guy to learn from. The DVD had some funny moments, and it was very relaxed and well done. I had no problems following or learning Thread, but I was a tiny bit confused with part of the Gypsy Thread. I just rewound it, I understood, and everything was cool.
It shouldn't take you any more than two viewings to get down any part of this effect.
The Download-
Like I said before, getting this download was a pain in the rear. The first time it took nearly an hour for it to download, and then it wouldn't open. So then I switched to my Step-Mom's computer, and it still took around 35 minutes for it to download. After that, I opened it, it had no sound, so I closed it out, hoping to restart the video. But it took me forever to find the video on my computer (I finally had to go to "recent" on Quicktime). After that it worked fine, though.
However, it could have just been the computers I was using- anybody else have these problems?
Quality-
As with any Wayne Houchin/Dana Hocking or theory11 video, the quality on this was great. However, as always with Quicktime, the quality gets much worse if you click the maximize button. Looks great on that 5x5 window, though. :wink: Definitely no complaints about the quality here- I'm sure it looks awesome on the actual DVD- especially on a good TV.
Performances-
Before I get to the actual trick, I just wanted to mention that the Download had two performances of Thread in it. The first one was the performance that we've all seen of Wayne performing at the Halloween party. The second was at "Sideshow" in Chico, where Wayne performed Gypsy Thread followed by Thread on stage for an audience of... I'm gonna guesstimate and say about 400 people. That's how many it looked like the theatre held, but I never actually got to see the crowd. Anyway... on to the actual trick.
The Geek Method-
If I had to choose between the two methods (Geek and Sleight), I would choose Geek everyday- even if it is a little bit painful. It looks sooo much better, and to me it goes back to the "magical masturbation" thing. No, the spectators won't care or even notice any difference between the two, but it makes me feel good that I did the effect with extremely little setup, no gimmicks, and that it looked horribly realistic.
Requirements-
This effect uses surprisingly little. For a certain variety of thread, all you need is the spool of thread and some Visine. For most, though, you'll need thread, Visine, a small piece of paper (like a business card), and a Sharpie. Just a heads up, Wayne recommends 100% cotton thread, so you might start looking around and picking some up before getting this, or you'll be disappointed when you want to try this and you can't because you don't have the right thread. I'm lucky my Step-Mom likes to sew.
Setup-
This, as well as pretty much the whole trick, is a hard thing to review and "judge", because it will vary for many people. So, I'll just describe my experience and we'll go from there. First, though, I want to say that the setup for the Geek Method takes less than 5 minutes, and Wayne said he has left Thread setup for around 4 hours before. After that you might be pushin' it a little, but try it and see where it takes you.
For me, the setup at first was beyond painful, and nearly impossible to complete. That pretty much sums up the first few nights of trying to do it. However, it dawned on me a few nights ago that maybe I should give my umm... certain body part that was all red and irritated (no nasty jokes!) a rest. The night where I tried 10+ times, my eye (yeah, I gave the red and irritated body part away, so what?) was red and so irritated that it felt bruised, and like somebody had poked it pretty hard. Whenever I closed my eye, it hurt pretty bad. Again, like it had received a hard poke (again... no dirty jokes!). So I gave it a few days, and tried it again. To my surprise, I got the setup the first time, and it was considerably less painful.
So a word of warning to new buyers: don't try too much at one time. If you can't get it within the first three tries, wait until the next night. I know it's a pain to wait that long (sometimes literally!), but trust me, it's worth it in the end.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Wayne teaches two ways of "setting up for the setup", so to speak. One is much more "reliable" than the other, but both are easy and quick to do.
What It Looks Like-
This is the version that we've seen in the previews and trailers all over the web. It is also the one that Wayne prefers, as well as me. You genuinely pull thread out of your eye, and yes, you can stop halfway (or any part of the way, if that's the way you like it... no more dirty jokes after that one), open your eye, and show that the thread is coming out of your eye, and not some gimmick or device.
Difficulty-
This effect, besides the slight pain, is pretty easy to perform. It's literally pulling a piece of thread from your eye. However, a lot of this is timing and presentation, so I recommend a lot of practice in front of a mirror or camera to get that down before actually performing for people. For the love of God, don't "wing it" the first time and butcher this beautiful trick!
Pain/Discomfort-
As mentioned before, the setup can be uncomfortable, even painful in my case, but I'm convinced that can be avoided by frequent intervals of rest in-between attempts... at least until your eye is used to it.
Actually pulling the thread from my eye was a completely new level of pain for me (at least in my optical region). It was at least twice as painful as the setup, but once again, all the pain virtually disappeared after my little "break". I performed Thread for the first time for my Step-Mom and Dad tonight (albeit with crappy presentation, but they didn't care), and I was surprised to find that I barely noticed the pain... because there wasn't very much of it! At least compared to before.
So don't let any rumors about pain dissuade you from buying this- just use caution, do it properly, and take breaks.. you'll be fine.
Damaging Your Eyes-
I've seen that many people are concerned about damaging their eyes- possibly even losing their eyesight altogether. IMHO, this is nothing to be concerned about if you, like mentioned above, do this properly and with caution, and take breaks. I have a worse fear of choking on the thread than losing my eyesight.
Overall-
At first, I was sitting at the computer, watching Wayne floss his eye cavity with thread, thinking, "How the He11 does he do that!?". I thought I would never get it, and I'd have to resort to the Sleight Method, which was not something I wanted to do. However, I finally got this to work, and I freakin love it now.
Review Continued in Next Post Due to Length
The Official Spam-
In 2000, Wayne Houchin created an effect that would become his opener for the better part of the next decade. The concept was strange yet exciting. Raw, visual, and striking in its simplicity. Four years later, WH was brought in to consult on a groundbreaking new project: the first weekly magic television series in 40 years. A&E’s Mindfreak went on to become a worldwide success and WH’s THREAD has become one of the most talked about and sought after effects from the series.
On this DVD WH performs and reveals The Geek Method - the exact method and presentation he has used to open his performances for almost a decade. He then teaches The Sleight Method, which is based entirely in sleight of hand and can be performed safely. THREAD is intended for the serious performer only.
THREAD also features a bonus effect: the classic broken and restored Gypsy Thread. Learn how to break a length of thread into several small pieces and then restore them in the fairest way possible. WH uses this effect as a lead in to THREAD.
Disclaimer: This review is based on the DVD Download from Theory11... not the DVD.
To Clear My Guilty Conscience-
I want to get this off my chest. I did in fact purchase this from theory11, which I, in a sense, do regret. First, because I always seem to have problems with theory11 downloads. It took me 2+ hours to finally get the download to work (on the second computer, I might add). Nothing against theory11, because I love them to death, but their downloads just never seem to work with me.
But the main thing I'm concerned with is the fact that I purchased this from theory11. As I'm sure some of you know, I'm big on supporting the creator, not pirating DVDs (which I'm definitely not guilty of!), etc. So I really wish I would have supported Wayne and bought it directly from him. But anyways, let's get past the mushy stuff and move onto the actual review.
The Teaching/Teacher-
I think most of us already know that Wayne's an awesome teacher, and a fun guy to learn from. The DVD had some funny moments, and it was very relaxed and well done. I had no problems following or learning Thread, but I was a tiny bit confused with part of the Gypsy Thread. I just rewound it, I understood, and everything was cool.
It shouldn't take you any more than two viewings to get down any part of this effect.
The Download-
Like I said before, getting this download was a pain in the rear. The first time it took nearly an hour for it to download, and then it wouldn't open. So then I switched to my Step-Mom's computer, and it still took around 35 minutes for it to download. After that, I opened it, it had no sound, so I closed it out, hoping to restart the video. But it took me forever to find the video on my computer (I finally had to go to "recent" on Quicktime). After that it worked fine, though.
However, it could have just been the computers I was using- anybody else have these problems?
Quality-
As with any Wayne Houchin/Dana Hocking or theory11 video, the quality on this was great. However, as always with Quicktime, the quality gets much worse if you click the maximize button. Looks great on that 5x5 window, though. :wink: Definitely no complaints about the quality here- I'm sure it looks awesome on the actual DVD- especially on a good TV.
Performances-
Before I get to the actual trick, I just wanted to mention that the Download had two performances of Thread in it. The first one was the performance that we've all seen of Wayne performing at the Halloween party. The second was at "Sideshow" in Chico, where Wayne performed Gypsy Thread followed by Thread on stage for an audience of... I'm gonna guesstimate and say about 400 people. That's how many it looked like the theatre held, but I never actually got to see the crowd. Anyway... on to the actual trick.
The Geek Method-
If I had to choose between the two methods (Geek and Sleight), I would choose Geek everyday- even if it is a little bit painful. It looks sooo much better, and to me it goes back to the "magical masturbation" thing. No, the spectators won't care or even notice any difference between the two, but it makes me feel good that I did the effect with extremely little setup, no gimmicks, and that it looked horribly realistic.
Requirements-
This effect uses surprisingly little. For a certain variety of thread, all you need is the spool of thread and some Visine. For most, though, you'll need thread, Visine, a small piece of paper (like a business card), and a Sharpie. Just a heads up, Wayne recommends 100% cotton thread, so you might start looking around and picking some up before getting this, or you'll be disappointed when you want to try this and you can't because you don't have the right thread. I'm lucky my Step-Mom likes to sew.
Setup-
This, as well as pretty much the whole trick, is a hard thing to review and "judge", because it will vary for many people. So, I'll just describe my experience and we'll go from there. First, though, I want to say that the setup for the Geek Method takes less than 5 minutes, and Wayne said he has left Thread setup for around 4 hours before. After that you might be pushin' it a little, but try it and see where it takes you.
For me, the setup at first was beyond painful, and nearly impossible to complete. That pretty much sums up the first few nights of trying to do it. However, it dawned on me a few nights ago that maybe I should give my umm... certain body part that was all red and irritated (no nasty jokes!) a rest. The night where I tried 10+ times, my eye (yeah, I gave the red and irritated body part away, so what?) was red and so irritated that it felt bruised, and like somebody had poked it pretty hard. Whenever I closed my eye, it hurt pretty bad. Again, like it had received a hard poke (again... no dirty jokes!). So I gave it a few days, and tried it again. To my surprise, I got the setup the first time, and it was considerably less painful.
So a word of warning to new buyers: don't try too much at one time. If you can't get it within the first three tries, wait until the next night. I know it's a pain to wait that long (sometimes literally!), but trust me, it's worth it in the end.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Wayne teaches two ways of "setting up for the setup", so to speak. One is much more "reliable" than the other, but both are easy and quick to do.
What It Looks Like-
This is the version that we've seen in the previews and trailers all over the web. It is also the one that Wayne prefers, as well as me. You genuinely pull thread out of your eye, and yes, you can stop halfway (or any part of the way, if that's the way you like it... no more dirty jokes after that one), open your eye, and show that the thread is coming out of your eye, and not some gimmick or device.
Difficulty-
This effect, besides the slight pain, is pretty easy to perform. It's literally pulling a piece of thread from your eye. However, a lot of this is timing and presentation, so I recommend a lot of practice in front of a mirror or camera to get that down before actually performing for people. For the love of God, don't "wing it" the first time and butcher this beautiful trick!
Pain/Discomfort-
As mentioned before, the setup can be uncomfortable, even painful in my case, but I'm convinced that can be avoided by frequent intervals of rest in-between attempts... at least until your eye is used to it.
Actually pulling the thread from my eye was a completely new level of pain for me (at least in my optical region). It was at least twice as painful as the setup, but once again, all the pain virtually disappeared after my little "break". I performed Thread for the first time for my Step-Mom and Dad tonight (albeit with crappy presentation, but they didn't care), and I was surprised to find that I barely noticed the pain... because there wasn't very much of it! At least compared to before.
So don't let any rumors about pain dissuade you from buying this- just use caution, do it properly, and take breaks.. you'll be fine.
Damaging Your Eyes-
I've seen that many people are concerned about damaging their eyes- possibly even losing their eyesight altogether. IMHO, this is nothing to be concerned about if you, like mentioned above, do this properly and with caution, and take breaks. I have a worse fear of choking on the thread than losing my eyesight.
Overall-
At first, I was sitting at the computer, watching Wayne floss his eye cavity with thread, thinking, "How the He11 does he do that!?". I thought I would never get it, and I'd have to resort to the Sleight Method, which was not something I wanted to do. However, I finally got this to work, and I freakin love it now.
Review Continued in Next Post Due to Length
Last edited by a moderator: