Tenyo Tuesday! - 'Impossible Pen'

Tower of Lunatic Meat

Elite Member
Sep 27, 2014
2,447
2,035
Texa$, with a dollar sign
Good morning everyone! It’s Tuesday! You know what that means?
It’s now TENYO TUESDAY!
Get excited!

Last week, we did a review on a very minimalistic effect that utilized a pen.

So this week, let us review another ‘pen’ effect that utilizes enough props to make Carrot Top blush.


IMPOSSIBLE PEN

Inventor: Lubor Fiedler
Year: 1997
Cost: $30-$40
Type of Effect: Transportation
Skill Level: Intermediate
https://instagram.com/p/5reqRZwOIw/

CONTENTS:

- Green pen
- Pen case
- Pen case lid
- Purple pen holder
- Large purple cover
- Yellow plastic knife

EFFECT: Oh boy. Get ready for this one. You present to your audience a pen case. Open it up and take out the pen and close the case. You take the purple plastic pen holder and place it on top of the case, then you place then pen on top of it, holding it in place. You, the magician, place this large purple cover on top of the case, enclosing the pen and the pen holder. You take the plastic knife and cut holes in the top of the box. When you remove the purple plastic cover, the pen is MISSING! You take off the purple pen holder and the pen case lid. Lo and behold, the green pen is sitting INSIDE the pen case!

REVIEW:

Let me start by saying this. Take note of the inventor, Lubor Fiedler (pay your respects! He recently passed away near the end of last year), he was magic’s ‘mad scientist’. To the point to where you could imagine what the world would be like if he was in politics. I guarantee that the world would fall into some very interesting madness.
That said, you could go on Youtube and watch the demonstration for ‘Impossible Pen’ and you’ll get several ideas of how it is done. Probably a good idea, since it might be a bit difficult to visualize all SIX props in action. This is one of those times where you should ‘enjoy the show’. You WON’T figure it out. I have four Tenyo tricks that Lubor Fiedler invented (he has invented 12 Tenyo tricks in their inventory, by the way). And all four, I had several ideas about how they worked.

Guess how many ideas were right?

ZERO.

And not just any zero, I wasn’t even close! I, in particular, zig, and he zags. This is one of those tricks that display the true genius of Lubor Fiedler (apparently, it all started when a pen on his desk fell onto the floor and just vanished; he couldn’t find it). Not sure about you experienced types, but even Tenyo fanatics couldn’t figure it out until they got their hands on one.
That said, there’s A LOT of props involved in this one; I knew that going into it. I was surprised that they all fit in the standard plastic box it comes in. But performing with all the props? Man, it feels rather clumsy. I tried it for hours, thought of (believable) patter to use. I mean, you could use your own Xacto knife, but you risk damaging the props with that thing.
Someone did lead me onto an alternate handling that takes half the props away (namely the purple pen holder, the purple pen cover, and the yellow knife), which I was a fan of; but you need to provide your own silk handkerchief. The result is that you have a more, dare I say, IMPOSSIBLE effect. There are some issues you’ll run into in performing the alternate routine (that I won’t mention). But that way of performing ‘Impossible Pen’ is all I do now. I think the alternate method is easier on the performer for the lack of props, the ease of constructing a routine around, and the effect.
That said, even with the alternate handling with less props, it is not an easy one to perform (I believe that ALL of Lubor Fiedler’s Tenyo Magic tricks are in an ‘advanced’ category in terms of difficulty). In fact, of all the Tenyo he has invented, I would say that this is one of the more unconventional to utilize. I believe that ‘Impossible Pen’ is more like a good piece of art. It’s meant more to be appreciated by fans of Lubor Fiedler or those who want a glimpse of the madness that successfully came out of his head. And of the Lubor Fiedler-made Tenyo tricks, I believe that Impossible Pen is one of the best that will REALLY give you an appreciation of the genius of Lubor Fiedler. But performing it? It is definitely a difficult piece to perform and needs a dedicated mind to utilize properly. And even though the price I listed SEEMS expensive; in the world of Tenyo Magic, I have such sights to show you!

WHO WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS TO?:

All right, so, it’s about as ‘impromptu’ as 50 Shades of Gray is a good book series.

Street magic and busking are a definite ‘no-go’, mostly considering the side of the pen case fitting in ANY pocket.
If you’re going to perfom ‘Impossible Pen’, it is best utilized in a small close-up show.

Other than that, I would recommend it only to fans of Tenyo Magic or fans of Lubor Fiedler. Or POTENTIAL fans of Lubor Fiedler. Or fans of insanity and madness.
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Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
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Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
Thanks for this. I haven't heard of this one. How examinable are the props for this one? Looks like my daughter could pull this off easy enough. Intriguing indeed. Great review, now I'm very interested in the workings of this.
 

Tower of Lunatic Meat

Elite Member
Sep 27, 2014
2,447
2,035
Texa$, with a dollar sign
Thanks for this. I haven't heard of this one. How examinable are the props for this one? Looks like my daughter could pull this off easy enough. Intriguing indeed. Great review, now I'm very interested in the workings of this.

The workings are interesting. And without giving anything away, I'll just say that it's not examinable. The first time I read the instructions, my first thought was, 'are you kidding me?!'

That said, it's a really tricky one to pull off, which has been a common theme with all the Lubor-invented Tenyo that I have and know about.
I think the only kid-friendly Lubor-invented Tenyo would be 'Blue Crystal'. Which they also released a Disney version of it in Japan called 'Magical Crystal.' Unfortunately, I don't have either version (And the original 'Blue Crystal' is tough to find. Disney version is super easy to come across if you know where to look).

here is the alternate handling. Both versions are tricky to do.

I'll look at what I have and do a kid-friendly Tenyo for next week
 

Tower of Lunatic Meat

Elite Member
Sep 27, 2014
2,447
2,035
Texa$, with a dollar sign
All right. So I am looking in my inventory and I have about 6-7 Tenyo that kids can do with little problem. The issue I'm having is that I don't know what to pick from, and I'm relying on a 'throw a dart on the paper' method at this point. If any of these look interesting, tell me and it'll become next weeks review:

Soft Coins
Zone Infinity
Psychic Money
Flash Dice
Cubio/Super Cubio
Crash Dice
Clean Cut
 
Jan 17, 2015
132
8
@Justin.Morris , I currently have a set of magic crystal (the Disney version) for sale and although it's opened it's really new and everything is still inside. Although I don't have the instructions, I don't think you'll need it as 1) it's in Japanese 2) it's so easy you won't need the instructions.

If you like to I could send you my instructions and my handlings for it.

Anything from $15-$20 would be acceptable for me but I don't mind striking up a bargain.
If you want photos or have any questions feel free to email me at clementho999@gmail.com.
 
Jan 17, 2015
132
8
All right. So I am looking in my inventory and I have about 6-7 Tenyo that kids can do with little problem. The issue I'm having is that I don't know what to pick from, and I'm relying on a 'throw a dart on the paper' method at this point. If any of these look interesting, tell me and it'll become next weeks review:

Soft Coins
Zone Infinity
Psychic Money
Flash Dice
Cubio/Super Cubio
Crash Dice
Clean Cut


I'm really interested into psychic money... Can you do it with a normal pencil?

Thanks
 
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