The Utility Items

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I've been in magic for almost a year now and I'm very much into prop magic.
One term that I see often is 'utility' or 'utility prop'

Now, I just acquired a bevy of Tenyo items and a few of them seem to fall under the 'utility' classification:
Namely: a card case, rattle box, and a pea can (or cans).

My question is this: what does a prop need to do or be to become a 'utility item' and what other utility items can you suggest?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[zswim]

Utility item would be something that can be used in multiple plays for an effect, like a magic wallet, can reveal a card, numbe, etc. I'd say a topit would be a good utility.

 

[RealityOne]

My question is this: what does a prop need to do or be to become a 'utility item' and what other utility items can you suggest?

I guess in that context, a utility item has more than one use. The best example is a thumb tip. Other examples would be invisible thread, a toppit or pull, a devil's handkerchief, a change bag and a sanada gimmick.

 

[Rev]

I've been in magic for almost a year now and I'm very much into prop magic.
One term that I see often is 'utility' or 'utility prop'

Now, I just acquired a bevy of Tenyo items and a few of them seem to fall under the 'utility' classification:
Namely: a card case, rattle box, and a pea can (or cans).

My question is this: what does a prop need to do or be to become a 'utility item' and what other utility items can you suggest?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

I would say a utility is something that is not a trick in and of itself. For example. A thumb tip is not a trick. How you use it is very much dependent on what you need it for. Is it for a vanish? A switch? A production? Context matters.

Svengali deck is another one. A lot of beginners would call it a trick, as the only thing most people think to do with it is show all the cards different, then all the same. Wrong. The Svengali deck is a utility item. At it's heart it is a forcing deck, so it can be used for any routine for which you require a foolproof force of a card.

Other examples would be: Invisible thread, expanded shells, double back cards, change bags, humber wallets.... the list goes on.

Most Tenyo items, in my experience, are designed with one effect/trick in mind. However, if the card case is what I think it is, then that would be considered a utility item.

Rev

PS: Do you have Zone Infinity by Tenyo? I had one of them about 15 years ago and I performed it absolutely everywhere. Even to this day I can believe how good an illusion it is!

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

PS: Do you have Zone Infinity by Tenyo? I had one of them about 15 years ago and I performed it absolutely everywhere. Even to this day I can believe how good an illusion it is!

I do have Zone Infinity, actually! Well, my daughter does. I wanted to use it in conjunction with The Alchemist. But the handling of Zone Infinity prevents me from presenting it the way I wanted to.

I agree, when performed right (which we are not able to do yet), it's a complete headscratcher.

If you like Zone Infinity, check out Security Lock.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

Thanks for the quick responses!

I think my confusion came out of if it was a utility item based on if ones presentation was different than what it was intended for, or if it was strictly the items you used it with.

Like with the rattle box, I'm using a coin instead of a ring, but the performance is almost the same. That's where it states to throw me off.

I think that a lot of the more difficult effects to do, in my opinion, seems to be the utility items. I think it's the open ended-ness of what you can do with them that makes it a tough cookie to crack. Primarily because, at least where I'm at, I'm using a lot of Tenyo and becoming a bit used to an effect going from point A to point B.
So when I started working with a rattle box and a Devils handkerchief (Trap Box & Phantoma, respectively), I got a bit overwhelmed, that and they seem to require a lot more practice to work with. Not that it's a bad thing, just a bit surprising to me.