Pop & Lack
/It’s rare for me to dip into the archives, but I heard that our old pal, Keith Lack, is selling some of his Pop Eye units over on Facebook.
Always one to help Keith out when I can, I thought I would repost my enthusiastic promotion of this product from 21 years ago on my old site.
The notion that struck me back then was from the advertising copy which emphasized the possibilities with this.
Pulling your eye from its socket actually struck me as a fairly specific effect—which tends to limit the “possibilities” for a trick.
But the advertising was so seductive. “Nothing comes in contact with your actual eyeball. No adhesives used of any kind.” So I don’t have to hot glue the gimmick to my cornea? 🤔 Ok, now I’m intrigued.
With that knowledge, I focused my mind and realized Keith was correct. This is a gimmick with unlimited possibilities.
From June 7th, 2004
Magicians are a savvy bunch, and as such, they're always on the lookout for the next big utility gimmick. Oh sure, you can stun the pants of the ladies with one-trick-wonders like Color Monte or Milk to Light bulb, but the true bang for your buck comes from the gimmicks you can use for multiple effects like the thumbtip, the Raven, Xpert, and of course, Slush powder.
Well, get ready, because now you too can harness the awesome power of the most versatile utility gimmick since the thumbtip .
As the ad copy says, "The possibilities are limited only by your strange imagination."
Oh yes, the possibilities. Think of all the wonderful, varied tricks you could accomplish with this gimmick. Here are just a few ideas:
1. Pull your eyeball away from your head.
2. Pull your head away from your eyeball.
3. Pull both your head and your eyeball equidistant from an imaginary midpoint.
...among other possibilities too numerous to get into and too obvious to warrant mentioning.
And think of all the patter possibilities! Why, anytime you need to say the word eye, or even the word I, you can unleash a magical moment of astonishment. For example:
"Keep your finger on that card and don't move it. I have my eye on you." [Yank out your eyeball.]
or
When performing for the elderly. "I don't know about you, Old Man Periwinkle, but I can barely tell these cards apart from this distance. Let's take a closer look." [Yank out your eyeball.’
or
"Boy, I really wish I saved my $80." [Yank out your eyeball.]
I prefer to use this in my birthday clown shows as misdirection for the knuckle-busting move in my Forgetful Freddie routine. (By the way, I use my Forgetful Freddie routine to teach kids about the joys of forgetting. In particular, forgetting the way I caressed the birthday-boy's sweet, tender buttocks while his mom was in the other room scooping ice-cream.)
When performing for an adult crowd, I like to get into this effect by telling a touching story about the first time I saw snow. You see, when I was growing up, my family would spend the winters with my grandparents in Florida. These were wonderful times, but I never got to experience snow because we would always leave New York before the first snowfall and return after it had all melted. But then, when I was seven, my father needed to stay in New York a bit longer than usual on business. And one cold November night as I looked out my window, I saw these beautiful white crystals falling from the sky. It was the most amazing thing I ever saw. I ran outside in my bare feet and twirled around in the falling snow. I was so awed by the spectacle of nature's majesty that my eyeball popped out of my fucking skull!
(Now, I realize that by so generously divulging my presentations to you, I could be in danger of someone stealing my routines, but that's a risk I'm willing to take if it gets people's creative juices flowing.)
And for those of you that like to do magic tricks to pick up women, I can't think of anything more romantic than getting two of these things and yanking them out of your head as you stare at some girl's tits. She'll really be flattered.
I applaud Keith Lack for doing something different and putting out some unique products. I'm particularly looking forward to August when he is going to release "Bust A Nut" which is an effect where you pull your nutsack out through your zipper and tug and squeeze it until one of your balls apparently rips through your sack and dangles from the epididymis. It's a worker.