Dustings #129

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Vanishing Inc. is once again advertising Joshua Jay’s Collapsible Wine Glass.

Or more accurately, it’s the ““Collapsible” “Wine” “Glass.””

Some might take issue with the fact it’s not made of glass, but obviously you don’t want this thing to shatter in your carry-on.

A stronger complaint is that it doesn’t quite look like a wine glass. If you did an image search for “wine glass,” you’d get carpal tunnel from scrolling long before you found something that looked quite like that. No one would imagine that shape if you said, “Picture a wine glass,” If you said, “Picture a wine glass designed in Minecraft specifically to hold a deck of cards,” then maybe you’d be in the ballpark.

But for me, the issue here is the word “collapsible.”

“Collapsible” means something that can be folded into a more compact shape.

Here’s what the “collapsible” wine glass does.

They mean it separates into two parts.

By that definition, an English Muffin is collapsible.

Separating into two pieces isn’t collapsing. Thank god they’re just writing magic ad copy and not a newspaper.

Vanishing Inc. Daily Herald

Bridge Collapses!!

For owners of the last book, some ideas from Chris Rawlins on Dragomir and Janus have been added to the Digital Appendix.

This guy isn’t doing much to disabuse people of the notion that most magicians have never been invited to—and have no idea what goes on at—a “party.”

I’m getting too old and out of touch. And I’m fully at the point where I frequently don’t understand what the effect is with some new releases.

For example, what is this trick?

Is the trick: The thing you wrote down is also on my little e-ink display on my keychain?

That seems like it would be a shitty idea for a trick that would entertain no one.

But if this is supposed to be masquerading as something normal, then… like…. what is it supposed to be? It doesn’t look like a sticker. It doesn’t look engraved. It doesn’t look like plastic. It doesn’t look like any normal keychain.

If it was $18 then I’d say, “Well, yeah, it’s stupid, but it’s cheap.” But it’s $250.

What am I missing? Help an old man navigate the world of magic in his dotage.