Marvin's Magic Freaky Body Illusions

My grandparents are known for occasionally buying some wacky or intriguing parents, however, when my 9 year old brother opened this as his Christmas present from them we were all very impressed and freaked out at the same time.

==What is it?==
The kit is a magic kit but one which enables you to create weird body illusions. The kit contains various props and a DVD which shows you how they can all be used in different ways. It ...
...to freak people out!


==The Severed Arm!==
The first thing that my brother pulled out of the box looked like a horrific severed arm! As you can see from the picture, one end has bones sticking out with what looks like realistic flesh and gore!!! At the wrist end of the arm is a fake gloved hand holding onto the arm. This has an elasticated band behind it, which enables you to put your hand through so that your hand looks ... more

My grandparents are known for occasionally buying some wacky or intriguing parents, however, when my 9 year old brother opened this as his Christmas present from them we were all very impressed and freaked out at the same time.

What is it?

The kit is a magic kit but one which enables you to create weird body illusions. The kit contains various props and a DVD which shows you how they can all be used in different ways. It is different to the traditiona magic kits and is designed to freak people out!

The Severed Arm!

The first thing that my brother pulled out of the box looked like a horrific severed arm! As you can see from the picture, one end has bones sticking out with what looks like realistic flesh and gore!!! At the wrist end of the arm is a fake gloved hand holding onto the arm. This has an elasticated band behind it, which enables you to put your hand through so that your hand looks like the hand of the severed arm! There is also another green glove provided for your other hand to make it look even more like you are holding the arm!

This prop looks so impressively real to a point that its quite scary looking at it when the person is holding their hand still let alone when their fingers are moving!! My brother has had so much fun with it and has not got his act perfect. He has done this to all visitors to our house and to other family members. He walks in with the gory arm which shocks people enough as it looks good. He keeps his hand perfectly still and they generally laugh and comment on how strange it is and how realistic it looks. He then says, yes and it feels realistic - touch it (to avoid making it obvious he usually points to the lower end which is plastic). The poor victim then touches that end and says yes it does, to which every single person then also touches the hand because it is so realistic - as they touch his had my brother moves his fingers to grab their hand. The person tends to scream in terror and looks horrified and it is brilliant!!

The Black Box

The next prop in the kit is a black box, which you need to make up by slotting the sides into the plastic strips. It is the perfect size to put your head in so that people can see your face in the front window. The instructions show you how you can use this to make it look like you are turning your head right round. This is a good trick if you get it right and also looks impressive.

The black box is also used for another freaky trick. If you hold the box so that the large open hole is at the top and the window hole is to the side just out of the audiences view. There is a partial rubber hand in a green glove and a large clip - you can clip this to the window side of the box so that it looks like your hand holding the box, you can put the other green glove on your other box and really hold the box with that hand. Your other hand is then free to put in the side of the box and up out the top. It literally looks like you are walking round with a box with an arm waving out the top!

The Stretchy Ear

The next trick is an ear made out of really soft rubber material that feels horribly realistic, the actual trick is to hold it up against your ear and then stretch it down to make it look like you are stretching your ear, yet we have found that it is also just as enjoyable to leave the ear lying around for someone to find and then waiting for the scream. It works well to leave is in a saucepan or bowl for someone to take out the cupboard and find.

The Bone Cruncher

The kit also includes a clicker which is skin coloured and small making it easy for you to hold it in your hand without anyone seeing. This can be used in conjunction with a few of the other tricks or just on its own. My dad made everyone squeal at the dinner table by pretending to twist his head to the side whilst using the clicker which makes a nasty bone crunching noise! It can therefore also be used with the rotating head trick or even the severed arm trick to add some extra drama!

Value For Money

I have seen a couple of prices for this kit online and they seem to range between £20 and £25. Usually I would say that is a ridiculous price for a magic kit but I think this one is worth every penny. The props are really well designed and are robust too. My brother is 9 and absolutely loved the kit, it has had so much use already and he has only had it for a couple of weeks! It is the sort of thing that will often come out to be played with and there are plenty of new tricks to be discovered using the props. The instructional DVD is very good although what is nice about this set is that you can work out what to do with most of the props as soon as you have them out the box.

It is great fun and worked very well as a gift as it is something different and quirky. Everyone was amazed by it all over Christmas and family members of all ages have wanted to have a go!! I think it would be suitable for children aged 7 upwards and even teenagers could enjoy using it. I am still waiting to walk into my class holding the arm and seeing how my pupils react! Having said that - there is a warning that you shouldn't do the tricks on people who may react badly! My brother was terrified that he might give the more elderly members of our family heart attacks with the severed arm!

This kit all comes in a carboard box which can then be used to store the props afterwards as the only thing that needs assembling is the black box.

Conclusion

Overall I would really recommend this kit as a gift for a child 7 years upwards. It would appeal to both boys and girls but it quite a nice idea for boys who would probably enjoy it more! It got so much attention over Christmas because it is something different and exciting. Although it isn't cheap it is definitely worth it in terms of quality and entertainment value and when you compare it to a playstation/wii/xbox game it doesn't seem so expensive and it is nice to see children playing with something that isn't electronic!! Having said that, it is also amusing to see adults playing - I walked into my hallway the other day to see my dad admiring himself in the mirror whilst holding the fake arm! A while later he came running into the room saying "look, look" and then doing the head turning trick! So for pure entertainment value as well as quality it gets five stars from me. 

...less