What Tha is not so much of a magic trick as it is a close-up freak out gag. With that being said, if you are into shocking your audience with practical joke-like tricks, then this inexpensive heart-beat raising gimmick is for you.
With the What The gimmick, you have your hands cupped. You open your hands slightly and a tiny animal pokes its head out of your hands. It freaks your spectators out severely. This is likely because they were not actually expecting to see a real animal, but some finger trick. The animal disappears and the spectator is left freaking out and wondering what exactly did they see. The reactions are very strong from both men and women, but the women tend to be more alarmed by the animal.
The gimmick is well made and looks like a real animal. It is a clever idea. It is a one size fits all product, but it won’t work with every finger size. The gimmick that came in my package was a bit sticky, which is not ideal, but does not inhibit your ability to perform What Tha. Because the gimmick is made with real feathers, it may get a bit ratty with frequent use.
The trick is explained in a 12 minute You Tube video, which is taught by Rodger Lovins. It is very easy to learn and the video likely could have been 3 minutes long – or 9 minutes shorter. The quality of the instructional video is not great and consists of Lovins speaking into a video camera while sitting on a couch in what is likely his basement. The instructions are a bit repetitive, but this trick is easy to master and the video gets the job done. Although there were small snippets of some live performances, I would have liked to have seen a full live performance with full audio. Lovins suggests a clever way to transport the gimmick in your pocket which should protect it from normal wear and tear. The promotional video and the ad copy are accurate, but the claim that this is the “coolest impromptu effects available today” may be a bit of hyperbole.
For what this is, it is fun and entertaining. There is no doubt that What Tha will appeal to the select performer.