Find out the Mystery Of The Rune Ring revealed how the penetration trick is done based on my observations and opinions.
This is another one of those close up magic tricks showing how a ring seems to go through a rod/sword inside a box or a cabinet.
Among the other ring penetration trick with a box/cabinet are: “Ultra Ring On Rod“, “Emperor Ring Cabinet“, “Khamun Ring Mystery“, “Ultimate Sword Thru Ring“, “Ring Thru Sword Mystery“, “Mysterious Ring Cabinet“, “Meridian Ring Cabinet“, “Kenard Mystery Box“, and Tenyo’s “Crystal Cleaver“.
Note: I have all the reveals of all the above conjuring tricks scribbled in my commonplace book, but have yet to publish them here.
My reveal and review in this post is about the Mystery Of The Rune Ring by Retro Rocketeers.
Effect:
A cabinet with a front-panel piece that opens to show that the black color interior is supposed to be completely empty.
Then the panel is put back in place, and a thin threaded rod is inserted through the middle of the cabinet from side to side.
The two ends of the rod are screwed tight with nuts.
A Rune Ring is carefully dropped at the back of the front-panel piece of the cabinet from the top.
The front-panel piece of the cabinet is quickly removed to reveal a ring dangling on the rod.
It seems the just dropped ring has penetrated through the slim rod.
Here is the video featuring the Mystery Of The Rune Ring:
It is advertised as a baffling ring through rod penetration that is completely examinable and a real working fooler.
A YouTube commenter wrote:
It has some great moments which can even fool those in the know.
Having read these claims, it triggers my sense of curiosity to suspend like the Rune ring through the rod.
This Mystery Of The Rune Ring revealed how the penetration effect is done is just my assumption, based on watching the video clips and the prop from the various websites.
It is not really exposing its secret, as I do not own or even have seen the actual product designed by Anthony Yap of Retro Rocketeers.
I am just sharing my theories or views with those curious seekers who like to probe the unknown or the mystery.
For me I like to explore the mechanical and/or psychological aspects of the magic tricks.
Anyway, I could be possibly wrong about this seemingly impossible solid through penetration close up illusion with a ring and a rod.
Mystery Of Rune Ring Frame Stand
After a couple of viewings at the video clips, the most conspicuous part of the prop is the frame stand.
My question is why does it need such an elaborate three-sided frame stand, with a big hole on top just to hold a piece of panel?
When they can just place it down on the table and get on with the act, and after all they do show the viewers, there is nothing behind the front-panel piece, right?
On the onset, I suspected this frame stand is the complicit in the secret working of this Mystery Of The Rune Ring trick.
So are the back side of the front-panel piece, size of the Rune rings, and even the thin steel threaded rod.
They all do play an important part in the trick, as I will unravel them as I go along.
Mystery Of The Rune Ring Revealed
This is what I think how the trick of the Mystery Of The Rune Ring magic is done.
This penetration trick you cannot use any borrowed ring from the audience.
It is because for the magic trick to work, it must use gimmick rings.
To be exact, there are two similar looking Rune rings, and they are magnetic.
Ring 1 is for the dropping act, and the Ring 2 is hidden away from the beginning.
Note: They are similar, but NOT the same, as I would show you soon.
The back part of both the frame stand and the front-panel piece have a metal piece attached, so that the magnetic rings can stick to them.
As each video clip performance is different, I would explain the presentation individually.
Video One: Dynamite Magic Shop
Let’s check out The Mystery Of The Rune Ring revealed how it is done in this first video.
Before the trick is performed, another similar ring (Ring 2) is already magnetically attached to the back of the front-panel piece.
He brings the front-panel piece (with Ring 2 hidden behind it) and slips it into the frame stand.
Remember the rather big hole on the top part of the 3-sided frame stand, which I have mentioned earlier?
I think the hole is to allow the hidden Ring 2 at the back of the front-panel piece, to go through it, and attached itself (ring) onto the back of the frame stand.
The reason why the side panels or legs of the frame stand is a solid piece, rather than a skeletal frame, so that they can conveniently hide the ring.
When the front-panel piece is set onto the frame stand, the ring is now magnetically transferred onto it.
When the front-panel piece is lifted up to show there is nothing behind it, the ring is left magnetically sticks to the back of the stand.
As you can see, it is only AFTER the front-panel piece has placed onto the stand, then only it can show the back view is empty.
He never shows the back view of the front-panel piece from the start of the act, like the other three performers.
Now, the front-panel piece must be placed back onto the frame stand again, then only it is slotted into the cabinet.
The reason is to pick up the magnetic ring from the back of the stand.
One more thing the thin threaded rod is made of steel, as advertised.
As you know steel is not magnetic, so the Rune rings would not get stick to it.
Another giveaway to the secret of the trick is after the steel rod is slotted into the cabinet, its side views are never fully turned to face the viewers.
It is because the hidden dangling Ring 2 on the rod inside the cabinet can be seen through the wide side slots.
Two Magnetic Mystery Rune Rings
Remember earlier I mentioned the two rings are NOT the same.
Look at the two pictures below:
This is Ring 1, the one which is used for dropping into the cabinet.
You notice the edge of the ring band or shank (the part that wraps around the finger) is thicker.
The Ring 2 shank or band edge is thinner.
The thicker or wider edge of the band of Ring 1 is where the magnet is, so that it can attach better to the back of the front-panel piece.
Whereas Ring 2 has magnet all around the band.
Another thing is the diameter of the ring must of a certain minimum dimension.
When it attached to the front-panel piece, its hole must reach to the middle of the cabinet.
So that the steel rod can easily goes through its hole.
By having a thin threaded steel rod also makes it easier to slot it through the big hole of the ring.
How The Rune Ring Is Dropped
As you can see all pictures below, all the performers drop the Ring 1 side-way right behind the front-panel piece.
They do not casually drop in the Ring 1 into the cabinet.
Besides dropping right behind the front-panel piece, it has to be precised: drops it side-way and also the correct side of the ring.
And if I am not wrong, only one side of the Ring 1 is magnetic.
So that when Ring 1 is dropped in, it does not get magnetically attached to the hidden Ring 2 dangling in the rod inside the cabinet.
When they show the Ring 1 to the viewers by fiddling it around, I think they are actually making sure the side with the magnet is facing the back of the front-panel piece.
The magnetic side of Ring 1 has to face the back of the front-panel piece when it is dropped down, so it can stick to it.
It will hit the hidden Ring 2, and that’s why you could hear the ‘tink‘ sound when it is dropped down.
And at the same time the dropped Ring 1 is magnetically stick to the back of the front-panel piece.
When the magician quickly pulls up the front-panel piece, you can see the Ring 2 around the rod rolls backward or moves slightly from:1:28-1:30.
It is because the newly dropped Ring 1 which is now magnetically sticks behind the front-panel piece knocks it, when the former is being pulled upward.
The immediate of pulling out the front-panel piece and the ring movement are important to this magical effect.
They gives the impression, the Ring 2 hanging at the rod is the newly dropped Ring 1.
The performer in this video has a way of disposing of the hidden Ring 1 behind the front-panel piece with one slick move.
Watch the video closely from 1:30 to 1:32, you can see he does not lay the front-panel piece down flat on the table right away.
Instead, he places one end of the front-panel near to the edge of the table top, as shown below.
Then he lowers it down halfway off the table edge, and drags it back onto the table top, thus causing the
magnetically-attached Ring 1 on the back of the front-panel piece to drop off onto the floor, his thighs or the table pocket.
Now he can even unfold the three-sided frame stand and lay it flat on the table.
For those who do not know, a table pocket is a close up magic table accessory as shown below.
Video Two: Retro Rocketeers
This performance is taken from a demonstration at the Blackpool Magic Convention.
It starts off just like the first video clip.
He transfers the hidden Ring 2 behind the front-panel piece to the frame stand.
Then he turns the front-panel piece around to show it is empty.
He does not slot it straight into the cabinet, but he still has to replaces it back to the frame stand.
It is because he has to transfer back the Ring 2 hidden at the back of the frame stand.
Similarly, after the steel rod is inserted into it, he does not turn the side-views of cabinet all the way to the viewers.
After the penetration effect is done, he places the front-panel piece back to the frame stand, so that he can transfers the Ring 2 back onto the frame stand.
Then he can show you the empty back view of the front panel piece.
Watch the video here.
Video Three: Haags Zaubershop
For this video by the German magic shop, from the onset, the hidden Ring 2 is already magnetically sticks at the back of the frame stand.
That’s why he can show the empty back view of the front-panel piece right away.
Then like all the other performers, he has to place the front-panel piece onto the frame stand to pick up the Ring 2.
After the act, instead of placing the front-panel piece onto the frame stand, strangely he leans it against the back of the cabinet, to hide the Ring 1 attached behind it.
Video Four: Presenting Tenyo
This presentation of the magic trick is different the other three video clips.
He can show you the both the back view of the front-panel piece and also the frame stand together right away.
It is because the Ring 2 is not magnetically stick behind on either the front-panel piece or the three-sided frame stand.
The Ring 2 is hidden just below the table top, beneath the front-panel piece, which is lying on the edge of the table top on his right hand side.
From the video, at: 0:34-0:37, you can see he lowers his right thumb to pick up the front-panel piece together with the Ring 2 hidden below the table .
At the end of the performance, he pulls out the front-panel piece from the stand, leaving the just-dropped Ring 1 magnetically stick to the back of the stand, like the second video above.
Anyway, this is just my two-cent of the Mystery Of The Rune Ring revealed and explained, gleamed from viewing the video clips and pictures available online.