This is an oldie but a goodie and I am surprised I have not written about this before. What I am referring to is Pointless by Gregory Wilson. I have had this trick since its inception and it is one of those tricks that you do, put it aside and then pick it up once again and wonder why in the world did you stop showing it. It is incredible how entertaining and baffling the trick is.

Pointless by Gregory Wilson falls into the category of what I call scam tricks of which Gregory Wilson is the master. The type of magic he creates matches his hustler persona which is probably not too far off from his real personality. Pointless is an ordinary looking Bic stick pen1 you would find in just about any place that would have pens for sale, from gas stations to Staples. It is a keenly constructed gimmicked pen which will allow you to change the apparent direction the pen is pointing to. Along with the pen comes a DVD with live performances and handling. The quality of the DVD is average. The outside shots of live performances, of which there are many, are well photographed. The issue is with the training portion of the DVD. The training portion was shot inside his apartment under incandescent lighting. The visibility was poor and it is basically one long take. In addition, it is only filmed as the viewpoint of the spectator. There were no over the shoulder shots so you would have to reverse everything to understand the moves from the performers’ perspective. Putting that aside, once you figured out the handling, you shouldn’t have to reference it again.

The pen is very well constructed. This is not a prop you can make yourself. The parts are precision fit which what makes the illusion so convincing. Once the dirty part is removed, it can not only be inspected by the spectators but actually scrutinized as well. It is quite funny watching the spectators push, pull and twist the pen to figure out its secret. By the way, the pen writes as well. I love the line he uses in one of the performances “It’s not a trick pen, it’s a Bic pen”. Be wary though, the pen looks so ordinary you may lose it if you aren’t aware of where you place it. I’m sure we all have those tricks that tend to be put down almost forgotten. Pointless is my “new old trick” that I rescued from the abyss of ignored and forgotten magic and I’m having a blast with it. Check it out, it is well worth it.