Wonderful Magical Story Telling with Paddles
When I first received these paddles from the talented young French craftsman François Danis my initial reaction was great quality but they’re all the same! Well first impressions can be very deceiving! Of course when you receive a box of paddles like this you immediately compare them to Chance Wolf’s amazing Paddle Craft Set. These paddles are not the same but they still are wonderful. The materials used are not as good as Chance’s – in fact very few paddles are. However, where François really takes off is that he uses the paddles to tell stories and by so doing makes the magic bigger, bolder, and certainly more memorable than doing some quick moves with a paddle.
As we have come to expect from François the artwork is amazing and the quality of these paddles made in beautiful Walnut is superb. The display box is made from a cheaper oak plywood, but it still looks good. One of the things that is becoming obvious to me is that the choice of wood makes all the difference. If possible pay more to upgrade the woods used. Currently François’s prices are low to average and if they have to go up a bit to pay for better woods, then I think it will be worthwhile. Of course you can never go wrong with Walnut!
In, this set you have stories involving the Curse of Tut Ank Amoun which is a great story telling piece and tells of how the Great Pharaoh was poisoned and always returned to his sarcophagus. It is like a paddle version of the Wandering Mummy trick! There is a story from Greek Mythology about the fate of the heroes with Perse, Ulysse, and Hercules and the role of the dice, which again shows a wonderful slant on how paddles can be used for a complete effect rather than a quick trick. Finally, this set comes with a chalk paddle to draw whatever symbols you fancy upon – or you could do something like the wonderful routine of Jimmy Rogers: I’ll Start Again.
All in all this is a lot more than just a set of nice paddles it is magic storytelling on a stick!
Great Job François, if you had put it all in a walnut box I know this would be in The GG Standard. In fact, I believe because of the unique way you are using these paddles it does deserve a place there anyway. As I play with them more the quality is certainly there and just because they are not Paddle Craft does not mean they are not beautiful and worthy.
Highly Recommend, and amazing value!
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