Month: February 2006

Beautiful Bob Solari!

My good friend Bob Solari makes a very fine hula girl, as can been seen below:

When he isn’t putting on the coconuts, he creates some very fine magic. Over the years I’ve bought a lot from Bobby, and most of it is clever and easy to do. The No-Brainer Memorized Deck is probably my favorite effect that I have seen from Bob so far. It is very easy to do but very effective and really makes you wonder why you would bother with any other approach. Certainly memorizing one of the many Memorized Deck systems out there is a lot more work than most of us amateurs want to put in!

The full description can be found here.

This really is an amazing effect and Highly Recommend from one of the great magical inventors of our time.

Click here for more information.

Great story line, Great Surprise, and good handling.

This new routine by Paul Mims holds great promise and almost delivers! It has an entertaining poker based story line and a very visual transformation from 4 aces to a royal flush, it is also fairly easy to do, with an almost instant reset.

Unfortunately, for me a couple of the moves to get to the end don’t seem to flow as well which makes the counting seem a bit inconsistent. I’m sure there is a solution to the handling, and I intend to continue to work on it because I really like the overall routine. In fact, I’m quite sure that lay people probably love this routine as it stands, but for me it just seems a bit inconsistent. It could just be me of course!

I am keen to see more from Paul and his good friend Doug Gorman as they do seem to be producing some clean, strong effects that have great visual impact and interesting storylines. Keep them coming guys!

Click here for more information.

Just my cup of Tea!

When Doug first showed this to me it held great promise and after a bit of tweaking with Doug it was smoothed out into what I feel is a very clean, visual and entertaining routine.

A red deck of cards is shown to be all different and a prediction is placed face down in front of the spectator. Next a card is selected. The card that they selected is placed on the table face up. You then turn over your prediction and mention "Well the back of the card matches." This is not too impressive, until you spread the full deck and show that they are a mixture of colors. At this point you confess to being prepared in that instance too and spread your prediction card to show that you in fact have 4 cards each with a different back. However, when you turn them over they are all the same except for the red backed card which matches theirs.

Now, the finale comes along as a real kicker and you turn over their card to see the color is a totally different color from any of the other cards – and magically your prediction card has changed too!

What I particularly like about this effect is not only is it visually appealing, but there is plenty room for the spectators to feel you have failed and each time you surprise them by correcting the problem. It also has a very simple and quick reset, so it is great for restaurant work.

I really like the way Doug routines his effects and this is no exception. This is also a great lead in to the Magic Chameleons released by Doug and Paul Mims last year.

Click here for more information.

True Love Indeed!

Ok, so I’ve been holding back from buying Richard Gerlitz’s beautiful magic for a couple of years now. But when this beauty appeared on Richard’s site I decided it was high time I indulged myself again. Richard’s magic is the most ingenious and intricate available today – bar none. It also turns out to be hugely collectable now too. Because of the small runs that Richard does if you are ever lucky enough to get in early you will have a solid investment.

This new item from Richard is as close to perfection as you can get. It is small, clever, beautiful, easy to do, easy to reset, and easy to understand! Now you won’t be doing this during your walk-around gigs, but in your den and for those special close-up shows it will fit the bill very nicely. It is truly a magical piece.

Sea-Ling’s True Love is an expensive item, but when you receive it you will instantly appreciate its value. It works flawlessly the way you would like it to work. There are no funny moves or awkward pauses. One minute the ring is off the next it is on.

When I look at all the pieces of Richard’s work that I have been lucky enough to own I feel quite sure that this is my favorite thus far.

Thank-you Richard for continuing to produce incredible and beautiful magic.

You had me when I saw the very first photo.

Most highly recommended if you have the spare cash!

Click here for more information.