Year: 2018

A beautifully made and very clever version of the old UF Grant effect from Bill Schmeelk at Wellington Enterprises. As with all of Bill’s items in the Signature Series it improves upon the original in both construction and method. There were only fifty of these created and they are getting real hard to find these days.

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There is a new magic company in Austin, TX called Winsome Wizards Emporium,  that has just launched and I think they are worth taking a serious look at.  In addition to offering a full line of magic, they are creating a monthly set of products called PrestoCrates where they deliver a cool box of unique and different magic to your doorstep once a month.  The subscriptions come in three designations:

• Original (for beginner to intermediate magicians)
• Cardition (for Card Lovers)
• XL (for eXpert Level)

For March I tried out the PrestoCrate XL and even though I have added literally 1000’s of tricks to this site and seen many 100’s more, I was not familiar with any of the 5 items that came to my door and so was quite excited to pour through the items.  The March box includes:

• Magma by Kyle Marlett ($60 retail) – great gimmick to add some serious punch to any transformation in your hands.
• Solitary by Cameron Francis ($20 retail) – a very practical signed coin to impossible location that doesn’t use any gimmicks and uses a common-place coin holder for some really amazing routines.
• Sh4de by Daniel Garcia ($20 retail) – a really lovely handling for a non-gimmicked chink-a-chink routine which is the only item that really takes some serious practice to do well.  It doesn’t even seem that difficult, but the timing will certainly take some work.  But if you have the time wouldn’t it be cool to do this wonderful routine with just 4 normal coins anytime and anywhere?
• Espionage: Secret Intelligence by The Enchantment ($17 retail) – this is another item (like Solitary above) making clever use of a very simple idea that if you put the time in to learn the routines you could really have some strong magic at the tips of your fingers.
• Heart Strings by Peter Samelson ($60 retail) – Gypsy thread has been one of my favorites for years and this version by Peter Samelson is nothing short of beautiful.

With the exception of Magma, none of these tricks are push-button magic – they will require some practice.  But they are all strong routines and worth the practice for sure.  I’m quite surprised how good each item is and it goes to show you that a DVD and some basic props really are the way to go if you actually want to impress an audience.  We might like our shiny boxes and our cool gimmicks, but the magic that we actually perform to real people are effects just like these ones.

I wish Eric and his team at Winsome Wizards the best of luck in this new venture and look forward to April’s crate with anticipation!

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One more from the talented Kent Bergmann!  Before Kent became the king of 3D printing he created quite a stir with his Z-Wood (Zebrawood) line of magic.  This is a rare beauty from those times.  Anything from his Z-Wood Magic line is highly sought after by collectors.

If I’m not mistaken this is probably the most sought after item from Kent’s brief but memorable stroll into the world of Zebrawood.  Just see them rave about it on the Magic Cafe! It was created in a limited edition of just 15 sets and is way more than a stunningly beautiful box of paddles.  It comes with 17 pages of instructions (almost a small book!) that detail the following six effects:

1. $ Paddle
2. Hop-Skip and Jump (released later in his 3D Magic Works  line)
3. Jumping Pin (released later in his 3D Magic Works line)
4. Gem Rods
5. Hop-Rod
6. 3 Paddle Monte (released later in his 3D Magic Works line)

It even comes with a stand and, to give you an idea of attention to detail, an envelope with two dollar bills and four quarters is also included!

If you thought that Joe Porper or Chance Wolf were the master of paddles, think again.  Kent Bergmann without question created the most interesting and beautiful set of paddles.

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Twenty years since I first performed this effect I still love it!  Better than any electronic version (even this beauty from Urs Auckenthaler), it is quiet and very reliable and really looks eerie.   I created a quick demo video so you could see the action up close with no sounds to cover the motion – you can’t hear a thing!

Collector’s Workshop make some wonderful and expensive props.  However, it is in some of their lower priced effects where you can find some real workable and entertaining routines.  The Clock of San Marcos Square is one such effect.  I have used this many times on lay audiences and they just love it.  It looks uncanny and is very convincing.  Even if you can afford their expensive stuff you would be hard pressed to find a more unusual, workable, and entertaining close-up effect!

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A beautiful and rare blast from the past!  Before Kent became the king of 3D printing he created quite a stir with his Z-Wood (Zebrawood) line of magic.  This is a rare beauty from those times.  Anything from his Z-Wood Magic line is highly sought after by collectors.

This item presents a fortune telling effect and prediction with the tale of Dr T.B. Chatou.  Four pages of instructions take you through the gimmicks and the story, and even if you never perform it you will have something  to treasure that the other guys most certainly won’t have!

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$Money Box$ … is a brilliant idea from Jim Critchlow, brought to Colin Rose for further development and creation. A magical effect that allows you to vanish a US Quarter Coin from inside the box and to then re-appear again somewhere else. The Spectator places a US Quarter Coin into the box, and the Magician makes it disappear, the spectator can then examine the Box and there is nothing to see!

After extensive development and many prototypes, Colin has stamped his unique style on this effect and what you have is a beautifully crafted ‘Jointed’ wooden box, which conceals the ingenious mechanism and allows you to perform this ‘Close Up Miracle’. It also comes with a strong routine by Wayne Dobson, with additional ideas by Patrick Page.

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My good friends over at Stevens Magic have recently released this wonderful item handmade by Louis Gaynor and Shawn Reida. And what a beautiful version of this classic effect, invented by Lyman Allen in 1945, it is. Inspired by Howard Hale’s version this is certainly the prettiest and most robust version I have seen. The ropes and block are very solid and flow very easily. And because there are no gimmicks to worry about this bad boy is always ready to work. There is a simple move to learn but because the dimensions of the rope and block are perfectly designed it works so smoothly you’ll quickly forget you’re doing it!

At under $50 everyone can afford this classic item. Great job Shawn and Louis!

Highly Recommended for Performers and Collectors everywhere.

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