Month: June 2020

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

This is a great drawer box from Alan Warner. One of his earliest works, so it lacks some of the ornateness of his more recent creations. However, as a wonderful and functional drawer box it is superb. Unlike many drawer boxes there are no outward signs of holes or levers or pins and you don’t need to tilt the box one way or another – it is much cleaner than those methods. Whenever Alan applies his talents to even the simplest of devices he always comes up with something a little better. This drawer box is no exception. In fact, it is so well built that you could have a member of the audience open it up to show the load appear!

This box also comfortably fits both a bridge and poker sized cards in their card case with room to spare so is quite versatile.  It can almost handle Tarot cards (though not in a case) but I found removing them a little tricky.

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

Runic is one of the more overlooked pieces from Alan. It is an incredibly clean and deceptive force of two runes that is simplicity itself to perform and it is performed in the spectator’s hands. It even comes with some blank runes to create your own symbols. It is also very easy to adapt the effect to use different symbols other than runes – such as these scrabble tiles.

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

This is one of the funniest and earliest effects Alan created and just one look at Madison Hagler’s will sell you – Madison does an amazing job, and you can really feel the frustration he has with these perverse dice. This is the original painted version, not the teak version shown in the video, but the effect is the same.

Great magic and comedy all come together in this fine package 🙂

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

Leave it to Alan to add a twist to Ed Massey’s masterful creation Ribbon Fantastique. Two, not one, slotted cards are shown, one black and one white. One is freely chosen and both cards placed in the red holder with a large hole.  Then a ribbon is threaded through both cards trapping them to each other within the frame. Concentrate and the chosen card is removed from the bindings leaving the other card firmly enclosed in the frame.

What is particularly clever about using two cards instead of one is they add cover to the method and when finished the threaded card can be examined inside the frame and nothing is given away.  If you know the standard method you will appreciate this clever addition.

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

Another pretty and very clean magical transformation of a freely chosen colored tablet. Alan will almost never will do just a prediction effect – he likes to add some magic in there too!

With this clever beauty the talisman is clearly shown blank on both sides and placed in the cover. Then a colored tablet is freely chosen and when they tip out the talisman it has appeared on the talisman as the exact color they chose! The cover is clearly empty and they can choose any one of the three tablets.

Click here for more information.

Scott Creasy created the original BIP Book c. 2003 and then c. 2005 created this second version.  Both were produced and released by Peter Nardi’s Alakazam Magic.

I love this innocent looking book 🙂 

When it comes to actually performing magic to real people, give me one of these bad boys over the latest electronic gizmos any day. I mean it.  The BIP Book will never let you down and you will really look like you are reading their minds.  One viewing of the wonderful Peter Nardi download is all you need (43 minutes) and you will look like you can read minds.  This is going straight into my Christmas show. 

One of the problems I have with electronic gadgets apart from the obvious cost and potential to fail, is that they are too easy to do and require no real effort on the part of the performer.  “Push-Button Magic” as Ed Massey would call it. What I really like about the BIP Book is that although there is hardly any memory work (after you’ve done it once or twice you’ll be good for the rest of your life), you have to “feel” your way through to the answer which looks organic and like real mind-reading.  When you are given the number on an electronic readout, it is too easy and too clinical and you need to work a lot harder to impress the audience.  It can be done, but it is more work to be convincing for sure – partly because you can’t believe how easy it was to do the trick yourself!

The only potential issue with the BIP Book is that you can’t repeat all of the effects to the same audience.  This is true, but I consider it a small issue for my performance needs and look forward to working a lot with this. 

The BIP Book 2.0 is perfect in my book. 🙂

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

As Willi Wessel created his unique custom boxes for each of his Alan Warner items he also created four Collections where he grouped together multiple pieces to form Mini Collections all contained in their own custom box.

I cannot think of anyone who has spent so much time and effort to store, protect and display Alan Warner’s magic or dare I say anyone else’s.  It is such a treat to see all of the effort Willi went to for one of his biggest influences: Alan Warner.

_EF  This third Mini Collection includes the following items:

• Block-Buster
• Dice-A-Matic
• Kubika

 

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

I’ve seen quite a few similar Dice Escape type of effects, but this one works a little differently making it a cleaner and easier penetration. The underlying method is the same, but Alan’s idea to use the ribbon makes all the difference and you don’t have to “tap” the cover as with other versions (even the beautiful Bomba Atomica from Eddy).  Also, if you want to look inside the tube when the block is secured, the block looks to be in the correct place.  It really is a simple change, but makes for a much more effective trick.

Of course, if you follow Alan’s work you would not be surprised by this clever change – he nearly always adds something new, to even old established effects.  Great magic and easy to do, with nothing added or taken away and no reset.

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

This was my second Alan Warner piece and really what began my love affair with beautiful and clever magic props.

This effect (Die Tunnel) dates back at least as early as 1969 in the USA (Genii Volume 34, #1). Alan’s version is different from Mel Babcock’s later version in that you can show the tube on all sides – this is a big improvement. I used to perform this effect all the time as a teenager. There is no set-up, nothing added or taken away, and it is always ready to amuse and amaze 🙂

Click here for more information.

For more details on Willi Wessel’s unique Alan Warner collection click here.

As with most of Alan’s effects there is always more going on with his items than at first appears.  Firstly this outfit it quite tiny and well constructed with very fine tolerances, you would have no clue the tube breaks open into halves, which is a key part of the effect at its conclusion.  Also, because it is so small it is very easy to dispose of the “dirty” at the end, and because the eye is on the penetration there is really no heat on the moment.  Which means you can cleanly do the penetration and offer the whole outfit for examination at the end.

If you are familiar with this sort of penetration the surprise with this effect is that the block does not fall through to the bottom but gets trapped and embedded on the plastic slide.  Also, because this is so well engineered there is no guess work with lining up the slots and holes – it all works pretty much automatically.  In fact you could do it blind-folded if you so desired.

These are pretty rare and to see one in this condition is quite remarkable – Willi’s unique boxes really have kept everything in amazing like new condition.

Click here for more information.