I performed this trick many times for kids in Germany.
It is especially nice because the kids can make the sounds of the animals, at the beginning the magician does it wrong, for the dog he says miau, miau, the kids immediately correct him etc. I changed ‘farm’ into the German word for it, which is ‘Bauernhof’
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This very clever effect and equally clever piece of apparatus was invented by Laurie Ireland and Carlton King c. 1932 (Carlton was the chief demonstrator for the Ireland Magic Company). It was available for purchase for about fifteen years but after that Ireland Magic stopped making it and only sold the workshop plans and instructions. As far as I can tell even after Ireland Magic became Magic Inc. and they continued to publish the workshop plans to this day, the prop itself has not been built since the late 1940’s. Once you read the instructions you will quickly understand why, there is a lot going on here and at first it is a little daunting. This unit came with the original instructions and the workshop plans that were later released and using the workshop plans is a littler clearer. Once you have walked through this effect just once it all becomes much clearer and if I do a speed demo of this you will find it even easier to understand. It is really not that complex when you see what you have to do, but it is a little tricky to describe in words.
When The Houdini Handkerchief Escape was first released it caused quite a sensation and even impressed the great Harlan Tarbell. Here is a description of what happened in the M.U.M. minutes as published in the The Sphinx (July 1932, pg. 207):
“… Lastly came the long awaited Houdini handkerchief escape which was the sensation of the three conventions. This flashy effect simply smacked the audience between the eyes, and even Tarbell, that blase old master of the craft was seen to hitch forward eagerly on his chair when “Houdini” vanished. This clever trick is by far the most outstanding small illusion that has been shown in these parts in the past year at least, and the Messrs. Ireland and King (a harmonious combination on this side of the Atlantic, at least) deserve congratulations for having produced so clever an effect.”
I’m pretty confident even if you have heard about this very clever piece of apparatus you have never seen it performed. I love finding cool prop magic like this and am always amazed at the lengths some clever inventors go to in an effort to entertain and fool us 🙂
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What a wonderful and clever item this is by the inventive genius Ed Massey. I’ve only ever seen one other of these which is surprising for someone as popular as Ed Massey. It really is a great item and can be used for other effects too.
What is really neat is the performer never needs to touch the actual cards (the spectator can do all the selecting and placing) and the cards can be signed if you so desire. It is easy to do and requires no sleights and reset takes seconds. The tray pretty much does all the work for you 🙂
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If you received one of these and did not know who created it you’d swear it was made by Warren Hamilton or Milson-Worth. The construction, paint job and black-art are absolute perfection. This item is in fact a standard lower end Square Circle* (from the likes of MAK Magic) that has been completely refinished and improved by Ron Reid.
Ron takes his work very seriously and after just seeing this one piece I know I’ll be on the look out for others. He has been been refinishing props for about 30 years and got started by reading Paul Osborne’s column in Genii magazine.
As this is such a special square circle I didn’t want to just produce some silks so dressed up the routine a little as can be seen in the video and described below.
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When I was looking for a high quality Devil’s hank for an old Thayer item I immediately thought of the beautiful silk work of Lynetta Welch at Fabric Manipulation.
And this Devil’s Pocket Square fits the bill perfectly. The exact right size, can handle a good size load, and with an easy to find bead so you know where to place the object for vanishing without looking. Sometimes it is the simple things that make all the difference to a performance and this beautiful silk square really dresses up the routine.
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The Presto Card Frame was an early elegant beauty developed by Floyd Thayer c. 1905 (according to Dr. Albo on Disc 5 in The Ultimate Thayer). There were three sizes created: Stage or Jumbo, Close-up on a stand and hand-held. This is the middle Close-up on a stand version. Over the years the styles have changed and have become even more ornate. This appears to be one of the earlier versions.
Now if you are looking for a clever mechanical method you will probably be disappointed, however if you are looking for a practical frame to reproduce a card that can be fully examined, is easy to do, easy to set-up with nothing really to go wrong then this is the one you want.
Sometimes as magicians we forget about the effect and get more excited about the method. This frame is much better than a sand frame or most other types of frames to produce a card I can think of. You can even hand the frame to the spectator to open and remove the card pinned behind the glass. Try doing that with other types of frame!
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The new version of the old classic Presto card frame (Thayer Quality Magic c. 1905) has been drastically beautified with a solid aged walnut frame, each piece has been painstakingly selected to amplify the luxurious elegance of the finished frame and base.
This looks like a Sand Frame but works differently and what I like about it is that you can hand the frame to the spectator to remove the card, once it magically appears, without any fear of them discovering anything because everything is clean.
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I love Juan Pablo’s Torn Card Evolution! I have used it for a few years now.
You can see it in action here:
It is just perfect and highly recommended!
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Colin Rose released a series of old fashioned magic apparatus under his Victorian Collection banner with the intricacies and artistic appeal of a long forgotten era where attention to details by the craftsmen of the time made these items museum quality pieces to be cherished over generations. This is a lost art as it requires skill and patience. These were created in association with Colin’s friend Paul Coker and this fine example was crafted by Paul Coker as can be seen by the stamp on the bottom of the vase.
Paul Coker worked alongside Colin to create some of the ornate issues in the Victorian Collection which was in celebration of The Magic Circle Centenary (2005), this also included some of the more elaborate issues from The Trafalgar Collection which was issued the same year. Paul’s work is also featured in The Harlequin Collection and a few one off issues that went into Private Collections. Paul and Colin’s association lasted for about seven years when Paul retired and focused on his ornamental turnings and restoration work for which he was world renown before his involvement with Colin.
With both Colin and Paul now retired finding this sort of impeccable wood turning is almost impossible for any price. The vase works perfectly and Colin and Paul thought of everything – there is even room enough to secrete a coin in the base when the vase stands flat on the table which adds more opportunities for magic and mystery. When you hold a magnificent item like this in your hands you begin to understand why so many collectors and magicians are drawn to wood turnings – talk about magic in the palm of your hands. Just breathtaking and even Floyd Thayer would be proud of this piece 🙂
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This is a wonderful double effect from Vienna Magic and the inventive mind of Wolfgang Grosskopf. It has been tricky to pinpoint an exact date when Wolfgang invented the idea. I was able to track down references to Kartenwürfel as early as 1957, and Wolfgang was most active from 1970-2000. My best guess is Wolfgang had the idea c. 1980, and it was later built by Vienna Magic and released by Eckhard Boettcher c. 2002. This version is with Jumbo cards and an elegant wooden packing case to store them. (If you have more accurate dates please contact me.)
The effect requires two cards to be forced and a simple move which is certainly not big enough to call a sleight, plus you have the full cover of the hanky to do it under. After a few tries you’ll have the workings of this down pat, and then of course you’ll just need to focus on your overall presentation.
One of the things I like about this version is one end of the packing case has black felt which is perfect to place the case on its side and slide out the dice, due to the size of the jumbo dice it is easier to slide them all out together and by turning the box on the black felt, this is made much easier. It seems like a small point but taking out the dice any other way is not as smooth, and this method also ensures you take the dice out in the correct direction.
This is a great version and a fun and unusual effect that you will get a lot of fun out of.
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