Author: reviews

A great looking and a little disturbing deck from Christopher Taylor and Taylor Imagineering. The cards are perfectly produced complete with a booklet of profiles for 54 serial killers. There are many killers from all over the world you have never heard of, but you can quickly get up to speed by reading the included profiles.

If you want to add a little extra something to your bizarre routines this is the deck to do it.

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The Haunted Coffin by Prometheus Studios is a great idea and works very well.  Unfortunately the Coffin that comes with the effect completely destroys any credibility for any patter story you might decide to use.

So I tracked down a much nicer coffin which looks and feels amazing and also added in a set of Christopher Taylor’s Serial Killer Deck and now you have a routine worthy of the clever electronics 🙂

This candle works really well and looks amazing too, and the cost is very reasonable.  This is how Stevens Magic and Prometheus Studios should have sold it, and with this coffin and cards it might even send a few chills down their spine  🙂

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This is the nicest quality of the full deck switching devices I have seen.  On Alakazam’s website it mentions this is based upon an Alexander De Cova idea without any other details (as is so often the case).    The box is almost identical to Peter Scarlett’s Pimpernel Card Box but I don’t have any reference for De Cova’s version.  The one big and useful difference is that Heirloom Workbench’s version handles Poker sized cards – whereas Scarlett’s only handled Bridge size.

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A Super Card Penetration that was originally called Phantom Penetration and was invented by the English magician and inventor Brian “Tish” Godfrey c. 1933 and sold by Davenport’s.  Brian Godfrey also created an improved version c. 1936 called Penetrating Giant Card Mystery. This was also released by Davenport’s, who purchased the sole selling rights.

It was subsequently renamed to Improbability and released c. 1937 by the National Magic Company in Chicago, Sherms Inc. (Robert Sherman), and Stanyon’s.  None of these versions gave credit to Godfrey.  Even Dr. Albo states it was invented by National Magic Company in Vol. 3 of his Classic book series.  A notable version was also released in 1970 by Buma’s House of Magic in San Francisco.

This is the Sherms version I believe although I am not 100% certain as it came with the N.M.C. instructions, but it is very different from N.M.C. version here (which I have confirmed is a genuine N.M.C as I have matched it in the color pages in Dr. Albo Vol. 3).

This really is a beautiful illusion and thanks to John Davenport the real inventor, Brian Godfrey, is finally been given his recognition and I’m happy to promote that information on my site too 🙂

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This beautiful effect was invented by Charles Waller from Australia in his book Up His Sleeve c. 1920 published by F.G. Thayer.  Shortly after the book was printed Thayer created his first elegant version of The Candle That Was c. 1921.    It was subsequently manufactured both by Owen Brothers and Owen Magic Supreme.  Sherms also created their own unlicensed version c. 1930.  The Candle That Was is discussed in book five of Dr. Albo’s unmatched series of Classic Magic.

This is the Owen Magic Supreme version c. 1990  using their beautiful red, black and gold color scheme which I prefer to the earlier Thayer version in gold and green (a photo appears at the end with the Thayer colors). 

When it comes to taking photos (and certainly doing Speed Demos) nothing is more scary than taking such a beautiful (and expensive) prop and setting fire to it!  This prop is spectacular and Owen’s did an amazing job with it, and if performed correctly you have a really impressive vanish, especially if you light the candle 🙂

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This effect has been around from at least 1886 when it appeared in The Amateur Magician by J. Dazley Theobald c. 1886 (pg. 23 The Magic Hammer of Mysterious Disappearance).  My suspicion is that it was certainly before that.  Thayer made some beautiful versions and you can see some brief demonstrations by Dr. Albo in The Ultimate Thayer.  In addition to Thayer many dealers have crafted their own versions including: A. Roterberg c. 1904,  Inez 1904, Heaney Magic Co. c. 1924,  and N.M.C. c. 1936.

However for all of these and other versions, it is hard to beat this gorgeous version created by Richard Spencer.  This beauty is made from Blue Marble and African Blackwood with #002 on the base.  It is very solidly made and works perfectly.

The routine I would use is described below.  I think you will absolutely love this 🙂

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Mike Rose creates some great small run, custom items and I just picked-up his latest releases.  This one is Arch Arcs which is a wonderful, non-mechanical, close-up version of the Stretch-It Boom-E-Rang released by P&L c. 1934 and later produced by Viking here.

These little arcs are beautifully crafted by expert magic apparatus builder Louis Paul and feel great in your hands. They are made in maple and walnut.  Mike has produced eight pages of very detailed and high quality, photo illustrated instructions to go with his great routine.  These days with online downloads you almost never see such detailed and well produced instructions – they could easily be part of a book Mike is working on (I don’t know but the quality is that good!).

There is a switch required but because you start with the optical illusion the switch is very easy and clean and happens quite naturally either under the cover of the black velvet carry bag or with an alternate handling in your hands.

The routine is surprisingly easy and effective and reset takes an instant and you have nothing to go wrong or recharge.  Which is a welcome change to some of the magic I try these days 🙂

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