Author: reviews

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

This is one of Alan’s very first Mini-Magic effects and he stopped making it over 30 years ago. It is a clever and very well engineered beauty that performs a single color change very smoothly. Once the change has been made there is nothing to see and everything is self contained.

This set comes with TWO dominoes (instead of the usual one) for twice the fun 🙂

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

This is one of the smaller Alan Warner items but it is still effective with a simple, but convincing selection process and an amusing patter story. Even for his simpler items Alan still manages to squeeze a lot out of them. For example in this effect the spectator will remember that they were able to change their mind at the end (which is 100% true), but although there is still a force and a great multiple out at play the routine seems very straight forward and clean with nothing contrived.

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

It is hard not to love this wonderful effect from Alan. His items really come alive when he adds a little color to them! This is a perfect penetration effect that is easy to perform and easy to understand for the spectator.

The props looks as clean as a whistle with nothing added or taken away. You place the peg into the slot so that there is no way the mummy can penetrate … and yet it does. Right under their noses. You are left clean before and after!

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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 second Mini Collection includes the following items:

• Black and White Transpo
• Dotty Domino
• Pentra
• The Question Is

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

One of Alan’s earliest teak items from his second Mini-Magic catalog c. 1981.  This is a unique and difficult to find item with an interesting story line.  What is also great about this effect is that you can change the final production item to suit a different patter line should you want to tailor the effect to a specific event.  Magical and flexible, what more could you ask for?

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

Another rarer item from Alan’s second Mini-Magic catalog c. 1981. The mechanism is very similar to the classic Vampire Die created by Ben Wallace but it has been changed to work in a close-up environment with a much smaller tower just 3 1/2″ high.  The illusion is very effective even close-up and Alan’s has worked through all the angles as always to produce a very clean penetration.

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

Alan really jams a lot into this effect and it demonstrates another characteristic of Alan’s unique Mini-Magic – if he can squeeze more magic out of the same prop he normally will. This is a great looking prop with a unique effect that I’m sure you will love.

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

One of Alan’s rarer items from his early painted period. Easy to do and very convincing with instant reset.  Interestingly enough this does not work the same way as Eddy Taytelbaum’s Bomba Atomica and other similar items as the wand is 100% ungimmicked, and this makes it easier to perform too.

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

This effect originally called Bloxo, was invented by John Rice and sold by Harry Stanley c. 1960.  Eddy Taytelbaum created an exquisite version c. 1968 which many of the modern day versions emulate because they use a rod instead of a ribbon to secure the blocks.

This was my third Alan Warner effect when I was a teenager and really what began my love affair with beautiful and clever magic props. As a teenager I used to perform this all the time. 

There is no reset and everything can be examined and yet you are able to amaze them with magic in their very own hands.  You should see the look on their faces when they lift the miniature pagoda up and out drop their two freely chosen blocks and yet the metal spike is still securely held in their fingers.

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

There has never been any doubt about how beautiful Alan’s work is, but where he equally scores top marks is how he thinks through all the nuances of a relatively simple effect.  This is easily one of the cleanest and easiest multiple out predictions I have seen.  What is so good about it is that whatever color they choose the result almost looks the same and no matter what color they choose the result is shown directly and it looks perfect every time.

This is a wonderful combination of clever gimmicked props and a cleverly thought out routine. With this beautiful prop the spectator is asked to select any one of the 4 colors shown on the front of the fine teak holder. Then without any strange moves you simply take all 4 dominoes out and there predicted is the one chosen by the spectator. The dominoes can be replaced and are instantly ready for the next performance. It must be noted, that although there is no force of the colors the seemingly clean method of revelation of the color does not bear repeating to the same audience.

What strikes me with all of Alan’s magic is how he makes use of every chance to help the performer. In this case, the holder itself with the layout of the colors provides a subtle reminder how to remove the dominoes.

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