Reviews

Anverdi’s Finest Hour?

This has to be my favorite Anverdi effect! For years I ignored it because I thought I knew what it was and didn’t want to pay for it. However, I’m so glad I recently purchased one because it really is a beauty and a 100% fooler!

It looks like a nice looking petty cash box – in fact I load it up with cash so it IS a cash box. You’ll notice when you open the box there is the cash and a smaller box inside – this holds the 7 keys. I show the cash and then take out the little box and rattle it ask the audience what do they think is inside – they invariably say coins. So I say no and tip out the keys and locate the one with the purple key fob (you could use a ribbon etc, but I like the idea of a fob as you could also have a prediction on there if you so desired). I give this to the spectator to lock the box – you never need touch it again after it is closed and locked by the spectator.

I then take off the key fob and shake up the keys so that no one knows which key opens the box. Then I tell the spectator they have 6 chances out of 7 to choose the correct key, and if they do they can keep all of the cash. This gets them interested for sure. Each time they chose a key and they try to open the box I ask them to discard the key in the little box so that we know we tried it. They can change their mind as many times as they want and they can try each key as many times as they want – there is no chance that the box will open. But when they finally leave you with one key, they can pick it up and amazingly the box opens.

This is so clean – nothing added or taken away and it just looks as clean as can be. A real miracle!

Highly Recommended for Collectors and Performers everywhere!

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So Thomas has been so busy fulfilling orders he has not had too much time to work on new magic, but after a long wait I have received potentially the pinnacle of Thomas’ career so far – the absolutely stunning and beautiful: Dante’s Magic Clock. This item is going to be very rare due to the amount of work required to build it, but if you can get one pay whatever it costs!

Here is my routine:

You begin by showing the amazing Dante’s Clock – it has two dials that slowly click by with suits and numbers on. They just keep clicking around. At this point no one knows why but the routine is counterpointed by the subtle clicking of the clock as the dials move around. At the base of the clock is a drawer, which you open to display a deck of Steampunk Pirates which look perfect next to the clock. You take the cards out and have them shuffled – they are clearly all different.

You have two cards selected – the first one is not looked at but is instead placed directly into the matching card box face down. The second card is selected and this one is seen by the spectator and then placed clearly into the middle of the deck: let’s say it is the Ten of Clubs.

After these choices have been made, the audience is made aware that the clock has stopped ticking. It was ticking away and then silence. Now the magic really begins:

Firstly the two dials are looked at and they show the Ten of Clubs!
Then the secret card that was chosen first is tipped out of the card box, and it is the perfect mate to the Ten of Clubs, the Ten of Spades
Then the deck is counted and only 51 cards are found – the Ten of Clubs is missing!
Finally, the drawer at the base of the clock which was clearly shown empty just seconds earlier is opened and one card is face down there. The whole drawer is pulled out and the card turned over – it is the missing Ten of Clubs!
The effect ends with the eerie Dante’s clock mysteriously ticking again.
Thomas pulled out all the stops for this beauty. My photos only begin to show how beautiful it is.

Amazing Thomas. Simply Amazing!

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What a wonderful and unique switching device from Dan Baines. The flap on my one was fairly light which works for you and against you. If you want to dislodge it without using the knob you can, but you have to be a little careful when you put it down. I mentioned this to Dan and within a couple of weeks he sent me a whole new flap which was half the weight so I could decide which one I wanted to use. Having both options is great. I must say how impressed I am with Dan Baines and his company Lebanon Circle Prop & Illusion Design – he certainly went out of his way to make me happy.

Apart from looking the part and being a size that can handle regular playing cards, tarot cards, billets, even dollar bills if you fold them in half this unit has the extra feature that once the transformation has taken place the box can be tipped upside down without anything falling out.

It is a very useful utility device and one you will surely find many uses for. Contact Dan today and create your custom designed box just for you!

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Another Unique Miracle from Dave Powell!

I think this is a bit of a sleeper that more people should know about from Dave Powell. The new version looks even nicer than the original version and is of course is beautifully crafted by Dave Powell himself in sunny California. The effect is also a huge crowd pleaser.

A card is chosen, signed and returned back to the deck which is then shuffled and placed inside the box. The magician states he will cause the card to rise from the box. After much fanfare a single card eerily rises from the box, but it is not their card. Understandably upset the magician tries again and this time a whole stream of cards flies into the air – and the magician reaches into the stream with his thumb and fingers and catches a single card. Of course it is the signed and selected card.

In many ways this can have the same impact of the card sword, without the need for the sword, which always requires a rather large performance area and is certainly a lot more bulky.

The built in card fountain is very powerful and along with the other mechanisms makes for a flawless operation of a very impressive effect.

Highly Recommended for performers requiring a real showy effect with the minimum of effort and expense!

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A stunning beauty from Thomas Pohle and a real fooler to boot! This is from the new 2015 line of magic and I must say it is truly beautiful. Thomas keeps surprising me that is for sure!

The performer shows the locked Da Vinci Box and hands it to a spectator saying that there is only one combination of letters to open the box and if the spectator can figure it out they can keep the cash contents. After vainly attempting to open the box the spectator gives up. You hand them a deck of alphabet cards and ask them to shuffle the deck and then deal out any four cards.

They then arrange the four chosen letters into sequence and you enter them by turning the dials on the top of the box – you can hear slight clicks as the dials are turned. You then turn the dial from locked to open and you can hear an audible click – the box has opened, with those exact letters. And inside is a bundle of cash that the audience could have won if only they had been as clever as Da Vinci!

This is a limited edition and will be a treasured by magic collectors all around the world. Great job Thomas!

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Magiro put out a neat card box years ago called the Clairvoyance Chest. It had one main distinction to the other boxes out there – a slit in the side that would allow you to push cards into the box, and then via use of the handle you could change them without anyone knowing. It was a simple addition but very powerful. Unfortunately, the Magiro box had this huge knob for the box which screamed trickery. When I saw it I immediately thought of CW’s Psychic Sword – the box that George puts out has all the characteristics that you need, and if only you could add a slit for the cards it would be perfect.

So I contacted my good friend George Robinson and asked him if he could add the slit – he thought it over and three days later this beauty arrived. It is perfect and takes the Magiro idea to a whole new level. George even includes three other ideas (in addition to the original Psychic Sword) with the box and I could not be happier.

This has always been my favorite card box, but now there is nothing even close to it. I love it George!

Highly recommended for Collectors, Mentalists, and Magicians everywhere – this box is easily the most versatile card box ever created!

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Another beauty from Thomas Pohle! Lots of opportunities to amaze and amuse with this item. A simple routine allows you to show this ornate Chinese decorated tower with three drawers. The top one has a red ball filling it and the others are shown empty. With a wave the red ball in the top moves to the bottom drawer. Then after more byplay the red vanishes and appears in the middle drawer, but now it is black. You can use pretty much any little items that fit the box.

You could do a monte type effect where you ask the spectator to keep an eye on where the ball is. It is always under your control of course. You can make them win or lose!

Very clever and beautifully made by Thomas as always!

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Thomas has revamped his Treasure Chamber of the High Priests, and it is better than ever! The mechanism has been improved and the new look is gorgeous!

Performer displays a colorful and decorative chest with lid. The lid is removed to reveal a gold plate. This plate is slid out to reveal the inner chamber that contains two boxes mounted inside. One is red, the other green. A spectator places any small object (their ring, a signed coin, handwritten note, etc) into either the red or green box. It’s a free choice which one they select. Once this is done, the gold plate is placed back on along with the lid.

When the inner boxes are again uncovered, the box containing the borrowed object is found to be empty. The other box is opened, and the object is found to have mysteriously traveled from one box to the other! The spectator herself opens the boxes.

A clever effect and a beautiful piece for display.

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Another beauty from Thomas’ 2015 line of magic the beautiful Dragon Coins of Li Fi Fi. The effect is simple: you show a small wooden box around and take the lid off to show three “dragon” coins. Whilst you turn your back the spectator is asked to remove one, two, or three coins from the box and place them in their closed hand. They then replace the lid. The lid is 100% opaque and there is no way you can see inside. You clearly show all sides of the box, and yet you are always able to tell what coins and how many they removed.

The mechanism is 100% mechanical but invisible to the spectator and works very smoothly – nothing is added or taken away and there are no external magnets or hidden switches to mess with. This will fit in very nicely with your other color divination boxes and uses a very different method to them all.

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I love this puppy! So I’ve wanted one of these little guys for a while now and I recently picked up two (see the other one here). After a little bit of tweaking both work perfectly though they have a slightly different mechanism. But once set they work the same way as far as the spectator is concerned.

The spectator chooses a card (no force) and the cards are shuffled and they slowly deal cards one at a time in front of the dog. As they place the cards down suddenly the dog starts moving around towards the latest card placed down. The next card is turned over and it is their chosen card. You take the card away from the dog and he stops moving. The unit is all self contained and there are no remotes or other gimmicks – it is all triggered by the special card.

This is basically a really cute version of the Anverdi Surprise Box and the ladies love it!

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