Reviews

The Most Convincing Money Maker

I’ve owned a number of Money Maker’s over the years, including the incredibly beautiful Denver Mint from Owen’s. However, none of them look as clean and innocent as this one from Harold Voit.

Not only is this thing very flat with no signs of bulkly roller, you can even roll it back and forth on the pad and it really looks like you are see the same bill.

This unit is so thin and lightweight that it will easily fit in your jacket pocket. If you add it to the end of a routine like Xerox Money you will have a beautiful routine with a perfect kicker ending.

Highly Recommended!

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One of the True Classics

Card on the Ceiling was one of the earliest effects I learnt from Bruce Elliot’s wondeful book: Classic Secrets of Magic. I have performed it many times over the last thirty years and it never fails to create a great reaction.

Michael Ammar has a number of very useful tips to make it work everytime and if you follow his directions you can’t go wrong. I am in two minds if the effect is better with all of the cards fluttering around you at the climax or not. Mr. Ammar chooses not to do this and I bow to his greater knowledge and experience.

Either way it is an easy trick to do, with minimal props and reset. You do need a ceiling however!

Highly Recommended!

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Great Rotuines, Nice Wallet

The best part of Gregory Wilson’s Stockholder is surely the huge book of routines that it comes with. The Stockholder Wallet is certainly nice, but I don’t know if it is as practical as something as simple as Doc Eason’s Out To Dinner. Either way there is no better way to breath life into the old Out To Lunch principle.

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There is only one Duck!

For years and years I thought I owned a genuine Warren Hamilton Duck, but it turned out that it was one by Dick Chavel. Well the Dick Chavel one was easily the best duck I had used up until I recently acquired this orignal Hamilton. The paint job is amazing and the action is very smooth.

Until Chance Wolf comes out with his Duck (shortly I believe) the best duck by far is still Warren Hamilton’s Jo-Anne – and I should know I’ve tried a few over the years. A close second is the one by Dick Chavel – which looks very similar to the Hamilton one.

Whatever duck you own, without a good routine it will never have the impact it can. This is one of those props that requires good acting and presentation skills. But if you put the time in you’ll have an enduring crowd pleaser!

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Beautiful and Practical Night Club Table

I remember when I owned a MAK G&M Table, I was very happy with it at the time, but that was before I started spending a bit more money on tables! This table from Mikame is not only very pleasing to the eye it is strong, light, and easy to assemble from a small shopping bag.

In fact, it is one of my favorite Mikame pieces and although it is not huge, it is perfect if you want to just throw a bag in the back of the car and look real classy when you perform. I’ll be using it for my Christmas close-up shows this year. You can add a small close-up pad on top and you’re all set for some great magic.

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One Ahead Elegance as Only Dr. Jaks Knows!

This is a very clever application of the old one ahead principle, but dressed up so well you’d never guess.

Easy to do. The basic effect is that the magician reveals what a spectator freely wrote on a card and sealed in an envelope between two plates dangling from a chain to make sure that the magician cannot see a thing. Simple to do, no pre-show madness, easy to re-set and different answer every time. Great for walk around in fact.

Its simplicity and elegance will keep you kicking yourself!

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Effective, Entertaining, and Easy

This is a great routine if you like poker deals or if you like 4 ace effects. It combines the basic plot of McDonald’s Aces with a poker deal and is highly effective. It also 100% resets itself. It is not drawn out either you go straight into the action and leave them wanting more.

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Very Clever and Practical

I have lots of nest of boxes but I rarely get to use them as they are large, require some set-up or have certain angle issues. These boxes are small enough to take with you and the mechanism is clean and very clever.

What I particularly like is that you can show the boxes all around and even give them to someone to handle before you have made the load – so there is nothing sticking out waiting for a load. You could show the boxes, hand them to a spectator to make sure the lock is tight, then place them in a bag and in the process of placing them in a bag you could slip the load in all without anyone being the wiser.

Although these might not be my prettiest nest of boxes, they are probably the most practical.

Highly Recommended.

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Shades of Marcelo Contento

When it comes to high end electronics and mechanics is it hard to beat the amazing work of Marcelo Contento. His Card Fountain, still unsurpassed, is a complete work of art and his Jumbo Rising Cards is equally top of its class. I have been looking at some of the work from Cesaral and although it might not be quite where Marcelo is it is still very finely engineered. And "engineered" is the correct word, these effects are not simply slapped together from spare parts, but they are designed from scratch.

This Production Machine is a very compact device with clean looking electronics. It fits neatly inside a playing card case and allows you to produce with a bang three loads. Each load chamber is powered by a tiny glow-plug and some flash wool and then loaded up with streamers, confetti, silks, etc.

It is very reliable and firing each unit is simply a matter of pushing a small button on the unit. When you’re looking for that extra surprise to get their attention, the Cesaral Production Machine delivers!

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