Reviews

Forget about everything else, this is the one!

I like the fact that Mikame Craft props are much easier to come by than a few years ago, since it gives people a chance to realise what they should be expecting from a magical manufacturer.

This box is heavier than a lot of Mikame’s pieces, beautiful, and very convincing with TWO changes! It’s a wonderful piece with a lot of uses and very quiet. It fits jumbo cards and other flatish items.

The only slight problem I have seen with this item when setting it up is sometimes the flaps fall prematiurely – I have found this usually because the box is not used enough. If you use it on a regular basis this never seems to happen. So the answer is to ensure you get it off the shelf and use it! Once set correctly I have never had any problems with this part however.

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It’s not Milson Worth, but it is very close!

This is a solid and beautiful arm chopper from Mikame Craft. It has a solid blade and is very well finished. It doesn’t quite match up to the finish and quality of the Milson Worth chopper – but it is much easier to find and is a very fine attempt.

The mechanism is straight forward and classic and allows for a carrot to be placed beneath the arm when the chop is made. It looks very convincing. It also has the blade extend past the stocks to add to the illusion of the chop.

It’s hard to go wrong with Mikame Craft!

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Great Idea, Ok Props.

This is a really great idea for doing the standard Mental Epic with nothing more than the 3 pens and some cards. It works well and is convincing.

However, my pens could have been gimmicked better … I ended up gluing them myself when they arrived. On talking to the inventor I think I had an isolated case and in fact the pens that are used are good quality markers and once you play with them a while they work fine.

If you love Mental Epic, but want to travel light these are perfect for you!

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Workable and Beautiful Props!

This is the third item I have from the very talented Mr.Wolf over at Wolf’s Magic. As with the others, it is beautifully made and very functional. It took me about 30 mintues to try this out including opening the well packaged box.

The instructions are bright and very clear and on the very first attempt of trying this effect all the balloons worked exactly the way they should. For a balloon wand/table type effect this is almost unheard of. Every effect I’ve owned up until now has required quite a lot of tweaking to get the balloons to pop and blow away on cue. Not so with this. Chance has clearly thought through the usability aspects of this effect.

Unlike his previous two items this effect does not have quite the same unique, zany routine but it still is a wonderful prop with all the fun of any other Balloon Wand. The set-up is very easy and the props very solid.

What I like about the Wolf’s Magic line I have seen so far is that not only are the props beautifully made, very colorful, and uniquely designed – they actually can be used by real performers for real shows. This is sadly not something I can say about a lot of higher end collectable props.

Wolf’s Magic is certainly turning a few heads in the magic Industry, and about time too – this is the way magic should be built and operate. Highly recommended!

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Good book to breathe a new lease of life into your Readers!

When you first start out in magic it seems you quickly go off using stripper decks and marked decks. I remember using a marked deck all the time before the age of 15. I also remember have great fun with Deland’s Deck, which of course is a combination of a stripper deck, a marked deck, and a stacked deck all in one. In fact I used to do all sorts of miracles with the Deland Deck. But I haven’t picked one up now for over 25 years!

At some point you figure these tools are not good magic and move on. Well Kirk Charles’ book Marked for Life reminds you that marked cards are still very useful and by mixing in sleights, non-reader effects, and reader effects you not only can create some huge miracles, but also you can keep the audience guessing.

This 95 page soft covered book spends about a third of the book going through various types of marking systems and its very interesting to see the different approaches various people take. I decided to give the bold, but easy, Ted Lesley’s Working Performers Marked Deck a shot.

Once you read this book you will start using a marked deck again. It has many wonderful routines that just are so much better with a marked deck. And providing you follow the tips and tactics mentioned in this book no one will ever suspect a marked deck is being used. I think that is the key thing for me: by combining the marked deck with other principles you can make a good effect into a complete mind blower that could not be easily achieved in any other manner.

The book is well written and researched and comes with a large bibliography of other areas to continue reading about marked decks. Many of which I’m sure you already have, much to your surprise. It may not be a classic book, but it does provide you the path back to an old friend that really should be in every magician’s toolkit.

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Beautiful, Small, Clever and Different!

This is a wonderfully clever little box that defies detection, even with the utmost of scrutiny. Plus its very beautifully made by Joe Porper himself.

Unlike the normal Lippincott box, this can be started off in the "closed" condition. The spectator can even hold it in their hands, and lock it themselves and hang onto the key if you so desire – though of course that would not make any sense if you were doing a prediction with this. It is a matter of a second to release it to load a billet or ring or anything small inside the box. It almost locks itself when you’re done! In fact, the one problem with this is that it locks itself too quick and you hear it talk!

This is a wonderful item and I’m sure it will become a collectible. As with all of Joe’s work, it is made to a high degree of precision and there is nothing else out there quite like it, which surely must appeal to both the performer and the collector in you!

Great Job!

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Unusual and Interesting!

This effect from Mikame Craft is very interesting and different. The method works well and the props are top notch.

Makes a good opener to a series of rope effects! This is an effect that is best kept for the stage however.

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