4 Stars

These boxes were designed by Roy Roth for his cabaret act and they are very compact.  The loading mechanism is very similar to Himber’s Her Majesty’s Box (c. 1945) which has also been used by Viking Mfg. and Davenport’s.

These work well but the quality is not as fine as Himber’s original or the later versions.  But it is quite amazing how small the boxes are.  However, don’t confuse this with Roy Roth’s other Nest of Boxes and his Prediction Chest/Nest of Boxes which are have also been called Nest of Boxes in R.A.R. magic adverts and catalogs.  This is the first version I have seen of this style.

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What a clever idea from Magicraft. This is about as clean and effective approach you can come up with to turn a candle into salt and no wonder it was a complete sell-out at Magi-Fest when it was first released in 1974. Maybe not mechanically clever, but you have to admire the solution for this effect ?

Magicraft Products was a small dealer and manufacturer founded by Tim Dereme in North Canton, Ohio c. 1966. As far as I can tell they were in business until c. 2004.

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Created by Karl-Heinz Tanczer who is one of founders of the amazing German Magic Manufacturer and Dealer Future Magic who produce a very solid selection of fine quality magic that is shipped world-wide. Before Future Magic Karl-Heinz Tanczer created magic for Eckhard Boettcher among others.

This is the latest version of Excalibur – the main pedestal weighs exactly half of the original Excalibur (from 9.6oz to 4.8oz) .  Often reducing the weight of a prop is a good thing, and there is no doubt the original is heavy.  However, I have used the original for years and I find that the heavier version is easier to use and more convincing because of the very solid base.  You can still perform the same effect with the new one, but if you can I would track down one of the originals.  The original also has a nice brass handle which I think looks better (the final photo shows both versions side by side).

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This effect and method was invented by George Lorimer and published in the British monthly periodical The Magician Monthly as The Crown Jewels of Crashbania and subtitled: A Regular Royal Robbery (pg. 72, May, 1928).  Lorimer’s routine had quite a lot more going on than the eventual dealer versions including changing the large rubies into a shower of smaller rubies, a British flag to cover the crown, the production of some large silks, and a cage complete with Canary 🙂

However, the key methods of the rubies appearing in the crown and vanishing from the presentation case are used in both dealer versions I have seen.  The first dealer version that I am aware of was released by Harry Stanley c. 1953 as Royal Robbery and routined by Arthur Leo.

Supreme Magic released their first version c. 1968 through arrangement with Harry Stanley and still based on the Arthur Leo routine, then later as they purchased Stanley’s exclusive copyrights c. 1972 they released other tweaks and changes.  This version, though brand new, comes from c. 1992 with the addition of the Tom Sellers’ idea to vanish the silks.

Supreme’s version is well made but does not have quite the elegance of Stanley’s Royal Robbery and only includes three jewels as opposed to four (look at the final photo for comparison of the crowns).  But the routine is similar with a few extra tweaks including the cardboard card instead of hanky to cover up the crown.  One of the other 1992 changes  is the vanish of the jewels from a silk and tumbler.  To be honest I could have left that out as I didn’t find the method that convincing (but I have not actually performed it to children so maybe it goes down very well in reality).

But, with or without the vanish, this is a great routine for the younger children and will entertain them and they will have plenty of fun along the way.  It is very topical right now with the Coronation of King Charles III 🙂

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The original version of this clever penetration was invented by Mark Jacobs and built by John Snyder c. 1943. That version used a frame and was built for parlor and stage. This version from Sam Dalal in India is quite stripped down and uses just three gleaming perspex plaques and a ribbon.

These are very nice quality and are easy to perform with.

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This is a very nice set of clocks for production. They are well made, light and nest into a small space ready to be produced from the smallest production box. Even quite close-up these look real. They would make a great ending to any standard silks production when the last thing the audience is expecting is six full sized alarm clocks 🙂

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This is a nicer looking version of the Fantasio’s Deck Switcher.  It is not great quality if you get in really close, but from a few feet it looks great and it works perfectly.  The best quality version of this type of switch is still Peter Scarlett’s Pimpernel Card Box but the problem with Peter’s version is that it is too small to fit the card case.  This version handles the card case just right.

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Sam Dalal’s nice version of the Jack Hughes’ Classic effect Card Go.  This is for jumbo sized cards and looks good and works smoothly.

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This is a clever trick with fairly cheap chips from Sam Dalal.  What is particularly interesting from a historical perspective is the chips use the same methods that the great Danish Chip Master magician Per Clausen and others such as El Duco use to create some really wonderful effects.  As far as I know Sam Dalal was the first to use this method, and although Per Clausen became famous for his brass chip effects there is no doubt they began with Sam Dalal.

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In 1999 my wife and I had just become American Citizens (I was born in England and she in Canada) and had a party for our friends to celebrate and I was the main entertainment 🙂

I ended the show with my wife by my side and produced this wonderful American flag from Sam Dalal and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house 🙂

This flag works very smoothly and is amazing quality for the price.

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