5 Stars

This was first released by Supreme Magic c. 1967 and although the wallet is quite simple it is a very useful device that can be used for many different effects when a switch, vanish, appearance of a card, note, billet are required.

The routine I have shown was inspired by one give in the instructions, but you could easily make up your own routines too. I included two new decks of Jerry’s Nuggets to really class it up, but any other decks could be used too.

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According to Betty Davenport and Stevens Magic this effect was invented by Al Glennan c. 2001 and sold exclusively by Davenport’s until 2019 when the USA rights were granted by Betty Davenport to Stevens Magic to produce their own version. However, what appears to be the exact same effect and method was featured in Supreme Magic’s Magigram (May 1989, pg 590) also called Mental Ropes and invented by Jack Bridwell.  In fact, according to a Linking Ring report (August, 2001, pg 166-168) Jack invented it in the late 1970’s for Supreme.

It a very easy effect to do and has quite a surprising outcome because everything appears so above board all the way up until the last rope is chosen. Nothing is added or taken away and there are no tricky moves or difficult set-ups.

Louis Gaynor has created this perfectly. The only thing I would change is use replace the standard black and white wand with a nicer wooden one (Stevens Magic clearly could have done this but the price would have gone up a lot and they really are releasing this at an amazing price.) The other performance tip I have is to place an elastic around the wand under the bottom of the box to lock the wand in so that it doesn’t move when you are pulling out the ropes it makes for a much smoother operation.

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Stan Watson was a talented and generous professional performer and I was lucky enough to be at the Sussex Magic Circle when he was a member. You could always see the difference between his performances and the other guys. His scissors are absolute gold

If you get the original ones signed by Stan Watson himself they will last a lifetime – these photos are of my set which are 42 years old!

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Stan Watson was a talented and generous professional performer and I was lucky enough to be at the Sussex Magic Circle when he was a member. You could always see the difference between his performances and the other guys. His scissors are absolute gold

If you get the original ones signed by Stan Watson himself they will last a lifetime – these photos are of my set which are 42 years old!

Click here for more information.

Stan Watson was a talented and generous professional performer and I was lucky enough to be at the Sussex Magic Circle when he was a member. You could always see the difference between his performances and the other guys. His scissors are absolute gold

If you get the original ones signed by Stan Watson himself they will last a lifetime – these photos are of my set which are 42 years old!

Click here for more information.

What a great way to vanish a silk. Similar to the Wonder Silk Vanishing Tube and looks totally convincing to the spectator.  I think the Wonder Silk is a little easier, but they are very close and people certainly like the cleanness of the transparent tube.  And the price is right too.

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I remember first seeing this at a show hosted by the Sussex Magic Circle back in the early 1970’s. I thought it was amazing. Though not credited in the instructions it is clearly based on a principle discussed by Louis Histed in his book The Magic of Louis S. Histed.  What is so clever about the effect is it really does look like real magic and you can do precisely what it says in the advert.

For a performance in The Porcupine I decided to use beer instead of milk and noticed an additional effect – after the penetration the beer has no head.  Now in the UK most of us like a good head on our beer, but often in the USA you don’t so the idea of the “Patent Pending Beer Head Extractor” was born 🙂

Of course the apparatus works perfectly with milk too – nothing is changed but the presentation but I thought you would appreciate the routine below.  Use your own beer or milk.

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What a beautiful and clever idea from the talented craftsman from Croatia, Damir Djanis.  This is the third of Damir’s items released by George Robinson at Viking Mfg. and I think it is the best so far. 

I’ve always liked the Cabala type effect but have never been happy with the angle issues. But now thanks to Damir and George those issues are gone.  This is a brilliant solution and works perfectly.  You can have the whole unit examined and do the magic right in front of them with nothing added or taken away.

The only issue I had with it was that I was not too excited by the patter about Alan Turing.  Being a computer guy for almost fifty years I admire and respect Alan Turing as much as the next person but the routine did not work for me.

I came up with idea of using the box as a counterfeit detector and my routine is below.  However, to do my routine you need three Silver Morgans (one of which is real) and the other two are fake, but only one is magnetic.  I used to think all fake Silver Morgans were magnetic (certainly all the ones I had were), but it turns out that is not the case and when I realized it, this feature led me to my routine.  When you purchase this from Viking you will only get one fake non-magnetic Silver Morgan.  But for my routine you’ll need three Silver Morgans (two fake, only one of which is magnetic) and a real Silver Morgan too.

Thanks Damir and George this is a wonderful item 🙂

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This is a really beautiful version of Silkola from a new manufacturer Darren Heppel and his company DS Magik. Darren has been interested in magic for many years but has only recently started building his own props. Though based on his first two items he has released you could never tell.  His finish out and eye for detail will give even the modern-day prop master Michael Baker a run for his money 🙂

This is Darren’s take on the Silkola effect invented by Lennart Bondesson of Sweden c. 1966 and sold to Supreme Magic Co. of England when it was first marketed c. 1967. It is very similar to Michael Baker’s version, they even use the same ornate bottle.  Michael’s graphics and finish still have an edge but it is close.

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