Andy Martin

I must say these are the best of the series so far. Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec God of War and this effect involves a very clean and clearly impossible penetration of the figure of Huitzilopochtli (conveniently stored in the base of the unit) through a disk held securely in the frame.

You show the beautiful and colorful disk in the frame and cover it with two bars that each have a channel through which the figure will eventually be passed. Using some cleverly designed clips the bars attach easily onto the frame and the set-up looks quite amazing. The spectator can try to push the figure through the channel with no luck. The magician can show the unit all around – there is nothing to hide, add or take away, and then with a magic wave of the hand the magician or the spectator is able to slowly but surely push Huitzilopochtli all the way through the disk. It really looks quite magical to behold. If you desire you can show the disk again at the end.

Please Note: In the photo you will see a hairline crack along the disk this is because of the high resolution close-up photos I take with my camera, for only a few feet this will not be noticed. The penetration really looks quite impossible.

A wonderful addition to the Aztec Series, that I know collector’s will quickly jump to!

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This is the fifth effect in the Aztec Series and my personal favorite so far. In fact this is one of my all time favorites of all the beautiful items Thomas has created. Firstly the outer box looks amazing – with very intricate patterns throughout. Thomas never spares any expense on creating the right atmosphere for his magic. This is reminiscent of one of Thomas’ classic effects: the Witch Boxes. However, the boxes are much higher quality and I think the main routine is more interesting and the mechanism itself is easier to work.

What I love about this apparatus is how smoothly you can switch between: gold, colored or empty coins because at any time any of the three can happen. This means the apparatus itself lends itself to other routines. But the one supplied by Thomas seems to work pretty smoothly.

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Dave Powell builds the most exceptional magic and I hate him for it. I’d love to buy his cute boxes and sell them quickly to make my site look good without having to incur the cost or the space in my office, but he has a habit of just creating the definitive versions of so many classics, that you have no choice but to keep them. I already have too much magic lying around here, so what does Dave do? Force me to keep more!

Dave’s magic doesn’t just look better, it operates smoother and looks more convincing. There are very few other current craftsman that are consistently producing magic of Dave Powell’s quality and imagination. Other craftsmen produce great items every now and then, but Dave hits them out of the park time after time after time. This Victorian Drawer Box is a case in point – I’ve seen plenty of drawer boxes, but none get close to the smoothness of operation as this one. Nothing compares. And if you factor in the prices he charges then it becomes even more crazy. His prices really are amazingly fair for such works of art.

What is really crazy is I still don’t think Dave has the reputation he should have. His magic creations are just amazing. If you have any sense you’d hurry over to his site now and buy all that you don’t have – you won’t be disappointed. Unless of course you really don’t want to buy any more really high quality magic but are in fact trying to slow down. Then, sadly, you will be disappointed.

Highly Recommended for anyone who appreciates quality and craftsmanship.

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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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