Andy Martin

Superb nest of boxes from Mikame

This is one of the best items that Mikame Craft put out – the matching chests look amazing and the method is easy to do.

You can start with the largest box on your table in full view and borrow a watch or ring or similar item, placing it in the hanky provided. Then the item vanishes from the hanky and you show the large box all around and open it up. Inside is a smaller box which you take out and place down on the table. You open this up and a third box is found which is given to the spectator. This box is padlocked and they are given the key and when the spectator opens up the box they find their item inside.

It is all very smooth in operation and the vanish is achieved using a Devil’s Hanky (which is supplied).

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Beautiful in its execution.

Wow, talk about an amazing utility device. This is by far my favorite card find of the decade. A bit like when you first come across a card box or a himber wallet, you start thinking of all these wonderful ideas.

I use Extractor for the cleanest signed card to wallet and I have never felt comfortable doing this before. It is lightning fast and defies explanation. I close my walk around performance with it now, and I’m immediately ready to go again.

Rob Bromley truly is a genius with cards.

You will find plenty of uses for this – buy two because these are made up by hand and who knows when they will stop making them. And how will you ever fool them again without the amazing Extractor?

The new version is certainly easier to replace than the original and has the added benefit of allowing the cards to be pulled out from the deck. But if you have the original then you don’t need to get this one, unless of course you can’t live without the best!

Highly Recommended for all magicians who want to amaze their audience!

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A Beautiful Box with a Great Routine

This is a beautiful Dice Box (note – not Die Box) from Bob Gunther and John Mendoza (the GM in the title) and not only is it a really pretty box the routine actually makes sense. There are two dice used in this routine because there are two compartments – which of course makes perfect sense.

The wood work and inlay is beautiful too, with a good thunk from the weight as it slides from side to side. There are only 72 of these in existence and this comes from the second batch which is purported to be even better than the first.

Highly Recommended for Collectors and Performers everywhere!

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Ah Original and Quality Magic!

Harold Voit has marketed some great magic. This item and one of my other favorites, the Wandering Mummies, are both beautifully made, effective, and clever – a collector’s dream.

This particular piece, made by the German Master Craftsman Tony Lackner, is really a utility item, in that you can control what the hand points to – and it can be different each spin. But when you dress it up like this, the performance and story aspects really increase and you can perform some very impressive, and scary, magic. Perfect for bizarre performances, or any Alan Warner collector who is inspired by his Egyptian themes.

My latest routine uses the 22 Major Arcana from a mini tarot deck. The spectator shuffles all of the cards and then selects any six face down. They then use the hand to select one of these six. After looking at the card and remembering it, they mix up these six cards face down so that no one knows where the chosen or any of the other cards are. The cards are not marked on the back either and are placed around the pyramid. The spectator now spins the hand and eventually it mysteriously stops at one card. You turn over each of the other five cards and finally show the chosen card is there one. It is a very freaky effect to the spectator!

By using the Tarot cards it also offers great potential to do a mini fortune reading as they select the six cards and the final one.

Highly Recommended, but be wary of recent remakes and rip-offs.

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One of the Tenyo Classics!

As a young teenager I used to perform this effect all the time. It was my go to effect at the time. It takes a knack but no real skill. I mastered it easily as a boy and if it takes a bit of practice to master that doesn’t mean it needs any special skills. If you follow the routine it becomes more and more unbelievable for the spectators.

I love this effect and would highly recommend it.

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Wonderful Utility Device

So you have to admire Magiro’s mind – many of his items are really clever, and this utility device is no different. It looks like a simple envelope stand but it can be used to create some amazing predictions.

The most basic prediction allows them to select any one of five cards (no force) and you simply pick-up the envelope, and rip it open and there is their card. No double envelopes or double faced cards either. And before you open the envelope you can show it on both sides too – nothing is hidden in your hands or behind the envelope, the chosen card really is inside the envelope.

But what is even more impressive is they can choose 1-5 cards and you can still end up with the multiple cards in the envelope, so this takes it way beyond just 1 in 5. It can be used for playing cards, ESP cards, business cards and billets too.

Something a little different – no electronics and nothing to run out – and works every time.

Great for Magician’s and Mentalists.

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Peak Ken Brooke Entertainment!

So I’ve had this trick for about three years and it wasn’t until this weekend that I actually performed it to lay people. And boy were the reactions great!

This is one of those items that does not appeal to magicians as much as to some of them it seems obvious. But performed correctly it is a real surprise and not once did anyone ask to look at the cards.

It is easy to do and you get a good supply of cards with the routine. Ken Brooke knew all about how to entertain the people, and this is surely one of his most overlooked classics.

Because everything is done in their hands the impact is intensified. This is a perfect walk around trick – you do use up a card each time, but just have a plastic wallet with ready to go sets and you can work all evening without issues.

Highly Recommended for close-up and walk-around performers everywhere!

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Amazing Die Box Effect!

This is the latest in the wonderful recreations of magic of olde from Joe Long and his Limited Editions Magic series. I have never even heard of the original and have also not seen a die box with anything but dice and cubes so this one was a real surprise.

In effect you show the tea chest to be empty by opening both doors at the front. Then you take the tea caddy and place it in the red tube. From here it quickly disappears and is found inside the chest by opening up the left hand door. Here you can go in to the familiar sliding routine as the caddy slides back and forth. Eventually the caddy vanishes from the chest. You then take the lid off and the chest "explodes" into a tray with 6 Sake cups and a full size Sake bottle, way bigger than the height of the chest. You then proceed to pour 6 drinks from the bottle and wish everyone good health!

A very visual and exciting climax to a more familiar die box type effect. This was made in a very limited edition of 12 pieces, so they are pretty hard to come by.

Highly Recommended for Magic Collectors everywhere!

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Wayne Dobson loves it too!

So I’m not the only one who thinks that this Blue Phantom by Andy Hurst is better than the Voit one … Wayne Dobson, who performed the Voit one live on British TV, thinks so too!

This is what Wayne had to say:

I’ve had so many inquiries about the close up version of The Blue Phantom that I performed on my close up T.V special, people asking where can they get one? Well, they couldn’t! Until now, when my good friend Andy Hurst has made just a few and they are absolutely stunning, in fact they are better than the original one that I used! The craftsmanship is just perfection; please watch this space as they will be available very soon.

And here is the video where Wayne performs with the Voit one: Wayne Dobson performing Voit Blue Phantom.

So there you have it. I have spoken to a few other collector’s and they agree with me too.

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Wow! What a Mind Bender this is!

So most of Magiro’s magic is clever and practical. This particular item is like a Silkola on steroids and the method is really hard to fathom.

Basically under what seems like test conditions a silk vanishes (by your favorite method) and appears inside a capped clear tube which can be examined before and after the effect.

With the exception of the vanish (which is up to you, but a silk pistol would be impressive, or any other method) there is one move but it is all very natural and covered by the routine.

I really like this one!

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