Andy Martin

Much more than the Zombie!

So all of us at one time or another have either performed the Zombie floating ball effect, or dreamed of performing it. I remember even having a cheap plastic one when I was a kid. Performed well its one of the most fascinating magical effects ever devised. Its inventor, Joe Karson, is even more fascinating!

I have found reading this book very interesting; a real page turner! Joe was not a saint by any means, but he was clearly a borderline genius, a very talented inventor, and an incredible entertainer. Michael Rose has done a wonderful job of filling in all the blanks about this colorful character. A highly recommended read.

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So small yet so cool!

Its amazing how small this beautiful effect by Alan Warner is. It’s an old discontinued item that Alan Warner has recently revived. And I’m glad he did!

The effect is very clean, convincing and entertaining and can be read here.

It’s been a while since I have picked up one of Alan’s beauties and its so nice to see his greatness continues. This effect is precisely and beautifully made and highly recommended!

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Finally Alan Warner has bought back his Mummy!

So after a long time Alan Warner is back making one of his favorite effects: the Mummy!

The new version is even better than the original, if that is possible, with more teak work, and some enhancements to the smoothness of the opertation and performance.

So, if you have been trying to track one of these down, now maybe is the time you can get one. It is sure to be a hit and is most highly recommended. Click here for the effect.

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Die Box old hat? Hardly! And this is Beautiful!

I never really liked the die box effect until I picked this beauty up from Mel Babcock. It has a wonderful weight to it and sounds great. It has the neat door opening feature so that you can show the die in either side of the box at any time during the demostration. This really convinces the audience that the die is still in the box. Very, very highly recommended, as is all of Mel’s beautiful magic!

Question: Is Mel Babcock as good as Owen’s?
Answer: In most cases Owen’s is probably a bit better than Mr Mel. However, you can pay anywhere from three to ten times as much at Owen’s so I don’t think its a fair comparison at all. For the price Mel Babcock rules the world, for twice the price Mel Babcock rules the world. For thrice the price he still looks very strong!

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Easy to do and Great Entertainment!

All of the booklets in Ron Bauer’s Private Studies series are a lot more than instructions on how to do the trick. They are complete performance pieces, discussing every move, nuance, and reason why. He takes you through the process so well that at the end, if you practice and follow what he says, you are able to create a performance of the highest calibre.

This effect is great fun, easy to do and really wows the audience. The money turns from blanks to $1, then $2, then to $100, at which point things go wrong and the notes are shown to be counterfeit. Its a blast! Highly recommended!

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This is a great rope effect!

This effect by Aldo Colombini was recommended to me by Gary Michaels. Its basic form takes a few minutes to read the simple handling and its a great trick. But if you spend a bit more time practicing some extra moves it is even better.

Basically the effect is you start off with a knot in the middle of a rope. It jumps to one end, then the other at which time it turns to red. Then the red knot slides from end to end, but at the climax of the effect you hand the rope out to the audience and there is a real knot tied in the rope and when this is undone the rope is shown to have a red part dyed in it. So how did it move?

Just one rope and no scissors, easy to follow and very visual! Thanks Gary for recommending it – I too would recommend it to anyone, who doesn’t like to bother learning rope tricks. This one is money well spent!

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Nice Midi Squares and Circles

These are a nice set of Square Circles from that talented craftsman Mel Babcock. I would not call them mini since their size is still quite a lot larger than any of the Alan Warner pieces. However, if you are short on space they are a lot smaller than most of Mel’s other works.

These are nicely made, but I don’t think they are quite up to the same standards that his larger pieces are. Maybe I’ve been too spoilt by Mel in the past …

Still a great piece – buy two like I did for some cool close-up transpositions!

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The original is so good!

I used to have another version of Copenetro and liked it. However, this one – an original Bob Kline one – is so much better. The base is thinner and it seems impossible for anything, certainly not 4 coins to be hidden in there, so it makes for a more amazing illusion.

This has always been one of my favorite effects, and now with this outfit its a real fooler too!

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Beautiful, Simple, and Very Amazing!

So my good, but crazy friend, down in Phoenix, AZ told me to to get this nest of boxes trick. I said who needs another Nest of Boxes when I don’t use the other 4 I have? Well this one you do need! It is, of course, beautifully made by that master craftsman Mel Babcock. I always get a bit of a lump in my throat when he sends me something new.

But once you overcome the beauty the effect is really quite amazing too. Having the coin appear inside three boxes with the third box totally surrounded by coffee beans is quite unfathomable.

As usual for Mel this is a very desirable piece and at a very affordable price. Highly recommended.

Thanks Larry for the tip 🙂

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That’s a nice set of Paddles you have there!

I remember the old Jumping Toothpick Paddle from Joe Porper and always liked it. This set includes that paddle plus four others. They are all beautifully machined in metal and are of very high quality.

With this set you get: Jumping Toothpick, Red, White, and Blue, 1-2-3-4 Spot, Color Changer, and Mystery Paddle. My favorites are the Jumping Toothpick and the Red, White, and Blue. These are the easiest to work with, but the other three are not hard, just take a bit more handling. They are all gimmicked in some way, but the gimmicks are so well made that in each case the paddles can be handed out for examination.

They come in a nice presentation case with certificate of authenticity and make a very fine set of paddles. They are also available individually if you can’t afford the complete set.

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