Andy Martin

This is a great looking and useful toolkit for the hobbyist and professional card worker.  It takes a little bit of practice to get smooth, but it is not difficult.  The key thing to remember is line everything up using the well designed jigs and change your blades regularly.

This unit has a lot of flexibility and although for full decks of short cards I prefer this type of Card Trimmer, if your budget is tight or you want one tool to do a wide variety of  cards The Nibbler is your solution.

The thing I was most impressed with was the corner short tool on the trimmed cards – I was creating some short cards for an effect and after I had used the corner short tool, I could not tell the card had been trimmed.  It looks perfect 🙂

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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 may look like  a simple mini drawer box, but you would be wrong.  This is truly amazing precision quality.  The mechanism works perfectly and the inside of the draw is actually a metal insert which make the tolerances seem impossible and also means the gimmick it is pretty much undetectable.

Though I’ve seen a lot of neat and clever Mini Drawer Boxes, I’ve never seen one quite as unassuming but still amazing as this bad boy.  I shouldn’t have been surprised, after it is a Milson-Worth item.  Milson-Worth has always created some of the most amazing parlor and close-up items available.

The problem with a utility device like this that is so well made you want to create a routine worthy of the prop. Below I have included my routine which I tried to really maximize to do justice to the work put into this beauty.  The big stumbling point for me was coming up with a card effect that has some meat and was a little more than just producing or vanishing a deck of cards.  I’m pretty happy with my final routine which hopefully will show up as a video in the Porcupine soon.

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This is my most recent and main demo table for my Speed Demos in the Porcupine.  Although I currently don’t get close to using all the features, I’m sure over time many of them will come in handy.  It is very solid and beautifully made from oak with an antique cherry finish.  It is the perfect size for most of the props I demonstrate.

It is complemented perfectly by three custom close-up mats from Patt’s Mats, though my favorite is the Burgundy one.

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It is hard to believe this wallet was released in 1996 and I’m first actually holding one up close in 2023 🙁

The best switching device I have seen is The Devil’s Mail Box but if you are on a budget and only need to switch poker sized items the Eclipse wallet would get you through.  It also comes in jumbo size so you’re covered for larger switches too.

It is a really perfect switch wallet and looks very clean.

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This is Hanson Chien’s version of Bob Swadling’s Blasted. Hanson has done an impressive job here.  He took Bob’s amazing method and removed a number of the restrictions to created a really innovative approach. You don’t need any special coins and it will work with more than one coin or small object at a time.

As with many methods there are times you might prefer to use Blasted – in fact for me I will still do that, but there are clearly some things you could never do with Blasted, but you can do easily and cleanly with Roller Coaster.

This is just the second item I have seen from Hanson Chien and I must say how impressed I am with not only the quality of his items, but also the research he puts in to track down the original creators.  Great job Hanson 🙂

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It is always a treat when I open up a package from the great German craftsman Willi Wessel. I received a few items from Willi in January and have been slowly trying to get to them.  This is a Mini Version of an old effect Willi found in a magic magazine. Willi came up with an improved handling for his version.

When I watched the custom video Willi sent me I was completely surprised when the die jumped!  I didn’t see it coming.  I particularly like how fair and  deliberate everything Willi does is, no signs of trickery – just great magic.

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Wow, what a great looking and heavy Okito Box this is.  These were designed by H.J Elliot, the proprietor of Precision Magic Metals.   Very shiny and very solid.  It holds four Silver Morgan’s and other large silver dollars. It comes with a new move and some great photo illustrated instructions and if you like coin boxes you’ll have great fun playing with this bad boy.

I’m sure this box will outlive us all 🙂

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Here is another great kids effect from Chance Wolf complete with a wonderful routine ready to go written by Chance and Jimmy Vee.  The Great Whytini is a character created by Chance for his Surfs Shark line c. 2013.

The quality props are bright and colorful and easy to set-up and perform with.  The mechanism for the change works easily and you can focus on the fun routine.

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WOW is all I could say when I first received this 🙂

Not only is the gimmick perfect but Hanson has created the absolute perfect routine for this miracle.  No longer is the Matchbox Penetration just a puzzle, now there is a beginning, a middle, and a mind blowing end to the routine.

I keep very few new tricks these days, but boy am I going to keep this one. It works best if you perform a full deck card trick before it and then switch the decks as you are putting the cards away at the end of the effect.  Then bring out Holy Wood as an after thought to completely blow their world apart.  I’m going to tie this to Mystery Blox because there is plenty of cover at the end when people think it is all over as they see their signed card in lego blocks.  To then come back and do something even stronger will be perfect.

It looks amazingly clean and the reactions in the trailer are very accurate – what they see is a deck of cards, that is then fully penetrated even whilst held in their hands, and then without any moves they can’t push their card through anymore and finally they can open up the case and pull out the solid piece of wood.

I LOVE IT 🙂

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