Andy Martin

Harry Keyl from Holland created a nice line of quality plastic magic which has become quite collectible over the years.  This one looks great and although it might not be the most amazing piece of mentalism you’ve seen it is easy to do and can be built into something bigger for sure.

There is no memory work and once you read the instructions you’ll be golden. Which is a pretty impressive feat because the original instructions I received were not clear at all how to perform the effect so I had to rewrite them 🙂

Click here for more information.

This effect originally called Bloxo, was invented by John Rice and sold by Harry Stanley c. 1960.

Pagoda is the definitive version of the the effect using a solid blade or rod to secure the blocks and was created magnificently by the Dutch master craftsman: Eddy Taytelbaum.  Eddy did such an amazing job he inspired many craftsmen including: Alan Warner, Mel Babock, Milson-Worth and more recently Magic Wagon to create their own versions.

However, one feature that Marvillo invented is the ability to let the chosen blocks release one at a time as chosen by the spectator.  This might be possible with some of the other versions once you know what to do but not with most, and Marvillo specifically designed his box to permit it.  This box is a little chunky when compared to the fine lines of Eddy Taytelbaum and Alan Warner, but still looks good and works very well.

Click here for more information.

Francois has taken the effect of Eddy Taytelbaum’s Elevator Dice to a whole new level with this beauty.  Whilst the basic tunnel is not quite as smooth and beautiful as Eddy’s spectacular version, by adding the travel case and the extra vanish Francois has created something that Collectors and story tellers will love even better.

Great job Francois 🙂

Click here for more information.

Another great close-up item from the German Magic Craftsman: Thomas Pohle.  This is based on Hoffman’s Obedient Ball as featured in Professor Hoffman’s Modern Magic.  Though this effect is of Japanese origin and is sometimes known as the Japanese Ball. The most popular version of this effect is Tenyo’s Cubio.  Colin Rose created a very nice version that is shown here.

One feature with Thomas’ version is that the cubes can be set live in front of the audience so that everything can 100% be examined. This same feature was also present in Brema’s Triple Mystery Cube c. 1932 and later in Carl’s son William Brema’s Cubio c.1946. Thomas’ version takes a little knack to be able to set these blocks so that they can stop and start on demand.  Doing this live in front of the audience might be tricky, or at least I found it so.

One approach is to set both blocks before you begin.  Then have then select either block at first and show the stop and start with that block.  Then release it and hand it to the spectator to do the same thing.  They can’t of course. Then you still have the second block ready to go to do the do as I do.

Of course with practice you will be able to hook up live with ease, but I found that some trial and error is required at first.

Click here for more information.

Howard Westgate invented the wonderful Westgate Bowl Production when he was at highschool c. 1939.  In 1951 Bev Taylor’s Town House Magic released their Improved Westgate Bowl Production and included the wonderful silk production before the bowl and goldfish were produced.

This version was made by Warren Hamilton c. 1964 (yes famous for Jo-Anne) and he incorporated the improvements from Town House Magic and created the definitive version of this clever effect.

What a clever and beautiful version this is.  If you were looking for a version of The Westgate Bowl Production this is the only one to get, whether it is for performance or your collection you can’t go wrong with this beauty 🙂

Click here for more information.

There is no doubt this is a stunning display and so easy to use. But the price has really sky rocketed from the first ones produced c. 1948 at $57.50 to $4,000 today in 20024! Not sure how many they are selling at the current $4,000 price – I guess they don’t want to make them anymore.

There is a lot of work in these beauties and there is no doubt the end product really does look amazing. I was also surprised how easy they are to set, no rings or extra utilities. Just fold them down with one hand and place the cone over them.

If you want to add some breathtaking color to your act time to start saving ?

Click here for more information.

This effect was created by the Swedish Amateur Mentalist and Stage Magician Goran Klyve in 1987. Goran started working for Harries in 1985 and has created a number of effects for Harries.

Harries of Sweden make some great magic props for Parlor and Stage. Their quality is not that of Milson-Worth or Michael Baker but they fall in line with other premium brand European manufacturers such as: Magic Hands and Mephisto-Huis and have consistently produced great magic.

This effect uses large props suitable for parlor or a small stage and allows for the very clean prediction of a number that is chosen by the spectator throwing a dart at the board. Plenty of byplay opportunity with the dart (it is a real dart) and the work is all done by the props. It even allows for a different outcome for repeat performances. They simply throw the dart and you turn around the card at the number they hit, and it is the same as the card in the prediction envelope – which can be held and opened by a member of the audience.

This is a great effect but it is a large prop and so remember it is not really designed for close-up.

Click here for more information.

This Ring Box works well and is quite clever.  However, it has two main flaws for simply vanishing a ring:

• The box is quite large. If you compare it with Sans Minds’ Vanishing Ring (see last two photos), you’ll see how much bigger it is.
• You cannot retrieve the ring secretly from the bottom.  So you vanish the ring – how do you extract it?

That being said as a result of these issues it can be used to vanish AND appear rings and small items which might be what you are looking for.  I can see it being useful if you want to make a ring appear inside the box. You can also do this repeatedly should you want some sort of running gag, but I’m think it would become less convincing if repeated.

The box does work well and the mechanism seems solid and reliable.  But I would not get this if you mainly want to vanish a ring – I would use Sans Minds Vanishing Ring hands down for that.

Click here for more information.

This is a well thought out wallet that is professionally made, looks good and, best of all, the price is very reasonable 🙂

Click here for more information.

This is a wonderful outfit which is made well and looks great.  There have been so many versions of John Kennedy’s Mystery Box since it won Trick of the Year 1997 in The Magic Menu and although some of them are worth the time for me I’m still happy with John’s version 2.

I do like David Penn’s solution here and really can’t fault it. But for me it doesn’t really add any more to the impact on the audience and I like the simplicity and compactness of the Mystery Box.

I will add once you have been performing an effect for ten or more years it gets harder and harder to change.  For three years  I was performing Mystery Blox instead of Mystery Box, but I ran into some reliability issues and switched back in 2023. It is unlikely anything will ever come along that convinces me to change.  This doesn’t mean one is better or worse, it is just too much effort to change unless it is a huge improvement, and so far I have not seen one.

But I will still check out new ideas from time to time 🙂

Click here for more information.