Friday, August 26, 2005

The Last Friday In August!

Greetings from all of us here at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. I am back from college delivery. What a trip. It was just plain hot for the entire trip. A couple of times I thought I had actually melted. Aron wants to thank everyone who sent him emails filled with good advice. I was amazed at how many of you took the time to write. I always knew you were nice people, but I had no idea just how nice. Aron was completely surprised to find his email box filled with messages. If you wait long enough, he will answer them all. Could be a long wait, though.

While I was away, some very cool new stuff came in stock. Of course, we have listed it all in the Hotlist at www.magicfact.com!

The Bermuda Mystery: The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. The fantastic properties of a Black Hole. All brought together into one amazing close-up effect. The Bermuda Mystery.
Place a small black spotlight pad on the table. It is about 4 inches across.
Next, place a white plastic triangle on the pad, then set a half dollar sized coin in the hole in the triangle.
Cover the coin with a playing card while you patter about the famous Bermuda Triangle and how ships and airplanes have gone missing within that triangle.
Lift the card and turn it over.
The coin is gone!! Their jaws will drop!
You can re-produce the coin from under the pad, or from anywhere you would like. Hand it all out: the coin; the card; the triangle and the pad. Nothing to be found.
Totally self-working, with a powerhouse effect. You will carry this one with you all the time. It is just plain amazing! $36.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7917&cat=&page=1)

Dracula Bites The Dust: Halloween is just around the corner, and Mike Bent is doing his very best to get you ready!
Mike's Dracula Bites The Dust is a new Halloween kidshow routine based on Terry Seabrooke's Chattering Teeth trick that combines laughs, scares and great magic in a routine that will make all ages go "batty."
You will get a CD with illustrated instructions, routine and ready-to-print .pdf files of:
* The Transylvania Today newspaper, printed with Drac's hilarious obituary.
* Files to print the full-color cards for "Drac's Deck." Complete with two forces for repeat shows.
* Stencils for your choice of two "chewed-outcomes."
* "Aberzombie & Witch" shopping bag label.
* Instructions for performing with or without Doug Malloy's Chattering Teeth Box.
* Full performance rights.
* CD will work with either Windows or Mac computers. $25.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7916&cat=&page=1)

Rice's Encyclopedia of Silk Magic - The CD - The best silk magic in the world is now yours on CDRom! Over 1500 pages of Francis Martineau's hand-lettered text; thousands of beautiful Illustrations.
If you are interested in Silk Magic at all (and what magician isn't?), the secrets of Silk Magic, past and present will be found covered in every detail in this wonderful four volume set.
Volume One- First published by Harold Rice in 1948, it took eight years to prepare. It contains ten large chapters including The Romantic Story of Silk; How to Dye Your Own Silks; Methods of Folding Silks; Production Mthods (with and without apparatus; single silks and quantity productions); Vanishes; Changes; and Transpositions. The entire volume was hand lettered and illustrated by Francis Martineau. Over 1800 beautiful Illustrations! 520 pages. When first published, Volume One received both the Sphinx and Genii awards for Best Book of the Year.
Volume Two- Five years of dedicated work resulted in the publication of the second volume. It contains 7 chapters including Penetrations; Color Changes; Silk Dying; Reel Magic; Reel-Less Magic; and Twentieth Century Silks. Once again, hand lettered and illustrated by Francis Martineau with more than 2100 Illustrations. 387 effects! 533 pages.
Volume Three- Nearly ten years after the publication of Volume 1, Volume Three was ready! This volume contains 8 chapters of solid silk magic. Includes Sympathetic Silks; Blendo Effects; Naughty Silks; Silks and Eggs; Soup Plates and Silks; Silks and Candles; Openers; and the Jap Hank Box. As in the first two volumes, Volume 3 is hand lettered and illustrated by Francis Martineau. 513 pages.
Volume 4- Thirty years after the publication of Volume 3, Volume Four was published! This volume contains nine chapters of solid silk magic plus an extensive index of all four volumes. Chapters include The Harold Rice Story; Volume One Revisited; Volume Two Revisited; Volume Three Revisited; Silk Loads and Steals; Silk Magic for Children; Silk Magic of Warren Stephens; Romantic Story of Silk Revisited plus the index by Chapters, Contributors, Effects and Subjects! Written by Mark Trimble, The Encyclopedia of Silk Magic, Volume 4 took more than two years to produce. Hundreds and hundreds of illustrations. $39.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7913&cat=&page=1)


Stretching Chinese Coin - New from our friends at Joker Magic, the Stretching Chinese Coin is a beautiful piece of visual magic!
Hold a half dollar sized Chinese Coin at your fingertips.
Ask a member of the audience to pull the coin from your hand. As they do so, the coin visibly stretches as it is pulled. In the end, the coin is in a teardrop shape, and may be passed for examination.
No switches. The very special coin does all the work for you. The coin matches the coins in the Chinese Set. $32.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7919&cat=&page=1)

Mummy Dearest - Another fabulous Halloween kidshow routine from the master of the macabre, Mike Bent!
Transform your ordinary Temple Screen trick into a hilarious Halloween classic that packs flat and plays really big!
Display a "genuine" wall fragment from an Egyptian pyramid and translate the hieroglyphics, showing the wall on both sides.
A child is invited onstage to help you conjure up the spirit of an ancient Egyptian mummy!
Fold the wall into a pyramid and cast the spell, but nothing happens! There just seems to be some white paper inside.
Your helper holds the paper and, while you're looking for the mummy, you wrap your assistant up like a mummy!
Finally, you give up looking and turn to apologize to your helper. But, Yikes, he is the mummy!
The CD comes complete with Mike Bent's full routine and instructions, plus color .pdf files ready to print out and cover your Temple Screen.
The CD will run in either Windows or Mac computers. $25.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7918&cat=&page=1)

Get Bent DVD - If you want to spice up your magic routines, or just add flavor to your act, join Nicholas Byrd and James Coats as they cater to all your bending needs. You will be shown how to bend metal and plastic spoons and forks, wooden items, keys, nails, pens, and paper clips.
Appetizers Include:
* BYRDCO system
* Gimmicked Bends
* Twisted
* Fulcrum Bends
* Power Breaking Metal Spoons and Forks
* Frozen in Tine
and much more!
Bonus:
* A hilarious out-take reel. $29.95 (specially priced this week!)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7915&cat=&page=1)

Hidden In Plain Sight - Kirk Charles - The most complete manual for marked cards ever published. Author Kirk Charles, a long-time professional magician, has written a book that explores this most powerful of all magical tools in great detail. From the history of marked cards to more modern developments in "reader" technology, Charles breaks down the advantages, disadvantages and nuances you'll need to know. You'll learn about commercially available decks as well as how to prepare your own custom-marked pack.
Additionally, Charles delves into the psychology involved in performing with a marked deck. From strategies for misdirection to key cards, stacked decks, and mnemonics, Charles explores every angle of the tips and tactics that can enhance tricks with any marked deck.
For the beginning card conjurer, an entire chapter of easy-to-do miracle material has been included. These tricks require little if any sleight of hand, yet pack a wallop when performed. Even amateurs, armed with a marked deck and these "Instant Miracles" will be amazing spectators in no time!
Best of all, Hidden in Plain Sight details the workings of the finest marked cards on the market, the Boris Wild Marked Deck. A lengthy chapter, written by Boris Wild himself, details the nuts and bolts of his stellar system, and includes two blockbuster tricks that will fool not only laymen but magicians as well!
For the serious student, a lengthy bibliography has been included, leading the reader to further information and uses for marked cards. $11.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=7914&cat=&page=1)

And that's the best of the bunch for this week. I hope you will find some time to spend with us either in person at 112 South Street in Boston or online at www.magicfact.com. Either way, we do love the company.
Hank Lee