Greetings from all of us here at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. And, the happiest of holidays to all. I am not sure how you plan to spend the upcoming weekend. For me, there will be some serious napping. No matter how you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful time! We have had the busiest holiday season I can remember. For which we offer our heartiest thanks to you, our band of loyal friends and customers.
I just discovered Google Earth. Being a Mac person, this just became available in beta form. Of course, Aron, the techno-savvy son, installed it right away. I now have it on my laptop and have been having a really good time playing. I have been able to peek at the rooftops of all the other magic dealers (you didn’t know there were any other magic dealers?) Now, if I could just get that special X-Ray lens. Hmmmmm. Anyway, it's a fun program and I know there's a magic trick just waiting to use the technology. We'll put the elves to work on it right after the holidays.
On a side note, Aron is working here during his break from college. We have him answering the phone and taking orders. If he answers the phone when you call (and you will know it is him right away), say hello and tell him how you read all about him when he was still in diapers. Then, ask him if he knows the five ferro-magnetic elements. He will laugh!
From the important announcement department, Criss Angel's Mastermind 2 DVD has been delayed a little while, but will be shipping very soon. I know a lot of you wanted to be floating around for the holidays, but it looks like you will have to wait until New Year's to do your floating. Rest assured, we will get them off to you just as soon as they arrive.
Now, let's take a peek at this next to last Hotlist for 2005!
Electric Touch - A mind-blowing masterpiece and a mentalist’s dream, the Electric Touch bridges the mental and the physical.
This amazing new product will create excitement, mystery, curiosity all in one unforgettable experience!
Indoors or outdoors, it can be done without a jacket, shirt or any jewelry.
Without a doubt, you will shock people!
Imagine while using your powers of the mind, ask someone to think of a number or pick a card. You then hold your finger up and ask the volunteer to focus on their choice and transfer that thought to you by simply touching your finger. When your fingers touch, you give them an electro-static shock. And, to their shocked surprise, the thought seems to travel from their brain to yours, delivering an unbelievable effect!
With a simple touch, make a fluorescent bulb glow on and off at your command.
Make confetti move at your command.
Charge a spoon or keys and watch as it shocks a volunteer!
Perfectly safe. Totally awesome. Pre-order now at $149.95 and we'll ship it free!
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8092&cat=&page=1)
Magic For Under 5's DVD - Terry Herbert enjoys a worldwide reputation as an outstanding children's entertainer. His video, Children's Magic - the Herbert Way was a runaway best seller and became a standard work of reference for newcomers to entertaining children as well as experienced performers. Now Terry turns his attention to magic for the under 5s, and, as you'd imagine, this area also gets the Herbert treatment.
First of all, you see a live show with some of the tricks which Terry regularly uses, and those all important 'bits of business' which children love. Next, Terry explains the tricks and what effect he is trying to achieve. Finally, as an added bonus, Terry is interviewed by none other than David Kaye - a.k.a. Silly Billy from New York! $39.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8090&cat=&page=1)
Advanced Illusion Projects - Tim Clothier - Illusions for the new millennium! Each of the eight illusion designs feature detailed scale plans of the entire structure of the prop. All parts of the illusion are shown and described, including information on how to build them; materials to use and recommended finishes.
STEAM
The appearance of the Magician from steam pouring out of a network of pipes.
R/C CAR VANISH
A radio-controlled car vanishes from its box and reappears on the far side of the stage.
COMPACT DECEPTION
The Magician turns a CD player into his assistant.
HEADZ UP
The assistant is cut into three pieces then the box opened to show the legs, torso and head all separated.
ALIEN ABDUCTION
An AREA51 routine in which an Alien vanishes and reappears in the Magician's place.
. Full Color Throughout
. Photographs
. Story Boards
. A Chapter About Building Mock-Ups
. Scale Drawings
. Extremely Detailed Plans
. 3d Views
. Exploded Drawings Of Illusion Construction
$49.50
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8094&cat=&page=1)
Love Test - Eduardo Kozuch's Love Test is one of the best walk-around effects we have seen. It's great any place there are couples, which is just about everywhere!
Ask a couple (husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you get the idea) to help with a magical Love Test.
Show a very normal looking deck of cards, both faces and backs.
Ask each of the two spectators to name any card in the deck. There is no force, no limiting of selection. They think of a card and then name it.
You remove the two cards from the deck and place each card on the spectator's palm.
When they turn their card over, they will discover a large heart printed on the other side! The heart is actually printed!
Show the rest of the deck to verify that none of the other cards have hearts printed on them. Just the two chosen cards. It must be true love!
A routine is also included for performing for only one spectator.
Beautifully printed on Bicycle cards, totally self-working. A great one to carry with you all the time! $24.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8096&cat=&page=1)
D'Lite Morph - Introducing the D’Lite Morph™. This very special D’Lite™ first lights as a pale purple, then automatically cycles through a wide range of colors such as: red, orange, green, then on to blue, pink and back to purple. This cycling continues for as long as the unit is activated. Even better, when this D’Lite is moved, it creates a unique strobe effect! Set of 2. $29.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8097&cat=&page=1)
Heads Or Tails - Gary Koznitsky - "Imagine being able to toss a spinning coin high up in the air and possess the ability to predict whether it will land heads or tails side up. Are you able to foretell the future? What if you can toss a coin in the air and make it land on either side the spectator wishes. You may even let the spectator catch the coin themselves. Do you have super human powers? My aim in authoring this treatise is to explain and teach you how to do just that. I call this method of tossing a coin so that you have complete control over its outcome, the Controlled Coin Toss.
The act of tossing a coin to make a decision has been around for well over a thousand years. The ancient Romans played a game called "navia aut caput" (ship or head). Most likely it was named this because ancient Roman coins usually had a ship on one side and the profile of the head of an Emperor on the other side. I would not be surprised if there was a Toga-clad gambler back then who was employing the Controlled Coin Toss to cheat at this game. The origins of this method to control the outcome of a coin toss are shrouded in obscurity by the mists of time. Only a small number of mathematicians, gamblers, and magicians have any knowledge of this technique. Fewer yet can actually do it well. It is really not very difficult to do once you develop the knack. Like anything worthwhile mastering it will require some practice."
- Gary Kosnitzky
Done well, the Controlled Coin Toss is simply mind boggling! While the gambling possibilities are obvious, the magic routine possibilities are virtually endless! Learn how to perform and perfect this awesome trick today! $10.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8095&cat=&page=1)
Close-Up Magic DVD Volume One - John George - The first video from International Champion of Magic, John George. John has won virtually every major close-up competition in the US. He won 1st place in the SAM close-up competition and was also awarded the silver medal of merit. John also won 1st place at the IBM Gold Cups competition. Most recently in New York, he was given the Magicians' choice award.
John's video features a step by step approach that makes learning complicated effects simple. Contents include:
Valentine Pack - The absolute hands down best haunted pack you'll ever see.
Heads Up - A totally new eye popping idea for coins. The coins will not flip heads down.
Favorite Card to Pocket Transpo - A great plot for card to pocket with a surprise transposition finale.
Ace Ace Ace Ace - Learn this one and they'll know you're a pro.
Spoon From Cardbox - A fun, funny, super clean production.
Invisible Prediction - An easy to do mind reading miracle.
Shot in the Hand - A shot glass routine with coins featuring an amazing vanish at the end. $24.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=5736&cat=&page=1)
Wizard School 2 DVD -Andrew Mayne - Andrew Mayne invites you to attend Wizard School 2. This semester students will learn how to make a floating potion, take photographs of spooky apparitions, hypnotize objects, produce cans of soda, read minds and much more.
All of the magic in Wizard School uses household items and doesn’t require any special props. Young wizards will learn secrets of magic as well as how to make special projects.
Wizard Cola + Mummy Finger + Mystery Card + Mind Reader + Floating Potion + Gremlin Eggs + Impervious Balloon + Hypno Hank + Ghost Photos
Wizard School 2 also includes a special interactive magic show where Andrew will perform tricks with viewers at home: Watch as he makes coins vanish in your own hands and helps you perform an incredible card trick in your own living room! 42 minutes Anamorphic Widescreen DVD shot in Sony HD. $19.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8091&cat=&page=1)
Miracles From The Sock Drawer DVD - Paul Gallagher - Paul Gallagher, a close personal friend and protégé of the late Derek Dingle, is a professional entertainer with an encyclopedic knowledge of practical magic. He's the guy you hope to bump into at the magic shop or convention, so he can show you all of those cool things you never knew, but wished you did, about the effect or routine you're working on at the moment. Paul has finally been cajoled into sharing with us some of his favorite ideas and applications for a variety of standard effects that most magicians have purchased, perused, and then thrown into their sock drawers.
Paul presents a potpourri of over fifty effects, routines, presentation tips, and performance applications from the working repertoire of a full-time professional magician.
This is material from over a century of published thinking, as well as tips and hints collected over the years in quiet sessions among magicians in the back rooms of magic shops, conventions, and performing venues. Adding great ideas from his friends and from his own work experiences, Paul gives us almost six hours of entertaining and educational material.
Some favorites are:
21st Century Blind Date - Did you know that the Internet now offers a service that combines computer dating with GPS positioning technology, taking you right to the home of your beautiful computer date?
Identity Theft - You explain how bank tellers and retailers are taught to avoid the theft of credit card info, but alas your spectator's identity is stolen right out of her own hands.
Paul's Diet Surprise - Rice and water in the twenty-first century!
Through The Heart - A very different, and slightly creepy, presentation for the Needle-Thru-Balloon that includes a new and surprising finale.
D'Lited - You gather spots of light from the air, tossing them one at a time into a cloth bag. As a climax, the bag is ripped open to display a glowing image... whatever you like!
Over five hours of material! $29.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=8093&cat=&page=1)
And, that's the newest of the new, the bestest of the best, the creamiest of the crop. All just waiting for your perusal!
I hope you will find some time between the ham and the turkey to spend some time with us this weekend. You can stop in and visit us at our brick and mortar emporium at 112 South Street in downtown Boston. Or, you can visit us online at our electron and neutron emporium at www.magicfact.com. Either way, we welcome you with open arms. And, we are open late.
For me, it's time to put on the red suit, load the bag with toys, hitch up the reindeer and be on my merry way. You didn't figure it out after all these years? The elves should have been a good clue! Just one request this year. Do not light a fire in your fireplace.
See you after the big day.
Hank Lee
