Greetings from all of me here at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. Less of me this week. 3 pounds. 23 total. And the hits go on.
We have all kinds of great stuff going on this week. I have all but finished Catalog 15. Just the Index left to do and it is off to the printer. There is so much new stuff, you won’t believe your eyes! We might actually have it by the end of November. Hopefully.
The new Tenyo samples came in this week. Always exciting. This year, there are five items and, they are all terrific. To be honest, I haven't seen so many good new items from Tenyo in a long time. Credit Surprise is my favorite, because it just looks so cool. The only item that doesn’t thrill me is the 4-Dimensional Trunk. It is well made and does the job, but we sell Just In Case for less money and it is a nicer business card case. However, for you Tenyo collectors, you will have to get this one. And, we will have them for you. Stock is expected the first week of December. So, pre-order now and you will be the first on your block.
Halloween is next week, a most magical day. So, deciding on this week's excitement was easy!
HALLOWEEN SAVINGS - For the next seven days, from the very moment you receive this email until Thursday, November 2nd at midnight, everything (well, almost everything) is on sale at 25% off the retail price. All you need to do is enter the special code HALLOWEENSAVINGS in the Discount Coupon Box at the bottom of the first page of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com and we will automatically deduct 25% from your order total. If you are calling your order in to the Toll Free Order Line at 800 874 7400, FAXing your order to us at 781 395 2034 or emailing us your order to magicfact@aol.com make sure to mention the special code so you can save a huge 25%!
There are a few rules that apply, as in all things in life.
(1) The 25% is deducted from the retail price of the item. No intermediate discounts may be applied. In the case of sets, such as DVDs and Videos, the 25% is deducted from the retail price of each item and not from the set price.
(2) Certain items, due to contractual restrictions, are not included in this sale. All Joe Porper items, Paul Harris Prime Time Magic items, Viking/CW items, Kennedy Enterprises items, Colin Rose items, Mike Caveney Books, JB Magic, Jay Sankey, Martin Breese, Mikame Craft items, Greater Magic Teach-In DVDs, One Of A Kind Collectors' Items and a few other items are not included in the sale. If you place an order for an item that is not on this list or not noted in our online catalog, but is excluded from the sale, we will let you know before processing your order.
And that's it. It could not be easier. So, get your order together and save yourself some serious money! But, act quickly. The sale ends Thursday at midnight!
Now, let's take a look at this week's Hotlist!
Credit Surprise: All five of the new Tenyo items for 2007 are excellent, but this one is, hands down, everyone’s favorite!
Borrow a credit card and slide it into the case.
Then, cut the card in half with a “magic circular saw.”
Slide the bottom half of the card to the left. The credit card has undoubtedly been sliced in half!
The cut edge of the card looks like a realistic, raw cut made by a saw. The card’s owner may skip a heartbeat. But, not to worry.
You restore the card back to its original condition and return it to the spectator.
Credit Surprise uses a brilliant principle that will even fool you! $37.50
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8519&cat=0&page=1)
New Koornwinder Kar; From Tenyo’s 2007 World’s Greatest Magic Collection. The New Koornwinder Kar!
Invite a spectator to take a card from the deck, and remember it.
After the card is returned to the deck and the deck shuffled, you spread the cards face down.
Ask the spectator to push the miniature car alongside the deck. All by itself, the car suddenly stops in front of a group of cards. These cards are removed and the process repeated. This time, the car stops directly in front of one card, the spectator’s selected card!
A true masterpiece of magic. It is so magnificent, however, that numerous knock-off products have been released worldwide. Tenyo is the first to obtain permission from creator Dick Koornwinder to release this effect. In addition, they have developed a brand new car design that enables you to pass the car out for examination by your audience. That’s right, you can actually hand it out! $37.50
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8520&cat=0&page=1)
President's Cabinet: Tenyo’s new Presiden’t Cabinet is truly “old school” Tenyo magic, and we love it!
Insert a borrowed one dollar bill into a frame showing a picture of a magician.
You can see the president’s head through the center hole.
When you slide the hole down, the president’s head moves too! Both up and down. It looks wild!
Immediately remove the bill from the frame and show that the bill is perfectly normal.
The cleverly constructed frame does all the work for you. You will love this one! $29.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8521&cat=0&page=1)
Mystic Blackboard: Magically alter the drawing on a blackboard! It’s Tenyo’s Mystic Blackboard.
Show your audience a board containing an illustration of a spoon. Ask a spectator to sign the board, proving that no switches will take place.
Cover the board and make a magical gesture. When you remove the lid, the illustration now shows a bent spoon!
You may think that this is a new application of the Out To Lunch principle. Mayyybeee. But, where’s the rubber band? There isn‘t one!
You will be able to magically alter drawings on the blackboard despite the fact that the board is signed. This is a goodie! $29.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8522&cat=0&page=1)
4-Dimensional Trunk: From Tenyo’s World’s Greatest Magic collection comes the 4-Dimensional Trunk.
Open a small briefcase and show that it contains a gold tee and marker. Close the case and open it again. This time, the case is completely filled by a full-sized golf ball!
Amazingly, the ball is much larger than the briefcase itself.
J.C. Doty became famous for his production of a full-sized bowling ball from a thin briefcase that was much too small to contain the ball. This is a light-weight version of the same trick.
A true Tenyo collectable! $39.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8523&cat=0&page=1)
MAGIC Calendar 2007: A calendar unlike any other!
MAGIC Magazine has once again teamed up with master photographer Richard Faverty to produce the 2007 MAGIC Calendar.
Twelve amazing images have been created exclusively for this calendar, featuring a dozen of the hottest magicians, all shot at the Magic Castle in Hollywood..
In addition, the story of The Magic Castle is included, as well as new and old photographs of the Victorian structure. The perfect gift, for you or a friend!
Order two or more and get 10% off! $15.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=7990&cat=0&page=1)
Magic of Ascanio, Volume 2: Studies Of Card Magic The Magic of Ascanio offers you, in four volumes, the complete work of the Maestro who changed the direction of magic in Spain and influenced many successful performers. Learn all about the legacy of a true master of our art: his ground-breaking theories, his legendary card routines and sleights, and his magic with pocket knives.
Studies of Card Magic
This second volume, with forewords by Roberto Giobbi and Aurelio Paviato, contains an exhaustive study of the Ascanio Spread and its variants, and all the lay-downs. These sleights, the cornerstones of Ascanio’s magic, have never been explained so thoroughly before. Careful study of this section alone will give you a complete understanding of these marvelous sleights.
Get ready for the pleasant journey of studying the early versions of Ascanio’s classics. Oil and Water using the Ascanio Spread (a three-phase routine) and Father Ace and Sons (versions 66 and 67) will take you into the wonderful world of Ascanio's routining. See the theory in action, with examples of concepts explained in the first volume, such as the Parenthesis of Forgetfulness, the Anti-Contrasting Parenthesis, Stressing the Initial Situation, Slow Execution, misdirection, and the In-Transit Actions.
The next three chapters include magic by Ascanio's mentors, Kaps and Carles, by his colleagues Dany Ray and Fu Manchu, and by one of his idols in magic: Ed Marlo, all with the Ascanio treatment. This section contains tricks shown to Ascanio by these great masters.
Chapter Seven includes Ascanio’s favorite routines: If You Don’t Pay Attention…, Aunt Enriqueta’s Aces, The Trick I Would Show Dai Vernon, Sleightless Oil and Water (or so it seems), and Aces with Love.
In Chapter Eight two other Ascanio favorites are described: The Wriggling Aces and Don’t Blink! Revisited. The Trick I Would Show Dai Vernon is a lesson on Conditioned Naturalness, and The Wriggling Aces was part of his winning act at FISM in Amsterdam 1970.
Chapter Nine includes two Ascanian classics: A Baroque Transposition and The Mechanical Strength of Thought.
Chapter Ten finally brings you some of Ascanio's minor masterpieces such as: Dolores’s Trick, The Pathology of Cards, X - 1 = 0, Triumph, Eight-Card Oil and Water, The Nine Facts, Antagonistic Aces, and A Hunger for Dreaming.
320 pages; 390 illustrations. $60.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8516&cat=0&page=1)
Fearless Fred The Daredevil Worm: Here’s a classic of magic with a kidshow twist. Fearless Fred The Daredevil Worm is Silk To Apple all jazzed up.
The hit of Mike Bent’s summer ’06 library shows, it’s the tale of Fearless Fred the Daredevil Worm. Fred decided at an early age that he wanted to be the greatest daredevil that ever lived. He studied biographies of his idol, the famous insect daredevil Evil Boll Weevil.
Explain that before he performs, it’s in Fred’s contract that he gets a delicious apple at the end of every performance. And, there can’t be any seeds in the apple. So, you bring out an apple corer and core the apple. Then, choose a helper to wrap the apple in aluminum foil, to keep it fresh until the end of the stunt. Give the apple to another audience member to hold.
Invite three helpers to assist Fred in the stunt. Give the first child a cardboard “cannon,” the second a hoop and the third a net. Announce that Fred is going for the world record, and ask the kids to spread out.
Explain that Fred will be shot from the cannon, fly through the hoop and land in the net.
Load the 6” Fred silk into the cannon and tell the helper to blow on the count of three. One, two, three. Fred only shoots out a few inches and lands on the floor.
Explain that she needs to blow harder, and load Fred again. One, two, three…he still doesn’t even make the hoop, let alone the net. So, you move the hoop closer to the cannon, and the net closer to the hoop. He still doesn’t make it.
Finally, move the hoop right over the end of the cannon, and move the net right up against the end of the cannon. He can’t miss this time.
One, two, three. Fred finally makes it into the net. Not quite the record, but not bad for a worm!
Ask a helper to take him out of the net. When he does, Fred has vanished from the silk! The silk now reads: Out To Lunch! Out to lunch? What does a worm eat for lunch? The apple!
Show your hands empty and retrieve the foil wrapped apple, and unwrap it. Fred is inside the apple! A new world record!
Comes complete with 6” Fred Silk, 6” Out to Lunch Silk, apple corer, hoop. Butterfly net and cardboard for the tubes. Plus that special something that makes it all happen! You also get a CD with sound effects (drum rolls, Tah-Dahs) and Mike’s full routine. $59.95
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8517&cat=0&page=1)
Mind Mysteries Guide Book Volume 3: In an unprecedented event, Richard Osterlind has revisited his hugely successful Mind Mysteries video series and is writing definitive guide books that exponentially enrich the material presented in it.
In this third guide book, Richard turns a corner in the Mind Mysteries series and meticulously dissects the broad scope of diversified material that comprises Volume 3. Besides his usual insights into the material that was presented on Mind Mysteries Volume 3 – Assorted Mysteries, you’ll also find:
• Invaluable instruction in how to take small effects and make them play huge!
• Ways to turn mistakes and audience missteps to your advantage and make an effect even stronger!
• Tips on how to turn everyday occurrences into miracles!
• Solid gold advice on how to properly perform magic on television!
Also included is a remarkable bonus chapter on how Richard Osterlind creates his stunning mentalism and magic and tips on how you can, too!
Mind Mysteries Volume 3 – Assorted Mysteries showcases the amazing variety of Richard Osterlind’s magical creations and in this third volume of the Mind Mysteries Guide Book series, you’ll gain some amazing new insights into this material.
94 pages. Perfect Bound. $30.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8524&cat=0&page=1)
Hauntiques - ChristianChelman: Christian Chelman's spectacular new book on Bizarre Magick is here.
10 years in the making... but now the wait is over!
Hauntiques will take you on a journey of discovery through Christian Chelman's fabulous collection of haunted antiques.
* Six chapters. Six different bizarre magick/storytelling shows.
* 148 photos, most of which in color.
* 26 different effects, some ready to be inserted in your performances.
* An introduction by Max Maven.
* 4 enlightening essays on the performance of mentalism and bizarre magick for modern, sophisticated audiences.
Bizarre Magick is no longer the Cinderella of conjuring: Christian Chelman has elevated Bizarre Magick to a strong theatrical experience and in this book he lays everything bare.
Please, come in! Don't be shy. Open this book and begin your journey to the other side of the looking glass - from Conjuring to Magic.
Hauntiques!
Step right up, authentic haunted antiques for sale!
But what price are you willing to pay for a prestigious mythical relic, a "bottle imp," an odd Christmas gift, a bowl of dreams, a vampire hunter's kit circa 1899, an original letter from Jean Cocteau invoking his ghost, a haunted Russian doll, a Magic Mirror, Captain Vanderdecken's cursed tobacco pouch, a fairy's box of treasures, the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse or an extraordinary time-machine?
Your soul, perhaps?
192 pages. Hardbound. $75.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8525&cat=0&page=1)
Tangled Web - Eric Mead: n this first major book by one of the United States' most respected professionals, Eric Mead covers a wide range of magic and mentalism, drawn completely from his professional repertoire and fine-tuned by performance after performance to its present form.
Bar Magic, Close-up Magic, Strolling Magic, Mentalism, Stage, even two pieces for kids (we're serious).
In addition, there are seven instructive and challenging essays, and two chapters devoted to work with a memorized deck and a systematic approach to Vernon's "Trick That Cannot Be Explained"—a professional approach to these topics that is stunning in its depth, intelligence and originality. This collection of magic is the real deal—or, as Teller describes it in his introduction to TANGLED WEB:
"There is no bull***t, not a nugget, between these covers. If you're like me, you'll emerge changed, inspired, tingling."
In the belief that exquisite magic deserves an exquisite form, TANGLED WEB has been produced with bibliophilic sensibilities inside and out. A book that is pleasing to hold and to read. Magic and mentalism that stands with the finest. Yet, at an affordable price.
260 pages in elegant hardcovers. $40.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8526&cat=0&page=1)
Card College Light - Roberto Giobbi: This Is Not Your Father's "Self-Working" Card Book!
From the author of Card College, the world's most acclaimed course on sleight-of-hand card magic, comes CARD COLLEGE LIGHT, Roberto Giobbi's first text focused entirely on professional caliber card tricks requiring no manipulative skill.
For whom is this book intended? It is for beginners, of course—but by no means in total. This book is intended for everyone who has always wanted to perform card tricks, but who didn't have the time necessary to learn complex routines, or the years necessary to master difficult techniques. So, yes, this book is certainly meant for beginners.
However, it is also directed at those who are already proficient in the craft. CARD COLLEGE LIGHT is in a class apart from other books that focus on sleightless card tricks. When it comes to artistic considerations—interpretation, staging, communication and psychology—other books seldom even recognize such concepts. CARD COLLEGE LIGHT strives to remain as simple as possible, yet to identify concepts and to open doors that put sleightless tricks into the context of artistic and utterly baffling card magic. Although other books consider the same type of material, their approaches to it are quite different from Giobbi's.
Most of the tricks taught are from Mr. Giobbi's active professional repertoire, with which he baffles the public and magicians, too. Every trick can be done with any deck of cards of average quality, and many can be done under all performance conditions, with a borrowed deck and no preparation. With these sleightless tricks, you can easily acquire a reputation as a magician who can really make magic. $35.00
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8527&cat=0&page=1)
And, that's the tip of the top, the cream of the crop for this week. If I do say so myself, it is an amazing collection of new magic.
As always, I hope you will find some time to visit with us either online at www.magicfact.com or live and in person in our most wonderful retail emporium at 112 South Street in downtown Boston. Either way, we do love the company!
Hank Lee
