Thursday, February 15, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day

Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. If you took my advice, you slept in your normal spot last night. Otherwise, I hope the couch was comfy. Our Valentine’s Day was not without excitement. We had our first major snowstorm of the year. Yecch. Depending on where you lived, you got anywhere from a couple of inches of the white stuff to over a foot. We got several inches, but it was totally manageable. Except for one thing. For some reason, when it snows, people forget how to drive. It’s like they’ve never driven in snow before. So, some people go ten miles an hour on the highway, and some people zoom past as if they were driving on a bare road. It always amazes me. But, you know how easily I am amazed. Bonnie and I went out for a very nice dinner. There was even a candle on the table. Of course, I was very careful what I ate. For those of you who have missed the weekly weight announcement, it is now 71 pounds and counting.
I know that you never get tired of hearing about the Conclave, so let me just mention that registrations are starting to fill up. If you have never been to a Conclave, you are missing out on a great time. Three days of magic and friendship and fun. I am in charge of two of the three. The dates for this year’s event are April 20th-22nd. Check your calendars and then head right on over to www.magicfact.com, press on the Conclave Button and register, for goodness sakes!

All of which brings us up to this week’s excitement:

FREE SHIPPING EXTENDED: Until Thursday the 22nd of February at midnight, we are offering free ground shipping to anywhere in the US, including Alaska and Hawaii! Just enter the special code SHIPMEFREE in the Discount Coupon Box at the bottom of the first page of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com. We will happily pick up the ground shipping charges on your order. Of course, if you want your order sent Fedex Three Day (Express Saver), Second Day or Next Day, you will just have to pay the difference. Note: Your email confirmation from our online system will still list the shipping as free, but we will charge the difference when we ship your order. Overseas customers will save as well! We will pay one-half of the Air Post shipping charges on your orders until the 22nd! Just remember to enter the special code SHIPMEFREE in the Discount Coupon Box, or let the person taking your phone order know when you place your order at 800 874 7400.

Now, let’s take a look at this week’s Hotlist.

Come Fly With Me: We are really excited to bring you Mark Mason’s Come Fly With Me. The Internet buzz on this one is amazing! Everyone is talking about it. Now is your chance to actually get one!
The plot is simple, yet the magic is stunning. Not one, not two, but three coins travel from the right fingertips across to the left fingertips. This is visual coin magic taken to a whole new level.
Mark Mason’s revolutionary new handling for this modern classic will guarantee a mind-blowing experience for any audience
Comes complete with all the precision-made US Half Dollars and a step by step instructional DVD.
The set of coins is of the highest workmanship. They have been made to last a lifetime. Mark would like to thank both Bob Kohler and Steve Dusheck for their kind permission in allowing Come Fly With Me to be produced.?No pipe dreams, this is a real world piece of magic that Mark has performed thousands of times.
$325.00 (20.367)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8690&cat=0&page=1)

Ladybug – Paul Harris: When nothing but the creation of life will do! You bring the crowd in close, then open a small pocket knife. Your hands are otherwise empty. The blade is seen to be normal.
Placing blade on bare flesh, you pierce a fingertip and squeeze out a single drop of blood. Again, both hands are seen to be completely empty except for the single drop of blood on your fingertip. You carefully show both sides of a fingertip from your other hand and slowly press it down onto the drop of blood. You silently wait for a moment, fingertip to fingertip. Slowly lift one finger and the drop of blood is gone! In it's place, perched on the end of your finger, is a living breathing ladybug!
The creation of life...on the tip of your finger.
• Start and finish clean.
• Practical, easy, real world handling.
• Resets with another ladybug in 30 seconds.
• Neither the performer nor ladybug are harmed during the effect!
• Alternate "non-bug" presentation to transform the drop of blood into a tiny heart.
• No actual piercing of flesh is required.
• Optional handling leaves the ladybug sealed inside a clear plastic bag.
• Includes custom-engineered knife, carrying case, and DVD instructional.
Ladybug resource guide: You can easily obtain enough ladybugs for hundreds of performances. The ladybugs are shipped in a self contained package and require no feeding or care.
$99.95 (10.1368
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8682&cat=0&page=1)

Porper Coin Paddle: Joe Porper, magic’s master machinist, has done it again! His new Coin Paddle will absolutely fool them all!
Display a beautifully machined black-anodized paddle. It has a narrow slot running along its length.
Borrow a Quarter and easily pass it through the slot. Back and forth it goes with ease. No magic there, at least not yet!
Now hand the very same Quarter and the very same paddle to a spectator and ask them to pass the Quarter through the slot. Try as they might, they just can’t do it! The Quarter absolutely will not pass through the slot. Did the Quarter grow, or did the slot shrink? They can examine everything forever and will find nothing!
Lots of routines are possible with this fantastic new paddle. Completely mechanical. $64.00 (10.1369)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8688&cat=0&page=1)

Lost Souls: Greg Glau’s Lost Souls is a bizarre mental miracle you can carry in your pocket!
“There is a legend in every society, in every culture,” you explain as you place three 3” x 5” laminated cards, each of a ghostly apparition, on the table. “A legend saying that lost souls are destined to wander until they find peace.”
The spectator arranges the cards face-up on the table, in any order.
The spectator mentally selects one of the cards to represent a “lost soul.” Nothing is written.
Explain to the spectator that you are going to ask her to move the “lost soul” in a totally random way, to represent it wandering through time and space.
Then, if you are able to find the correct card, that soul will have some peace.
Turn your back, or you can be blindfolded or even across the room. Ask the spectator to switch the cards around. Then, to continue switching the card locations in any sequence, as many times as she wishes.
You turn around and immediately identify the “lost soul,” the very one the spectator selected.
“This lost soul is finally at rest.”
• The cards are not marked in any way
• The spectator can put the cards in any order and the spectator can move the cards in any order.
• No sleight of hand, and everything can be examined.
• Instantly repeatable
• Nothing is written down. The spectator never tells you which card she selected. You tell her!
$15.00 (40.554)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8678&cat=0&page=1)

Paint Surprise: Devin Knight’s sleeper trick of 2007! The one you will perform all the time! It’s totally original and something that has never been done before!
Borrow a ring, any type. Explain that you will mark the ring for later identification. Bring out a can of black spray paint.
The audience howls. They know what’s coming. Shake the can and they hear the metal ball rattling around side, mixing the paint.
Suddenly the loud clanking sound of the ball changes into a softer tingle sound.
Hmmm. Something doesn’t sound right. Look at the ring in your hand. It has changed into the metal ball that was inside the paint can!
Has her ring changed places with the metal ball? Is her ring now inside the paint can? The rattle is a distinctly different sound and sounds just like the ring is inside the can.
No reason to panic. Explain that there is a hole in the paint can,
as you remove the cap showing the small hole in the nozzle. Another laugh.
Further explain that you can get the ring out thru that hole as soon as the paint dissolves the metal! Right.
Take a small index card and spray paint a black circle on the card. Shake the can and there is no sound. Nothing. No matter how hard you shake the can, there is nothing but silence.
Perfect! The ring material has dissolved and is now in the black circle you just spray painted. It is?
Ask the spectator to sign for their ring and have them sign the
index card inside the black circle.
Shake the index card to dry the paint. When the paint dries, it will revert to the ring. Of course.
Suddenly the borrowed ring falls off the index card!! The black paint circle has vanished and the card is still signed and left with the
spectator as a souvenir. Baffling beyond words.
No refills to buy. No paint smell. No real paint is actually used, but it sure looks like it! Comes with everything you need for this fantastic routine. Specially priced at $59.95 (60.1416)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8684&cat=0&page=1)

Multiplying Soap Bubbles: Add poetry to your act. And bubbles. The classic production of four soap bubbles made in a new material with the quality of Vernet.
They look like real soap bubbles You can use them for stage or parlor And the best of all, if you drop them, they will not break!! $18.00 (60.1414)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8680&cat=0&page=1)

Porper Dice Paddle: If you like magic with dice, and who doesn’t, you are going to love Joe Porper’s new Dice Paddle.
The paddle itself is specially machined from black-anodized aluminum, and is designed to hold two dice. The dice are locked in place with the faces clearly visible, so that you can use them with your favorite “dice numbers” routines,
The dice can be rotated to show different spots, fitting in with your routine.
To release the dice, just turn the handle counter-clockwise, and the dice are free. Then, you can easily set the spots to suite your routine.
You can make the spots change place, jump from one die to the other, using just a standard paddle move. This new and intriguing prop will find its way into your close-up routine immediately! $64.00 (10.1370
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8689&cat=0&page=1)

Move Mastery CD #2 – Peter Duffie: A new collection of amazing moves and sleights! This CDROM contains over 20 killer moves demonstrated and carefully explained in 36 video clips. Running time of over 2 hours!
CD Contents:
Riffle Pass
Riffle Pass-Variants
Shaded Herrmann Pass
Peek-a-Boo
Insta-Reverse
Two Color Changes
Invisible Card
Riffle Lap
Spin-cut Lapping
One to Five
PAUS
Two False Cuts
Scoop Switch
Under-Switch
Toss-in Switch
Two Bottom Palms
Double Flight
Deck Switches
Each disc is signed by the author and numbered. $25.00 (CD0053)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8685&cat=0&page=1)

Off With His Head: The first words in David Regal’s new Off With His Head – “Did you ever want to kill a guy?” Yikes!
- Four blue backed Kings are displayed.
- One is elected for slaughter and the spectator shouts "Off with this head!"
- A King now has a bloody red back, and it's head is missing.
- It is the selected King.
- A trick anyone can do, and will want to do over and over.
- Specially designed gimmicks printed by the U.S. Playing Card Company. $20.00 (30.1218)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8686&cat=0&page=1)

Downfall: A packet of playing cards turn face up and face down at will. Finally they change into something completely unexpected! Everything can be examined. Nothing secretly added or taken away.
This is Peter Duffie's version of Roy Walton's classic packet effect, Cascade, and has been released with the permission of Roy Walton.
• Everything can be examined!
• Comes with full apparatus
• Made in Bicycle stock.
$17.50 (30.1217)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8683&cat=0&page=1)

Regal Color Changing Deck: David Regal’s Color Changing Deck. Is there anything more regal in all of magic?
- A card is selected
- It's back changes color
- It's face changes color
- The backs of the entire deck change color
- The faces of the entire deck change color
- Spades and Clubs turn red
- Diamonds and hearts turn black
A professional quality routine?that anyone can do. Comes with all the cards you need plus full instructions. $25.00 (30.1219)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8687&cat=0&page=1)

MAYNIA DVD – Andrew Mayne: Andrew Mayne presents five eye-popping, mind-blowing effects that will have your audiences on the edge of their seats and ducking for cover. All are easy to learn and perform. Andrew shares some of his personal secrets for the first time.
Pop Fist: Create an explosive opening using your bare hands. ?A simple effect that's ready to go whenever you need to make a big impression and create your own close-up pyrotechnic display.
Drawn From The Light: Draw a light bulb and make it come to life.?A light bulb is drawn on a sketch pad. With a wave it comes to life and lights up. You then pull the lit bulb from the pad into reality.
Death Finger: Stab a marked card in mid-air with your finger.?A spectator selects a card and marks it. The card is then lost in the deck. You spring the cards into the air and stab their card with your bare finger.
Finger Saw: Perform an impromptu finger amputation with playing cards.?Got a couple of Jokers left in the pack? Use them to perform a gruesome close-up illusion that recreates the classic sawing a lady in half.
Stab’d: Deadly impromptu mentalism using a sharpened pencil. Andrew's impromptu version of the infamous mentalism effect that's scarred many performers. A sharpened pencil is mixed up in one of three envelopes. A spectator is given a totally free choice to decide which ones are empty (no magician's choice!). You stab the first selection into your chest and are unharmed. You slam the spectator's hand into the second and they're unscathed. You then rip open the last envelope to reveal the deadly pencil. While there are more expensive versions of this effect on the market, many who have seen Andrew's version feel it's the best because it doesn't use any odd props, has an extra gritty feel due to the use of a sharpened pencil, can be performed on a moment's notice and is possibly the safest variation out there using a real sharp object. $19.95 (DVD00645)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8679&cat=0&page=1)

Multiplying Balls – Vernet: These multiplying balls are just great! The set consists of three specially textured balls. They are made to take extremely rough handling. Go ahead, drop 'em. Absolutely nothing will happen. The textured surface makes handling really easy too - no slipping! Comes complete with full instructions on Billiard Ball manipulation, as well as details on how to care for the actual balls. The balls are very easy to see from the stage. Available in White, Yellow, Blue, Green and Pink. Please specify. $16.00 (60.1415)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8681&cat=0&page=1)

Can you believe how much new stuff has made it to the Hotlist this week? I find it nothing short of astounding! Take some time and check it all out. There are some really terrific items here.

And that’s it for this week. I hope you will take some time out from your snow shoveling to visit with us either online at www.magicfact.com or in person at our showroom to the stars at 112 South Street in downtown Boston. Either way, we love the company.
Hank Lee