Friday, August 17, 2007

Settling In

Hi dee ho everyone. Hank Lee here, coming to you live from our new digs on North Street in Medford. And, we are absolutely loving the new place. We have been so busy this summer that I never took any real time off. Just work, work, work. No play, play, play. But, last weekend I did get away for a couple of days on Martha’s Vineyard. It was really nice. Bonnie, Aron Lucas, Bones The Dog and I got to spend a delightful weekend by the shore. And, as luck would have it, the Boston Pops orchestra performed an outdoor concert on Sunday evening. What a treat! By Martha’s Vineyard standards, this was a huge event. About 8000 people in attendance. Special guest artists Branford Marsalis and Natalie Cole. Lawn chairs and a picnic dinner. A fantastic evening by any measure. Ah, but then it was the 6:00 AM boat back to reality, and a pretty sleepy Monday.
This week, Aron’s car heads back to Florida, and he leaves next Tuesday. He worked at the warehouse for the past three weeks, and will be missed when he heads back to school. But, he’ll be back at work over the Christmas break, for sure.
Enough about me and the fam, let’s take a look at this week’s excitement.
DVD GIVEAWAY: This week it’s a plain old giveaway. You got it. A DVD Giveaway! For the next seven days, from right now until Thursday, August 23rd, at midnight, you have the opportunity to get DVDs for free! But, you have to get them the old fashioned way. You have to earn them.
Here's the way it works. For every order of $100 or more, you get one free DVD (your choice of any single DVD that sells for $35.00 or less). If you spend $200 or more, you get two free DVDs (again, your choice). $300 or more gets you three free DVDs. And on it goes. The more you buy, the more you get for free! It's an incredible deal when you figure that the average price of a DVD is $35.00! In order to claim your free DVD, just put the name of the DVD in the Customer Notes Box at the bottom of the second page of the online checkout (after you fill in your name, address, etc.) at www.magicfact.com. If you phone your order in to our toll free number at 800 874 7400, just let the order-person know what free DVD you want. If you FAX the order to us at 781 395 2034, same thing. Just let us know which ones you want. Remember, the giveaway ends on Thursday, August 23rd, at midnight!
Now, let’s take a peek at this week’s Hotlist!

X-Board: Menny Lindenfeld’s X-Board™ was, until today, a well guarded secret – a secret now released to the magic world. Conceived a few years ago, this potent live show mind reading tool was employed in Menny’s own performances to render both laymen and professional mentalists dumbstruck.
With X-Board™ you’ll be able to immediately duplicate a spectator’s exact drawing live on stage, with no external assistance or suspicious moves of any kind, with no need to open, pull or remove anything. It’s that simple!
X-Board™ is the only clipboard on the market that has an instant reset mechanism.
X-Board™ is the only clipboard ever created that can be used to gain information on an endless number of spectators, time after time, even during the same routine.
X-Board™ is not just an impression device, it is much more. The cunning hidden mechanism allows you to perform countless mind-boggling routines. For example, detect a bill hidden in an unmarked envelope, with no need for the spectator to write or draw anything!
* Audience tested in countless live performances.
* Instant reset, even during live show.
* Very easy to use.
* For live-show and pre-show work.
* Gain information on multiple spectators during a single routine.
* Comes with a full-color booklet with 3 bonus routines.
X-Board™ - for the serious performer.
Come complete with X-Board clipboard, 2 special markers and full color, photo-illustrated instructions booklet. $299.95 (40.584)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8983&cat=0&page=1)

Delben Magic Blotter: Remember the old days. And your mother used to send you to the post office to buy stamps. And there was this real old guy at the post office. And his name was Cyrus. And he had this real old fashioned blotter on his desk. And, it was a Magic Blotter, and you didn't even know it. Even Cyrus didn't know it! Those magic blotters of days gone by are now available. And they're really nice. Here's the effect. Show a blotter, just like Cyrus'. Into the little wooden bed place a blank piece of paper (really blank- on both sides). Pick up the blotter and blot the paper. And it changes into a real $50.00 bill! Just like that! And, it's all examinable, right away. They'll never figure it out. The workmanship is great! Made of hardwood, polished to a high gloss. You'll leave it on your desk always. Made to the original Delben specifications by Viking Magic, so you know the quality is excellent. $125.00 (10.1173)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=6950&cat=0&page=1)

Linking Safety Pins: The famous Jerry Andrus Linking Safety Pins are available again, manufactured with permission from Mr. Andrus. Called "Real Magic" by Slydini, the Linking Pin effects are incredible close-up magic. This set includes 4 regular pins and one special pin, plus a new routine by Chuck Leach. Photo illustrated instructions.
Effect: 3 inch safety pins link and unlink in visual and baffling ways. See Safety Pin Trix by Jerry Andrus for additional effects with these pins.
$29.95 (10.1406)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8979&cat=0&page=1)

Change Cap DVD: For decades the Change Bag has been an archaic object with no meaning to any audience member. The introduction of the Change Cap not only breathed new life into old classic routines but opened the doors to exciting new ones as well.
This DVD walks you through everything you need to know about this innovative new prop: how to break your cap in, how to properly handle it and a few ways to customize it to fit your needs.
Plus, you get 52 routines from magicians all over the world divided into four categories: stage, kids, club and street. These range from Three Cap Monte to predicting pets names, making fire in your cap to a poor man’s card sword or turning a kid into a frog.
Over two hours of fantastic routines and ideas, plus you also get three iron-on patches for customizing your Change Cap. $24.95 (DVD00748)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8980&cat=0&page=1)

Royal Stab: The Card Stab that fits in your pocket! Physically alter a standard playing card and hand it out for immediate examination!
What do you get when you combine, audience participation, selected playing cards, a great plot and a magically altered playing card? You get the little pocket miracle from the mind of Richard Sanders that will blow away your audience every time!
Here's the effect:
Two cards are selected and lost in the deck. You bring up the topic of the classic effect, The Card Stab, where a sword is stabbed into a deck of cards. When the sword is withdrawn, the selected cards are impaled on it! Boldly offer to perform this miracle; however, you explain that presently all your swords are at the dry cleaners.
Luckily there is one card in the deck that carries his own sword, the King of Clubs. After the King of Clubs has been thoroughly examined, it is pushed half way into the deck. When it emerges one of the selected cards is now impossibly impaled on the King's sword...and it's part of the actual printing on the card. This is impossible!
If that wasn't enough, without any switches, the same card is pushed into the pack again and, impossibly, the second selection is now impaled on the King's other sword. The cards just seem to materialize on the swords. It’s crazy, visual magic!
Leave the spectators holding an impossibly altered playing card with both their selections impaled on the King's swords! The impaled cards are part of the printed playing card, and it's totally examinable!
Don't be fooled by the simple nature of this effect, this is a mind blower for laymen! Super easy to perform! Includes specially gimmicked cards! Super commercial routine included! Automatically reset for walk around magic! Totally examinable! $9.95 (30.1254)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8986&cat=0&page=1)

Coin Thru Bill: Borrow a dollar bill from a spectator, then take a Half Dollar from your pocket.
Place the coin near the edge of the bill, and begin to slowly and magically rub the bill with the coin.
To the audience's amazement, the Half Dollar penetrates the bill, right at the very edge. It looks weird!
Rub the bill again, and the coin penetrates at the very center of the bill. You can see the Half Dollar, halfway through the bill!
Johnny Wong’s Coin thru Bill is one amazing piece of magic. The gimmicked coin does all the work, and you have never seen a gimmicked coin like this! Comes with the very special Half Dollar and full instructions. $54.95 (20.371)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8987&cat=0&page=1)

Gambler’s Lucky Dice: Show six Bicycle-back playing cards, each one printed with the number of a die.
Ask a spectator to shuffle the cards and lay them out on the table, face down. Neither you nor the spectator knows which card bears which number.
Next, give the spectator a cup and ask her to place the cup on any one of the cards. No force of any kind. A really free and totally blind choice.
Now, hand the spectator a die and ask her to toss it into the cup. The number showing on the die exactly matches the number of the chosen card!
It works every time. And, each time it is a different number!
Comes complete with the very special die, Bicycle cards and full instructions! $19.95 (10.1407)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8985&cat=0&page=1)

Muscle Pass DVD: You're about to learn one of the most visual and versatile techniques in all of coin magic. It's difficult to master, but the payoff is huge.
The Muscle Pass is a technique that makes coin magic as visually exciting as any magic on earth. But, it's also a technique that takes many hours of practice to perfect. Just knowing how it works isn't enough. To get the height and control that will your reputation, you must practice and refine your technique beyond what most think is possible.
Without the DVD, most magicians give up on the technique and quit before they benefit from its power.
With the DVD, you'll save countless hours and frustration. You'll practice properly and make steady gains.
Noblezada takes you step by step and in detail. He shows you all of the inside work behind this revolutionary piece of magic. You'll learn all of the coolest applications of the Muscle Pass. You'll be able to make a coin appear from a completely empty hand, vanish completely, and even pass a coin through solid objects.
The Muscle Pass will add a new dimension to your coin magic, and Noblezada will help you master it faster than ever before!
You'll Learn
* The Origins of the Muscle Pass
* How The Muscle Pass Works
* Finding the Right Coin
* The Work
* Getting Height
* Catching The Coin
* Surrounding Actions
* Training
* Stretching/Health
* Applications
* Anti-Gravity Coin
* Coin Appearance - a coin appears from an empty hand
* Coin Vanish
* Classic Palm Vanish (Ramsey)
* Coin Through Table - down, and back up
* Coin Through Glass (or any solid object!)
* Coins Across (Muscle Clink Pass)

Bonus Footage
* More Performance
* Trailer
* Credits
* Learning the Left - Watch the day-by-day progress as Noblezada goes back to beginner-status and learns the Muscle Pass with his left hand. You'll see Noblezada struggle alongside you as he follows his own advice
$19.95 (DVD00749)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8984&cat=0&page=1)

Honest Cheat Poker Routine: A fantastic five-minute humor-filled card act, perfect for the close-up or stand-up performer. There are many poker and gambling demonstration routines around, but none that pack the humor and multi-level climaxes of this one. Best of all, it's super-easy to do with no sleights needed, and it can be performed with any deck!
Propose to play a hand of poker with a spectator and promise to never, ever cheat.
But, as soon as you start to deal, it's obvious you are trying to win the game with blatant and funny card trickery. As the audience will loudly point out, you deal yourself too many cards, discard too few, and keep ending up with more cards than the spectator.
To make the game fair, the spectator and two other volunteers pick their own hands from the discard pile!
In an amazing quadruple climax, the spectators reveal that they have ended up with two full houses and a straight flush, but you beat all three with a Royal Flush in Spades!
Use any deck! No gimmicked cards, phony-looking moves, or boring moments! Reset time is quick, and it can be done surrounded. It's visual, funny, and commercial.
Entire routine detailed in a 7-page booklet. $20.00 (30.1253)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8982&cat=0&page=1)

Street Magic Magazine – August/September: This issue's highlights:
Feature: Morgan Strebler
So you think that since you know how to bend a fork you’re ready to take on the world? Get in line. There’s someone in front who’s already on the verge. After some rough times and some incredible times, Morgan is now ready to take what’s his and has the chops, talent, look, and dedication to make it all happen.
Magic Friday
For those of you who are fans of Jamie D. Grant's fantastic Magic Fridays, you are not going to be disappointed by the content this time around. In typical fashion, the Content Editor kicks it into high gear with some real world reviews on three great products:
* Change Cap by Creative Magic
* Shoe Pouch by Eric Evans
* Sudden Deck II by David Regal
The LA 411
In L.A. Ramblings Gerry Katzman gives you a look from the inside-out with his views from the goings-on in the City of Angels. From the latest at the Castle to hanging out with the stars (check out the pic of Jennifer Love Hewitt), Gerry is sure to catch your eyes and ears with his unique take on life in the big city.
Eric Evans gives you the word...
This has to be one of the highest anticipated columns we’ve come across. After people realized that “Street Magic” didn’t mean kidz with kardz, they began asking when there would be an article written by a professional busker. And when word began to spread that Eric Evans was on board to write, the calls started coming in. When this man speaks, the true workers listen.
The Blow Off
After receiving an e-mail about not giving enough attention to the history of magic, the folks at Street Magic promptly got in touch with Jeremy Weiss to teach how it all began. Jeremy takes you on a trip down memory lane with an educating tale of how it all really went down. And it’s not how you think. Jeremy brings you back to a time where magic meant something more than just trying to make a buck. Namely making two bucks.
Street Magic is a cross between magazines like Maxim, FHM, GQ, and Thrasher with a magic flavor that makes us stand way out from the crowd. Fresh, up-to-date, and from the streets.
$8.95 (SM003)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8981&cat=0&page=1)

And that’s all the newest of the new for this week. I hope you will check it all out and I really hope you will find some stuff that you just can’t live without! And, don’t forget about the DVD Giveaway. It’s such a good deal!

Are you still getting the weekly email Newsletter in Text-Only format? Why? Just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to hook you up for the wonderful html format Newsletter!

As always, I hope you will find some time to spend with us either online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way, we do love the company!
Hank Lee