Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. All kinds of news from here, but where to start?
I’ll start with the Cape Cod Conclave, because this is major news. Next year’s Conclave, 2009, is our last year at the SeaCrest Hotel. It will be our 21st year at the SeaCrest. But, they are closing the hotel for more than a year for renovations, and we needed to find a new venue. We did, and it’s a wonderful place. It’s located in Hyannis, a little further East than the SeaCrest, but the same distance from the theater. So, 2009 is your opportunity to say “goodbye” to the SeaCrest Hotel. Those of you who have been Conclave regulars know how many great times we had at the SeaCrest. And, I know you will want to be with us for this one last time. So, register now for the 2009 Conclave, and don’t get shut out. In 2010, we leave “home” and head for parts unknown! You can register online right now by clicking on the Conclave Button at www.magicfact.com. You don’t want to miss our 21st!
Did you see the David Blaine TV Special? Always exciting, with great magic. We have a lot of the magic that David performed on the special in stock. You might want to check out Kronos, Coinvexed and Magic Doodle Pen (all in the Hotlist) We are working on a special David Blaine Category, which is now up on the site. Newsflash: Check out eXile, it’s the one everyone has been asking about, and we have it in the Hotlist!
We are working on several new items. You might have seen the beautiful Card Swords that we are having made. These are just incredible. Leather Impact is almost here. A real fooler. Appearing Crayons have just been remade. Those of you who have been waiting for these for what seems forever will have to wait no more. Your Appearing Crayons are on the way! We have purchased the manufacturing rights to Dice Matrix, which absolutely fooled me when I watched the demo video. If you’d like to get a sneak peek, just go here: (http://www.hanklee.org/dicematrix.mov). As you can see, we have been busy little beaver-elves.
Two quick reminders. Don’t forget to get your Fall EXTRA on Demand. Just go here: (http:www.hanklee.org/septemberextra2008.pdf) and if you are still getting this Newsletter in text-only format, drop me a note and I will switch you over to the fancy shmancy html format. You will thank me for the change.
To all of our Jewish friends, we wish you a very happy New Year. Shana Tova.
And, now to this week’s excitement.
15 Days Of Savings Sales Event. There are only a few days left in September, but then there’s October! In light of this, we present, for your entertainment pleasure: The 15 Days Of Savings!
Here’s how it works: No matter what day, from right now until Friday, the 10th of October at midnight, when you purchase from us at Hank Lee’s, you will save money. But, as you may have heard, the early bird gets the worm! For the first four days, from today, Friday, until Monday the 29th, you will save 25% on your entire order, subject to the rules below. On Tuesday you will save 24%. On Wednesday you will save 23%. And on it goes. We will reduce the discount by 1% each day until the 10th of October. All you need to do is enter the special code FIFTEENDAYS in the Discount Coupon Box of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com and we will automatically deduct the correct amount 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!
There are a few rules that apply, as with all things in life.
• The minimum order to use this discount is $25.00.
• The discount is deducted from the retail price of the item. No intermediate discounts (such as HankoGram pricing) may be applied. In the case of sets, such as DVDs and Videos, the discount is deducted from the retail price of each item and not from the set price.
• 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, MagicSmith, 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.
• Coupons and Reward Points will be deducted from the order total before the discount is applied.
• As the discount is automatically generated, you must put the special code FIFTEENDAYS in the Discount Coupon Box. You may have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the box, but it is there. If you are not sure how to do this, please phone your order in to our toll-free order line at 800 874 7400, and we will take care of you. We cannot offer discounts retroactively.
And that's it. It could not be easier. So, get your order together and save yourself some serious money! But, act quickly. The sooner you act, the more you save!
Now, let’s take a look at this week’s Hotlist!
Verbal Magic – Juan Tamariz and Gema Navarro:
It's an old adage of conjuring:
The strongest magic happens in the hands of the audience.
A lesser-known corollary to this is:
The more that happens there, the stronger the magic.
So what if it all happened in their hands?
What if the magician wasn't even in the room?
What if only his voice was guiding them...
From the radio, or the television or from far away? And the magic happened while the spectators did everything!
That is what Spain's greatest magician, Juan Tamariz, asked himself. And from this question emerged a body of magic that has astonished vast audiences in Spain and Latin America when performed on radio and television, on stage and close up. It is magic that has fooled both the public and master magicians.
Using only a few playing cards, pieces of paper and other common objects as props, audiences are led through a variety of entertaining processes that lead to their utter amazement. Through clever principles, old and new, combined with cunning psychology and ground-breaking strategies, Juan Tamariz makes magic happen in everyone's hands. He fools people into amazing themselves! Further, as you follow the radio transcripts in these pages, he will fool you, too.
So open this book and join the amazed. Then share the amazement and fun with your audiences, whether they are listening to the radio, watching television or in the room with you.
Follow along as Juan Tamariz tells you to take a few red and black cards from a deck and mix the colors in ways random, chaotic and independently determined. Yet, when you are finished, the colors magically separate! That's right, you perform Oil and Water for yourself and have no idea how it happened!.
People freely choose a card, lose it in a packet, mix the cards thoroughly, and then magically discover their own selections without knowing how they did it. The magic leaves Tamariz's hands and settles in their own!
This book collects over forty such tricks and presentations, all refined and tested through professional performance. Close associate Gema Navarro, under the guidance of Juan Tamariz, has meticulously transcribed presentations from tapes of numerous radio broadcasts. The transcripts are so detailed, they first let the reader fool himself, and then give him the information necessary to entertain and astonish his audiences, and the tools to devise many other effects that happen entirely in their hands and heads.
Scattered in the literature of magic is a scant number of participation effects suitable for performance on radio and television; and those tricks are sought and coveted by professionals. Here, Juan Tamariz reveals the largest body of such magic ever offered, while taking it in new directions and teaching new principles with wide-reaching possibilities for further application. As a final bonus, Verbal Magic provides the largest record yet, for non-Spanish speakers, of what it is like to be part of Tamariz's audience. Here is a long, in-depth look at how a master magician simultaneously entertains and mystifies.
176 pages in deluxe hardcover. $40.00; special pre-publicaiton price of $35.00! (BK01606)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9627&cat=0&page=1)
Revelation – Dai Vernon:
It’s not what you think.
This is not a reprint of the 1984 edition of Revelations, Dai Vernon’s legendary annotations for The Expert at the Card Table by S.W. Erdnase.
This new, over-size book was triggered by the discovery of more than 160 long-lost photographs of Dai Vernon’s hands that were taken in 1961 specifically to illustrate this manuscript. It is as close as you will ever get to a personal session with the Professor.
Includes:
A facsimile reproduction of the entire, original typed Revelation manuscript.
The entire text of The Expert at the Card Table with Vernon’s annotations inserted at the appropriate places illustrated with the newly discovered photos.
Plus more than 100 pages of added material including Vernon’s explanation (with photos) of Topping the Deck, Walter Scott’s Second Deal and Double Belly Cut, the Ping Pong Shift, The Hop, Allen Kennedy’s legendary Center Deal and more.
392 over-size pages with a beautiful dustjacket.
The book itself measures 9 by 11.5 inches with 392 pages and a beautiful dustjacket designed by Michael Albright. The book is bound in green cloth and stamped with copper foil. $65.00 (BK01602)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9625&cat=0&page=1)
Tragedy Tray – Dave Merry: Dave Merry is one of the funniest people I know. He has appeared several times at the Cape Cod Conclave, and always brings the house down. In fact, he will be with us again at the next Conclave in April of 2009. Shameless plug.
Dave has had more offers to release this piece than any other item in his show.
The Tragedy Tray has been a staple in Dave’s act for years. He had the prop custom made for him and waited to release the item until he found the right builder who could ensure the standard needed for it's design. Joe Leskovar, the man who built most of the electronic props and remote control inventions in Dave's show, "Don't Panic Remain.Com", builds these.
The Tragedy Tray is an unbelievably useful utility item, to which end there is no limit. It is a wireless remote controlled tray that will fall out of the spectator’s hands on command.
Ask an unsuspecting volunteer to hold the tray during any magic piece in your act. Whatever is resting on the tray hits the floor, on your command. The possibilities are endless. The boundaries limited only by what you can think of putting on top of the tray.
Customizing events for his corporate clients, Dave has used every product imaginable. Comedy club uses have included: glasses full of liquid, very intricate Lego buildings (painstakingly built by his kids), card castles, jewelry, a china tea set, a tray of beer cans, and a domino set up. Whatever you deem to be either fragile or valuable works best.
Currently Dave puts his grandfather’s ashes (in an urn) on top. He asks the volunteer to hold the old man’s remains and, when he turns around to get a table for her to rest the tray on, the urn comes crashing to the ground. $399.95 (60.1547)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9622&cat=0&page=1)
This Is Not A Book – Robert E. Neale - Wonder and magic surround us, yet we need a guide to see them. Historically, that guide is the magician, and Robert E. Neale is the celebrated mapmaker for this terra incognita.
This new Neale collection explores the sphere of close-up magic without playing cards. In the process, it expands the borders of magic in ways never before seen. Neale takes magicians at their word when they claim their job is to provoke wonder in their audiences. As he explains in his introduction, "there are many effects ahead that are not tricks, because I am more interested in magic than I am in tricks."
Beginning with the title of his book, echoing René Magritte's famous comment on the deceptive quality of all art, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe," Neale begins to demonstrate how illusory our perception is and how fuzzy the borders are between the real and the unreal. Using uncomplicated sleights and props, he dares magicians to seek wonder in ways that are new and unexpected by both audiences and other magicians.
• In Robin's Nest he recalls a youthful mistake and the miracle that resulted from it.
• In Breaking Bread he resurrects an ancient Middle-Eastern ritual that produces an astonishing result and a humorous observation on the leaders of movements.
• In The Treasure Hunt a woman makes a dream-journey to foreign lands that eventually leads her to just the right message to discover an elusive treasure.
• In Countermanded someone receives a chilling message from the spirit world, and the unexpected ability to find humor in it.
• In The First Mystery the true meaning of the events in the Garden of Eden is revealed with only six illustrated cards and an old sock.
• An old puzzle, the Bashful Lock, becomes a metallic con game.
• A color-changing knife becomes the instrument for telling a tale of love and tragedy.
• Three coins bring together a collector with the ghost of Judas.
And further original mysteries are evoked from topological wonders such as the Hypercard, the Trapdoor Card and some amazing origami folds.
In all, This Is Not a Book guides the reader through a world of more than thirty excursions into wonder, surprise and mystery, with full presentations designed for close-up magicians and motivational speakers not afraid of mixing some meaning with their magic and entertainment. This is not a book—it is a blossoming of wonder and new places to find it.
410 pages in deluxe hardcover; 290 illustrations by Earle Oakes. $47.00; special Pre-Publication price of $39.00 (BK01607)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9628&cat=0&page=1)
Willard – A Life Under Canvas – David Charvet: Even before the expanded edition of Alexander: The Man Who Knows came out in 2007, David Charvet had started work on a biography of Willard the Willard. Considering he had the full cooperation of Harry Willard’s three grown children, Eugene, Madeline and Frances, it seemed like a straight-forward project.
That project turned into an odyssey. The story of the four men who performed under the name Willard the Wizard reads like a roller coaster ride made up of triumphant highs and tragic lows. If you think you know the Willard story because you read David Charvet’s recent cover story in MAGIC magazine, you don’t know the half of it.
Normally, to write a biography, the author relies on old magazines, newspapers, letters, scrapbooks, photographs etc. to tell the story. Those sources are used because that’s all there is. But Eugene, Madeline and Frances spent many years during their youth traveling with and performing in their father’s show. So, the author had access to not only what the audience saw on stage at the Harry Willard show, but what was happening backstage as well. Here is the ultimate behind the scenes story of a traveling tent show as told by those who lived it. Combining these firsthand accounts with David Charvet’s relentless research has produced a unique slice of magic history.
The book is 8.5 inches tall and 11 inches wide, hardbound on the short side. It contains 370 pages with 276 photographs and because the entire book has been printed in two colors, many of the photos are printed in duotone, giving them the feel of a hot, dusty tent show. Eight pages of full color show Willard in action along with some beautiful portraits of his well-worn apparatus.
The tent-show feel continues with the printed endsheets and onto the binding with a canvas cloth on the front and back covers and Skivertex simulated leather on the spine. This edition is limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies. $85.00 (BK01600)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9623&cat=0&page=1)
Stand Up: A Professional Guide To Comedy Magic – Ian Keable - Want to make the leap from entertaining a few people to several hundred? Want to make your audience laugh so much that they remember you as much for your comedy as your magic? Want to earn your living as a stand-up?
This book explains everything you’ll need to know to achieve these goals. It’s a step-by-step manual on how to combine comedy with magic, from writing original lines to developing your stage persona to maximizing the benefits of audience participation. Not a theoretical treatise, it is based on 'real world' experience, supported by numerous contributions from today's top stand-ups.
From the novice first starting out in magic to the seasoned professional, here is a book that all performers can learn from. $45.00 (BK01601)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9624&cat=0&page=1)
"You have done well to create a practical book rather than the usual intellectual studies that, in truth, do not further the art of laughter at all. I really enjoyed visiting other acts and studying how they have created what they do. Thank you for bringing them to life in your pages." -- Paul Daniels
"This book takes all the guessing out of how to become a complete comedy magician. I am pleased and proud to be included with all these great comic performers!" -- Michael Finney
Dan Tong Live DVD:
Dan Tong is a living underground legend in magic. On this DVD you will see Dan performing stand-up material for a live theater audience. Dan performs a full show from beginning to end giving viewers a rare glimpse at how a professional performer structures an act. Learn the real work on audience management, staging and how to use magic to entertain an audience.
Jimmy Ray Paper Tear Performance/Explanation
A light-hearted reading of jokes from torn pieces of newspaper results in a startling restoration. Includes complete details on construction, transportation, staging, psychology and handling. Based on the Gene Anderson Newspaper Tear.
Egg Bag Performance Only
A performance of the Malini egg bag with Dan's surprising finish; honed over forty years of real-world experience. A lesson in magical focus and audience management.
5 Card Mental Test Performance/Explanation
Dan takes audiences on an exploration of ESP: Extra Sexy People. Dan displays a prediction. Using the five ESP symbols designed by J.B. Rhine, an audience member freely eliminates one symbol at a time until one remains. The prediction is opened with a flourish and revealed that it matches!
Rope Routine Performance/Explanation
With plenty of comic byplay with the audience, Dan leads his audience on a series of cuts and restorations followed by a Professor's Nightmare sequence culminating with an interactive finale that blows audiences away when the unequal ropes are tied together, one knot vanishes and the final knot is slid off the rope restoring the three pieces to a single length of rope. Dan pulls out all the stops and uses creative construction to full effect. Incredibly detailed instruction will open your eyes to ideas in rope magic that will fool magicians as much, if not more, than laymen!
Hat Tear Performance Only
Performed as an interlude in the preceding rope routine, this piece continues the comedy and conditions the spectator for the events to come. Dan has structured the hat tear and added a fun finale that wrings full entertainment value out of a piece often dismissed by magicians.
Bill to Wallet Performance/Explanation
Dan's finale is a true showstopper with all the lines and business to keep it entertaining and with a finish that leaves audiences breathless. A bill is borrowed, signed, torn (gotta have a receipt!) and sealed in one of four envelopes, which are then mixed up. The spectator chooses one, the others are burned and the selected envelope is opened to reveal... nothing. After some initial concern, the borrowed bill is revealed sealed inside an envelope inside a zippered wallet (thanks to Terry Seabrooke) and returned to the spectator with audience acclaim.
Bonus Material - Over fifteen minutes of additional performance with explanations for:
Linking Paper Rings
Performer cuts three individual paper rings from separate sheets of construction paper. Miraculously they link.
4th Eye
Jumbo ESP cards are shuffled by three different spectators and then collected into a pile. A few cards are eliminated and held by an onstage spectator. Performer then reveals each card held by the spectator.
Revised Big Surprise
Dan's take on a Mike Close idea. Another version of Bank Night structured as a large impossible location finale effect.
Bloopers, Trailers & More. $34.95 (DVD00928)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9629&cat=0&page=1)
Shrinking Pin: U.F. Grant’s all time close-up classic! We carried this one a long time ago, and sold a ton of them. It’s the perfect trick to do as a follow up to the Linking Pins!
An off-beat close-up gem that shocks everyone!
Clearly display a large safety pin.
It visibly shrinks and shrinks into a Mini Pin!
Toss the pin out for examination.
Grants routine, Pushing the Pin Through Your Pants is included.
$10.00 (10.1471)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9626&cat=0&page=1)
Magic Doodle Pen - Alan Wong:
A new scientific invention that allows you to create many new, unusual and entertaining visual effects.
Packs so small, plays so big! Perform it anytime, anywhere. You don't need playing cards, table or close up mat. You don't even have to be wearing clothes! Just carry a Magic Doodle Pen and you are always ready to do some close up miracles!
Imagine if you can:
* Draw a tattoo on your arm and move it to another spot!
* Draw a coin in your hand and visually turn it into a real coin!
* Make an airplane or an elephant vanish right in your hand!
* Reveal predictions with no force!
* Visually transform words and numbers!
* Perform the Three Shell Game without the shells and the pea – standing up!
And more!
This package includes the instruction manual with routines and two Magic Doodle Pens so they will give you lots of fun and mileage! $15.00 (10.1472)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9631&cat=0&page=1)
Glimpse 20-20 DVD - Marc Spelmann
Glimpse was originally released back in 2004 as a small manuscript. On this exclusive DVD, running for over an hour, Marc Spelmann will guide you through each stage of construction, giving hints and tips that didn't make it onto the original release due to space constraints. You'll also see Marc use Glimpse for various routines, along with additional ideas and developments that have evolved since it's first release. Marc also tips an incredible Card to Card Box under test conditions as well as tips on stack work. Glimpse is an amazing device that is suitable for Magicians and Mentalists in any environment: Close Up, Cabaret or Stage. The possibilities are endless, from the simplest close up routine to an amazing feat of memory on stage! It has the bonus of also being very easy to use! $37.25 (DVD00927)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9630&cat=0&page=1)
"Marc Spelmanns Glimpse is really a thing of beauty! It is entirely practical, deceptive and useful. If you want clean then Glimpse will give it to you. I give this product my wholehearted recommendation!" - Richard Osterlind
"A clever innovation workers will use. Anyone who uses cards in magic or mentalism simply must have this." - Kenton Knepper
Appearing Crayons: When you see this one, you'll say,"Why didn't I think of that?" It's such a good idea!
Start out doing the standard Coloring Book routine. Show the book blank; then have the black and white pictures appear; finally the pictures all color in by magic!
Now for the kicker! Ask the kids if they have any idea where all the colors came from. Of course, you'll get as many answers as there are kids in the audience.
No matter, you explain that the colors came from your magic crayons! Roll the Coloring Book into a cylinder, a magic pass over the top, then pour out a bunch of real crayons. This looks great! Where did all the crayons cone from?
The Appearing Crayons is a self-contained, mechanical effect. It's easy to do, and it's the perfect finish to the Coloring Book! Comes with the special gimmick plus a bunch of crayons. The price is so low, I can't believe it! $12.50 (50.145)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2482&cat=0&page=1)
And that’s this weeks Hotlist. Some great new stuff. A lot of items to add to your fall reading list, for sure. I think we did an excellent job of picking the best of the best for you this week!
As always, I hope you will find some time to spend with us this weekend, either online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way, we do love your company! And, don’t forget about the big 25% off sale going on right now!
Hank Lee
