Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I found myself in Ottawa, Canada for the fourth. Bonnie has a large family in Ottawa, and this weekend was cousin Jason’s wedding. In most families, a wedding is a wedding. But, in this particular family, a wedding is a three-day event. So, we loaded up the car with Bonnie, Helen and Jonah (the in-laws) and a few suitcases and headed North on Friday morning. Did I mention that when I took our passports out of the case, I discovered much to my horror that they had expired in March? Ever try to call the US Consulate in Canada or the Canadian Consulate in Boston on the 3rd of July holiday? Don’t bother. They are closed. So, I called Canadian customs and US Customs at the border and they said that we might undergo some extra questioning, but there should be no real problem. I had visions of spending the weekend in High Gates Springs, Vermont. But, we didn’t.
We breezed across the border and headed to Montreal for Friday evening. Bonnie had booked a room through Hotwire for what was described as a Three Star hotel. I will not mention the name of the hotel. The Hotel Montreal Central. If that’s a Three Star hotel, I would hate to see a two or a one. The hotel had some real problems. No elevator. No handicap access. And, they put the 80+ year-old in-laws on the second floor. The parking lot was not connected to the hotel and there was no valet. I really enjoyed the two and a half block walk in the pouring rain. No hair dryer in the room (not an issue for me, but for Bonnie). No blanket on the bed, just the bed spread. Yech. Pillows hard as rocks. The mattress was high on the sides and low in the middle, resulting in rolling people. But, it did come with breakfast, and lots of stories. We did have a wonderful dinner in Old Montreal.
Saturday morning it was on to Ottawa, just a couple of hours away. Once we checked in to our new hotel, which was oh, so very much nicer than the first hotel, it was time for lunch at one of Ottawa’s many delicatessens. Smoked Meat all around. The Ottawanians are so nice. Even the homeless people. As we walked by one homeless gentleman, he shouted out to me that he really liked what I had done with my hair. A lovely compliment, I think.
The first wedding function was Saturday night at the hotel. A gala party for the out of town guests. A gigantic deli spread with all the fixings. So much food, enough to feed an army, as the saying goes. After dinner, a bunch of us retired to the 360 Bar for a nightcap and lots more fun!
Sunday morning, after a great breakfast at the Grand Central Deli (if you are anywhere near Ottawa you should go there for a meal) we went on a walking tour of Ottawa. It was the first time I had seen the sun in weeks, and I managed to get a little sunburn on my head. I know. I should have worn a hat. Then, it was the gala wedding. A beautiful event, complete with bride, groom, polka dotted wedding cake and, again, more food than humanly possible. We were so pooped after the wedding that we all went right to sleep.
Monday morning was the final event, brunch. Again, tons of food and a really good time. The final event of the weekend involved cousin Howard going to the Ladies room by mistake (he caught on when he saw the high heels in the next stall) and Helen going into the Men’s room, again by mistake, we think.
After that, it was into the car and the long ride home. We crossed the border with ease and lunched on Smoked Meat sandwiches provided by cousin Barry. So much deli! So much fun. You should have been there.
Now that you know everything I did over the Fourth (do you think it was too much detail?), let’s take a look at this week’s excitement.
Do Over Sales Event. We had a terrific sales event last weekend. Unfortunately, many of you were away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the sale. We know. And, we understand. So, we are going to offer a Do Over. A Mulligan. A Second Chance. You get the idea, right? Just read on.
Starting right now, we are offering you a discount of 29% on your entire order, subject to the rules below. The sale will run through Monday, July 13th at midnight. All you need to do is enter the special code DO-OVER-SALE in the Discount Coupon Box of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com and we will automatically deduct the 29% 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.
• Offers cannot be combined.
• 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, Johnson Products 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, Reward Points and Promotional Gift Certificates may not be used during this sales event..
• As the discount is automatically generated, you must put the special code in the Discount Coupon Box, and nowhere else. 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. It all ends on the 13th of July at midnight!
And now to this week’s Hotlist!
Cesaral Mental Amplifier: The result of a dream Cesar Alonso had many years ago. Now the dream is alive and available to the magic community! So many effects are possible!
• PK straw: A straw is moves by itself inside a glass, and points to the selected card (based on Mago Anton’s Submarine effect). You can get a similar effect with other objects like a Sharpie marker.
• Crazy paper: Draw a happy face on a borrowed piece of paper and make a ball of it. At your command the ball starts dancing on your hand or even in an audience member’s hand. You can do it with several papers and they will finally dance together.
• Intelligent coin: A coin is able to find the spectator’s card, moving like crazy when it is put on the card that was selected.
Other effects:
• Change the time of a watch without touching it
• Make little objects move while you are far away from them
• Draw a sad face on a piece of paper and a happy face on the other side of it. You put it on a table. At your command the paper flips over and turns the sad face into a happy face
Materials included:
Gimmick (fits inside many places, like a card box), Remote Control Unit, and Battery Charger.
Important points:
• Can be used in many different effects and situations / it is a very versatile gimmick
• Can be used with or without Remote Control Unit.
• Can be used everywhere
• Rechargeable gimmick
• Controlled by micro-processor and highly integrated electronics
• It is very easy to use, allowing you to concentrate on the presentation
$420.00 (40.685)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2039&cat=0&page=1)
Quick and Effective Cold Reading – Richard Webster: A complete text on how to give brief cold readings to anyone and astound them with your accuracy. The classic book on Cold Reading
When the first edition of Quick and Effective Cold Reading was published, Bascom Jones, editor of Magick, wrote that it was "one of the all-time great publications in mentalism." If Bascom was here today, he would not be surprised to discover this book is now considered the classic book on the subject.
Cold Reading is the art of giving a reading to someone without knowing anything about him or her beforehand. Quick and Effective Cold Reading teaches you how to give short, factual, informative and satisfying readings to people you know nothing about, and may not have met before. The ability to give a satisfying reading is a useful, arguably essential, skill for anyone involved in the psychic entertainment field.
For many years, copies of this book were hard to obtain, as distribution was deliberately restricted to people who were serious about learning how to become good Cold Readers. This new, updated edition is especially produced to commemorate this book's twenty-fifth anniversary.
111 pages. Perfect bound. $45.00 (BK01657)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2047&cat=0&page=1)
Cartel Coins: The next generation in coin magic is Chastain Criswell's Cartel Coins! Eliminate or incorporate all your old coin gaffs and discover some of the most visual coin magic ever performed!
These revolutionary coins are a powerful innovation that takes this medium to a new level. The Cartel Coins by Chastain Criswell are precision crafted and designed to appear normal in all respects. You can show both sides of the coins before and after your routine!
• Visual magic at your fingertips!
• Beautiful magic. Effortless impact!
• Look like a master in days not years!
Cartel Coins by Chastain Criswell isn't a Sun & Moon set. In fact, it's not like anything you've ever seen before. Here's just a taste of what's possible with these awesome new gaffs:
• Sky-Eye Kaps: A new twist on a Kaps' move; a silver and a copper coin are shown in each hand. As the magician brings the coins to eye level, they change places!
• Two Fly: Magician shows the copper and silver coins in one hand, but they jump to the other hand one at a time, right before the spectator's eyes!
• We May Never Pass This Way Again: The magician tosses the coins from one hand to the other, but the silver coin stays in one hand and the copper coin stays in the other no matter how many time the magician tosses the coins!
• Coin ExplosionL produce six coins from two! An amazing routine made easy with Cartel Coins!
With your purchase of Cartel Coins by Chastain Criswell, you'll receive the gaffed coins, a coin purse and instructional DVD. Learn tips, tricks, and the history of the amazingly multi-purpose Cartel Coins! $175.00 (20.421)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2051&cat=0&page=1)
Vanishing Crayons – Alan Wong: A wonderful new version of the classic Vanishing Crayons! Show a box full of colorful crayons, put it into a windowed casing and watch it totally disappear! Perfect companion to the Coloring Book for children’s routine!
Each unit is hand made with real crayons and durable plastic casing for the quality and professional look! $20.00 (60.1599)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2028&cat=0&page=1)
Third Hand Magic DVD- Carl Cloutier : What if you had a third hand? What if it was invisible? What kind of magic would you do with this secret device? Two of the most diabolical secret utility techniques and devices are the art of using Topits and Sleeves.
On this DVD Carl Cloutier who is a master at using these invisible tools offers a tutorial on how to deceptively Topit and Sleeve as well as many of the combination techniques that have helped him win magic’s biggest awards and honors.
Also taught are some outstanding routines that can be used to build a reputation. A Tribute To Lennart will have you put a shuffled deck into new deck order, Cloutier’s Multiplying Balls routine is direct and visual, and The Cloutier Workout Routine is one that you have to see to believe; it features more visual magic than you can possibly imagine.
Techniques include: Topit Design and Hookup, Retrieving Objects From Pocket, Topiting Various Objects, Vanishing A Deck Of Cards, Vanishing A Ball, Vanishing Small Objects, Sleeving Tips & Techniques, Sleeving Various Objects, Cell Phone Production, Billiard Ball Manipulation, Coin Manipulation, Small Object Manipulation, Jumbo Coin Manipulation, Sleeving Playing Cards, Sleeving Pens, Markers and Wands, Switches With Topits & Sleeves, Deck Switches, Ball Switch and much more.
By adding these techniques to your current routines you will make your magic look real and elevate it to its highest level. Includes cameos by Lennart Green and R. Paul Wilson. $34.95 (DVD01022)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=5597&cat=0&page=1)
Fresh Mint 2.0 – Cameron Francis: Display a small tin, wrapped in a rubber band, bearing the words Time Capsule. This is left in full view. A spectator signs their own bill (any currency) and hands it to you. Placing it inside your fist you give it a little squeeze and incredibly, the bill completely vanishes! Or did it? Explain that you actually sent the bill back in time! The tin is opened and inside is discovered a 'Tic-Tac' box through which can clearly be seen a folded bill! The 'Tic-Tac' box is dumped into your hand. You pop the lid off and cleanly dump the bill into your spectators awaiting hand - the box is now clearly empty. They unfold the bill and sure enough, it bears their signature!
Fresh Mint is a true utility gimmick you can use to openly switch bills, business cards, playing cards and billets invisibly!
On this amazing DVD you'll see Cameron perform Fresh Mint twice. And, you'll also learn these four stunning routines!
Minty Fresh
A borrowed and signed bill mysteriously changes into a handful of Tic-Tac's in your hands! Removing your Tic-Tac box a bill can be clearly seen inside. It is cleanly removed and found to be the spectator’s signed bill!
Mental Mint
Anyone is asked to name a date or a place (or anything really) that is personal to them. They are handed a business card on which they write down their chosen date or place. You then draw their attention to a Tic-Tac box that has been in full view throughout. Removing the folded business card from inside, it unbelievably shows that you have predicted ahead of time the exact date or place they would think of!
E.S.P Mint
Five business cards, on which you have drawn the five E.S.P symbols, are laid out in a row on the table. Your spectator is asked to indicate any one of the five symbols. Amazingly, the one they choose is shown to have been predicted on a sixth business card - sealed inside a Tic Tac container that has been in full view throughout!
Minted
An eye-popping transposition between a bill and a signed playing card!
Plus, three bonus chapters!
$30.00 (DVD01023)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2052&cat=0&page=1)
"Sweet, Sweet, Sweet…crystal clear effect…diabolical method! What a great idea!" – Richard Sanders
"Clearly impossible in more ways than one. You've given this time-honored plot a breath of fresh air!" - Charlie Frye
Sure-Fire Kidshow Magic Live – David Ginn: David defines “sure-fire” as something guaranteed to work. Everything on this DVD works wonders to make children laugh and applaud and love the performer. The first 70 minutes is all David Ginn magical show and tell. This is followed by a 35 minute live performance in front of an audience of real kids.
Here’s what you will see:
The Lecture:
• Appearing Wand
• Wand To Silks
• Comedy Warm Ups
• Hot Book
• Sixth Finger
• Silk Illusion
• Color Changing Shoelaces
• Shoelace In A Bag
• Vanishing Coke Bottle
• Computer Baby
• Yellow School Bus
• World Famous Banana Trick
• King Kong Goes Bananas
The Show:
• Blooming Bouquet
• Instant Rubik’s Cube
• Beads Of Prussia
• Tricky Bottles
• Wander-Filled Card In Balloon
• Big Silk Quick: The End
Over half of the material on this DVD has never been released! Now you can treasure the tricks and philosophy of this truly prolific author and performer. $20.00 (DVD01024)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2057&cat=0&page=1)
Leather Cylinder: For John Ramsay's classic effect "Cylinder and Coins."
Beautifully made in the USA.
Dimension: Approximately 2 5/8" Long (6.67cm).
Available in either Half Dollar or Dollar size in either black or brown. Please specify. $45.00 (20.422)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9867&cat=0&page=1)
And that’s this week’s first after the fourth Hotlist. Great new magic. Great new DVDs. Great new books. And our soon to be famous Do-Over Sales Event, which you absolutely do not want to miss!
As always, all of us appreciate your taking time out of your busy schedules to spend time with us, whether it’s online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way, we do love your company.
Hank
