Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. As Halloween gets closer and closer, it’s looking more and more like Halloween is getting closer. The leaves are turning bright orange and the nighttime weather outside is getting a little nippy. Just the way I like it.
We spent a wonderful weekend in Gainesville, Florida. We visited with Aron the Elder Son and ate at some great restaurants. The weather was really nice, sunny and warm. We had a chance to spend some time with Aron’s new roommates, and they are just so nice. As you might have guessed we also spent some time helping him organize his room and getting everything in order. We also showed him how the washing machine and dryer worked (although I suspect he already knew). In all, time well spent.
Lucas the Singing Son turned 20 on the 6th of October. How old does that make me feel? Old. Bonnie baked him a cake and sent it along to him, because, I am told, they do not have cakes in Oberlin, Ohio. Personally, I think they do, but I am told I must pick my battles.
All kinds of moving and shaking this week. For those of you with Halloween shows and a need for something new, our friend Mike Bent dropped off some Forgetful Frankies earlier this week. We filled all of the back orders and still have some left. So, if you would like to add this perfect for Halloween item to your shows, order one right away and we will get it to you in time.
We have added some new items to the Clearance Category in the online catalog. Wait until you see the prices! You will be amazed.
Finally, we have created a brand new Excitement for you this week, so please read on…
Buy Some, Get Some at 100% Off! We are always looking for ways to save you folks some money. The economy is a little tough out there, and every penny counts.
I know it sounds crazy, but we have figured out a way to do this. For every order you place, we will send you some brand new, right off the shelf, magic equal in value to the merchandise you ordered. Whaaaaat? Crazy, right? Maybe not so crazy.
Here’s how it works. If you buy $50.00 in merchandise, we will send along with your order another $50.00 in free merchandise. Same for $100.00 or $200.00 or $300.00 or more. However much you spend, we will match it with additional magic of the same value.
The magic we will send is really good stuff. There are some tricks and some DVDs, even some books. It is brand new, right from stock. Stuff you will like and use!
The sales event will start right now, the very second you get this email Newsletter. And it will run through Tuesday, October 13th at midnight. Five full days. All you need to do is put the special code BUY SOME in the Customer Notes Box of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com so we know that you wish to participate in the promotion. If you call or FAX you order in to us, just mention the code BUY SOME.
There really aren’t any rules or restrictions. The only thing is, we cannot combine offers. So, Reward Points, Promotional Gift Certificates and Magic Of The Month Club pricing will not apply. Oh, and the minimum order for this promotion is $30.00. Makes sense, right?
Get your order in to us, and see what surprises await you!
Now, let’s take a look at this week’s Hotlist.
Titan’s Finger: The finest finger freak-out to date, presented by Paul Harris. Titanas has created an exquisitely weird method for twisting your finger into a position that no finger has ever gone before!
There's nothing in your hands but your own skin. And yet...
You grasp one of your own fingers, muster up your courage, then give the finger a hard, forceful twist. There's an icky bone-popping "snap" and your freakishly twisted finger is now completely backwards! You've got to watch the demo to experience the full power of this moment.
To end the one-finger freak show, you untwist back to normal. And since there was never anything else in your hands; your audience is free to poke and prod any of your fingers as they commune with the mystery.
• Easy and painless
• No palming. No pulls. Nothing to get rid of.
• You end completely clean.
• Works with small and large fingers of any tone.
• Practical and angle proof for all normal and most abnormal situations.
Titanas' improbably twisted method for this is truly a thing of freaky beauty. Complete with DND and custom gimmick engineered by Mark Allen.
$34.95 (10.1540)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1058&cat=0&page=1)
Color Changing Spongeball: Get ready to have a ball with the new Color Changing Sponge Ball from Bizzaro! The sponge ball is one of the most popular props in magic, and now it's being taken to the next level!
Add a new dimension to your existing routines or develop completely new effects with this practical and versatile utility prop.
What can you do with the Color Changing Sponge Ball? Take a look at the video demo!
$15.00 (10.1542)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1173&cat=0&page=1)
It’s Magic DVD: The 1955 TV Magic Series - During its summer 1955 run, the It's Magic series brought some fantastic performers to television and filmed them in extended, uncut performances. In the show's brief life, entertainer Paul Tripp hosted top names like Roy Benson, Al Flosso, Fred Keating, Tommy and Betty Tucker, Kuda Bux, and comic A. Robins.
Long unseen, this It's Magic footage preserves invaluable renditions of Roy Benson performing his superb sleight-of-hand (including his famous Salt Pour and Chinese Sticks); the super-smooth second-sight code act of Tommy Tucker and Betty; the only surviving film of Fred Keating's trademark Needle Swallowing; Al Flosso in a great version of his Miser's Dream act; Kuda Bux's famed Blindfold Act; and the bizarre prop comedy of A. Robins.
The DVD includes all the original production numbers, additional illusions, and old-style promotional announcements.
All chapters on the DVD are accessible through a complete menu.
• Rare footage of top performers
• Roy Benson with his Salt Pour and Three Chinese Sticks
• Tommy Tucker and Betty's unbelievably smooth code act
• Fred Keating in the only film of his Needle Swallowing
• Al Flosso's classic act
• Comedy by the legendary A. Robins, The Banana Man
• Additional illusions and production numbers
• Original commercial announcements
• 60 minutes of footage
• Digitally remastered on DVD
This DVD was created in collaboration with William McIlhany. $35.00 (DVD01053)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1236&cat=0&page=1)
Alive – Bobby Motta: Give life to any object or livestock with Bobby Motta’s Alive!
From the creator of one of the hottest selling items on the market, Lethal, Bobby Motta has finally released his most talked about signature effect. This is the effect that has created a real name for Bobby in his shows. It is a one of a kind, crafted prop designed by Gerry Frenette, one of Canada’s leading illusion builders. Also included is Bill Abbott’s Customize Your Smart-Ass Deck which you can use to tailor make your performance. This is a solid, time-tested routine that is guaranteed to thrill any audience!
Bobby will go through his entire routine from picking the right spectator to closing the effect with all the lines, bits of business, psychological subtleties and a slew of alternative handling and presentational ideas.
You will receive:
The Alive box
Bill Abbotts Customize Your Smart-Ass Deck
Full instructional DVD
All performance rights included. $695.00 (60.1620)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1399&cat=0&page=1)
Milbourne Christopher DVD Set: The Historic Magic Specials - Milbourne Christopher produced some of the earliest prime-time magic specials, now preserved in DVD form on this collection.
You'll see The World's Greatest Magicians (1967), featuring Roy Benson performing his Salt Pour, Chinese Sticks, and other classics; Marvyn Roy's show-stopping Mr. Electric act; Sorcar with his Hangman, Blindfold, and Buzz Saw routines; and Virgil and Julie's famous Spirit Cabinet.
Priceless moments on these shows include rare Houdini straitjacket footage in Houdini: The Impossible Possible (1969) and the great actor Zero Mostel chatting about art technique during 1962's Magic! Magic! Magic!
• Over three hours of footage
• Two DVDs for optimum viewing quality
• Three of Milbourne Christopher's pioneering magic specials
• Great performance footage of Roy Benson, Mr. Electric (Marvyn Roy), Sorcar, and Virgil.
• Rare footage of Houdini
• Bonus Christopher appearance on The Garry Moore Show
This two-DVD set has been created in collaboration with magic film historian William McIlhany, now with digitally enhancement and optimized sound. $60.00 (DVD01055)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1548&cat=0&page=1)
Knife Through Coat – Mikame: Borrow a spectator's jacket. Holding a piece of newspaper over the front of the coat (proving that the knife will go through the newspaper and the coat), you take a knife and shove it through the coat and the newspaper. To the spectators delight, the coat has not been harmed!
You will be blown away by the ease of this new method. The knife can be handed out for examination before and after the performance! $60.00 (60.1621)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1313&cat=0&page=1)
Ultimate Guide To the Miser’s Dream – Levent: This monumental three-DVD set will teach you the Miser's Dream routines of the greats of magic: Al Flosso, T. Nelson Downs, Roy Benson, Charlie Miller, Paul Potassy and many more.
In these videos, Levent gives you step-by-step instructions for all of the sleights you need to know to perform this classic stage magic effect. The lessons range from the most simple and basic moves to the complex and difficult never-before-revealed secrets of the masters.
This DVD collection is the most complete work available on the many secret gimmicks and devices used for The Miser's Dream, as well as many bits of business that have made this effect a commercial classic.
As a bonus, Levent teaches you all the secrets of his personal Miser's Dream routine. This single routine is a master class on creativity and the construction of professional level secret magic apparatus.
Over five hours long and features a menu system that will allow you to easily navigate the discs and find any sleight, prop or routine. $59.95 (DVD01057)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1171&cat=0&page=1)
Coin Tube – Mikame: Two beautiful wooden tubes are shown to the audience. A banknote is borrowed from a spectator and is placed in-between the tubes, making it impossible for anything to pass through.
Three coins are given to the spectator. They are placed into one side of the tube. One at a time, the coins pass through the borrowed bill.
Everything can be handed out for inspection.
Bill can be borrowed (no switching)
Coins can be borrowed (no switching)
$45.00 (20.435)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1101&cat=0&page=1)
Festival of Magic DVD: The 1957 TV Special -
First broadcast in 1957, Festival of Magic features the only complete footage of Cardini's act, filled with immaculate sleight-of-hand and brilliant magical moments. The show is considered a landmark, a must-see film every magician should watch and study.
The show also includes six other great acts: Robert Harbin with original illusions and a straitjacket escape, Sorcar with a Buzz Saw and other effects, June Merlin and her fairylike routines, Milbourne Christopher catching a bullet, Li King Si's Asian-style magic, and René Septembre's fast-paced bird routines.
The unique comedy of emcee Ernie Kovacs is also included, with several segments featuring elaborate magical sight gags.
All footage has been remastered for DVD and all chapters are accessible through menus.
• The complete 1957 T.V. special
• The only complete footage of Cardini's act
• Previously unseen Cardini intro clip
• Appearances by Robert Harbin and six other acts
• Emceed by legendary surrealistic comic Ernie Kovacs
• Over an hour of great magic
• Complete with all vintage commercials
• Digitally remastered on DVD
This DVD was created in collaboration with Maurine Christopher and William H. McIlhany. $35.00 (DVD01054)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1486&cat=0&page=1)
Tarot Reading Secrets DVD Set :For the psychic entertainer or Tarot Guru wannabe! This class has been designed by an experienced teacher of Tarot.
Dean, your instructor has been reading tarot since the age of 4, teaching Tarot for over 18 years and reading in an entertainment environment for over 15 years. He has it all: The new age knowledge; the business know-how; the performer's experience and more.
Dean has been teaching one-day Tarot seminars for years and has compiled much of that material, and the information from his Tarot with ‘Tude and Tarot CD set into this newly filmed DVD course. For the first time however, in addition to teaching a full system of Tarot card reading, Dean will share the secrets of a professional psychic entertainer, and his philosophy and theories about doing readings for the public as entertainment.
In this program you will learn a system of reading that is legitimate to those who believe in such things but will allow you to interpret any deck of cards you might come across, even playing cards. The instructional sections feature visual and auditory mnemonics built into comfortable animated and live video segments created in HD format.
Also Includes DVDROM Content, pdf version of Tarot With 'Tude book
$75.00 (DVD01052)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1339&cat=0&page=1)
Short: Display two brass bolts. A spectator chooses either one. According to the spectator's choice, you pick one of the bolts and shake it up and down. The shaken bolt gradually shortens. The shortened bolt and the other normal bolt can be handed to the audience for examination. $39.00 (10.1541)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1353&cat=0&page=1)
Magic Circle Diamond Jubliee DVD - Now you can see rare footage of some of the twentieth century's best magicians: Fred Kaps, Robert Harbin, John Ramsay, Jay Marshall, and many more...over 60 acts!
The priceless Magic Circle Diamond Jubilee footage shows the prestigious magic organization's shows and lectures celebrating its 75th anniversary in 1965, featuring over 30 wonderful performers.
The second part of the disk brings you Mystic Craig's film of dozens of performers at the 1956 British Ring Convention, demonstrating effects for his camera. Treats include John Ramsay, Alex Elmsley, Levante, Bobby Bernard, Henk Vermeyden, June Merlin, and others.
All footage has been remastered for DVD and all chapters are accessible through menus.
Over 60 performers in all
Complete documentary on the Circle Jubilee
Over 25 performances from the 1956 British Ring convention
Over an hour of footage
This DVD was created in collaboration with The Magic Circle and William H. McIlhany. $35.00 (DVD01056)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=1563&cat=0&page=1)
And that’s this week’s Can You Believe How Many Great DVDs Came Out This Week Hotlist! Some great stuff to watch, some cool stuff to read and some neat stuff to practice! All right in this week’s email Newsletter. I hope you will find some stuff that you just can’t live without!
And, as always, we appreciate your taking time out of your busy schedules to spend with us either onliny at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way, we love the company!
Hank
