Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. And, a very happy Fourth of July weekend to everyone! While we Americans call the Fourth of July Independence Day, I am told that the British call it Thanksgiving. Old joke. No letters, please.
This year, I will be heading to Martha’s Vineyard for the fourth. It will be nice to just relax for a couple of days. I know that Bonnie has some chores lined up, like fixing the torn screens. But, the big job eluded me. When she got to the island, she discovered that she had no hot water. So? It’s 100 degrees out; take a nice cold shower. That did not go over well at all. She called the plumber, who explained that the water heater needed to be replaced. Not only that, but the old water heater did not meet the current code, so we needed to get the Super Duper How Can A Water Heater Cost This Much Model. One arm. One leg. But, now there’s hot water galore.
On Monday, we had a nice visit from Guy Camirand of the famous Camirand Academy of Magic. Guy was vacationing in the Boston area, so he made it a point to stop by and say hello. If you are noodling around the online catalog, you might want to take a look at the fine items we carry from Camirand. It’s really good stuff.
I just want to remind you that the new Summer EXTRA is up online! As you remember, we do not send the EXTRAs out by snail mail any longer. However, you can find a full color pdf version of the Summer EXTRA by Clicking Here
If you need a printed copy sent by snail mail, just let me know and I will be happy to get one off to you.
Oh, and if you wish, you can go directly to the Summer Extra by just clicking on the Extra Button at www.magicfact.com.
And that’s all I know this week. Since this is a holiday weekend, we have an extra special excitement in store for you. Keep reading.
BUY MORE GET MORE: Starting right now and running through Thursday, July 8th at midnight, we are having a Buy More Get More event. Here is how it works. For each order you place during the event, you will get a Promotional Gift Certificate which you can use towards any future purchase here at Hank Lee’s. The value of the coupon depends entirely on the size of your order. Here is the breakdown:
• Order between $25.00 and $100.00: Coupon is for 15% of the merchandise total. (Orders less than $25.00 get our sincere thanks, but sadly no coupon)
• Order between $100.00 and $300.00: Coupon is for 20% of the merchandise total.
• Order over $300.00: Coupon is for 25% of the merchandise total.
When you place your order online at www.magicfact.com, please put the secret phrase BUY MORE GET MORE in the Customer Notes Box of the online checkout. If you place your order by email or FAX, just include the secret phrase with your order. And, if you place your order by phone, toll free at 800 874 7400, please mention the secret phrase to get your coupon. The coupon will be sent along with your order and can be used whenever you wish, no expiration date. You will get a coupon for every order you place during the event. Just don’t lose the coupons, please. The Buy More Get More event includes every item we carry! This is your chance to, really save for the future.
And now, this week’s Hotlist!
(1) Passport – David Regal: From David Regal’s more than clever brain comes an absolutely amazing close-up routine involving a deck of cards, a passport and a leather passport case.
A spectator selects any card, secretly writes the name of a geographic location on its face, then returns it to the deck.
The performer waves a black leather embossed passport case over the cards, then is able to tell the spectator the name of the unspoken location.
The passport case is opened and a passport removed from inside.
The pages of the passport are flipped, and a face down card is found inside.
The card is removed and shown to be the card selected by the spectator, complete with his handwritten location.
The card can be given to the spectator.
If desired, the passport can be bound with rubber bands and in view prior to the selection of a card. This is a card-to-impossible-location effect with no forces, no palming, and no hesitation.
Available at this special price only until the end of July, so order now! $60.00 (30.1500)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10162&cat=0&page=1)
(2) Mega ‘Wave – John Bannon:
Ride the Wave...
Seven "Fractal" card tricks from John Bannon:
Mega Wave - Hocus Pocus and Mumbo Jumbo Hammers four-card Brainwave.
Fractal Recall – JB’s popular "Call of the Wild" wild-card routine fractalized.
Short Attention Scam - A maximum magic minute. JB's hit "The Royal Scam" for the impatient.
Mag-7 - Wild-card. Fractal. Magnificent.
Poker Paradox - Re-mix the classic matching trick. Go all in.
Fractal Jacks - Deal or No Deal? Layered mental, pasteboard, and fractal engineering.
Wicked! - Help Dorothy escape from you know who.
74 pages. Softbound. $15.00 (BK01719)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10168&cat=0&page=1)
(3) The Close-Up Magic Of Chef Anton – 2 DVD Set: Whether you want to prosper in the very lucrative world of corporate entertainment and trade show conventions, or simply boost your repertoire for live performance, close-up magic, this two-disc DVD set is for you.
Known for his ability to improve on the classics such as, The Shell Game, Balls Over the Head, Dice Stacking, The Sting, The Counterfeit Money Scam, and even The Magical Half Card, these DVDs feature Chef Anton's complete close up magic act. After each trick, with simple edits, he reveals the secrets, on not only how to master them, but to perfect the delivery for all walk-around and stand-up performances.
You will find his presentation engaging, light-hearted, yet mind-blowing as you learn the Tricks of the Trade that will add power to your delivery. His explanations are thorough and filled with many of the subtleties that make Anton one of the top-earning trade show, crowd gatherers in the country today.
Booked regularly in the Close-Up Gallery at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, where the live part of this performance was captured, Chef Anton was twice nominated W. C. Fields Bar Magician of the Year at this most prestigious and exclusive club. He is also famous as the Two-Time United States Trick Shot Champion of Pool.
Follow his example suggested on these instructional DVDs, and you, too, can create a unique and memorable show.
Enjoy...and learn! $55.00 (DVD01167)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10163&cat=0&page=1)
(4) Market Update: The lazy man’s way of performing Al Koran’s Headline Countdown. Al Koran published the method and secret for his routine in his book Al Koran’s Legacy. It was his favorite closing effect but unfortunately the method described in the book just wouldn’t work The method now correctly described in the latest edition of Legacy does work, but requires advance preparation and a considerable amount of memory work or a written crib.
Martin Breese’s version of the effect, Market Update, does away with all of that and the effect is actually self-working. So much so that two spectators following your instructions can do the effect themselves in front of the audience. The performer hands a spectator a sealed envelope clearly marked PREDICTION. A current issue of an international top-selling business magazine is handed to another spectator who is asked to rip out and hold the center spread of the magazine and to place the rest of the magazine to one side.
Now either the spectator or the magician folds the double-page spread in half and rips it into two sheets. Those two sheets are placed together and torn down the center so that the pages have been torn into 4 pieces. The same process is repeated and the 8 pieces are now placed together and torn down the middle so that the pages have now been torn into 16 roughly equal pieces.
You can handle the effect in a number of ways from here on. One way is to ask the spectator who is tearing the pieces to shuffle them and mix them thoroughly and then to hold the pile on his outstretched hand and to start to peel off the pieces of paper and discard them one by one onto the floor. At any point whatsoever the spectator holding the prediction is asked to call stop and the piece of paper thus chosen is handed to him.
The performer asks the assistant to examine the printing on the fragment of paper thus freely chosen and then to open the envelope. Inside the envelope are the following words:
I PREDICT THAT YOU WILL CHOOSE
THE PIECE OF PAPER BEARING THE WORDS:
MARKET UPDATE
The spectator checks the piece of paper, and there on it, together with other lines of text, the words MARKET UPDATE can be seen.
Bear in mind that the prediction is handed to the spectator and is not switched. It is opened by the spectator and not touched during the rest of the performance.
The magician can virtually hand the entire effect to two spectators to perform or, if he wishes, he can tear the double-page spread into sixteen pieces himself
There is absolutely no sleight of hand whatsoever, no tricky business and no secret moves at all.
You receive all that is needed together with a large format booklet of instructions and detailed routines written by David Britland. $72.00 (40.733)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10158&cat=0&page=1)
(5) Life And Times Of Albert Goshman DVD: And then there was Albert Goshman. The man. The legend. Albert on DVD. A treat never to be forgotten. This DVD details the Close-Up Act that made Goshman the star of magic he was.
The act itself is shown along with a detailed explanation of all the major elements of Albert’s world class performance.
The DVD closes with a talk, The Magic is You.
Routines taught include The Salt and Pepper Shakers; Copper and Silver; Sponge Balls; Cards Through Newspaper and Clink Clink.
Come inside for a never to be forgotten experience in presentation, performance and showmanship by one of the all time greats! Highly recommended; this should be in every magician's library! $15.00 (DVD01166)
Note: This is a non-discounted item because that’s what Albert would have wanted.
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=5782&cat=0&page=1)
(6) WOW 2.0 – Face Down: Masuda’s Wow 2.0 truly looks like trick photography. This is one of the strongest, most visible, and most practical ending to any Ambitious Card routine, ever!
Imagine at the end of your favorite Ambitious Card Routine, you offer to "magician-proof" the deck to create an impossible condition.
A translucent piece of plastic is placed on top of the ordinary face-down deck to isolate the cards and preclude the magician from any "tricky business."
The selected card is signed by multiple spectators to avoid the thought of a confederate.
The signed card is placed face up into the center of the face-down deck.
This is all rubber banded together so the magician cannot do any sleight of hand. Finally, the deck is placed onto a spectator’s palm-up hand.
What happens next is nothing short of a miracle!
The audience sees the face-up, signed card slowly and visibly rise through the face-down deck. It visibly appears on top of the face-down deck!
There are no trick decks, no trick cards, no difficult handling - as close to real magic as you can get. The spectators will scream in amazement.
Many top magicians such as David Blaine, Paul Harris, Dean Dill, David Penn, and others have raved about this trick. You will love Wow 2.0 and you will use Wow 2.0.
As a bonus, you will learn the most visible color-changing deck ever: a slow, visible change that is amazing.
Includes instructional DVD and Face Down Wow 2.0 gimmick. $39.95 (30.1501)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10166&cat=0&page=1)
(7) 35 Years of Cheating, Fighting and Fun – 2 DVD Set – Richard Turner:
Highlights Richard's fascinating life story, from his grueling days as a Karate fighter, to his mastery of the pasteboards.
Live at the Magic Castle – 2010
Treat yourself to a front row seat at Richard's live performance at the world famous Hollywood Magic Castle as he executes the latest and most difficult gambling moves.
Lecture Highlights
Richard's lectures provide insightful instruction for magicians, but everyone will enjoy these highlights.
The Lecture
Serious magicians will appreciate the “golden nuggets of knowledge” scattered throughout Richard's lectures where he reveals his many methods for dealing seconds, bottoms and teaching many other classic gambling moves.
A Tribute to Richard Turner "Dueling Card Sharks" and "The Cardmen's Get Together"
Join retired gaming regulator Bruce Samboy and his camcorder in this wonderful tribute memorializing Steve Forte's hosting of Paul Wilson and Richard during an impromptu afternoon of playing card mastery. Additionally, you can join in on Richard’s gathering of the most respected card mechanics and magicians in the country including Steve Forte, Jason England, and Ron Conley.
Richard Garriott and Asa Spades Turner
Be a guest at the fascinating home of space traveler and video game creator Richard Garriott as he hosts Asa Spades's fourteenth birthday party. Garriott shares and demonstrates many of his one-of-a-kind treasures.
Dai Vernon: Best Man
Rare wedding-day footage of everyone trying to find the Groom, Richard, and his Best Man, Dai Vernon, as the bride walks the aisle!
Fighting and Fun
What does it take to become a Master sixth degree black belt with bat-like vision? Pain, pain, and more pain!
This dual-layered lecture DVD is jam-packed with four hours of Cheating, Fighting and Fun! $25.00 (DVD01168)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10164&cat=0&page=1)
(8) Mischief - Martin Nyrup and Ian Harling: Top-selling books, "Sleight of Mind" and "Geist" were milestone titles for every mentalist who has an interest in using NLP, Suggestion and Hypnosis in their performances. Now, authors Martin Nyrup and Ian Harling have revised both books and combined them with over a hundred new pages of additional material. Harling & Nyrup's writing is honest, entertaining and to the point, pulling no punches about what works and what does not in the world of psychological manipulation.
An absolute goldmine of ideas on performance and the development of original material, containing over 25 original effects and hypnotic routines, complete with detailed scripting.
Mischief also brings stagecraft into use in daily life, and shows how to interact successfully with others. How to appear more likeable, confident and perceptive: on- and off-stage, with remarkable ease.
Pages: 438 – Softbound. $55.00 (BK01717)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10165&cat=0&page=1)
(9) Psycho Deck – Wolfgang Riebe: Spread a deck of cards face-up showing the cards to be all different.
Turn them face-down and spread them in front of a spectator so that one card can be taken.
Ask the spectator to remember the card that he chose, but the spectator laughs and says that the card he chose from the deck is in fact a blank-faced card.
“I have no idea how that happened,” you explain, “but I said you have a free choice and you really do. Just imagine any card you like and write its initial down.”
Give the spectator a pen and he writes initials of the thought-of-card on the card, which is then returned face down into the deck of cards.
The deck is put back in its box and immediately you correctly name the card!
If you wish, you could ask the spectator to write any word on the card. The card is placed back face-down in the deck which is returned to the box and again you know the very word selected.
The possibilities are enormous. No sleight of hand is required. The trick is completely baffling.
When the card is returned to the deck, the deck is not cut and there is absolutely no funny business at all.
No mirrors used and there is no rough and smooth. Best of all, not a single sleight. Many routines are included, and they are all great.
David Britland has written the instructions and illustrated them and all is contained in a neatly printed 16 page booklet.
The deck supplied is a poker-size bicycle deck. $33.00 (30.1499)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10160&cat=0&page=1)
(10) Headliner: A prediction effect that has to be seen to be believed!
Read the description below. It summarizes the entire effect which is absolutely brilliant. It will fool everyone who sees it and is one of the most perfect headline prediction effects ever.
Effect:
Show a sealed window envelope inside of which can be seen a piece of paper containing your prediction.
The envelope is handed to someone of importance who will be at your show. It could be a committee chairman, police officer or local celebrity. He or she signs and dates the envelope so that they will recognize it as the same one later. They also scribble across the flap so that any tampering would be obvious, should the envelope be opened prematurely. A strip of clear tape is then placed across the scribble to protect it.
The window envelope is then dropped into a Jiffy bag which is sealed and handed to the celebrity for safekeeping.
On the night of the show the celebrity brings along the Jiffy bag. It is opened and the window envelope removed. It is the same envelope, still sealed and with the celebrity's scribbles intact. The prediction can be seen through the window in the envelope. Held at fingertips, the envelope is sliced open with a letter opener and the prediction is removed and handed to the celebrity.
Incredibly, it contains an account of that day's newspaper headlines.
It's just about as clean as it gets. $55.00 (40.734)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10159&cat=0&page=1)
And that’s this week’s very special Hotlist. Personally, I am thrilled with the quality of the items! And, I hope you will be as well.
Have a great holiday weekend, and please, please make it a safe one.
As always, we really appreciate your taking time out from your busy schedules to come and visit us, whether it’s online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way, we love the company.
Hank
