Wooo. Wooo. Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. I’m back after a fabulous trip to Chicago last week. The train trip was a blast. Our little roomette was just 4’ wide by 6’ long. Really small for two people. And, once the upper bunk was lowered, it was even smaller, or so it felt. Sleeping was an adventure. Two people trying to change into pajamas in a tiny space was just plain funny. But, we did it. The mattresses and pillows were comically thin, so neither of us slept really well. To add to the comedy, the engineer kept blowing the whistle all through the night. There must have been a lot of cows on the track, with all that whistling.
We arrived in Chicago about two hours late, due to a freight train breakdown way back in Pittsfield, MA. We went straight to the hotel, checked in and took nice long showers. Feeling much better, it was off to the John Hancock Tower observation deck. What an amazing view of the city! And, what a beautiful city it is. Dinner at a very nice seafood restaurant, then early to bed! Friday we took the architectural boat trip on the Chicago River. The tour was really interesting, for sure. And, it was really cold! We spent the afternoon at the Chicago Art Institute, a most amazing museum of art. Saturday we visited one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s treasures, the Robie House, followed by a trip to the Museum of Industry and Science. Sunday, we got up, headed to the airport and flew home. It was a really busy trip, but one of the most fun I can remember.
On the magic front, the Holiday Shop is up and online! You can get to it by either clicking on the Holiday Button on the front page at www.magicfact.com, or going directly to this URL: (http://www.hanklee.org/holidaymagic/holidaymagic.html). You will find all of our fine holiday magic, perfect for this year’s holiday shows, as well as some great gift ideas for those magicians on your holiday list!
We have some wonderful new items on this week’s Hotlist, but I want to make sure you pay special attention to Modern Art Reloaded. It’s a fabulous one-person illusion in which you cut yourself in half, then slide your top half all the way to the side. It looks amazing. Make sure you watch the video demo for this one!
This past week was Veterans’ Day here in the US. The perfect time to remember all of the servicemen and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. All of us here salute you and offer our most sincere “thanks.”
Now, let’s look at this week’s excitement.
Pre-Holiday Sale: The big holidays are coming, sooner than you think! So, to kick the season off, we are having a fabulous sales event! For the next four days, from the very moment you receive this email until Monday evening at midnite, everything (well, almost everything) is on sale at 30% off the retail price. All you need to do is enter the special code PREHOLIDAY in the Discount Coupon Box of the online checkout at www.magicfact.com and we will automatically deduct 30% 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 and mention the special code so you can save a huge 30%!
Now, here are the rules:
• The minimum order to use the 30% off discount is $30.00.
• The 30% 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 30% is deducted from the retail price of each item and not from the set price.
• We cannot combine offers.
• Certain items, due to contractual restrictions, are not included in this sale. All Viking/CW items, Kennedy Enterprises items, Colin Rose items, Mike Caveney Books, Johnson Products items, MagicSmith 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.
• Promotional Gift Certificates, Coupons and Reward Points may not be used as part of this sales event.
• As the discount is automatically generated, you must put the special code PREHOLIDAY 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. The sale positively ends Monday at midnight. Enjoy!
Now, let’s take a look at this week’s Hotlist!
(1) Modern Art Reloaded: The evolution of the Modern Art Illusion!
No Black Art needed!
You can do it in under all lighting conditions
Ideal for stage, clubs, cabaret or circus
No restrictions.
Compact:
Measures approximately 42” x 44” x22” inches (105cm x 110cm x 55cm)
Weight:
Approximately 66 pounds (33 kg) (Illusion and ATA case)
Advantages:
No batteries to recharge, no remote control, no cables
Ready to use; you only need to rehearse
Present it in Your Style:
Comical, bizzare, theatrical, etc.
Specially priced at $4700.00 plus freight (60.1706)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=7397&cat=0&page=1)
(2) Secret Agenda – Roberto Giobbi: Your invitation to spend a year inside the head of Roberto Giobbi!
There, for every day of that year, you will open a fresh door in Giobbi's mind and have something surprising and enriching spring out to greet you—a new trick, sleight, technique, refinement, performance tip, business strategy, concept or insight, drawn from the thoughts, experience and notebooks of a full-time international performer and one of magic’s great teachers.
With Secret Agenda, Roberto Giobbi, the world-renowned author of the Card College and Card College Light series, has written an invaluable text for his fellow magicians, and one entirely unlike anything in the literature of magic.
The book contains 366 articles, one for each day of the year (plus one extra for leap years). The reader is invited to read just one of these articles a day—enjoying, learning, absorbing or being challenged by fresh thoughts and information—throughout an entire year.
For over four decades, Roberto Giobbi has devoted his life to exploring the world of magic, learning deeply about it from its vast international literature and the greatest magicians. Those whose unpublished work Giobbi draws on include Fred Kaps, Ascanio, Juan Tamariz, Lennart Green, Vanni Bossi, David Williamson and many others.
While the material presented addresses in part the expected field of card magic, it covers much more: coin and close-up magic, platform and stage conjuring, theory, philosophy and humor. Secret Agenda is wide in scope, with invaluable information and insights for all magicians.
We have attempted to give a work of such uniqueness a fitting format. This is a large, sumptuous volume, indexed, bound in ornately foil-stamped cloth, and includes a book ribbon—a volume comfortable to the hand and inviting to the mind, offering pleasure for much more than one year, and advice for a lifetime.
424 pages in decorated hardcover binding. $55.00 (BK01740)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8451&cat=0&page=1)
(3) Paul Fox Style Copper Cups and Balls: Ever since the Working Performer’s Cups and Balls became unavailable, we have been keeping an eye out for a set just like these. They are modeled after Paul Fox Cups, but with a larger load space.
This set comes complete with:
3 Copper Cups
4 Mini Tennis Balls
4 Red Crochet Balls
1 Black Velvet Bag to carry the cups
A standard size tennis ball can be easily fit into the cup!
The top holds 3 balls, cups nest with three balls on top of one cups.
Well balanced weight
Height: 7.4 CM
Inside Diameter: 7 CM
$100.00 (10.1604)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10517&cat=0&page=1)
(4) Gion Deck – Yuji Murakami & Masuda: The Gion Deck is a powerful mental effect that will fool both laymen and magicians alike.
Effect:
The magician takes out two cards out of a red deck of Bicycle poker cards as a prediction. Then he introduces a blue deck of Bicycle cards and shuffles it to show the deck is well mixed.
The deck is given to a spectator and she shuffles the deck. She stops shuffling at any time and places the top card onto the table.
Then the first spectator hands the deck to another spectator. The second spectator does the same thing as the first spectator did.
Two randomly selected blue cards are now on the table.
When the two red prediction cards are turned over, they match the freely selected blue cards!
Features:
The magician does not touch the decks after bringing them out. Everything is done in the spectator’s hands.
There are no complicated moves. They only have to shuffle the deck and place a card onto the table.
Memorized deck system is not required.
Performer can do this effect in a very casual manner.
Prediction cards are not switched.
You can perform this trick in a surrounded situation
The deck is not treated with rough and smooth chemicals. You can spread the deck in a natural manner.
You can prepare the prediction in your favorite way.
DVD includes how the trick works, how to perform and how to show it most effectively.
Bonus:
DVD includes three of Yuji Murakami's card tricks (performance only).
Sound Trap - Stereo Version –
Try-Out Type-R – Including a sleight which is becoming a hot topic in underground magic.
Knock Knock Kings
$54.00 (30.1547)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10512&cat=0&page=1)
(5) Freedom Pack – Justin Miller: The most freedom inducing, practical, happy and glad method for magically boxing your deck!
Justin Miller has normal, ready-to- perform deck. One moment it's a normal spreadable deck...then, in a blink, the deck is magically packed in its cardboard case!
Here's just one of the many freedom-inducing options:
Whenever you feel like it, do a killer ambitious card sequence. Then, BAM! The box instantly appears around the deck! Take off the box, hand out the deck. You now have the freedom to do any other card effect, or just hang out and enjoy the view!
Prepare to be blown away by the video demo!
Feel the freedom
Always leaves you with a normal ready-to-perform deck
Uses only one deck and one box
No palms or switches
Resets from zero to 3 seconds
Adapt to any deck
Super easy to do
Complete with Justin Miller's Freedom Pack Gimmick and DVD
Coming along really soon, pre-order now and we will pay the shipping!
$25.00 (30.1549)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=7514&cat=0&page=1)
(6) Del Ray: America’s Foremost – John Moehring: Just released! A must-have book for anyone serious about magic! Del Ray, America's foremost magician, his life and secrets finally revealed.
Del Ray was considered the most innovative magician of the 20th century. Secretly intermingling technologies with traditional trickery, he performed miracles of magic that were unlike those of any other magician. Throughout his life, he passionately guarded the secrets of both his professional and personal affairs. Because Del Ray remained steadfast in his refusals to ever discuss or share his magic, his magician friends and fans feared that a book on his life would never see print.
Now, seven years after Del Ray’s death in 2003, through the gracious efforts of the publishing partnership of Bob Escher (who was bequeathed the Del Ray collection), David Baldwin and Bill Spooner, the book has become a reality and a welcome addition to magic history's literature. Having complete access to the Del Ray archive, which included his personal scrapbooks and memorabilia as well the ingenious magic that Del Ray created over the years, author John Moehring has crafted a volume that is both insightful and revelatory.
Part One traces Del Ray's career in magic beginning with his adolescent years in an orphanage where he performed his first paid show for $3, to his meteoric rise to fame in the 1950s as America's most successful nightclub magician ever, to Del Ray's development of a stunningly modern approach to close-up magic that enabled him to demand fees as high as $10,000 a week. This remarkable story is illustrated with 116 vintage photographs. Told with exacting detail and a reverence for the master's secrets, the biography section of this book is a celebration of the personality, the achievements, and the genius that made the magical world of Del Ray unique.
Part Two focuses on a selection of eight of Del Ray’s favorite close-up routines. Gary Plants has written detailed descriptions for seven of these effects: Half-dollar Through Ring, The Bet, Blackjack Deal, The Computer Deck, Gymnastic Aces Without Aces, Final Aces, and Del Ray’s Card Stab.Eighty original photos of Gary’s hands executing the sleight-of-hand maneuvers accompany his explanations. The Royal Assembly, a Del Ray effect originally written up by Ed Marlo in 1954, is illustrated by Jay Marshall. This section also includes the eight-page audiovisual script for the Companion Video that accompanies the book, two pages of acknowledgements and a comprehensive Index.
The Companion Video is a 92-minute DVD located in a flap pocket on the inside back cover of the book. Contents include Del Ray's stage act at the 1983 Tannen's Magic Jubilee; close-up performances of The Rabbit & Frog, The Singing Bird, Half-Dollar Through Ring, Blackjack Deal, Computer Deck, Dice Stacking, Final Aces, Million Dollar Card Trick, Coin Through Card Box, Gymnastic Aces Without Aces, Card Stab, Flipper, Little Willie, and The Bet.
448 pages. Hardbound with dust jacket. Over 200 photographs and illustrations. 92-minute Companion DVD included.
$68.00 (BK01738)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9782&cat=0&page=1)
(7) Endlessly Elevated – Mark Strivings: An entirely in-the-hands Endless Chain. The outcome is completely under your control at all times. Easy to do!
Totally deceptive!
An endless loop of rugged chain is formed into two sets of loops and openly displayed over the performer's outstretched thumbs for complete inspection. A game of chance is proposed. If released one of those sets of loops will 'stick', wrapping twice around the performer's thumb while the other set of loops will come free with no alteration in handling of any sort. It's a 50-50 chance. Which loop will stick? Pick it and you win. Pick the loop that falls free and you lose.
C'mon, it's a 50-50 shot. You can guess which loop is a winner...or can you?
This unique and completely commercial handling for the classic Endless Chain happens entirely in the hands and is under the performer's total control the entire time. No working surface required at all! Only you decide who wins and who loses, and there's no way to tell which loop will be the winner.
Arguably the most deceptive handling of the Endless Chain ever released.
Complete with booklet and professionally produced chain, perfect for the effect.
20 pages. Over 30 black and white photos. Saddle Stitched - 5.5" x 8.5"
$25.00 (10.1603)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10516&cat=0&page=1)
(8) Beating a Dead Horse: The Life and Times of Jay Marshall: An engaging, no-holds-barred look at the life of television pioneer and dean of American magicians, Jay Marshalll.
It is also a story of fathers and sons. It is laugh-out-loud funny, honest, touching, and offers revelations along the way. Jay's son, Alexander Sandy Marshall, spent more than three years researching and writing about his maverick father.
Beating a Dead Horse captures the essence of a comedic genius, both on and off stage. These pages reveal how wit and tenacity propelled Jay Marshall into becoming one of the most respected men in show business, and a world-renowned expert in the art of magic. Jay Marshall took control of his image and continually reinvented himself. He drew his own ads, pulled numerous publicity stunts, and even taught himself how to play the bagpipes. A man of many appetites, he was addicted to practical jokes and romantic escapades.
Beating a Dead Horse chronicles Jay's journey from his staid middle class upbringing in Abington, Massachusetts to his memorable performances on Broadway, television (14 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show), New York's Palace Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, the London Palladium, opening for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas, traveling the world and becoming the Dean of the Society of American Magicians.
Designed in full color, with 540 pages containing more than 700 illustrations, this is a must read for anyone with an interest in magic, vaudeville, puppetry, ventriloquism, early television, American popular culture, the business of show business, or living life to the fullest.
Hardbound with dust jacket. 540 pages. $70.00 (BK01739)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=7480&cat=0&page=1)
Here's what people are saying about this book:
"This is one of those rare, thoroughly satisfying books. Even if you didn't know of the wonderful Jay Marshall, it is a delight. For those who only knew his work, now they can know him. For all lucky enough to have met and known Jay, it is a must." -Dick Cavett
"Great fun. Literally jaw-dropping.” - Max Maven
"Awesome and diabolically funny." - David Ben
(9) David Blaine Transformation Deck: Printed in Bicycle poker-size cards by the U.S. Playing Card Company, with the very stylish David Blaine back design.
Instantly change an entire deck before someone's eyes.
This is not just a deck of cards, but a powerful illusion capable of mystifying even skeptics. This Svengali deck will allow spectators to see all the cards as different and select one. Moments later you'll turn every card in the deck into the selected card. There are eight effects explained in detail that you can only perform with this special deck.
Also available as Discovery Deck (Stripper) and Mind Reading Deck (Marked Deck). Please specify.
These decks make a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season! By them like bananas, by the bunch!
$7.50 (30.1550)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=6957&cat=0&page=1)
(10) Sandscript – Aaron Smith: Make an impression! Burned images magically appear on a blank sheet of paper, totally out of reach, buried under a pile of sand!
Sandscript writing fluid is invisible on regular white paper, but darkens when it touches the specially treated sand.
Customize the script as dark or as light as you want; from vague pencil marks to a mysterious burned appearance!
Use Sandscript to reveal chosen objects in a unique fashion, create ghostly versions of your business card, or kick sand across a sheet of paper with your fingers as footprints appear along the way!
The possibilities are endless! Draw a sand castle that magically reveals itself under a sprinkling of beach sand or cut out a pseudo Polaroid picture from a sheet of paper and develop an image right before their eyes!
• Easy setup! Self-working! Instant results!
• Challenging predictions without sleight of hand!
• The special writing fluid works with rubber stamps!
• Images and text suddenly appear on your command!
Sandscript comes with the special writing fluid, Sandscript reusable treated sand, velvet performance bag and instructions. Sandscript looks like modern science, but feels like magic from ancient times!
$39.95 (10.1605)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10518&cat=0&page=1)
(11) Challenge Name-A-Card – Mark Strivings: Practical Mentalism for the next millennium and beyond!
Here's the effect: You produce two decks of cards, one red and one blue. You state that you have removed one card from the red deck and placed it in the blue deck. You have your spectator name a card (no force). Upon examining and counting through the red deck, only 51 cards are found and the named card is missing. The blue deck is then spread and a single red backed card is found, the very card named by the spectator!
Included in this package is everything you need to perform this little miracle. Easy to do and resets instantly. No sleight of hand. It practically works itself. The named card changes with each performance.
Another practical performance piece for the discerning entertainer! $30.00 (40.760)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10519&cat=0&page=1)
(12) Grand Illusions CDRom – Jonathan Pendragon: The secrets of Pendragon's regal mysteries, featuring explanations of his famed Metamorphosis and more.
* Interviews with Jonathan Pendragon about magic and showmanship
* In-depth explanations of his Metamorphosis, Sword Basket, Broom Suspension, and other classics.
* Conversations on stagecraft, movement, and directors.
* Discussions of De Kolta, Maskelyne, Robert-Houdin, Soo, and Houdini.
* Jonathan's analyses of his 360 Levitation, the Sword of Damocles, Bump, Bullet Catch, Million Dollar Mystery, Himber Ring, and more.
* Invaluable nuances and tips for the professional performer
* Convenient PDF format on CD
Jonathan Pendragon has authorized the release of these transcribed interviews to the magic public. Created for a planned book on illusion work, these conversations focus on the detailed workings of Jonathan's best illusions and his views on magic, including not only methods but also many of the small presentational nuances that made him one of the world's most dynamic performers.
The CD collects these interviews in PDF form, ready to read, enjoy, and study. You'll learn the precise methods for many of his most famous illusions
Grand Illusion brings you some of the most insightful knowledge ever offered to the magic community. Because of the valuable nature of these secrets, it has been priced for the professional, who will find thousands of dollars of value in its lessons, secrets, and insights. $50.00 (CD0070)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10515&cat=0&page=1)
(13) Kyoto Deck – Yuji Murakami & Masuda: The Kyoto Deck is a magician-fooler that offers you twenty ways of forcing a card.
Effect:
A Bicycle poker-size deck is shown to be well mixed and shuffled.
The deck is handed to a spectator and she shuffles the deck again.
The spectator stops shuffling at any time, and deals cards one at a time.
She stops dealing at any point she likes.
The card at which she stopped dealing is the force card!
The deck utilizes a simple but subtle principle. There is no need for a lot of memory work.
No difficult sleights are needed.
Not a Rough and Smooth deck.
The deck can be used by itself for mental magic or in conjunction with routines that require a force.
The DVD includes twenty handlings!
$54.00 (30.1548)
(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10513&cat=0&page=1)
And that’s this week’s Baker’s Dozen Hotlist. Thirteen great new items. The hits just keep on coming! And, at 30% off, the hits are even hotter!
As always I thank you for taking the time to visit us, either online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way we love your company!
Hank
