Greetings from all of us here at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. It has been a soggy week, indeed. Raw and cold and rainy. I have already ordered the lumber for the ark. It’s as if the sun no longer exists. The Red Sox were even rained out. It’s a real mood dampener. This is supposed to be Spring. So, what happened?
On the home front, this weekend Bonnie and I are off to a family wedding in Maine. The festivities take place in a country inn that just happens to be near L.L. Bean. That could be trouble. We’re leaving on Friday afternoon, and thank goodness for GPS. “Which way does the road go? Don’t go nowhere, stays right where it is.” I am sure it will be a fun wedding. “Bangor? No, we just talked.” I always wanted to find a place for some down-Maine humor. Now I have and never need to do so again.
Lots of new magic in stock this week. Please pay special attention to Render. This one is getting all kinds of Internet buzz. Watch the video demo and you will be amazed. I really like this one! And, then there’s Sean Bogunia’s new ulTRa Dancing Hank. It’s been advertised by another magic dealer (is there another magic dealer?) as their “exclusive.” Yet, here it is right on our very own Hotlist. It’s a great effect, brilliantly designed.
Last week’s excitement was really popular. So popular, in fact, that we are doing it again! Read on!
30 And Down-Maine Sales Event. We have reset the clocks, and we’re doing it again! Well, not exactly again, but very close to again.
Here’s how it works: No matter what day, from right now until Monday, the 23rd of May at midnight, when you purchase from us at Hank Lee’s, you will save money. Starting right now, you will save 30% on your entire order, subject to the rules below. On Monday it all ends, and that’s that.
All you need to do is enter the special code 30ANDDOWN 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 very simple rules that apply, as with all things in life.
• The minimum order to use this discount is $30.00.
• 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 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 23rd of May at midnight!
And now to this week’s Hotlist!
(1) ulTRa Dancing Hank – Sean Bogunia: For the first time in Dancing Hank history, no special backdrop needed! Can be performed on stage or even in a living room!
That’s right, the new ulTRa Dancing Hank needs no special backdrop and it can be performed in close-up conditions!
It's possible because the ulTRa Dancing Hank uses super strong close-up invisible thread! The gimmick comes with 200 Yards of super strong pre-stripped invisible thread. That's more than you'll need to practice and master the gimmick and have enough for many performances!
The gimmick works much like the original Ultimate Dancing Hank, but it's been totally redesigned. The gimmick is also much smaller then the original. This means it's much lighter and easier to handle. It's also small enough to be hidden inside a small case or even under your jacket!
The ulTRa Dancing Hank also comes with a ITR Boss reel by James George. This reel combined with the ulTRa Dancing Hank gimmick, opens the door to moves and routines that where never before possible. Imagine being able to cause the hank or other small lightweight objects to dance around the foulard then fly out of a bottle, across the room, around your body or dance on the floor just a few feet away from your spectators!
Also works perfectly with Steve Fearson's Vectra Line!
The ulTRa Dancing Hank also comes with a 12" white silk and a 12" white diamond cut silk. The diamond cut looks almost as large as the full size silk on the Ultimate Dancing Hank so you can also use this on stage, and the lighter weight diamond cut silk allows the hank to fly to the gimmick faster.
Don’t think the ulTRa Dancing Hank is just for hankies. You can put many other lightweight objects on the gimmick. How about making a butterfly flutter around the room? Control a balloon, animate plastic silverware. Let your imagination run wild. The ulTRa Dancing Hank Comes with:
ulTRa Dancing Hank Gimmick
Custom made black foulard
ITR Boss Reel
200 yards or pre-stripped super strong invisible thread
12" White Silk
18" Diamond cut white silk
Battery (Only uses one)
Great instructional DVD
$199.00 (60.1749)
(2) Render – Sean Scott: Render is real magic on your digital device! Use with various makes and models of phones/media players.
Use your smartphone/media player to bring photos, videos & applications into the real world. 2D interactively changes to 3D, all on top of your device's screen. You must check out the video!
Features:
* Produce 3-D souvenirs from digital images. Flowers, origami, playing cards, candy and coins are only a few possibilities.
* Interactively vanish and morph objects.
* Use borrowed objects.
* Device and hands may be shown clean before the effect.
* Imagination is the only limit. Use your own objects, videos, photos & applications.
* Additional media content available.
*Receive updates and bonus material.
Render is a special device for your phone. It is included along with the Render DVD, which will give you complete step-by-step instruction.
Requirements:
Can be used with various makes and models of phones/media players.
For use with hand held devices capable of viewing/taking photos, videos or applications
$35.00 (10.1637)
"I did not see that coming! 3-D meets digital magic." – Cyril Takayama
(3) Alarmed – Noel Qualter: From Noel Qualter creator of the bestselling iDeck comes another off the wall commercial hit!
Alarmed is an incredible prediction effect that ends with your spectator receiving an impossible souvenir.
Ask your spectator to imagine an alarm clock sitting on their bedside table.
They name any: Monday, Tuesday, etc.
They name any time. There is no force of any kind.
You draw a clock depicting the selected time and day and ask your spec if this is what they imagined.
You now reach into your pocket and remove a photo of an old style digital alarm clock radio. The alarm clock in the photo shows the exact time and day the spectator just thought of!
Sounds too good to be true, but believe me it is true. Every single word!
You are going to love Alarmed. It’s a real world worker with an amazing prediction captured in a photograph!
Alarmed comes complete with 50 custom photo gimmicks (refills are available) and an instructional DVD outlining multiple routines and handling tips.
$67.50 (40.785)
(4) Insignia – Eric Ross: The latest idea from the creative mind of Eric Ross
A spectator is asked to hold onto the magi's soda, so that the magi can show the spectator something unique. The spectator is then asked to pick a card. The card is picked and remembered, then put away. The magi takes a couple of guesses at the card, but fails...
Just when the effect looks like it may have hit a dead end, the magi asks that the audience’s attention be aimed at the bottle. The spectators see the name of the soda (or the Insignia) on the label, but then, with a quick shake of the bottle, the Insignia on the label turns into the chosen card! Super visual, super practical and super awesome! All those supers!
100% self working gimmicks
Easy to perform
No angle issues
Includes: Coke and Mountain Dew gimmicked Labels.
$19.95 (30.1587)
(5) Gyrater – Devin Knight: First released by Devin Knight in 1991 and off the market for almost 20 years. Devin has re-released it with a new comedy routine that your audiences will love.
The performer has a card selected, no force, and returned to the deck. The deck is shuffled and 7 or 8 cards are dealt face down into an arc shape. The performer introduces his card case and says this is his pet, Casey. Casey is well trained and can find selected cards. That is because he is a pointer. (Get it, pointer; like the dog.)
The performer holds the card case above his hand and says, "Casey stay." The card case remains suspended in the air. The performer says, "Chase your tail." The deck revolves 360 degrees in the air. Performer says, "Play dead." The card case drops into his hand.
The performer says Casey will find the spectator's card. He holds the case on his palm and extends his palm into the arc. He says, "Casey, find the card." Amazingly, the case floats up off his palm about half an inch and begins to move back and forth from left to right. Finally, the case stops moving and drops back into his hand. The tip of the spade on the card case is pointing to a card. The spectator turns over the card and it is his selected card!
One of the most commercial and novel ways to find a selected card ever devised.
The case can just be made to float and revolve in the air without using it to find a card. You can make a credit card float and revolve.
There are no threads or magnets used and the deck is ungimmicked. No rubber bands or elastics. No mechanical devices. No pulleys. Nothing to break. Can be instantly repeated. Perfect for the strolling performer. Easy to do with very little practice needed.
Complete with precision made gimmick and detailed photographic directions.
$15.00 (30.1589)
(6) Puncture 2.0 – Alex Linian: When Puncture first hit the streets it was the single most astonishing Pen-Through-Coin that anyone had ever experienced. Thousands of performances later, Alex Linian has taken the Puncture handling to the 2.0 level of extreme puncture-proof joy!
A borrowed quarter, held at your fingertips, is visibly punctured by a normal pen, leaving it shish-ka-bobbed onto the pen. The borrowed coin is in full view as the pen tip contacts the coin. The visual illusion is 100% oh-my-god perfect.
But now, you can immediately restore the coin! It remains in full view at your fingertips and instantly heals as the pen is pulled out! The normal coin and pen can immediately be handed to the spectator.
The borrowed quarter can even be initialed by the spectator!
Puncture 2.0 includes a variety of handlings for every skill level... plus:
The Bonus 2.0 Punch:
You decide to puncture a different solid object and bravely jam the pen deep into your body to puncture and restore your own flesh! You and the pen can immediately be examined.
This custom engineered gimmick is always ready to go. Nothing to palm, add or ditch.
Comes complete with special new Puncture pen and expanded easy-to-learn instructions.
Special thanks to the Todd Gasparik Engineering Team.
$35.00 (20.352)
(7) Curtain Call – Barrie Richardson: Ask working performers “Who has created the most practical and impressive mentalism in recent times?” and one of the first names you will hear is Barrie Richardson. This book is Mr. Richardson's third major collection of mentalism, and he has held nothing back. He opens with the full details of his entire professional act, follows up with dozens of wonderful tricks, routines and tools for the mentalist, and concludes with a unique piece that always brings a strong emotional response and a spontaneous ovation from his audiences.
Barrie Richardson has a reputation for devising impenetrable mental mysteries that float upon multiple layers of deception. This is combined with a disconcerting directness that achieves the effect with minimal procedure and maximum power.
Whether you are a fan or are encountering Barrie Richardson's work for the first time, if you enjoy theatrical, commercial and cunningly constructed mentalism, this book will fulfill your desires and expectations.
Included are many of his most guarded pieces:
* An old key turns and crawls eerily in the hand. Is it haunted? Is it psychokinesis? The effect meets and exceeds that accomplished by expensive mechanical keys, but uses an ungimmicked key that may be thoroughly examined before and after.
* An ordinary pencil, lying across the open hand levitates in full light. Then, when someone is asked to lift it off the hand, he finds it impossible! Once the magnetic suggestion is removed, the pencil may be effortlessly taken and examined.
* The mentalist writes down a target word. Someone then takes an imaginary stroll through a bookshop, chooses any book, any page and any word. When the word is revealed it proves to be the performer's target word! The person is then asked to concentrate on the mentally chosen page number in the imaginary book - and someone from the audience divines it!
* Incredibly powerful tools for the mentalist are revealed. Among them are some of the most deceptive billet peeks and switches ever published; a new gimmicked envelope that permits the contents to be glimpsed or stolen, yet can be freely handled by spectators; a perfected standing switch of a full deck of cards. All have fooled expert performers as well as the public.
In the past, Mr. Richardson has gained a reputation for coming up with some of the best and most practical methods for the elusive Card at Any Number effect. In Curtain Call he reveals what he considers his finest version, done with an ordinary and legitimately shuffled deck.
In this book you needn't worry about what is behind the curtain. The reality will be thrilling!
263 pages in deluxe hardcover. $50.00 (BK01782)
(8) Devious Standards – Jamy Ian Swiss: A new book of challenging thoughts about our magic. Jamy Ian Swiss has long been recognized as a force to be dealt with in the world of magic. Intelligent, well-informed, thoughtful, volatile, inspiring, infuriating, articulate, skilled - these are a few of the words used to describe Swiss and his writing. When his first collection of essays on magic, Shattering Illusions, appeared, it received high praise from magicians and trade reviewers alike. Swiss' opinions and evaluations come with the imprimatur of a successful full-time performer who is also a devoted student of the craft and history of conjuring.
His writings will frustrate those who believe magic theory spills from an ivory tower. Swiss writes from a position of long experience as a performer, and as one who is intimate with many of today's greatest professional magicians.
In this book, Swiss has gathered together some of his most recent, insightful, challenging and poignant explorations into the performance of magic and its practitioners. These essays include some of his most trenchant thinking about what constitutes a great magic performance and what hinders it. They include "The Method Is Not the Trick", "Discovering Importance", "Empathy", "A Dissertation on the Double Lift", "The JS Rules of Magic" and "The Last Layman".
Also included are recollective studies - part homage, part analysis - of four of magic's past masters: Martin Nash, Derek Dingle, Bob Read and Billy McComb.
Here is a book written for those who aspire to better magic, and for those who love the best in magic. It maps the pathway from craft to art, for those with the courage to take it.
230 pages in bibliophilic hardcover. $40.00 (BK01783)
(9) Popcorn Card Gimmicks – Alex Kolle: Refill gimmicks for the Popcorn Card routine from Xtension DVD.
You cut the deck into four face-down stacks, wait a few seconds and, without touching anything, cards suddenly pop off the packets like popcorn, leap into the air, flip over face up, then land back onto the packets to produce four face-up Kings or Jacks! It's all almost too much to believe.
Includes two gimmicked cards and additional material. No instructions included (you really should get the Xtension DVD)
NOTE: Card faces may vary, but they will be a pair of the same value. Color of card backs may also vary.
$12.00 (30.1588)
(10) Ammar Topit Pattern – Michael Ammar: The 30th Anniversary Edition!
Since 1981, Michael has used and refined his design of the Topit. Now at last, he has combined his experience as a teacher of magic and thirty years of performing with the Topit into an ultimate Topit Pattern.
The sewing template comes in full color, on an 18" x 24" poster, with photographic instructions to provide every detail on how to install your Topit!
$18.00 (70.1012)
And that’s this week’s Hotlist. A ray of sunshine on an otherwise dreary week! Lots of great new magic to play with. Some new books to read. And some DVDs to watch. And, don’t forget to take advantage of the 30% savings!
As always, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for find the time to visit us, whether it’s online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford. Either way to love the company!
Hank
