Greetings from all of us here at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory, and a very Happy New Year to all of our Jewish friends. The Jewish New Year marks the beginning of the High Holidays, marked by suits and ties, temple attendance and the ingestion of artery clogging food. No hats. No noisemakers. No ball dropping in Times Square.
Speaking of dropping the ball, how about those Red Sox? The worst September since Calvin Coolidge was president. They couldn’t buy a win. The last time I saw pitching like this was when my kids played T-Ball. I’m no expert, but it seems to me that when the starting pitching can’t get past the fourth inning (and sometimes the second or third) there is a fundamental problem. Ah, well. The mantra is back. Wait until next year! My sincere congratulations go out to the Yankees on winning the division. There, I said it.
On a happier note, we have added a ton of new videos to the Streaming Video department. Streaming video is really the wave of the future. You can watch full length videos right on your computer screen. It is all so very cool. The only thing you must remember, before purchasing any Streaming Video, is that you first register for the online catalog. It’s critical. Otherwise you won’t be able to retrieve your videos. It takes only a minute to register, do it now!
You can register by Clicking Here.
Then, you can check out the wonderful world of Streaming Video by Clicking Here.
For those of you who have been waiting what seems like forever for Liquid Forks to arrive, the news is good. They are finally here, and all of the back orders are going out. I think the old saying “Good things come to those who wait” really applies here. I thank you for your patience on this one!
A little too late to get into this week’s Hotlist is the new Pull Top from Mr. Maric, who brought us the Maric Glass. This is an amazing linking pull top routine, and is going to be a runaway best seller!
You can read all about it, watch the video and pre-order one for yourself by Clicking Here.
We have some great new items for you in this week’s Hotlist, including Dave Powell’s improved version of Anverdi’s Enchanted Ring. This was one of my very favorite close-up effects way back when. I loved to demonstrate it in the shop. What a fooler it is! Well worth checking out.
And that’s it for this week. Make sure and take a look at this week’s Excitement. Always something good.
BUY MORE GET MORE: Starting right now and running through Wednesday October 5th 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 20% 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 25% of the merchandise total.
* Order over $300.00: Coupon is for 30% 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!
And now, this week’s Hotlist!
(1) Enchanted Ring: Created by Anverdi way back in the 1970s, and long unavailable. When this effect first hit the market, we sold hundreds of them. It is such an amazing mystery. No one could figure it out! Our friend Dave Powell has improved this wonderful effect, using a genuine block of wood!
A mechanical marvel, the block does the work for you.
All parts are completely examinable before and after the illusion.
The bracelet, hatpin and block are supplied, but any pin or bracelet can be used.
A bracelet is lowered into a slot cut into the solid block of wood.
A steel hatpin is inserted in a hole through the block preventing the bracelet from being removed. The spectator can even pull on the bracelet to see that it is secured.
After the bracelet is in place, you set the block upon a spectator's palm for just a second. Then, lift the bracelet away from the block and all may be examined!
An absolutely incredible penetration.
The workmanship and mechanism is perfect in this solid wooden block.
$95.00 (10.1661)
(2) Confab-Shoe-Lation – Richard Bellars: The Confabulation plot has been taken to new heights of impossibility with this shoe reveal!
Richard has been performing Confab-Shoe-Lation in his stand-up act for well over a year and then decided it would be the ideal effect to fool Penn & Teller on national television.
Richard is a real creative thinker and a full time worker, so you know his stuff is going to be practical to use in the real world!
Effect
Three spectators name any 3 items (no force) and you have predicted them correctly. The prediction is found in a note that you have kept safely inside your shoe from the beginning of the show.
On the DVD Richard Bellars and Tom Swift (who is the co-creator of the effect) take you step by step through every aspect of the effect, including how to create the gimmick with your own shoe.
Note: Some construction is required and you will need to gimmick your shoe to perform the routine.
$39.95 (40.802)
(3) The Usual Subject – Two DVD Set – Tony Cabral: Tony Cabral has long been a well-kept secret among a select few card workers. Now he's finally agreed to share some of his favorite original routines with you.
Combining strong thinking with sleight-of-hand skill and good old fashioned sneakiness, these demonstrations will make you look like an expert or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
11 ROUTINES, including:
Dealer's Choice: A lesson in never playing poker with a stud.
Sting, Too: A Texas Hold 'Em demonstration for experts and those who think they're experts.
Five Aces: Your run-of-the-mill poker routine starts with five aces, ends with a royal flush.
The Kicker: A combination poker demonstration and pick-a-card trick that relies solely on 'luck'.
The Memory Expert At The Bridge Table and Fuggeddaboutit: A pair of blockbuster memory demonstrations that will make you look like... uh, what's his name.
In addition, there are thoughts on effect construction, the presentation of gambling material and even some left-handed card moves. Not for the beginner, or anyone who wants to keep getting invited over for poker nights, this DVD is definitely for lovers of strong card magic.
$39.95 (DVD01290)
"This is a great DVD- probably the best gambling stuff (entertaining whether the audience is comprised of card players or not) to come out since Darwin Ortiz's At the Card Table." - Jack Carpenter
"His handling of the pasteboards along with his great technical ability showcases elegantly crafted card magic which will delight any audience." - Michael Vincent
"Tony Cabral's first DVD is a collection of fine material, the kind that performers ignore at their own peril." - Lance Pierce
(4) Miracle Monte – Wolfgang Moser: Building on the work of Michael Skinner, Eddie Taytelbaum, and Harry Anderson, Moser's Miracle Monte is an astounding sequence with an unforgettable ending.
You use the simplest of props: three cards held together with a paperclip. Yet using just these cards (and the clip at one point), you blur the line between sleight of hand and real magic in three amazing phases. This monte routine is designed so that you handle the cards at a deliberate pace; there is no mixing. Instead, the money card seems to appear, as if by magic, where it is least expected.
But the ending is what the spectators will remember. To give the audience a blatant edge, you tear a corner from the money card. With this advantage, no amount of mixing can obscure where the torn, money card resides. StillL the money card reappears where it is least expected! An impossible finish! A Miracle Monte!
Contains 20 gimmicks, a 30-minute instructional DVD and a bonus effect. Moser's Miracle Monte is a practical routine that will fit perfectly into your close-up repertoire. Bicycle Mandolin Cards included.
$25.00 (30.1624)
Note: This is a non-discountable item
(5) iContact – Gary Jones: Welcome to iContact, the brand new easy-to-do card trick that promises to get you amazing reactions!
Imagine having a card freely chosen and then asking a second person to merely think of another card. Amazingly, when the chosen card is turned over, the thought of card is written on the back of the first chosen card! Stunning magic and best of all, very easy to do!
Watch Richard Bellars, star of Penn & Tellers "Fool Us" and see just what amazing reactions this trick gets, every time! Best of all there is no sleight-of-hand involved.
iContact comes with an instructional DVD shot in HD and also a special deck of Bicycle Playing Cards that do all the hard work for you.
Also featured is a Bonus routine called 'Touched' by Gary Jones in which he explains the complete routine in full detail for the first time on DVD. You'll see a live performance and be taught the routine.
Contents Include:
The iContact Deck - A detailed description of just how the deck works and how to set it up (some writing on the cards will be done by you). Please remember this is not a regular deck of Bicycle Playing cards and they have been put together especially for this effect.
Alternative Routines and Ideas - Join Chris Congreave and Gary Jones as they offer hints and tips, plus alternative handlings even using people's names!
BONUS ROUTINE - Join Gary Jones as he performs and then explains in detail, his brilliant routine 'Touched'. This is the original inspiration for the iContact deck
$29.95 (30.1622)
(6) Book of Magic: Walk on stage with a regular-looking book in your hand.
Open the book and draw a picture of a dove or other item, such as a vase or can.
Close the book and, when you open it again, a live dove, real vase or whatever item you drew appears!
It seems impossible that such a large item can be produced from such a thin book.
Comes with a beautiful wooden sleeve that makes for an even more baffling illusion.
$199.00 (60.1783)
(7) Aristocrat Playing Cards: Aristocrats set the standard for high-end, durable playing cards since their original release in the early 1930's.
The Aristocrats will not become a collector's item. They already are a collector's item.
Item.
Aristocrat Bank Notes are back, and they're back in style. An historic design, reinvented.
A premium, refined collector's item. The Aristocrats have fought and earned their place in the hands of the industry's finest creators over the past century.
Today, you have the rare chance to join them in affection for one deck of cards – The Aristocrats.
From our friends at theory11, available in limited quantities.
$4.95 (30.1625)
Note: This is a non-discountable item.
(8) Magic Popcorn Machine 2.0: After the great success of the first version of this trick, now George Iglesias bring us The Magic Popcorn Machine 2.0
What's new?
Almost everything, and for better!
New Features:
New mechanism that works with ease every time.
Packs flat for easy transportation!
The box has been totally redesigned, inside and out, completely reinforced for a lifetime use!
Bigger loading capacity. Produce more popcorn from it!
A more deceptive method based on an old principle of magic to show the box empty, that include the uses of 4 neodymium magnets.
A new DVD filmed in HD
Effect:
Show an empty box, drop inside some real or invisible kernels, wave your hand on top, say the magic words. Suddenly a loud sound of popping popcorn starts! Five to ten seconds later, all the popcorn comes, out filling the box. You can offer the popcorn to your audience!
Perform it at:
Birthday Parties! Be the kids’ favorite magician!
When you’re the MC.
Comedy Shows!
Trade Shows!
Motivational Speeches
and much, much more!
Enjoy the amazing effect and great advantages of this new very commercial effect!
$80.00 (60.1606)
(9) Color Changing Hank – Pro Series Volume 4- Paul Romhany: The Color Change Hanky is the perfect opening routine as it can set up the performer's personality, and show they have incredible skill. In this 74 page book Paul Romhany shares several hilarious professional scripts that take this classic effect to new levels, and includes some original twists that will be unexpected by your audience.
Professional Comedy Writer and Magician Hal Spear shares some of his professional routines that are perfect for comedy clubs, cruise ships and stand-up performances.
There is a chapter with step-by-step photographs showing Paul's handling for his own routine that has been a staple of his comedy act for the past twenty years. It also includes a unique handling by Wayne Rogers that does away with having to use two dye-tubes to do the surprise half-and-half McComb finish.
Bruce Johnson contributes a chapter on how to color your own silks, and add words and pictures - opening up some great ideas and routines for trade-shows, school shows and themed shows.
The book also covers the various dye-tubes on the market, and some insight in to preparing your silks to make your own unique routine
The ultimate book for anybody who wants to do, or already performs and is looking for something fresh and different for a Color Change Hanky Routine.
74 pages. 5" x 8." Softcover.
$20.00 (BK01813)
(10) Sharp Impression – Richard James: The spectator selects a card, remembers it and places it out of view. A second spectator also selects a card and remembers it. With your hands in full view, the first spectator takes any lighter. You could use a candle or anything with a flame! Now pinch your thumb and finger together in the flame whilst the spectator thinks of their card.
Ablister appears on your thumb and finger in the shape of their chosen card!
You can also give the spectator the Sharpie to draw the shape of their card on a piece of paper. They fold the paper into four and set fire to it. Placing your finger and thumb into the flames, the blister appears on your thumb and finger in the shape of their card!
OK, but nothing new, right? Read on!
You now show the word "Sharpie" printed on both sides of the marker they have just used. Ask the second spectator to think of their card. Take your fingers and rub them over the Sharpie writing. Visually, the name "Sharpie" smudges into the name of their chosen card!
Now you’re talking!
Special Features:
All combined in one custom sharpie!
Simple to use and extremely practical!
Everything is done in front of your spectators!
Something you will use and carry with you always!
No pocket work!
Use any lighter!
Instant re-set!
Includes gimmicks and instructional DVD.
$30.00 (30.1623)
(11) Jumbo $100 Spring Bills – Tommy James: These are the most realistic looking spring bills on the market. The bills
are huge, each one measuring a full 9 ½ inches long by 4 inches wide.
These bills make a great novelty production. Produce three, four or five sets from your favorite apparatus or produce them as a finale to your Misers Dream!
You receive ten bills. Each one is made with quality spring steel with strings attached. Made in the USA.
$22.00 (70.1017)
(12) The Gate – Volume 1 – Martin Adams: This booklet contains 10 mentalism routines, most of it completely impromptu! All the routines are audience tested and come directly from Martin's repertoire.
Living and Dead Test: This effect is completely Iimpromptu and does not use any gimmicks at all. The spectator randomly thinks of the dead person’s, unknown to the performer. You are able to reveal the dead person's name and you even know which spectator thought of that person!
The Any Word Book Test: Imagine a book test that use any ordinary book and can involve 30-40 audience members!
X: A spectator as a mindreader type of routine where the spectator is able to reveal the country that the performer is thinking of
Lotto: A stage routine that involves 5 spectators on stage. In this routine the performer predicts five freely selected numbers. There is nothing written down and the prediction is in full view at all times.
Guess Who: Perfect for stage and close-up. The performer holds a stack of photographs and invites three spectators to play an imaginary game of "Guess Who". Three spectators take out one photograph each and the performer never touches the stack of photographs. The performer is able to reveal all three selections in a mental game of "Guess Who"
The Bold Peek: Allows you to peek drawings, words, numbers, cards, anything. Martin offers various routines, even a black and red separation.
Make your choice!: A mental game where the performer predicts out loud the outcome before the game begins. The spectators have as many choices as they wish and of course the prediction will be always correct.
Chocolate Roulette: A pocket size Russian Roulette effect. The performer shows six piece of chocolate to the audience and they select five out of the six. The performer asks the spectators to open the chocolates and take a bite. All the chocolates seem normal. The performer asks one of the spectator's to carefully open the chocolate that remained on the table. When the performer opens the chocolate there is a sharp razorblade sticking out from the chocolate.
Serialistic: A three phase serial number divination routine that involves two spectators.
Zerg: A two phase mentalism card routine where the spectator is able to divine a freely selected card that he has never seen.
36 pages - Softcover - 8.5" x 6"
$25.00 (BK01814)
And, that’s this week’s Shana Tova Happy New Year Hotlist. Some truly great new magic for you. And you!
As always, I want to thank you for taking time to spend with us here at Hank Lee’s Magic Factory.
Whether it’s online at www.magicfact.com or in person at 102 North Street in Medford, we love the company!
Hank
