Enigma Chest II by Magic Wagon

In 2015 Magic Wagon released their first version of this chest using electronics. This version uses no electronics and it basically allows you to have any six items chosen and a prediction for that item will appear effortlessly in the box. It looks great and once you follow the instructions works smoothly every time.

However, the problem with this type of chest, and Prediction Chests in general, is that the prediction is often tiny compared with the box that delivers it. So the question that any sane lay person would ask is “Why do you use such a big box for such a small piece of paper, is it because the box is doing something fishy?” And the answer is always yes 🙁

So when you have such a nice box like this you have to find a way to add more into the box to hide the size disparity. There are a number of ideas that Magic Wagon enthusiasts have come up with and here is my rough routine (You will need one of El Duco’s Your Personal Key):

“Good Evening. I spent the weekend in a boutique hotel in a small village in the Texas Hill Country. It was a lovely village and they had at least six cool looking hotels in the center of downtown – and here they are. I don’t recall all the names so I have numbered them 1-6 for simplicity. In a moment I am going to ask you to pick any hotel and then pick any room # from 1-99 in the hotel and I feel confident you will choose precisely the ones I am already thinking of 🙂

Just in case you doubt my word (how rude!) I have placed inside this box a key with the room number I stayed in and a rolled up piece of paper with the hotel number which I will leave in full view right here.

 I first want you to think of a room number – it can be any number from 1-99. I have a little pad here and I will draw a picture of door to really impress it upon your memory. What was the number you were thinking of? number 46, do you mean like this? (Show them the pad). That is great. Ok, now I want you to think of the hotel number … number 4 … ok! So Hotel 4, Room 46. Is that correct?

This box has been here in full view all of this time and I have not touched it since we began. (Open the draw). Please reach in and remove the building number first and reveal the Hotel number. While they are unrolling this you pull out the key and (do the move) and place the fob face down in front of them.

They now show that you picked Hotel 4 – a perfect match

And now turn over the fob to reveal Room number also matches 46. Amazing!

What I like about this approach:

1. Justifies the larger box.
2. Takes the heat of the one move with El Duco’s Your Personal Key because the first prediction gives you a beat to place the key down when they are still impressed by the first reveal.
3. Allows you to add some extra interest to the story as you talk about the hotel, village, etc.  This is just the bare bones.

Whether you use this approach or one of the other ones suggested, it is important to dress up the small prediction, otherwise you won’t reach the full potential of this wonderful piece of mechanics.

Effect: Since the release of our Enigma Chest in 2015, we have had many requests to produce a version which could be performed without the use of electronics. Now, we have found a way to make this possible!

A spectator is invited to call out any one of the ESP symbols. The choice is completely free and there is absolutely no force of any kind. The performer now directs attention to a beautiful wooden box that has been in full view the whole time and states that before the performance he wrote a prediction and placed it inside the wooden box. The performer then slides the drawer open revealing a single scroll of paper inside and invites a spectator to remove and read what is written on it. Surprisingly, the prediction inside the box perfectly matches the chosen ESP symbol!

• It is an entirely one-man prediction system with no off stage assistant required!
• The box is completely self-contained and no extra equipment is required!
• The box remains in full view at all times, and the effect can be performed at any time during the performers show!
• The method is truly a mechanical marvel with no electronics or pre-show work required!
• There is absolutely no force of any kind and the effect can be immediately repeated, if desired!

The box measures approximately 10cms wide by 7.5cms tall and 13.5cms deep and is completely hand-crafted of genuine teak with a lightly distressed oil finish.

The engineering behind this effect is absolutely ingenious and hundreds of hours have gone into the development of this mechanical marvel! The brass & spring mechanism inside is highly elaborate due to a consequence of the manufacturing processes and the system can hold up to 6 predictions. It takes over 30 hours of workmanship to create one Enigma Chest due to the mechanism involved.

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