Cairo Con by Alan Warner

Even though this is not a limited release such as Alan’s beautiful Flight of the Falcon, it is still one of his more exotic pieces from Alan’s Egyptian line and looks amazing close-up.  The premise is easy to follow with the Ankh vanishing from the small box and returning to the large box.  There is even a bit of fun when the performer demonstrates how the Ankh works and is used to divine where death is within the freely shuffled tarot cards.

There are zero moves and the props are self contained and do all of the work for you.  The story line is entertaining and fun and provides a back story that is believable about the crafty Egyptian antique dealer: Cairo Con.

Effect: If you are looking for something a bit different from the norm to entertain your audiences, something with a fun routine, then this unusual effect will almost certainly fit the bill.

The performer displays a casket which he claims to have discovered unexpectedly in an old junk shop, and which the shopkeeper told him once belonged to Ancient Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti and has an unusual story behind it. Removing the lid from the casket, the performer reveals a small box which completely fills the interior of the casket. The smaller box features the golden death mask of Nefertiti’s husband, the Pharaoh, who gave her this box shortly before he died. This small box is then tipped out of the casket, leaving the casket completely empty prior to its lid being replaced.

The small box contains a golden, gem-studded ankh which once belonged to the Pharaoh and which is special in more ways than one: firstly, because the golden ankh has a power similar to that of a divining rod which enables it to reveal to its owner, Queen Nefertiti, any presence that may prove to be harmful to her; and secondly, that this prized golden ankh can never be stolen from her. The performer, using five special Egyptian cards, proves the divining power of the ankh to detect evil and then the ankh is returned to its box…

And now, according to the junk shopkeeper who sold Nefertiti’s casket to the performer, this is where the story really begins to get interesting. A wily old Egyptian antique dealer known as Cairo Con originally owned Nefertiti’s casket and the small box and golden ankh it contained. Cairo Con, after much haggling with a tourist wanting desperately to buy the valuable golden ankh, would finally agree to sell it to him, together with the small box which housed it. Unfortunately, however, when the gullible tourist finally returned home and opened the box to examine his priceless treasure, he discovered – to his considerable dismay! – that the golden ankh had disappeared completely! And where had it gone? Cairo Con was not called by that name for nothing: the golden ankh always returned, unfailingly, to Nefertiti’s casket (which Cairo Con claimed he held in trust for the Queen), thereby enabling him to make up a new small box to house the ankh which he could then sell all over again. And again. And again… Always safe in the knowledge that the valuable ankh would return to the casket where it rightfully belonged!

BEAUTIFUL HANDCRAFTED APPARATUS:

• The exquisitely handcrafted teak casket measures approximately 10.5 x 7.5 x 6 cms, and is decorated with both inlay and relief work.
• The smaller teak box containing the golden ankh measures 8 x 5.5 x 2.5 cms.
• The recess in the top of the lid is framed with a rectangular black border set in relief.
• A specially moulded golden pharaoh’s head is mounted in the recess.
• Inlaid bandings are also a feature on this smaller box.
• The golden ankh is decorated with a small blue natural gemstone and measures approximately 6.25 cms in length.
• Five special cards featuring an Egyptian back are also supplied with the apparatus.

The apparatus comes complete with The Alan Warner Routine.

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