5 Stars

Russell Swann introduced and probably invented the Snake Basket c. 1939.  Jack Hughes released his amazingly inventive Snake Basket c. 1949.  That was about forty years before Collectors’ Workshop created their wonderful Khyber Kobra.  But what is really amazing about the Jack Hughes Snake Basket is how much action he gets from it with zero electronics or clockwork motors, just well designed springs and levers creates all the magic and entertainment you can handle 🙂

When this little guy arrived at my door he was looking a bit worse for wear and I’ve been working with him on and off for a few months.  The original snake has a small rope magnet in the head to attract the ball but this had lost its magnetic juice.  Also for the spinning lid and “snake in the grass” gag you are meant to stick a tack through the basket lid into the snake’s head.  When Chance Wolf built his beautiful recreation of this effect he used a magnet for this part because the tack was not a good long term (or short term) solution. So I included a fresh piece of “grass”, added a large and powerful magnet* to his head to cover up the old magnet and large tack hole. I also added a large magnet in the top of the lid and a smaller one in the base of the grass.  So now the snake easily attaches to the lid and the grass stays on the lid thanks to the magnets.  It took a few attempts but I finally ended up with the correct sized magnets that make it work easily.

With the exception of the spinning lid (which I’ve dropped due to the tack and it felt the weakest part of the routine) everything else in the original routine works well.  The snake and pieces maybe a little worn and show some marks and flaking paint but everything is still usable and effective. 

I spoke to Chance Wolf about how easy it was to pick up the card because I was having trouble.  Chance gave me a few tips that worked but also admitted with the original Hughes version the ability to pick up the card got harder as the unit aged. However,  when I was practicing this for the video I pretty much nailed it every time.  Like many things in magic once you have the knack it is pretty straight forward. The good news is that even if you do have to take a few tries this is a comedy item and a little jiggling can even add to the entertainment.

However you perform this beauty Jack Hughes demonstrates you don’t need electronics or clockwork motors to create some amazing visual magic and entertainment 🙂

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This is the first release of 2022 for Magic Wagon and although this year so far has not seen much innovation when it comes to brand new effects or ideas Magic Wagon’s ability to build perfect little miracles has not diminished. 🙂

This is a truly stunning version of Don Potts’ wonderful creation: The Mystery of the Pyramids released by U.F. Grant c. 1958.  There have been quite a few versions of this effect and Magic Wagon’s version fits very nicely with them depending on your artistic preference.

Magic Wagon’s version works very smoothly too.  It pretty much just works right out of the box and you will love playing with this one. Madison’s video is a joy to watch.

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This is one of my favorite Steve Dusheck effects that has recently been re-released under license by Airship Magic.  This set is from one of original runs c. 1979 and is a perfect example of Dusheck genius 🙂 

What I particularly like about this effect is how much magic is squeezed out of each gimmick and how you are left totally clean and the coins can be examined at the end.  When you first try this out you’ll even surprise yourself how good it looks!

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I first read about this effect in Paul Clive’s excellent book Card Tricks Without Skill when I was a 12 or 13.  I have used it on and off ever since and although I’ve read over one hundred variations since then I still pretty much perform it the way Curry first described it.  There is a fascinating account of this card trick being performed to Winston Churchill in Curry’s Magician’s Magic which added to my intrigue of this effect when I was a teenager.

In recent years the only thing I have changed is to use a deck of Steven Perry’s Belly Strippers so that you can start with a very clean shuffle of the cards before you begin.

I love this amazing card trick 🙂

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This amazing Card Shuffler was invented by Rudolph Notz c. 1950 and a USA patent was applied for it in 1950 and approved in 1955. These were manufactured and sold throughout the 1950’s by Nestor Johnson Mfg. Co of Chicago. They were very popular for a time and their demand was also fueled by the Canasta craze in the 1950’s.

These days you can only purchase vintage version of this device (they have not been made for decades) – but with a little bit of care and maintenance they will work much better and last a lot longer than the cheap plastic and electric ones you can purchase at Amazon.

I wanted to use one of these for a magical effect and thought the best use would be to perform one of the best card effects of all time: Out of This World.  And if you use a deck of Steven Perry’s Belly Strippers you are all set for an old world miracle 🙂

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This is easily the best and most original item that John Jurney has created. It is easy to do and looks amazing.

The gimmick is very well made using a Replica Morgan Dollar and comes with a duplicate to switch out during the routine which is eash to do with no real heat on you.

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This wonderful effect was invented by Louis Histed.  There was some controversy when this was released (stolen) by Abbott’s as the instructions and adverts said that Dr. H Park Shackleton was the inventor.  Dr Shackleton may have been the first person to perform it in the USA (though Jack Le Dair performed it regularly in the UK years before this).  Anyway, later ads and editorials in Abbott’s own Tops magazine admitted it was Louis Histed so there is no doubt who created it.

It is a great trick and the Chrome version by Abbott’s is a real beauty.  Performance does require about 1.5lbs of white sugar/salt and 1.5lbs of sand or colored salt – partly depends on what your patter will be and what you can obtain.  For my photos and demo I used fine ornamental sand in white and yellow.

You can always spot when a clever inventor is at work because they think about a lot of things, and there are few inventors at the level of Louis Histed.  With Sand and Sugar you will see all of these elements at work:

• Reuse of materials – yes you will loose a few ozs of sand and sugar each time you perform this but a lot less than you might imagine, particularly if you are careful.
• Clean-up – anything dealing with sand is going to be a little messy, but if you have a tray you’ll find it pretty easy to empty out the containers and reset for the next show without too much effort.  There is a convenient hole on the bottom of the large canister which lets the sand flow out freely from the bottom when you are done.
• Effectiveness of illusion – the pouring of the sand/sugar from the small canister to the large is perfect, it takes time (though not too much time) and looks like a lot of grains.
• Simplicity of Method – although there is a lot going on with the effect, the mechanics are surprisingly simple and robust.

You rarely see effects these days with this much thought and with props built so well.  Another really fine effect from almost ninety years ago – they certainly don’t make them like this anymore 🙂

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These beautiful rings were Designed and Manufactured under the direction of Ben Stone (of Delben fame) by the Mid-America Magic Mfg. Company and sold as a package by Joe Stevens back in the 1980’s.  They are hollow stainless steel 12″ rings and they are perfect and look and sound great even even from the back of the stage.  The locking key ring looks amazing even close-up and is easy to lock and unlock.

These rings are lightweight for maximum handling ease and you will quickly prefer their handling if you are only familiar with the heavy style.

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From Vienna Magic comes this beautiful miniature illusion.  Self working and mechanical and works like a charm.  The standard ad copy and the instructions describe a situation where the die appears and then vanishes – but the only way that is possible is if you switch out the appearing die for the vanishing die mid-stream.  If you don’t have the die appearance then this is basically a version of Norman’s Block Vanish with a silk vanish and appearance for good measure.

Both sets I’ve had of this effect (including this one) only come with one die not two – the instructions describe two dice but I am not convinced that is correct, even if you read through the instructions I’m not sure you actually ever get two dice.  Based on the props you get, you can construct an appearing die or a vanishing die but not both at the same time.   The effect looks much better if you start with the die that you can show complete on all six sides, then go into the vanish.  This requires no switching and looks perfect.

I believe the best way to perform this effect is to start with the die in plain sight and then proceed to vanish a silk, then vanish the die and finally have the silk reappear.  If  you use a convincing vanish of the silk (which is not including as standard such as Viking’s Wonder Silk Vanishing Tube) you can perform a real miracle right in front of their eyes.

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