Andy Martin

This is an understated paddle trick by Willi, offered as a Special Edition with a custom case. What I appreciate most about Willi’s magic is his ability to take a simple concept and enhance it with subtleties, creating an even more astonishing effect.

In “Card Detector,” when you display both sides of the paddle, it genuinely appears as if you’re showing two distinct sides – one with the Ace of Diamonds and the other with the Ace of Spades. It’s all clever misdirection, but this setup improves the final disappearance of the two cards.

This effect can be fully examined, is easy to perform, boasts an instant reset, and thanks to the secure case, the paddle is always ready for your next performance.

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I think Buma’s Orb is incredible – it is no surprise that it was a complete sellout at Blackpool 2020 when it was first released.

However, for the life of me I’ll never understand why the video on Stevens Magic used to sell this item is actually a full exposure video.. Instead of just performing the effects possible they expose the whole method.. That is crazy. In fact I do know why they expose the method because the method itself is magical – however, it is lazy advertising and should not have been shown that way.

If you had not seen the exposure video I don’t think you would have a clue how this works – particularly the vanish of the orb from the full glass of water. It looks completely impossible, though I will admit the water can make a splash which is tricky to ignore in the Speed Demo.

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This wonderful and creative item was invented by Ian Adair c. 1959 and released by Supreme Magic c. 1962.  It is an easy to perform effect with color, magic, and a little bit of sucker action too – what more could you wish for?

Interestingly enough when I was doing kids magic as a teenager I was a regular purchaser from Supreme Magic, but I don’t recall ever seeing this beauty.  I’m sure if I had  I would have added it to my show.  Finding colorful and easy to do effects for the younger children can be quite a challenge and this will keep the young kids happy but also amaze and amuse the adults too.

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Ali Bongo’s children’s routine is a true gem. Ali developed this routine by 1969 when he sold the rights to Ken Brooke. Four years later, Ken unveiled this magical masterpiece in all its glory, and it’s truly remarkable.

The props have a solid and tactile quality to them, and while the routine is simple, it’s precisely what a skilled children’s entertainer can leverage for maximum impact. It almost tempts me to consider returning to children’s shows (almost!).

What’s great about this routine is that it’s always ready to go, requiring no setup, and you can involve as many audience members as you like. One particularly clever suggestion in the instructions is to let the birthday child use the Thingammyjig to discover Clarence on their own, without any magician intervention. It’s a brilliant use of the prop and should be a standard practice for the special child’s involvement.

This is easily one of the finest children’s props I’ve come across. I just wish I had known about it 47 years ago 🙂

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The Coin Pedestal (Münzen-Pokal) originated in Germany, created by Eckhard Boettcher. It’s a clever twist on Eddie Gibson’s Ali-Baba Box.

What’s truly puzzling is that despite showing the cup clearly empty inside all the way to the bottom. When coins are produced, they magically fill the cup without any sneaky maneuvers or hidden loads. Everything happens right within the pedestal.

Performing this effect is straightforward, and although I initially had concerns about angles, it’s possible to develop a handling that’s angle-proof and practically automatic. All the necessary actions are concealed as you hold the pedestal in your hand.

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The Baking a Cake routine is still one of the best things you can perform to entertain children of all ages.  I used to always end my children’s show with my baking a care routine.  Until I re-watched the video from 2010 for this post I had forgotten how much fun I used to have with a live audience 🙂

There are other more expensive Dove Pans on the market but for me the Morrissey one is perfect and I used the same one for my first children’s show when I was 12 years old until my last one when I was 47.  I still have my set waiting for some grandchildren to arrive 🙂

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I have never seen one of these clever boxes before and I must say I was quite impressed when I received it.  It was designed by Peter Quinsee who was co-owner of the British magic manufacturing company Premier Magic and later Camtryx.  Quinsee was responsible for creating many of the Supreme effects including: Vanishing Radio, The Torture Rack,  Rice-Rice-Rice, Candle Thru Arm Plus, and Cabaret Dove in Balloon Cabinet.

The Bar-None Box looks great and works very smoothly and what is special about the box is it can be used to vanish, produce and exchange items and if desired the whole chest can be examined and there is nothing to find.

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I always know when I’m in the presence of greatness, when no matter how hard I try my photos just never do justice to the beauty of the effect. This set of coins created by the artist and master craftsman, Todd Lassen, in conjunction with his good friend David Neighbors is truly a revelation.

The gimmick, if that word can be applied here, is just breath taking. This is the Deluxe version which comes with an extra Chinese coin and shell, such that you can use a Chinese coin with a hole instead of the Victorian Crown.

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This is Willi’s beautiful Die Penetration.  It is made of solid wood, looks and works perfectly and everything can be examined if you so desire.  Willi shows how to do it using a very simple sleight, but it is quite possible to perform without any sleights, though you are not quite as clean.  The choice is up to you.

Thomas Pohle’s Super Block Penetration uses the exact same method and Willi granted Thomas permission to use the idea at the time.  It is also the same method used by Vienna Magic with the Mini Die Penetration.  Willi was not familiar with Vienna Magic’s version and he got the idea from an old J.G. Thompson effect in a book, but cannot recall the name of the effect unfortunately.

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From Master Craftsman Louie Gaynor comes a close-up version of the Misers Dream! The Miser’s Dream Box is a unique effect. Each and every box is a pain-staking labor of love, which requires eight hours of work and 28 individual pieces to assemble. Each box is constructed from the finest hardwoods – and no two boxes are exactly alike.

This version also comes with a custom gimmicked Collectors’ Workshop ShWand (that I purchased and gimmicked just for this effect) as shown in the photo. In my opinion the ShWand is a much better wand than the one provided by Louis Gaynor in his 2013 release of this effect as can be seen here. As Louie realized in 2013 using a wand is a far better way to perform the effect. The ShWand is beautifully crafted and also doubles as a Sharpie which is used to make a prediction of the two cards.

Each box is engineered with amazing repulsion technology that will allow you to perform a myriad of routines that will work either on their own, or as the perfect accessory to the famous and recently re-popularized Misers Dream thanks to my performance in the Porcupine 🙂

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