The Magic Warehouse Blog

Mix By Limin

2012-01-31T17:29:00.001-08:00

A MAGIC WAREHOUSE EXCLUSIVE

Limin is the most creative magic artist and the best effect designer in Taiwan. For the first time Limin shares his particular ideas to you. In this DVD, you will lean 5 visual effects, and every DVD comes with all props you need.

MIX

Two cards, one penetrates through the other in front of the very eyes of audience, without any suspicious cover!!

PHANTOM BILL

With one normal bill and one business card, all borrowed from the audience. Without any cover, the business card will penetrate from the back of the folded bill to the middle, and then pass through the bill directly!

WORMHOLE

Take out two cards, and borrow one coin from the audience. Put the coin between the cards. The coin will disappear immediately when one card covers it. Cover with the card again, the coin will reappear with the blink of an eye.

IMMORTAL

One normal toothpick, broken into two halves by the audience. With single hand, the broken toothpick will be restored instantly.

BLOCKADE

Borrow one bill and one coin from the audience, and wrap the coin with the bill step by step. The wrapping sequence is done very clearly. The last step, use a clip to prevent all the possible ways to get out the coin. But with one simple gesture, the coin will escape from the blockade and appear outside the bill.

"All I want is Limin's Brain！ Mix just made my jaw drop." — Red Tsai (The Champion of Close-up in FISM Asia 2011)

"Limin is one of my best friends, he is very creative and talented. I think Mix is truly eye-popping close-up illusion, sure to be a classic without a doubt！" — Hanson Chien (Director of Mix, Creator of 2011's hit "Touch")

"It's just like the CG effect happening in front of my eyes." — Hondo (CEO of Magic Soul, Creator of Cobra Kiss & Intuition)

Running Time: Approximately 1hr 30mins

Lance Pierce lectures at The Magic Warehouse

2011-10-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

It was a packed house for the much anticipated Lance Pierce lecture. Many of you may recognize his name as the author of some great books like "The Award Winning Magic Of John Cornelius" and "Roger Klause In Concert". His newest release is the DVD set "Friends Of Roger Klause".
Great stuff!

The audience was so impressed with Lance's magic. What makes Lance so great is that he can take a common effect and change the handling and routining in such a way that it even fools magicians that already do the same trick. Lance
did a fantastic Wild Card routine and we didn't even know he was doing the Wild Card until he was half way into the routine. Lance analyizes every detail of a trick and just make the whole presentation look effortless and natural. It really is amazing to watch. Lance also performed his version of Troy Hoosier's Charming Chinese Challenge. This is a brilliant routine that your audience will not easily forget.

If you get a chance to see Lance you won't be disappointed. I should also mention that he is one heck of a nice guy. His explanations are well explained and he just has a way of making everyone feel comfortable.

A Real Magic Shop

2011-09-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Did you know the Magic Warehouse has a theatre right in the shop? Both the IBM and the SAM meet here each month. We also have another club that meets here every week.
If you are ever in the Baltimore you have a place to visit and hang out with friends. I wouldn't be in magic today if it weren't for the old Yogi Magic Mart in downtown Baltimore.

Support the brick and mortar shops.

Magic LIVE 2011

2011-08-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

We just returned from MagicLIVE 2011 in fabulous Las Vegas. It was great to meet in person many of our loyal on-line customers.

The convention was fantastic. Everything was well organized and the level of talent was as good as it gets. Josh Jay, Johnny Thompson, Michael Ammar, Jeff McBride and many more...

We had the priviledge of having a booth right next to Losander. We must have watch Dirk float a table 20 times a day. It was amazing each and every time.

Baltimore SAM

2011-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Baltimore Assembly of the Society Of American Magicians has a new website. You don't have to be in the Baltimore area to enjoy some of the information on the site. The "history" section is great reading. Please take a look.

http://www.baltimoresam.com/

Exciting News - Stay Tuned

2011-06-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

It looked like a Hollywood set as our lecture room was transformed into a recording studio. After a day of filming some great magic at a local restaurant the crew returned to The Magic Warehouse the following day to record the explanations. I can't give any details yet but stay tuned. Late this summer this new DVD will be released. You card guys will be blown away by this one!

Magic LIVE

2011-03-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

For those of you that will be attending "Magic Live" this summer in Las Vegas be sure to visit our booth in the Dealers Room.

Calculator Magic Made Easy

2011-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Our good friend and fellow IBM Ring member John Carrington has just released his new book Calculator Magic Made Easy. John spent six years on this project. We are pleased to be the first shop to carry this item. We wish John great success. The book features:

Over 80 Tricks

Easy to Read Instructions

"Amaze your family and fool your friends!"
"Excite students about reading and mathematics"

"Professional Magicians can now add a calculator to their bag of tricks!"

This book builds a joy for learning and numbers. Whether you are beginning or advanced, "Calculator Magic Made Easy" will make you look like a genius!

The author is John T Carrington is a full-time performer with 35 years of experience. John hosts a radio show and a television programs. However, he still finds time to teach magic!

Moments by Troy Hooser

2011-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Moments is a brand new collection of over thirty routines and sleights from heralded creator and performer Troy Hooser. A decade after the enormous success of Hooser's first collection, Destroyers, author Joshua Jay returns to document a wonderful new development in Troy's style and output.

If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Hooser's work, his visual, whimsical style will delight you. If you are familiar with Mr. Hooser's work, Moments will still come as a startling surprise. Whereas his earlier material was all performed standing, much of this material is performed in the classical style, seated. Whereas much of his earlier material was short, this book includes five "acts", each one comprised of several routines or tricks sequenced together for thematic purposes.

An Interview With Dan Harlan

2010-09-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

by Greg Koren

A juggler is being dragged to hell. He passes a room in which a magician is performing a card trick for a bunch of beautiful women. Seeing this, and knowing of his own fate, the juggler cries out, “That’s not fair!” To which the devil dragging him replies, “Who are you to criticize the punishment of those women?”

Dan Harlan tells that joke to point up the attitude many have toward traditional magicians, and to underscore the point he made during his recent lecture at The Magic Warehouse: that we magicians need to make our magic relevant to modern-day audiences.

“I think we can make people care about what we do,” Harlan told the crowd at the Sept. 14 lecture.

The way to do that, he said, is by paying close attention to three aspects of our acts: set, action and character.

The set encompasses the physical elements of our act, everything from the props we use to what we wear and the cut of our hair.

The action refers to what we do with those physical elements, how we handle them.

And the character concerns itself with the mood our acts create in the minds of the audience.

Harlan’s lecture, which included a performance of several of his tricks and routines, created a mood of shared wonder and enlightenment. Whenever possible, the Ohio native drew the audience into his act.

“High-five to the person who can tell me who created that switch,” Harlan said while performing his effect Penned In.

“Juan Tamariz,” said Alton Knighton from the back row of The Magic Warehouse’s cozy theater.

“That’s right!” Harlan said. He worked his way up to Knighton, and the two men high-fived.

A second high-five was award to Eric Hoffman, who correctly explained the significance of the year 1584 as being the publication date of the oldest book on the secrets of magic—The Discoverie of Witchcraft.

That’s Harlan for you. The creator of Cardtoon, countless rubber-band effects and other magical best-sellers went out of his way to make his audience feel an active participant in the evening’s proceedings.

“I’m not a magician’s magician,” he described himself. “My secret is I like people. I treat them as my friends.”

He also crafts his magic to speak to his audience as one would speak to a friend, with intimacy and empathy.

Take his routine for that magic-kit staple Grandmother’s Necklace. (You know the effect: three beads threaded onto two cords “melt” off the cords under cover of a silk.) Harlan began his presentation of Grandmother’s Necklace, with help from lecture attendee Wayne Bartholomee, by assigning a feeling to each of the beads—pain, doubt and fear—and then concluded it with a story of personal transformation based on American Indian wisdom.

“You are healed,” Harlan said to Bartholomee as the beads melted off the cords—not from under a silk—but into his hand.

Toward the end of the evening, Harlan performed his classic routine called The World’s Saddest Silk. This simple vanish of a small red silk using a thumb tip quickly escalated into tear-drenched histrionics made possible, in part, by a bottle of eye drops, which he used to deliver the punch line: “Visine. It gets the red out!”

Tired effects such as Grandmother’s Necklace and the thumb-tip vanish—which Harlan characterized as being little more than puzzles that often leave spectators feeling inferior—can be reinvigorated by novel thinking and a willingness among magicians to commit themselves to their character, he said.

Which is how he said we can make our magic relevant to the modern-day audience that can learn the secret to almost any effect on the internet: by coming up with fresh premises for our effects that have a clear beginning, middle and end, and by investing ourselves emotionally in our magic.

When George Bradley questioned whether most magicians could pull off the theatrics of, say, The World’s Saddest Silk, Harlan urged them to try.

“It’s better to do stuff that’s 100-percent your own,” he said. “But if you can’t do that, then go ahead and copy me. Copy any magician to learn his or her style. Then move away from that and make it your own.”

September 1st update

2010-09-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of activity since our last post. We've been busy adding Streaming Video technology to our site. For as little as $5.00 you can have access to your video purchase without waiting for a disc to arrive in the mail. We're adding new titles almost every day so you'll want to check those out.

For our local customers we have Dan Harlan lecturing on the 15th of September. Dan is one of the most creative and entertaining magicians out there so you wont want to miss this event.

This month we're featuring the magic of Andrew Mayne. Please take a look at the many great items Andrew has created. http://themagicwarehouse.com/andrewmayne.htm

We also have the hilarious Rich Marotta coming in October. More details to follow.

Magicians Flea Market

2010-06-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

We held our first annual magicians flea market on June 13th. Proceeds went to the IBM ring 179 and SAM assembly #6. This was a great opportunity for magicians to sell things they no longer use and a great chance to pick up some great bargains. It was also nice to just spend time with other magicians. If you missed this event don't worry, we'll probably may do another flea market in the fall.

Annihilation Deck by Cameron Francis

2010-05-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Annihilation Deck is one of those things that you will take EVERYWHERE. It requires no skill, yet packs a MASSIVE punch. And it's repeatable with a different selection each time, making it perfect for almost any situation. With this deck in your pocket you KNOW you can unleash a brain-melting miracle at any point... and you can relax and concentrate on making your performance scintillating and memorable. The deck does all the hard work for you! ANNIHILATIONThe magician shows a deck of cards and states that it contains two predictions. A card is freely chosen (really!) and hidden. Nobody sees the face of the card (magician or spectator). The magician then runs through the deck and removes his two prediction cards, which he says will reveal the value and suit of the selection. Let's say the two cards are the Five of Spades and the Queen of Diamonds. The selected card is turned face up. It is the Eight of Clubs - no relation to EITHER prediction. The experiment appears to have failed... until the Five and the Queen are turned face down. One has an Eight drawn on its back and the other has a Club drawn on its back!
Self working!
Repeatable with ANY selected card!
Instant reset!
No duplicates!
No forcing!
No calculations!
No peeks!
No memory work!
No secret marks on the back of the cards!
No gimmicks!
No rough & smooth!* FREE USPCC Red Deck enclosed. Watch the DVD to learn how to make your own Annihilation Deck! PRAISE FOR THE ANNIHILATION DECK "BRILLIANT!!!! - After watching the demo, I had to get my hands on the e-book to see how it was done!"- Stephen Tucker "... this is a great effect that is powerful enough to be a closer... Two thumb tips way up!"- Jordan Johnson "Annihilation is great!"- Steve Haynes "Highly recommended."- Scott F. Guinn DVD ALSO features:DO AS I PREDICTRED LITETOTAL ANNIHILATIONRED HOT ANNIHILATION And the incredible Card At Any Number effect CONVERGENCE. The magician proposes an experiment in fate as he introduces two decks of card; one red & one blue. The blue deck is placed in front of a spectator and the magician never touches it again. The red deck is removed from its case and shown to have a different number written on the back of each card. A second spectator then names ANY card (Really!). We'll say it's the Two of Diamonds. This card is removed from the red deck. Another card is randomly selected, and the number on it's back is noted (let's say the number is 29). The spectator now uncases the blue deck. He counts down 29 cards... The 29th card is the Two of Diamonds! NO gimmicks or duplicates. Both decks and card cases may be completely examined. There is nothing to find!NO crib sheets or complex chartsNO extra props. Just two decks and that's it!NO complicated calculationsNO memorization NO sleight of handNO estimationThe cards from the blue deck are dealt FACE UPInstant reset

$30.00

ORDER

How To Levitate by Andrew Mayne

2010-05-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Andrew Mayne presents his most practical levitations for the stage and the street. Combining updated material from Touching Sky and step-by-step instructions from Levitator (DVD).

Learn how to levitate on the street, in your living room or on stage.

11 different ways to perform the most incredible illusion in magic!

The Street Levitation
Anti-Gravity Machine
Broom Flight
Levitator
Impromptu Levitator
Floating on the Edge
Flight
Up
Suspension of Disbelief
Mid-Air
The Ultimate Levitation
Includes step-by-step photo instructions.

Daniel Garcia lectures at The Magic Warehouse

2010-04-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Daniel Garcia gave an outstanding lecture for us on April 11th. His audience tested close-up magic is fantastic. We were fortunate to have a professional journalist in the audience and he wrote the following article.

written by Greg Koren

You know Greed, right? It’s the money trick that made Daniel Garcia famous.

A dollar bill turns into a five, the five into a ten and the ten into a twenty. Then the twenty turns into a fifty, and by fifty I mean cent piece—as in half dollar.

Garcia concludes the trick by tossing the half dollar to the nearest spectator. “Don’t get greedy,” he says.

But it’s hard not to. The man who jokingly refers to himself as the “best damn magician in the world” is so generous with his time and attention, so happy to share his knowledge and inspiration, you just have to have more.

And time after time he gives it.

Take Greed, for example. During Garcia’s recent lecture at The Magic Warehouse in Owings Mill, MD, the 28-year-old not only performed and explained the trick to his audience’s delight, he also traced the trick’s origin to his teen years, when his family lived “paycheck to paycheck” and Monopoly money provided the prototype.

He recounted how he scraped together enough real money to videotape instructions for making the Greed gimmick, how with help from his “brothers” he dupped a few dozen copies of the tape and sold them all at a magic convention, and how he used the funds from that convention to make more copies to sell at the next.

On and on, until he found himself sneaking into the Magic Castle through the library entrance, where he quickly cemented his reputation as a cutting-edge creator of close-up and street magic.

Garcia gets inspiration from everywhere.

 The first time a Greed-y spectator told him to turn the twenty into a fifty, he improvised the half-dollar climax when he realized he had the coin in his pocket.

 After observing how a bent pedestrian sign looked straight from a certain angle, he came up with a bending paperclip trick called Clip-Trip.

For Pressure, a trick he presented at The Magic Warehouse that involves passing a borrowed iPhone through a blown-up balloon, Garcia was inspired by questions from audience members.

George Bradley of Silver Spring, MD, asked if Pressure’s method could also be used to capture a chosen card. Joe Bruno of Randallstown, MD, asked if inflating the balloon fully before deflating it to the desired size might facilitate the final effect.

A less-assured magician might’ve dismissed such questions as impertinent. Not Garcia: “I live for them.”
Garcia’s been interested in magic since he was five and saw David Copperfield escape from Alcatraz. He remembers thinking, “I want to be able to do that!”

Today, the Huston, Texas, resident is credited with some of the strongest street magic on the market, including two tricks with dollar bills (Greed and Fraud) and two card tricks (Torn, a restoration effect, and Fallen, in which the deck “falls” through a signed card).

Garcia served as head consultant on David Blaine’s last special, and says he “respectfully declined” an invitation to serve as such on Chris Angel’s.

Dressed for his Magic Warehouse lecture in an engineer’s cap, faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt emblazoned with a skull, lightning bolts and the ominous declaration Throwdown, Garcia performed his William Tell card stab and a signed card in balloon called Pop!, as well as the new rubber band trick Stairway that he co-created with friend Marcus Eddie.

With Stairway, a folded and paperclipped dollar bill slowly and visibly climbs up and down two rubber bands that’re stretched between the performer’s hands. The effect is featured on the DVD Five.

Garcia also performed his signature rubber band trick Jacob’s Ladder, which he says was inspired by Dan Harlan’s Traveling Cash routine. The effect appears on Garcia’s DVD Symphony and is a favorite of 14-year-old Josh Schmid of Glen Burnie, MD, who attended the April 11 lecture.

Josh performed Jacob’s Ladder for an admiring Bradley during intermission.

Bradley says Garcia is both inspired by magicians and inspiring of them. He saw Garcia at the recent Magi-Whirl Convention in Washington, D.C., and was impressed by his laid-back demeanor.

“He’s a great entertainer and an genuinely nice guy,” Bradley says.

Garcia says he loves hanging out with magicians. He loves magic that feels organic. “But I still get nervous every time I perform. Shhhhhhh!”

In his wallet—which is itself a prototype of the Garcia Wallet that’s slated to come out next year—he carries Greed and Fraud, the utility device Loops, and two as-yet-unreleased effects, one of them for restaurant workers.

And in his heart, Garcia carries profound gratitude for his greatest influences: his parents. “They are my fuel,” he says. “They are the reason I am who I am today.”

New Items

2010-04-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

Lot's of new items have just arrived. Check these out:
Palms of Steel 5 by Curtis Kam - Join Curtis as he rides the tide of bold new magic that shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. Coins Through the Table, Flurry, Hanging Coins, Copper/Silver Transpo, and Coins Across!

Royal Command - Nick Langham's Royal Command Is an easy to perform card rise that's like no other.

Scorched by Nopera Whitley - A revelation that will literally FRY them!"
A selected card is scorched into another playing card.

Pool Ball Miracle - Pool Ball Miracles is more than just a DVD; it's a complete set that will enable you to perform miracles with a simple pool ball. Everything you need has been included.

Real Secrets Of David Stone - This DVD is so much more than a lecture, it's a master class of entertainment and showmanship, mixing the art of close up with a twisted, fun mind. An act full of energy. An act full of energy delivered with 10 of David's Strongest effects taught right here.

Josh Jay Lecture

2010-03-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great lecture? Joshua Jay was nothing short of amazing. He was funny, articulate, personable, and extremely entertaining. The evening began with Josh sitting at a table and performing mind-blowing card magic. This was before the lecture even started!

Unbelievable! The lecture was equally as impressive. Josh has carefully thought out each effect so you always end clean. Even the experienced magicians would watch and say "no way!" when he blew us away with miracle after miracle. This is not an exaggeration. His magic will fool you, plus the methods were based more on clever handling rather than on complicated sleights. It was a real honor to have Josh at our shop. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

We knew this would be an extra special lecture when two other big names in magic walked in the door. Darwin Ortiz and Bob Sheets were both in attendance. Check out the photos >>

http://themagicwarehouse.com/cgi-bin/findit.pl?x_item=XXJOSH

Twisted Blizzard

2010-03-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

JUST IN
TWISTED BLIZZARD $25.00
By J Aaron Delong
The HIT of the BLACKPOOL magic convention 2010

J B Magic are proud to be working along side Aaron, we bring to you a rare piece of card magic.

If you are looking for Direct, Powerful, Visual magic then look no further, Twisted Blizzard is for you.

Imagine asking a spectator to simply NAME ANY CARD in the deck. Then spreading the deck, there is only ONE CARD in the entire deck, the NAMED CARD. Every other card is BLANK.

NO FORCING, NO SPECIAL WORDING, NO DECK SWITCHES, NO ROUGH & SMOOTH
NO DOUBLE FACED CARDS, NO DOUBLED BACKED CARDS.

Twisted Blizzard is without doubt a giant leap forward in card magic, this reputation building effect can be learned in just 10 minutes. The custom printed Bicycle deck performs 95% of all the work for you.

Twisted Blizzard comes with a step by step training DVD, with a bonus effect called WHITE TRASH. This is without doubt one of the greatest Out Of This World routines I have ever seen. 3 piles are decided by the spectators. A RED pile, a BLACK pile and a NOT SURE PILE. The piles turn out to be all Red all Black and the not sure pile are all BLANK.

Twisted Blizzard ticks ALL the boxes in card magic, it is both Visual and Direct, Easy to do and is Instantly Reset.

We highly recommend Twisted Blizzard.

"I love it!, Its like Blizzard, but self working" - Nathan Kranzo

The flexibility of this weapon would have made Bob Hummer hum and even make him finally wear socks. -Jon Racherbaumer

An Interview with Joshua Jay

2010-03-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

By Greg Koren

The card trick is said to have fooled Winston Churchill, but it didn’t fool seven-year-old Joshua Jay. Not for long, anyway.

Josh watched his father, the late Jeff Jay, a dentist and amateur magician, perform Paul Curry’s Out of This World. Then Josh went into his bedroom, closed the door, and spent the next few hours figuring it out.

Then he showed his dad his own trick.

“That was a symbolic moment for me, because it epitomized everything I love about magic,” Josh said recently from his home in Chelsea, a neighborhood on Manhattan’s West Side. “I have always put an emphasis on creating/problem-solving in magic, so where many magicians might frown on the idea of someone systematically trying to figure out a trick, this process has become very gratifying for me, and important to my work.”

And by work, the 28-year-old means performing close up and starring in his own one-man shows, as well as writing about magic (including the “Talk About Tricks” column in Magic Magazine), co-producing a line of magic products and publications, consulting on magic, photographing magic, and giving lectures on magic.

That last is the reason for Josh visiting The Magic Warehouse on March 26. He’ll be sharing all new material, including a card trick that combines his love of the pasteboards with his love of film. He calls it Hitchcock.

The famous director by that name is one of Josh’s magical inspirations. So are the Coen brothers, whose 2008 movie No Country For Old Men won four Academy Awards.

Lest you think no actual magicians influenced Josh, fear not. He praises Dai Vernon, Robert-Houdin, Hofzinser, Hollingworth, Tamariz, and Williamson.

Card sharp Darwin Ortiz too. “I think he’s a genius, and a huge influence on my more recent work.”

His greatest influence? His father.

Still, Josh’s appreciation of the artistic qualities of cinema, and of photography in particular, put his magic into perspective, he said. “Images are important to me. In most of the tricks I create, after you see them you can visualize a moment or ‘still’ from the piece, and I think this comes from framing it like a picture.”

Such framing, he said, helps to sharpen his skills and to enjoy what he’s doing.

And boy does he enjoy it. The Canton, Ohio native moved to New York City in 1996 to take advantage of the bright lights and big city prestige, and since then his star has only risen higher.

Josh has performed in more than fifty countries, appears regularly on national television (most recently Good Morning America and the Today Show), and is a perennial headliner at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Last year he wrote a 288-page best-seller, Magic: The Complete Course, and his fine-art photography focusing on magic and card cheating was exhibited in several shows. The exhibit currently can be seen at the Culture Museum in Linz, Austria.

Today, he’s hard at work on another book and his second one-man stage show, set to open in May. Of the latter, Josh has little to say except that he’s rewritten it twice. “Every time the show gets a little smarter and a little more innovative, but lots of stuff gets dropped. I want it to be perfect, and because that isn’t possible, I just get too frustrated and start over!”

Fortunately, he’s hired someone to help with his skyrocketing career, while his girlfriend, Anna, helps him stay grounded.

Looking ahead, the unabashed fan of all things Disney sees himself either performing in his one-man show or, he joked, in a ditch. “Or, if things stay as they are, I’ll be doing my one man show in a ditch somewhere. If that happens, please come see it!”

Meanwhile, there’s the March 26 lecture. Josh hopes people will use the material he presents.

“I know that sounds obvious, but my last lecture focused on theoretical elements, and I chose material I knew not everyone would be able to use. This time around, it’s the collection of material I’m focused on, and proud of. I hope people appreciate these are not small variations of existing tricks. They are substantive items new in many ways.”

The Rocco lecture

2010-03-07T17:15:00.001-08:00

Fantastic! Unbelievable! That's what people were saying about the Rocco lecture. If Rocco lectures in your area don't miss it!
When you attend a lecture you want to some great magic and Rocco delivers.
He will entertain you, he will teach you, and he will inspire you. It doesn't matter what type of magic you like you will get something from this lecture. Rocco has won many awards and when you see him in person you'll understand why. He is the epitome of what a magician is supposed to be. The man produces an ice cream bar from thin air, he turns raisans into grapes and he continually vanishes objects right in front of your eyes. Even after he shows you how it's done you'll be blown a way two minutes later when he uses the same technique to perform a completely different effect. That's what's great about Rocco. He repeatedly uses the same exact method to do achieve completely different effects. If you spend some time learning what Rocco is teaching you will be able to keep coming up with new effects without having to learn new skills.
You can't ask for more than that.

When you leave this lecture you will be telling yourself I want to do the type of magic Rocco is doing .. and guess what?, you can. Rocco's magic is not beyond the reach of the average magician. Sure, it takes practice but it's not knuckle busting sleights. It's spending time working out the timing and the movements. The result is the most amazing and entertaining magic your audience could hope for.

Rocco was a student of Slydini and as part of his lecture you''ll also see Slydini's Knotted Silks, Slydini's Linking Pin Routine, and Slydini's Torn & Restored Newspaper.
Rocco covers so much great material it's ridiculous. It's non-stop. His Miser's Dream is another great routine you have to see.

I can't say enough great things about this lecture. If you get a chance to see Rocco don't miss the opportunity.

Also, look for Rocco on TV. He will be appearing on "America's Got Talent" in a few weeks and also on the new "Marriage Ref" show on March 18th

An Interview With Rocco

2010-03-01T13:41:00.000-08:00

By Greg Koren

The Ham Sandwich Theory is just one of the things world-renowned magician Rocco Silano will discuss during his March 5th lecture at The Magic Warehouse.

“I ain’t going to hold back nothing,” Rocco said recently from his home in Paterson, N.J. “If I can help someone to grow an inch, I will.”

The master manipulator will share his secrets of sleeving, a technique for making objects appear and disappear that thumbs its nose at the nothing-up-my-sleeve cliché, as well as other skills he’s acquired from his more than thirty years of on-stage experience.

“I want to leave a legacy for myself,” he said of his lecture tours. “I want to be remembered as one of the world’s greatest magicians. Not THE greatest—one of them.”

That’s been Rocco’s goal since he was 19, when he first became interested in magic and befriended sleight-of-hand man Bill Wisch, a protégé of Slydini’s who later introduced Rocco to the legendary conjurer.

Their first meeting was a bit—excuse the pun—rocky.

“I did a coin trick,” Rocco remembered, “and he [Slydini] said, ‘No, no.’ And I said, what do you mean, no? And he said, ‘Magic has to come from the soul.’”

This was a revelation to the teen-ager, who saw magic not only as a means of achieving fame and fortune, but also of getting girls.

“Right then I knew I had to get serious,” Rocco said.

Thirty-one years later, he continues to carry on Slydini’s soulful legacy. Watch him work with water, fruit, ice cream and other foodstuff, and you’ll see a man who brings the magic to his tricks.

Rocco is the only American to win two awards from the prestigious International Federation of Magic Societies, or FISM.

While accepting the second in 2006, for most original close-up act, he was surprised to learn of his own legacy. That year, Helder Guimaraes won FISM’s World Championship for close-up with cards.

Rocco said the Portugal native, who was then 19, reminded him of himself at that age. When he mentioned this to Guimaraes, the teen credited him with being his inspiration.

That’s what Rocco strives for in his lectures: to inspire others to find themselves in their magic.

“It’s the space between the notes that makes the music,” he said. “In the space between the tricks is your personality. That’s the real magic. You have to bring it out.”

Rocco works with food, coins, cigarettes and other ordinary objects precisely because they are ordinary. He looks for their logical transformations: water to ice, wine to grapes, oil to olives.

If those transformations don’t present themselves, he helps them along. Which is where his Ham Sandwich Theory comes in.

“Wouldn’t it be great if somebody asked you for a ham sandwich and you produced one, just like that?” he said.

You could go about it in a couple of ways, he said. One would be to walk around with a ham sandwich up your sleeve and hope somebody is hungry. The other would be to create the circumstances for hunger.

Once Rocco fast-talked a woman into saying her name was Joy just so he could produce an Almond Joy candy bar for her.

From Joy to Almond Joy, it’s the type of logical transformation people respond to instinctively, he said. “It leaves them touched with wonderment.”

After his appearance at The Magic Warehouse, Rocco will play a role on America’s Got Talent (don’t ask, he can’t talk about it), and his influence will be felt on the March 18th episode of Marriage Ref, when the best-selling trick he co-created with Roger Mayfarth, D’Lite, will play an as-yet-undisclosed role (don’t ask, he doesn’t know).

What is known is that Rocco Silano—ONE of the world’s greatest magicians—has achieved his goal of fame and fortune.

He even plans to marry in a couple of years.

But first, he laughed, “I’ve got to find the girl.”

Ghost-Tag by Peter Eggink

2010-02-20T18:27:00.000-08:00

We see a lot of new magic but every once in a while something really gets our attention. Peter Eggink's "Ghost-Tag" is one such item. In this effect a chosen card appears on a photograph. The photo is shown at the beginning of the effect and only the back of the card can be seen. After the magic happens the chosen card is in the photo, "really"!. This gimmick is cool and is worth checking out.

Magician Michael Tulkoff

2010-02-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

When Michael Tulkoff first joined my SAM Assembly he was making a living selling insurance. Michael was different than most people. He had a vision, he had passion, he was highly motivated and he listened to advice from anyone who offered. Michael wanted to make a living in magic. he followed his passion and qucikly became one the busiest childrens entertainers in the mid-atlantic area. In 2001 Michael continued his dream by relocating his family to Israel. Today Michael does his magic mostly in hospitals. Michael brings smiles to sick children and their families and really makes a difference in peoples lives. Michael is not just an entertainer. He meets with doctors and his visits to patients is part of their treatment. Michael is an inspiration and you can read more about him at his website
kidsmagician.com

Extreme Burn 2.0 by Richard Sanders

2010-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

The MOST VISUAL Bill Change system EVER...and now COMPLETELY EXAMINABLE!

Extreme Burn is back WITH A VENGENCE!

* HAND OUT TECHNIQUES
* ADVANCED UNDERGROUND CHANGES
* MAGAZINE TO MONEY WORKSHOP
* NEW MOVES, FRESH CONCEPTS
* PRO HANDLING TIPS: TABLE HOPPING, RESETABILITY
* SUBTLETIES, PSYCHOLOGY and MUCH MORE!
* PLUS: BRAND NEW ULTRA THIN GIMMICK
* PLUS: Extreme Burn Wallet/Holder

Record snowfall hits The Magic Warehouse

2010-02-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

The Baltimore area has been hit by the largest amount of snow ever recorded in our area. 24 inches fell this past weekend and another 20 inches are expected over the next 24 hours. We are doing our best to get the orders out but please be patient.
UPS, Fed Ex and the Post Office are not operating today Feb 10th. I expect tomorrow will be the same situation.
The picture of the snow plow shows how bad the situation is.