Magikraft Studios Custom Made Magic

Jim Steinmeyer's "Hospitality" as described in Modern Art. This version is smaller, holding only four drinks, and is finished in white plastic laminate with a Maple counter top and chrome towel holder. I made this for my own show. Mark Evans makes an elegant commercial version that uses an ATA case and is marketed by David Charvet. You can email David for info at DDCharvet@aol.com

From an original effect by Walter Gibson which he called the "A" production cabinet. I built one for William McIlhany's wonderful collection. I made it to look like an expensive liquor cabinet. Made from mahogany and brass with bookmatched doors it features hand turned pillars and a scroll cut crown. It was then oxydised for a rich color, the grain enhanced, and given a classic shellac finish.

Mr. McIlhany wrote in the "Gipsy Trader" about this prop;
"The late Walter Gibson designed two most deceptive production boxes which were written up in the Sphinx, December 1939, and Conjurer's 1946. One wonders why they were never manufactured or marketed. Recently the first one has been produced by both Sam Fehrenz abd Owen Magic Supreme. Martin made the second one for me out of solid Honduras Mahogany and the word "stunning" barely suffices to convey the beauty of it."

The Locked Book Release, first made by Magikraft in the early thirties is based on a standard effect; The release of a block from a frame and ribbon. Instead of a block and frame Dad made the apparatus looks like a pair of book ends holding three books. He told a patter story about how he kept his magic books secure from prying eyes yet could remove them magically whenever he wished.

His original version was made from painted wood. That was just after the war and wood of any kind was hard to come by. He suggests that now a naturally finished hardwood would be more becoming. I agreed and made them from Walnut with a hand rubbed finish.

David Avadon in a review of the Locked Book Release said;

When Martin demonstrated this (Locked Book Release) for me, there were some aspiring woodworkers present who touched the equipment, particularly the beautifully crafted walnut stand, with such appreciation that I thought for a moment that I was watching awed rabbis caress the Ark of the Covenant.

Designed by my father and built by me for the McIlhany collection. A 5 inch square block with a hole through it is placed on a small stand which has an open front. A rectangular tube is placed over the block and a rod is put through holes in the sides of the tube which line up with the hole through the block. The tube is brought forward and the rod removed. The tube is then lifted to show the block still in place. Once again the block is impaled within the tube and the tube is held from above, the rod keeping the block inside. The rod is then quickly removed from the tube and the block doesn't fall out. The tube is then shown empty. The block has vanished. The block is then reproduced via Len Sewell's Block on Rod Reappearance. Full descriptions of both these effects are described in Albo's Classic Magic series.
In effect a glass of wine is poured, covered with a tube, a few magic passes and the wine is gone. The lid is removed from the tube and the tube is shown empty. So cool that you just want to watch it work. Solid walnut and birdseye maple veneer with silk screened motif.
My first venture into commercial prop design was this coin penetration. An Oriental story is told as a nail penetrates a coin twice. Once inside a "prayer" box and then visibly. The apparatus is constructed from four pieces of cherry that were shaped using only a router. I originally designed it as a project for an article in a wood workers magazine but after doing it a few times I realised that it was just too good a trick for that sort of thing.

From Jim Steinmeyer's Device and Illusion. I built this for my 1992 show and later sold it, with Mr Steinmeyer's permission, to Bob Brown. The effect is simple and strong. Two spectators are invited up on stage. A rope is tied around the waist of your assistant, the free end is then passed through holes in the front and bottom of the box and handed to the spectators. A Metamorphosis type curtain is raised leaving your assistants head showing above it. The spectators then pull the rope, and your assistant, through the one inch hole in the front of the trunk. as you drop the curtain the audience see a wisp of your assistant's costume as it completes it's journey to the inside of the box.