New Episode of Magic Detective Show Season 2 Ep 5

Well turns out I missed last week. Just been busy since I got home from my trip and I've not been able to keep up. However, I do have the new episode up and running. It starts with another trick from the world of Professor Hoffmann. I found what I thought was an unusual trick with a borrowed pocket watch that appears inside a glass of milk. I presented the trick as per the instructions in the book, along with a homemade gimmick that I made fashioned after the one Pro. Hoffmann illustrated. I did have to make a few modifications because in the book the magician gets the help from an assistant. In this case, I had to do everything. One thing I found was that this was a fairly tricky thing to pull off. Despite how it might appear, a mirror glass is not used. The glass that is turned and shown empty and then filled with milk truly has NO pocket watch inside when the milk is poured in. At the conclusion of the trick the pocket watch appears to be dripping with milk, however that is all part of the illusion and the watch is never in any danger. It's definitely a stage trick only. Interestingly, there is a trick in Tarbell where a borrowed watch appears in the soil of a potted plant that has similarities to this effect.

The last item on the show is a photo of FuManchu's grave which I received from Martin Pacheco. I had always heard and I also read it in Genii, that David Bamberg/FuManchu got a burial at sea, in other words his ashes were scattered into the ocean. It turns out this was wrong and indeed he was buried in Argentina. But because there was no upkeep on his grave, Bamberg's remains were eventually moved to a common grave and the whereabouts today are sadly unknown.

Enjoy the episode. It may be a week or two before the next one is up. I've got a busy schedule of shows and some personal things to tend to. By the way, sorry for the slightly blurry footage this week. I'm not sure what was going on, but I was in a rush to get it all shot and this was the result.

Houdini's Rose Bush and GENII Magazine

I love Genii Magazine! It was the first magic magazine I ever purchased as a kid. I'm so grateful it continues to this day. Each month it's sort of a fight to see which of two articles I will read first, Jim Steinmeyer's Conjuring column or John Gaughan's Chamber of Secrets column. This month I read John Gaughan's article first and let me tell you what, fellow Houdini fans, your head will explode!

In the October 2014 issue of Genii, John's column is sub-titled "Houdini's Blooming Rose Bush and Flower Cone. The photo at the top of the page is the 'OTHER' Houdini Blooming Rosebush, which is in Ken Klosterman's collection. But trust me, that photo above is nothing compared to the photos in the magazine. In the article you'll see an exposed view of the inner workings of this magnificent piece of magical apparatus. And just as soon as you think you've seen it all, then comes the Flower Cone.

The Houdini Flower Cone was an illusion used in his final tour and can be seen in HOUDINI His Legend and His Magic by Doug Henning and Charles Reynolds on page 122. But in the book you only see a black and white image which is not exactly high resolution. In the Genii issue you'll see the actual cone and the flowers in full color!!! It's breathtaking and you must check it out, NOW!!!!!

Also, be sure to check out the great article on the Masters of Illusion Show! This is a touring show as well as a TV show. Every magician should be watching and or attending this production!

The Oct 2014 Issue of Genii Magazine

LeGrand David Bronze on Ebay

Just a few months ago the historic auction of Le Grand David Magic items was held at their theatre in Beverly Mass. Among the items for sale was the Broom Suspension Bronze created in 1984 by David F. Bull, father of David Bull who portrayed the character Le Grand David in the show. The bronze depicts an actual scene from the show of Marco the Magi levitating David on a broom surrounded by other cast members.

This bronze sold at auction for $8,000.00. Well now the bronze is back on the auction block and the price has gone up, a lot. The asking price is $75,000.00 or best offer. I can tell you in my opinion the $8,000 was pretty low so the person who purchased it got a bargain. As for the $75,000 price, that is up to the person who wants it. This piece is much more than a magic collectable, this is real art and real art carries these type of prices.

There are actually three of these, but only one is being offered for sale. Of the two remaining, one is in the Ray Goulet Magic Museum and the other is in the American Museum of Magic in Marshall Michigan. 

The link to the ebay auction is here http://www.ebay.com/itm/Monumental-Magic-Bronze-Iconic-Le-Grand-David-Rare-Subject-Shows-Action-/321525251223?pt=Art_Sculpture&hash=item4adc65fc97

The Fawkes Egg Bag

Magicians are quite familiar with the effect known as The Egg Bag. Most magicians today know the Malini Egg bag, made popular by Max Malini, Charlie Miller and Johnny Thompson. There are other egg bags all of which bring about the same results with only a slight modification in method. But there is an egg bag lost to time which seems to rear it's head every hundred years or so. THE BIG EGG BAG or what I'd like to call The Fawkes Egg Bag.

Sir Isaac Fawkes was a 18th Century Magician from England. I wrote about him once before on this blog, the article can be found here.

The highlight of his act, or the centerpiece of his act was a large egg bag routine. The modern day egg bag is made from 2 squares of fabric about 8 inches by 8 inches sewn on three sides. The bag that Fawkes used was much larger. The modern day bag produces and vanishes a single egg. The Fawkes bag was more involved. Here is a description of his bag routine from The Annals of Conjuring by Sidney W. Clarke.

"He takes an empty bag, lays it upon the table and turns it several times inside out, then commands 100 Eggs out of it, and several showers  of real Gold and silver coins, then the bag begins to swell, several sorts of wild fowl run out of it upon the table."

THAT is a killer piece of magic! The Malini Bag can't do that!!! The Malini bag which is the modern version, is also a stage or platform trick. By all accounts, Fawkes might have been doing this platform or possibly close-up. I'm sure other magicians copied the Fawkes Bag routine and overtime it fell out of fashion. The Fawkes Bag is revealed in the book HOCUS POCUS The Whole Art of Legerdermain by H.Dean 1727. Oddly, the method described only shows producing less than a dozen eggs, so either Fawkes version was different, or he exaggerated a little in his advertisements.


In 1786, David Leendert Bamberg was born. He was the third in the line of the Bamberg Magical Dynasty. According to Harlan Tarbell in Tarbell #5 pg 345, it was David Leendert Bamberg who invented the large type of egg bag.  As Bamberg was born 50 years after Fawkes had died, I'd say that he either 'reinvented' an old favorite with a slightly new way of performing the effect. His son, David Tobias Bamberg also used the large egg bag to great effect in his shows. David Tobias Bamberg was known as Papa Bamberg and was the father of OKITO, Theodore Bamberg.

The Bamberg Egg Bag can be found in Tarbell #5. The method is interesting and after producing 15 eggs it is then followed with the production of a chicken.

Del Adelphia, known as the Cowboy Magician, also performed the large egg bag in the late 1800s. His routine is described in the new book by Mike Caveney called The Conference Illusions, which is book 2 of a set called Mike Caveney Wonders. Del Adelphia was using the Bamberg Bag. The difference in his routine he apparently only produced 8 eggs and then 2 live chickens.  Mike Caveney set about to recreate the effect developed by Del Adelphia but Mike's methodology was quite different from what Del used.

I have always been intrigued with this 'large egg bag' premise. Ever since I first saw the images of Sir Isaac Fawkes in an old magic book, I have wanted to perform this piece. The Tarbell Course kept my interest cooking and then in 2010, I saw Mike Caveney present his version LIVE on the Essential Magic Conference. I say LIVE because I watched the streaming version online before it came out on DVD. IT was indeed fantastic and in addition, I was fooled by the routine.

Well, fast forward to 2014. I am now working on a version of the Large Egg Bag. Mine will hopefully have elements of the all the different versions and with any luck a completely different ending. Below is a photo of the Fawkes Bag created by a master seamstress, my MOM! She has sewn a number of things for me that are all amazing pieces. I'm hoping this particular creation lives up to the skill and artistry she used in making this incredible bag. MY version of the Fawkes Egg Bag will appear in an upcoming episode of The Magic Detective Youtube Show.

The Magic Detective Show Season 2 Episode 4

On this weeks episode I share some old Victorian Style Magic. The effect was known as The Magnetized Cards and is a very cool routine that uses cards in a none pick a card fashion. Also, I'll be showing another one of my magician figurines.

Enjoy!