Vintage Magic Apparel and Gifts!

I'm going to do a trick that magicians call a transformation now, so watch closely. A transformation is actually a combination of a vanish and a production, so it's two tricks in one. That's a great value, actually.

Now here's the trick, are you watching closely? Nothing up my sleeve...

Ya know what else is a great value? Vintage magic poster art on a t-shirt from Heyday Graphix. They have an excellent selection of retro magic poster art available on t-shirts, ties, mouse pads, buttons, magnets, mugs, postcards, prints, and many other products. Houdini, Thurston, Kellar, they're all there, as are many more classic conjurers.
Heyday Graphix is adding new products and new images all the time, so keep checking back. They're a bunch of fine folks over there who support Sleighted: The Vintage Magic Blog and send us a portion of every sale they make through links here on the blog (look in the Links From Beyond box on the right of the page) which helps me keep making posts every day, or as often as I'm able. CLICK HERE TO GO TO HEYDAY GRAPHIX AND BROWSE. Amber up there is wearing a great looking shirt bearing some "Great Raymond" poster art, why not check it out?

And so dear readers, that's how I rather hamfistedly performed the transformation of this blog from content posts to an advertisement with just the lightest of taps on my keyboard. I'll try not to do it too often here in the middle, as long as you keep clicking on the links to the side of the page. Many thanks for your kind words about the blog, help in promoting it, and buying from vendors and advertisers that support us!

David Devant's Mascot Moth Illusion

The Mascot Moth is an illusion that was created by David Devant in the early 20th century. Here's the Magicpedia entry for it:
"Devant considered The Mascot Moth to be his masterpiece. In full view of the audience and in the center of a lighted stage, he makes the lady disappear. As soon as the conjurer attempts to grasp the moth-girl, she immediately vanishes out of sight, although the figure is not concealed in any way during the trick. In performance the illusion was spectacular. The children's writer E. Nesbit featured it in her 1912 play, The Magician's Heart. It was reconstructed nearly a hundred years later for Doug Henning's show Merlin by Jim Steinmeyer and John Gaughan. There is a story about it in Steinmeyer's book, Art and Artifice."
The only video I can find of it is the Merlin television ad below. The Mascot Moth is the final illusion at the end of the video.



Devant was a terrifically well known conjurer in England, the partner of J. N. Maskelyne, proprietor of the Egyptian Hall in London. They were both pretty fascinating fellows.
Click Here To Read Magicpedia's Full Entry On David Devant.

The Ghost Illusion Automaton

One of the few actual geniuses that I've ever met, Thomas Kuntz is not only an amazing artist and sculptor, he makes incredibly designed and engineered automata in the spirit of Robert-Houdin and other past practitioners of the conjuring arts. Thomas' work is unforgettable and amazing, and I'm very happy to have one or two of the resin figure kits he sculpted in years past. Here's a sample of his work, which features an example of the "Pepper's Ghost" illusion.



To see more of his work, why not visit his website at Thomaskuntz.com?

Schooled By The Professor

Dai Vernon (aka "The Professor") was possibly the greatest sleight of hand practitioner of the 20th century. Known as The Man Who Fooled Houdini, Vernon was the magician's magician - one of the most knowledgeable and generous performers and scholars of the art. He was magician in residence for thirty years at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. Watch him do his stuff with cups and balls.



Vernon wrote several books and mentored many younger magicians including Ricky Jay and Doug Henning. Click Here To Read The Wikipedia Entry for Dai Vernon.

Steinmeyer Talks Thurston

Jim Steinmeyer appeared on the Magic Newswire Podcast to talk about his new book, The Last Greatest Magician In The World. CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast.

Blacke's Magic - Barney Miller with a Top Hat

Blacke's Magic was a rather dull retread of Bill Bixby's "The Magician", which aired for thirteen episodes in 1986. Despite having a fine cast including Hal Linden and Harry Morgan, the shows writers were the real culprits every episode. Jim Steinmeyer was the magic consultant (at least for the pilot), and apparently was unable to steer the producers away from utilizing optical effects and cheap gimmickry instead of sleights or stage illusions when they couldn't come up with plausible explanations for their story points.
Though it's a bit of a throwaway show, it's worth a watch; especially if you can see it for free. The pilot, "Breathing Room", is available (as are several episodes) for viewing on Youtube.



Though Linden is a good actor and has personality, the series lacks the panache of "The Magician", and definitely the clever characterization and writing of "Jonathon Creek."
Blacke's Magic is not currently available on DVD, and I can't imagine there are legions of fans clamoring for its release.

The Last Greatest Magician in the World

Jim Steinmeyer's new biography of Howard Thurston is released this week! Steinmeyer wrote the excellent "Hiding The Elephant" and his books are always entertaining reads, as well as thoroughly researched. His storytelling skills are excellent, and I've been anticipating this book for a couple of years. It hits the streets in hardcover on Thursday, February 3rd.
Click Here To Order It At Amazon.Com