talkmagic.co.uk

Went in BHS today to look at all the christmas stuff (yea its there already!) and they have a few decent magic tricks, I bought the vannishing deck (black case on red bike deck) and a pen through note for a fiver each!

and there both pretty good quility (eddy's magic?) i was very impressed with the pen its one you can hand out at the end!

they also had d-lites (well lights from fingers) and a money printer

just thought i would let you folks know i was very happy and think that there pretty decent prices!

Thanks Kems, I might have a nosey in there and see what I can find

BHS? Is this a store I could find in the U.S.?

anyone in the UK know tk maxx? i think its tj maxx in the US.. anyway i say pen-o-tration for £2.99!!! u can borrow the note and let everything be examined apparantly... i just didnt have any cash on me...

Guys, this is not a particularly good thing... Sure, you get it for £2.99, but so does every kid you know when his mum is looking for stocking fillers.

Farlsborough wrote:so does every kid you know when his mum is looking for stocking fillers.

Not to mention that they are probably cheap knock offs!

~Sym~

I had a look today, and they're not much kop TBH.

The vanishing deck has EDDY'S MAGIC emblazoned down 1 face of the box, and is not a particularly good fit, and the pen-o-tration is a very cheap looking pen!

Stil, like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Browsing Tesco at the weekend I noticed they had two cheapo packs of magic, they're in the Travel games section and, not surprisingly, are marked 'Travel' ( ) the two I saw were 12 Card Tricks and 12 Dice tricks.

The cards one included a cheapo Svengali Deck and a card changing box which is quite good quality. There's also a trick with 4 kings plus one gaffed card to match the Sven and a couple of large rectangular cards almost like slates without the border, one of which which is also 'attractively' gaffed. Instructions are clear and easy and could lead to some further ideas. The dice one includes 5 Dice, four white one red, a Vision box, Flash Dice where 6 smaller dice are in a box and the spots change every time you, er, shake the box. There are also a couple of small dishes which work with a gaffed 'attractive' die but which could also be used with suitable coins. Again, the instructions are clear and, even allowing for the odd typo where they refer to Bonus 'Coin' tricks instead of 'Dice' tricks still a tad better than the average plastic low price tricks on the market. They lose a lot of points for including the old one where they assume nobody else knows what the total number of spots on opposing sides of a die are..... Sadly I can't remember the price but it was less than a fiver each so not exactly expensive for something where the ideas could easily be used with better quality props.

People often become worried when 'secrets' become widely available. Svengali decks on sale in high street stores, sections of RRTCM reprinted and given away as newpaper suppliments, etc. Im a professional numerologist and the basic 'secrets' of my art are available for free in most libraries in the UK. But it has never been a problem. The people in Soviet Russia used to have a saying - if you want to tell a secret, go out into the busiest street, stand under the brightest street lamp and speak loudly. People just dont take any notice.

Kids get svengali decks on xmas morining and perform one trick, badly, before xmas dinner is served. Readers browse suppliments and realise the effects take too much effort for them. No-one can be bothered to go to the library anymore.

Professional and serious amateurs are different from other people because we make the effort, take the time, and present our magic with care. This is the biggest difference between a kid who buys a magic deck from BHS or TKMAXXX and someone who buys their deck from Davenports, International Magic, etc. When people see the latter guy perform do they think "there's a guy who bought a trick from BHS?" of course they dont. The thought never enters their mind.

I look froward to the day someone with a BHS/Tesco/whatever stripper deck shows me "the trick", I ask them to let me in on the secret, they show me, I take the deck, and show them what it's really capable of... without ever telling them I'm using the same principle. After all, anyone who would pony up the secret that easily deserves a little magic being put back into their life.