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kwl thanks.

I was thinking.

As I'm starting close up i could do with a close up case and then a stage case / table.

I may get a CD box thing for my close up as they are all small things.

Still thinking about stage cases etc! preferably i'd like to buy / make (hahhaa - that would be awfully fun!!!) but i am not DIY and havent got the money at moment. Will think this one through! haha

When actually performing close-up or street style, I self contain in my jacket pockets, etc......but for close up shows at a table, or for storage and general transporting items, I use an empty Backgammon case....it works well to store items, and when I close it, the plush outside cover works very well as a small table top and close-up mat!

Don't forget Wilkinson Hardware Stores( and there's a Sale on at the moment) They sell all kinds of boxes, in plastic & board. They have a line in plastic cabinets which have 2, 3, 4 & 5 drawers, some equiped with castors. I bought a 4 drawer one before Xmas just to put Computer paper, labels, stationary etc. in. Cost was £12. Try the kitchen dept. Mine is simply black with 'near transparent' drawers.
A way of transporting props for a children's show is in a similar 3 drawer cabinet( put out for toy storage) and in 3 different colours. They have castors on them and retail anything from £12 to £20. Being colourful you work directly from it using the top as a table. Make a cover to transport it about.Check Argos as well.
TOM. You really need to store props in separate boxes NOT in one case. Otherwise you end up with battered damaged props and yes i do know 2 (one well known in the Magic World) who do this. Their props often look as though they came from Steptoe & Son's Yard! Metal props need drawstring bags making (find the right girl friend or be nice to Mum!)
Roy Johnson, some years back, recommended LP cases as a performance box. Obviously these no longer exist BUT there are equilivents if you search the Shops..NOT the magic Shops. The Box All Table is still great for Stand up Magic. This is a square box 12inches , the lid of which hinges back partly and becomes the table top. It can be stood on a chair or fixed to the usual metal stand.
Why not , otherwise, get a wooden box made( small case size) fix a screw plate to the bottom( Check Paul Howard's Pro Magic in Harrogate) Then screw it to a stand, carry it in. Open up, take out the prop, use the top as a table top, put the props back as you get the next etc. At the end, all your props are in the wooden case ready to go home. I'm told the screw plate can be bolted to one of the aluminium cases as well.
I often use a stiffened bag to carry the stuff in but no table. Another idea I use is what is called a knitting 'case' sometimes a magazine 'rack'( in the Temps catalogues arrived yesterday) This is a collapsible wooden frame with a canvas bag covering. The Temps catalogue one (about £8:50 p) is in white. Folds flat when not in use.
Close up you SHOULD be working from your pockets.Anything that doesn't fit those, carry in a video tape case, a man's 'handbag' cum hold everything, even a small metallic paper bag as used for presents.
A vent doll can be carried in a holdall.
The thing is DON't CARRY EVERYTHING you have. Limit the show's props. If you are taking a suitcase full of props then you haven't routined the Axt properly! Keep a props book which shows you WHAT you need for which Act and what to SET UP, in which pocket etc. Store the props properly! I use a different box for each Act.
Allen Tipton

Mine is simply black with 'near transparent' drawers.

snap until recently thease also double nicly as an alternative to expensive and fragile light boxes just add rope lights or tree lights in the draws, which then becomes your stand for your amp and mixer.

The Box All Table is still great for Stand up Magic. This is a square box 12inches , the lid of which hinges back partly and becomes the table top. It can be stood on a chair or fixed to the usual metal stand.

built something similar to this a few years back to fit on a mike stand, with top section taken off, so i didnt need to carry another stand.
mine looked like a large yellow die with black dots the number one spot side hinded down and the inside had padded sections for my change bags (6) presetup and my metal tubes and die box etc.

Magicdiscoman:Yellow!!! Mine was and still is, plain black with one silver disc( about $1/2.dollar size, in the centre of each side.) Some were marketed covered in crushed velvet. Ugh!!! If yours folds DOWN it surely means bending to look inside and thus losing your audience, for a few seconds whilst you remove the prop. With the original, as the top opens you are looking down into it. I also added some wide elastic strips to hold jumbo cards, stamp album etc. I also felted the interior to prevent noise.
Allen Tipton.

it was set up for kids shows hence the colour and performers side door as thoughs little bu**er... erm darling children are far to nosey for there own good, it was sectioned so my act would go from top to bottom as it was needed not to leave any props within arms reach of a kid.
my patter included sutable pauses / exchanges to prepare them for the next trick as they were story based.

What else I did use for Kiddies was 2 of those extra large coloured(usually red, white & blue) shopping bags. The props were in one and as they were finished with they were put into bag 2. Also a table, with a narrow top similar to Mr. Punch's playboard (for the puppets routines. )
Then I have also used one of those laundry disposal bags on a folding frame ( a large version of the knitting frame thing in my previous post) I dyed the bag black, had a brightly coloured silk with Rabbit on as a front bannerThis hooked on for easy disposal later. Inside, the props were at the front with a sheet of hardboard as a divider. When the props were finished with they were placed behind the divider. Across the top a piece of gold coloured harboard as the table top. At the end this went into the bag. Close the frame,it had a piece of rope attached. Tie the rope and everything safely inside was then taken to the car.
Allen Tipton

sounds like a good idea because i do a lot of traveling i needed something a bit harder wearing so thouse multi draw plastic units from wilkinsons and b&q worked well for me with a bit of modification to provide a good working survace on the top and a lugage starp to hold the draws closed and one of thoughs lugage trollys attached to the side and i was set to go.
it also doubled as a lecturn when consulting with bussiness men whith plenty of room for both laptop, props and lecture notes / ohp slides.

Magic discoman: And if you get the 5 drawer version, it's high enough for a table and the bottom drawer could hold any lecture notes you might sell. Re the Laundry Frame. mine was plain wood which I painted white but there is a posher version with a chrome frame and white bag. The later I feel still needs dying black. They were in Wilkinsons, which is fast surpassing the OLD Woolworths for Magic Props. Probably in IKEA as well. .Another large bag I used when they first appeared on the martet was a tall one with built in castors.
My first performing box( in the early 1950's) was a small cardboard one which held a dozen Babyshams! Mum had bought some great paper serviettes all edged with playing cards( these mysterioulsy disappeared from the sideboard!). I (oops!) decorated the box, which was 2 sided with them and it served as a props carrier for Stand Up(Cabaret & After Dinner then!) till it finally disintegrated. For Close Up I did find a box ( and there is a version still available) which looked like a large book. This, when there was room on their table, served as a close up mat, as well as holding the props. The past 20 years I have always worked from the pockets.
One of my last year's lectures was called 'An Act From The Pockets'. This was Stand Up stuff though most of it could be done as Close Up. The idea is in the title. A complete Stand Up Act ALL contained in the pockets. In it,
I demmed 20 tricks and gave the members a list of them which also included another 60 possible tricks. Thus NO Transport box was needed,
only storage boxes to put the stuff away in at home.The list also contained details of an e book, with 14 Close Up effects (he would send a printed version if asked for) from a young magic friend and inventor, Tom McCarron who lives in Wallasey, Merseyside.
Allen Tipton.

Wilkinsons, which is fast surpassing the OLD Woolworths for Magic Props

Wilkinsons, Poundstretcher, The Works and perhaps Staples - all you need for a vast selection of Magic props and accessories !

Incidentally, those 3 tier storage box towers at Wilkos are still £10.99 and Poundstretcher are now doing three clear plastic boxes with lids for just under £8.00 - various sizes and types available.

I do close up work and I found a fishing tackle box to be perfect for storing and organising all my equipment. It has little compartments for coins, elastic bands etc.
Slightly bigger ones for cards and other props then a large space at the bottom for rope, sponge balls etc.
Saying that it did take a while to find a suitable one as some have compartment way to small to put anything other than fish hooks in and unfortunatley I dont have any rountines that involve fish hooks although if anyone has any ideas

razor blades / fish hooks from mouth.

my box was a four draw version but had the addition of a base which housed a pa system and radio setup on wheels so it was at the right hight for performing / lecturing, later one of my students if you will replaced it with a custom built metal framework, i kept the draws, and started a bussiness up making specialist storage he now works in germany.

till i know whats going on with my head I'm not building anything permanent at the present, all terain disab-disco rig excepted, but thats another thread.

Oops. There are those laundry folding 'containers' in the Argos catalogue. They are under Linen Baskets and range from £5:99 for a wooden one to £14:99 for the chromium plated model. There are half a dozen models.
Allen Tipton

Can you give us a page number

The Argus Big One catalogue. Linen Baskets/holders.. page 536 onwards.
Allen Tipton