In your opinion, which are the top five+ stage or platform magic effects did you purchase and are very happy about? And which five+ stage or magic platform effects did you buy but wished you hadn’t?

Mstone,
What are YOUR top 5 and bottom 5? You'll get a better response if you chime in with what you've come up with so it doesn't look like you're begging for the hard work others have done over the years.

I won't wait for your response this time. I'll let you know now!!!

My stand-up show has zero purchased products in it.
For good or for bad, they are all my own and I am sticking with them.
They will either make me money or the won't. I would not feel comfortable performing any other way.

However, they are basically the classics:
rings
rope
object to impossible yada yada
vanishing blah blah
a boring card trick
cups and balls
egg bag do-dah
dumb silk routine
torn and restored thingy

I discovered many years ago that the "top 5" of any genre only have to do with how much effort and time you put into them. they have very little to do with the product purchased and it especially doesn't have to do with whether it's on anyone else's "top 5" list.

Are you looking for a great trick? You cannot buy a great trick. You can only buy a good one. To get from good to great takes years of on the job training for each one of them. No shortcuts. None.

Also, this forum is already replete with answers to this exact question in every type of magic from close-up to vegas illusions. The search engine is your friend.

There are so many 'classics in magic' that it cannot be limited to just 5. None are on the bottom.

Yes..it's not the tricks that will make your stage show. A couple that are always in mine are Bank Night and Body Language...both have lots of audience interaction and don't necessarily have the "magic" feel about them....and both require skill as an entertainer. Look at Michael Finney...uses standard classic items and makes them very entertaining.

I am returning to magic (I was a designer and manufacturer of magicians props) after a very long break from the art and I just wanted to know opinions about what's new and appreciated by today's performers and magic hobbyists.

In that case, I have no idea.

Magic has taken a turn currently to close-up magic. David Blaine has awakened a different unpolished presentation style that people today think is entertaining.

Every minute a new re-discovered trick appears on the market. If someone gets an idea, he goes to his computer, makes a video and burns a DVD. Even though he has not shown this new discovery to anyone or even performed it in real life. The you get someone to tell everyone how wonderful and fantastic it is and you then hear complaints from buys how bad it is. That is the current state of magic.

Currently, the talk is about the borrowed pen that can become a radio station. This new model is very well constructed from state of the art materials.

Very sad that you cannot trust any dealer, wholesaler, manufacturer that puts this stuff out on the market. If you are thinking of re-entertaining the manufacturing part of magic. All dealers are just going to India and China and having them made as if you produce anything original, it will be copied within hours of it hitting the market. You will lose ownership and sales and be out of business before you got into business.

The pros and cons of the magic business are numerous and a whole book could be written on the subject.

If you want to do shows, just dig out your old magic and refresh you memory and go for it, as the old magic is the new to many audiences. If you stick with the high priced magic, you will be doing something everyone else is not doing. By high priced I mean $300 to $1000 range. Bob Kohler Magic has put out some very good items in the last few years.

Start reading the sections of the Café that interest you, some very good additions have been added to some rope and coin magic that may interest you.

I would say the only different item in props is the Dill Dean's Box, show magic has not benefited much from the current state of magic.

That is my insight on magic currently. My best advice is to go to the jobbers/wholesalers sites and see what is being offered. Then come back to the Café and search the product. You will most likely find comments on most items. The final decision to part with your money will be yours of course.

If you are a designer of magic, then by all means do your material, as everyone is doing all the same magic effects. If you note the Café now has 41,698 members, that means you have that many people possibly doing the same trick you bought yesterday.

Welcome back to the magic scene. Have a enjoyable journey, it is fun.

Thanks

The classic must be learned and eventually improved and made into your own. The work is tough but fun and in the end you'll have a routine you can count on. After decades I still do the Rings, Bill In Lemon, Blindfold, etc.

Part of the journey is the learning and searching...enjoy it.

We love improving classics. My friend Puck has taken the classic Smoking Thumb routine to new heights.
Check out the video on my web site. http://www.bobkohlermagic.com. The routine is called "No Smoking". Finally a twist to present this routine in a non-smoking world!