What illusion do those of you, who perform them regularly, consider was your best investment? (i.e.) be it portability, audience reaction, price, or whatever scale you are using to measure it - which of your large scale illusion purchases did you consider gave you the best bang for your buck? - Curious

Of my more recent purchases, I would say compressed is my favorite bang for the buck. It looks great, is built very well and is very portable. The one draw back being angle problems for some venues. All time favorite, Ye olde zig-zag from Chalet. My least favorite would be interlude.

Ray Ray

Frank:
I had been performing kids show and family style magic shows for years before I met my wife and then decided to start building a small scale illusion show that I could market to the many fairs and festrivals in my area around Philadelphia.

I made sure that I did not make the same mistake that many of us do when we decide to get illusions.

Some of the things one must take into consideration before buying illusions of any type are:

- Portability: How does the effect break down for travel and how will you transport these illusions to and from your show.

- Storage: Where will you store your illusions between shows and do you have a spot that is easily accessable for the load in and load out.

- Performances: Where will your performances mainly be. Keep in mind that if your doing a lot of faiors or festivals like I do, you need to make sure your illusions are angle proof, are not dependant on lighting and can be performed almost anywhere.

- Assistant: This may sound silly but some magicians have actually bought illusions before they even figured out who would be in them. Make sure you have an assistant and that you discuss things with them before making a purchase

With some of these in mind, I found out that I should best start my illusion show by sticking with the classics. They are classics for a reason. THEY WORK! Some of these classics are:

- Sub Trunk
- Chair Suspension
- Sword Basket
- Broom suspension

Just to name a few. What is great about most all of these is the fact that they are not all that exspensive (except the broom suspension) and they all pack down fairly flat and are not that difficult to transport. Also they can be performed in almost any condition and are not dependent on lighting or black art.

I hope some of these tidbits are of help to you and others. I look forward to anyone's comments or thoughts on this. I can be reached for direct comment at magic4u02@aol.com.

I like Kyle and Ray's suggestions. If you had these five Illusions you would have a well rounded show. None of them are similar.

Two of us?....Oh nooooo the worlde is not ready....~RR

I have really enjoyed performing Modern Art. It gets a much better reaction than I ever expected. It was the closer to my school assembly this past year!

I've also got a lot of use out of my sub trunk. It's a classic, but it got that way for a reason.

These are only my opinions, but I hope that they can help you! Best of luck to you !

Dave

I agree with you Dave, the sub trunk is great classic. I to have gotten alot out of it.
Another would have to be the Mini Kub-Zag.

-SB

Dave:
Great job perfoming Modern Art by the way! I can see why you enjoy performing it so much. Keep it up buddy! -Steve