Well I am glad I wasn't held back by that belief. I started in magic at age 5. There wasn't as many resources back then as there are now, especially in rural Kentucky. As I grew up I read every book on magic at our public library. I watched the first of Copperfield's specials and the Magic Circus. I did my first shows for show and tell in elementary school. Later when we got a beta vcr I taped every Copperfield special and proceeded to figure out my own way to do some of his close up effects. All of this before I hit puberty. Thanks, but I think I'll continue to teach my niece... life is too short.

Edit: Didn't mean to make this a 'my haunted key is longer than your haunted key' post, just illustrating that learning magic before puberty is not a bad thing.

Sorry about the delay in responding. I have been really busy lately. Walt, the key is 4 3/4" in length. I am certainly aware of your presentations, and in fact, mention them in the text that goes along with the set as a source for more information. Also, I don't plan on making them a limited set and hopefully I can get some in stock in the near future. Right now though, I am building for the preorders.

On that note, I have a delivery date on April 20, for the instructions. Assuming those arrive on schedule, I will be shipping out the first sets of these on April 21. I have put up the pay button on my website. I will be sending you an email shortly, if yours is in this first set. I also will be able to get more done this weekend. I am hoping to have all orders in out in less than two weeks from today. I can't promise that, but it is my goal.

Very nice set Paul.

All the best.
Rich

Could you provide the length of your key? Thanks! Walt

You missed it Walt, he did ...the key is 4 3/4" in length. That has me anticipating my shipment even more.

I am having trouble locating the pay button for the key..did I miss something?
M

It seems to me that when a guy comes along making beautiful props and blending that with original thinking, that performers should be all over him with tons of support. Order placed, Paul...money sent...I look forward to getting these props and seeing what else you come up with in the coming years.

David

Thanks much David, Chris, Rich and all the rest. Quick update. I did get some time in this weekend to work on these some more. My hope is to get all of the orders out by the end of this coming week and then have some in stock regularly. I think I can make that happen. I didn't get as much time in the shop as I would like, however. Check out my Facebook page for what I did this weekend. Let's just say it involved backhoes and bulldozers.

Anyway, I have sent the first round of emails for those whose props are finished. As stated before, just waiting on the instructions and if they are delivered on time, the first round of props go out on the 21st. Also, I had some questions about the postcards and the first ten orders. I have truly felt honored by the reponse, so I made postcards for virtualy all of the preorders. If I send you an email and it says that you are receiving a postcard, then you are. Don't fret if you haven't received an email yet. I am sending that info when I have your props finished.

Also a few people have asked about paying. Please be aware that at this time, I am only taking pre-orders. Please don't pay right now. Email me at paul@paulprater.com and I will put you on the list. Then I will email when yours is done. If I have emailed you and you can't find the payment button, just look here: http://www.paulprater.com/paulprater1_019.11 at the bottom of the page. Also if you have visited the site before you may have to refresh your browser as it may be pulling up a cached copy. I assure you, I do have a payment button.

Hopefully I have answered all of the questions. I try my best to stay on top of emails and communicate as quickly as I can. Thanks again and I hope everyone has a great start to the new week.

OK, the instructions came in today. If I have sent you an email that your set is complete, then please send payment. For those who have paid, these go out tomorrow via priority mail, so hopefully all of the domestic shipments can arrive by the weekend.

For those that I have not emailed yet, I am working on yours and will have them ready soon.

Thanks again.

I also got some time in the shop earlier this evening. Unless you emailed me within the past two days for a key set, you should have now received an email from me to forward payment. We had tornados so power went out and Internet still down so not sure if all email got through. I sent some on my phone. I should have remainder of orders done sometime early next week and will also then have the item in stock going forward.

As always I appreciate the support.

Just wanted to say that Paul confirmed shipping less than a day after receiving payment. Great, fast service. Thanx Paul!

I can't wait to receive mine! It looks fantastic!

Mine will be here tomorrow!!! It is nice to have something shipped from the south instead of waiting for it to ship all the way from California. I have done some research on the key's back story and I am chomping at the bit to get started.

Very quick turn over in shipping by Paul, by the way.

It may also reach me in today's mail as well!

Mine should be here today, too!

Pre-ordered and en-route! I can't wait to get it!

Review:

Received mine today.

There are a lot of gadgets out there filled with electronics or other goodies where the manufacturer claims people looking at them will never find the gaff. I just received an amazingly cheap "double locked box mystery" where a vanished item appears inside a wooden box that is inside a larger locked box. If I handed it out to be inspected, I'm sure busy hands would find the solution in about 14.25 seconds. Other gaffs are more subtle but still depend upon something other than you.

The Secret Key is truly something that anyone could look at and not discover the secret because the gaff is you. This really is a bullet-proof set of props. Most people here will know the gimmick. I think I purchased my first Haunted Key years ago when I was a kid and was disappointed that the gimmick wasn't more of a gimmick. Now, I look at amazement at how simple a device has the potential of providing so much entertainment. I've also never performed it because it looks like just a weird stunt. I have a personal philosophy that if someone might say "So?" about an effect that I haven't really brought out the best. The Secret Key finally solves this problem.

If you just want a nice Haunted Key, you can get it cheaper elsewhere. The secret of The Secret Key is that it's not a Haunted Key, it's literally a complete routine that includes a nice Haunted Key. The routine could easily take up ten or twenty minutes, with the Haunted Key aspect making the climax. This is literally an entire act that fits in a pocket. I know, I know, you've heard that before. In this case, however, it's true...if you have the knowledge.

The instructions come on 20 beautifully formatted 8.5 x 11 pages that have been professionally printed in full color and saddle stitched. If you don't know what that means, just understand that this is a quality production. But the truth is, 20 pages isn't going to give you a full act unless there are references to concepts you should either already know or are willing to investigate. Specifically, cold reading and numerology.

Okay, here's what you get:
1) The high-quality instructions including what to do, the real secret of the haunted key, references, and resources.
2) A heavy cloth with a section of numbers and another section for pendulum work
3) A short, heavy black cord with a plastic "crystal" at one end.
4) An obviously hand made case for the key. This may be the best part as it looks old, beat-up and real
5) A balanced, "commercially available," aged, haunted key. I assume this means that Paul bought it from a company that makes haunted keys.
6) An antique-looking post card for the backstory

The routine includes
Using a pendulum with the key and cord in a sort of mind-reading effect
Using numerology in a clever way, combined with cold reading
Using the numbers for a force
Having a logical reason for doing the haunted key and having it move.

My likes:
A great idea for a routine with lots of room for additions and personalizations
Using the key as a pendulum. Yes, I know others have suggested it, but using the cord holding the cloth makes this reasonable.
The case is great. If you do the Haunted Key, get this just for the case and key if nothing else
The way the key is used with the numbers. I won't say more other than that this is great and leads to the "coincidence"

My dislikes
I'm sorry, Paul, but the cloth doesn't look aged or hand printed. I'll have to get out some tea to fix that . Or perhaps re-do the entire thing on an old piece of leather.
I think too many people will be hip to the way the number matrix is used. For the routine, I'd suggest folding up the cloth before doing the HK. Then have the helper remember his number and show the match as you put the key away. An added shock like the hand coming out of the grave at the end of the movie "Carrie." This give the second ending used in so many horror films and puts away the grid so people won't be rapidly adding numbers. Just a difference in the routining.

My bottom line:
This is simply the best presentation of the Haunted Key to date and well worth the investment under two conditions:
1) You already regularly perform the Key
or
2) You either know or are willing to put in time to learn how to do the key, plus numerology and cold reading (and maybe a few other things, too)

Oh, there's another situation where I'd also highly recommend this. If someone came up to me and said, "I'm tired of just doing one trick after another. I really want to draw people in with a story. I guess I'd like to become a bizarrist. What do you recommend." I would easily recommend The Secret Key. Not only does it present a great effect and story, it literally teaches how to do a bizarre performance and gives clues on what you might do to become better at things such as working with a pendulum, using a peak wallet or impression pad, cold reading, numerology, etc. It could literally start a beginner off on the right path.

Well done, Paul.

P.S. In my instructions it says that if I were to copy it I could be "labile" for criminal prosecution. "Labile" means "liable to change" or "easily altered." So is part of your criminal prosecution turning people in newts or something?
:)

Thanks a lot for that very thorough review and the kudos. I appreciate it.

No doubt, the cloth is only "naturally" aged. It is an old roll of cloth, but I did not add any aging. However, I can assure you that the cloths are hand printed. I carved the blocks myself, rolled the ink on each one and printed them one at a time.

OK, so there is a typo. Shoot me. Why are you reading the copyright notice so closely anyway?

Only because I've worked as an editor and thought the typo was funny! ;-)

Great job!

A thoughtful and well designed review, dm. Thank you for taking the time to do it so well!

David