Dan, these are very nice pieces, but in style and content they seem to be exact replicas of Chris Gould's work. The method of production might be different but the effect is precisely the same. When I first saw the ad I thought perhaps you and Chris had teamed up. Apparently this is not the case

Yep, especially when most of the witches were hung... Especially in England.

And then burnt and ashes scattered. Come on Curator it isn't easy burning witches in a country with so much rain.

Heck you hang the witch and if she didn't die you knew she was a witch - then you burned her - and if she survived that you really knew she was a witch - so she was shopped into bits - now is she reassembled you knew for sure by heaven she was a real real witch so then you threw her in acid.... Etc

Dan, I'm guessing that the 13th trick (and there must be a "13" in there somewhere) will be the box containing all 12 tricks?

Thanks Dan...I have one of Chris's boxes and still marvel at how he does it...

Cheers


Dr T

They are not exact replicas of Chris' work since they are 16-17th century woodcut designs from the public domain - Chris and I are also not the first people in the world to have these types of designs carved into a box lid.

There is a feature on Chris' work on the Schuldig page (bottom right) where it is should be noted -

"Please note that the boxes supplied with ‘Schuldig’ and other effects in the ‘Season of the Witch’ range are created by Dan Baines here at Lebanon Magic using different methods as those employed by Chris. I do not provide a custom design service and it is by kind agreement that Chris and I produce boxes of a similar type"

Chris and I had long dicussions about this prior to the release and although we do not work together at present we work side by side as UK based artists with an admiration and respect for each others work.

So there, Café witch hunt averted (excuse the pun)......

But the sound of someone hanging doesn't make a dramatic trailer, in fact hanging is pretty uneventful period (unless the drop is calculated incorrectly and the head comes off)....

Let me say a few works here.
When I first saw the images for Dan's boxes, I understandable got hopping mad. But Dan was very quick to contact me, and we talked it over.
Basically, we are in a very small pond here fishing for very similar looking fish. This kind of thing is bound to happen. There are two options. One withdraw, and as dealers we have all had to do that at times. Or, the second option is to make contact and discuss the matter. This is what Dan did. It was clear from my conversation with Dan that he just has too much invested and was too far down the line to withdraw. In this situation it is difficult to pull the plug, and I do understand that. It also works both ways. The Cuss Card box and the cards themselves were always intended to be part of a set of witch based effects. So, when we start putting this stuff out, there is nothing to stop Dan from crying foul. In this case it is ALB that is too far down the line to withdraw.
Also, as Dan points out, there is a lot of mutual respect, and it is clear from our conversation that we have no intention of doing anything other than working in harmony. The upshot is this. There are a lot of great thinkers, designers and crafts people out there, all of us producing goodies that enhance what you do. Sometimes we get too close to each other's work. But from the consumers point of view - great, just more lovely stuff to choose from. Dan, Rick, Paul, Evie, Todd, Bruce, myself and many more (sorry if I left you out, not a role call!) are all producing exciting and well crafted items that *compliment* each other.
Dan's witch effects will sit very nicely next to the stuff we are putting out and can all go in a great big carved chest.... (ahem) available from Alchemy Moon! ;-)
The only witch hunt we all want, is people hunting out our witchy wares.

Bravo!

Perfectly put Chris!

See, I love it when great minds get on the same page to better benefit the community. Both men are a class act. Thanks guys!

I love this effect, but I have heard that it can hurt or possibly injure the spec if done wrong. Any one tried this before who may enlighten me? I will still get it, if just to get one of those sweet boxes though.

The worst that can happen is that you'd sharply pull the leather loop tightly around the spec's finger - a little painful I'd imagine but not exactly fatal.

As long as the loop is wound correctly (which is easy) and the spec's fingers are relaxed it wouldn't happen.

Thanx JonWhite. Good to know. I will be getting this for sure!

I've got to have them all. Great work Dan.

Hi,

thank you Dan for doing this great job! I knew, it would be best to give this effect into your hands.

And thank you to the community for your good reactions on this effect.

To give a short answer to necroloid's question:

Yes, the effect is strong and of course plays with the fear of getting injured. Done correctly nothing unexpected will happen. I do this effect for 5 years almost daily and there have never been any problems. When I use the little finger of the spectator, I slightly touch it and let confirm him/her that the finger was never broken before, so he/she had never the privilege of meeting the holy inquisition before ;-) That eliminates the slight risk that someone has a health problem with this finger. If done correctly, the routine will not force the finger into unnatural movings, so you will not hurt or injure someone.

But - this effect has to be done quite carefully and with your full concentration. Done the wrong way it could hurt or injure your spectator! The fact that doing it correctly is extremely easy should not make your handling thoughtless. This should not frighten away anybody, it is only the "Do not put live animals here"-sticker on your microwave oven...

Best regards,

Marc

This is a cool dark version.
I remember liking this when Jamie described it on Magic Friday...
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=109

Schuldig turned up today. Very nice set. The workings of the effect I'm sure are well known. I think I learnt it back when I was a kid in a beginners book of magic, but it's still a very nice prop. Nicely written instructions. I went with the Satan's circle design for the box and I'm very pleased. Nice little set.

Beautiful boxes.......
Reminds me of an Apache Warrior Tester I remember the Medicine Man applying to young braves......

Hi Dan, another notion has occurred to me.
Are you planning on releasing other box-lid designs?
The reason being that 3 of the 4 depict the Devil and I don’t know whether the punters will believe that witch-finders would actually keep their tools in boxes depicting “the opposition”.

Historically, did the witch-finders do this, or did they destroy any depiction of the Devil that they found?

Btw the 4th one looks like Herne, or a demon huntsman, and I really like it!