Thanks!

This is the cage to buy if interested in doing the classic vanishing birdcage!

I completely agree! Also pleased to note that Daniel promotes (and uses) my sponge/ silk parakeet in this advertisement!

I've exchanged some emails with Louie Foxx regarding the Tommy Wonder cage and reel/pull made by JM Craft. Louie purchased one from the first run and was disappointed to discover some features were missing from the JM Craft reel/pull.

1) The one Louie received lacked a secondary lock to lock the cord in the short position. Tommy Wonder details this secondary short position lock in clear detail in Visions of Wonder #2 (which I have watched) and, reportedly, detailed in his book (which I have not yet seen). Yes, the JM Craft reel/pull has a lock to lock the cord in the long position.

2) The pulley configuration created by JM Craft did not match Tommy Wonder's design. JM Craft also did not supply a way to anchor the free end of the pulley line to the performer's shoulder.

Louie brought these problems to the attention of JM Craft and they said they would fix the issues on a future run and send a corrected reel/pull to Louie to exchange for the first one. Louie reports that he did not hear back from them after that.

So, the question is... Did JM Craft *ever* correct the issues? Was there a run of Tommy Wonder reel/pull with the secondary lock and a correct pulley configuration? Was a way to anchor the end of the pulley line provided in subsequent runs?

Is there anyone here who has purchased a JM Craft Tommy Wonder cage & reel/pull in the last year or so who can shed some light on this?

Mark

In the 1991 Hank Lee Cape Cod Conclave video, Jonathan Pendragon does a terrific lecture on the Vanishing Birdcage.

It is possible to see that video somewhere? thanks

I've only seen it on the Hank Lee VHS tape. They show up on eBay once in a while. He has a tip on using bow string because it doesn't stretch.

Jonathan Pendragon included his Canary Cage setup in his Penguin Live video: https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/6233. Never seen the Cope Cod Conclave video so can't comment if the material is the same.

It is always fascinating to hear him talk about how his work as a stuntman impacted his magic methods.

Thanks for the heads up. There was a copy of the 1991 Hank Lee Cape Cod Conclave VHS on eBay. I ordered it and will be donating it to my local Ring after I've viewed it.

Mark

My favorite on the 1991 video is Ron Wilson's Lecture on his Color Changing Silk routine.

The 1991 Cape Cod Conclave VHS I received via eBay is in like-new condition. I hooked up my VHS machine and started watching a little bit of the tape, just to check quality. The first performer is Aldo Colombini with a TERRIFIC cups & balls routine. Which of course, he teaches after his performance. The crowd loved it!

I'm looking forward to seeing Pendragon's vanishing bird cage segment (as well as Ron Wilson's color changing silk routine). I should be able to find time to watch the whole thing later this evening.

Mark

Oh my! If you haven't already watched it, take some time to watch Gonzalo Albiñana's performance on this past Friday's Penn & Teller Fool Us! Season 10, episode 13.

Gonzalo vanishes the cage three times, each time being more AMAZING. First with a crowd of hands around the cage, then from a ziplock bag, and finally from his open palm. Outstanding!

Yes, I did see the hookup, but only because I knew what to look for and the camera was zoomed in close. His cage appears to be Blaney sized, BTW.

Mark

Gonzalo Albinana uses a Daniel Summers BLANEY vanishing cage in his routine.

Wonderful performance!

Got to see Lance Burton's show a few days ago when he was in Scottsdale, he opens
with the birdcage. It was really quite well structured, he only vanished it a couple
of times but got quite a bit of time out of it.

Jonathan, One of your parakeets made an appearance on Thursday's (July 11, 2024) Masters of Illusion show, performed by Maxence Vire. Maxence named his parakeet "Walter", presumably to honor the late Walter Blaney.




Mark

Mark! thanks for telling me! As I don't watch that show, I would have missed out!

Jonathan also wrote up his handling for The Vanishing Canary Cage in Genii, April 2011.


I would also say that John Carney's video "The Vanishing Birdcage Re-Imagined" is excellent. You can purchase it from John on his website . HIGHLY RECOMMENDED . It's part of a series called "Carney 2013 - Twelve Studies in Sleight of Hand". The whole series is great. You can buy the whole set of 12 videos or purchase them a la carte.

Here is a preview of what he teaches , starting at the 0:23 mark:

https://youtu.be/CXoazbCwy5A?t=23


(he is using a Riser "Baby Lindy")

Among the many clever variations he teaches is casually placing the cage into a paper bag, then crushing the bag to show the cage has vanished . (you could toss the bag out into the audience). I had previously found this idea in The Conjuror's Magazine (Sept. 1946) suggested by Warren Simms (a well-known maker of bird cages and a skilled performer by all accounts). Warren Simms called it: "Bird Cage Vanish for Children", although I think Simms's idea would work equally well for adults. This one comes under the theory that says a hidden vanish is better than a non-hidden vanish. Obscuring or delaying the moment of the vanish can help to disguise the method. It's the same idea that wrapping a cane in a sheet of newspaper , then letting the newspaper roll open or crushing it , is a stronger vanish than having the cane visually vanish in the hands (turning into silk handkerchiefs or a bouquet of flowers). One could argue that the visual flash vanish is stronger overall in the case of the bird cage , but Mr. Simms makes a great point about how children tend to react to these types of things.

Paraphrasing Warren Simms:

"To perform the vanishing bird cage in the usual manner at a children's party is to invite disaster -- because the average youngster will tend to shout out -- "it went up your sleeve!" --- and you can't very well reason your way out of that explanation with children." Of course, there are methods of ditching the cage, which John Carney demonstrates on his video, that would allow you to remove your jacket to show nothing up the sleeves or hidden under the jacket. If you have the "Invisible Hand" device put out by Vernet, on the instructional DVD by Michel he shows a similar method of ending "clean". See Michel's performance here: https://youtu.be/qJifgz_DFLw




Simms said he presented the cage as his closing effect for children's shows using a Simms (or Lindhorst) style cage (in other words, not an Abbott/Blackstone-style cage.) You would need to reach down into your case or behind your table and come out with the bird cage. (If you know , you know.) Simms: "Come forward with the cage held in the right hand and in the left hand have a folded paper sack." (made of brown kraft paper, approx. 14" deep when opened out, with approx. 4" x 7" bottom.) "Have one of the kids open out the bag --- take it back , holding it by the bottom, with the open end pointing towards your right. In a natural, unhurried manner place the cage into the bag and when it is out of sight let it do it's thing. Now pucker up the neck of the bag and inflate it by blowing into it. Then burst the bag, crumple it up, and toss it out into the audience ... " Simms says that the kids will do the rest by tearing it to shreds looking for some trace of the missing cage and at that point you can start to pack up and leave. Simms finishes by writing: "Try it Brother Magician -- it's a trick worthwhile!"


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Researching different presentations of the cage , I found an interesting idea in The Linking Ring magazine Vol. 42 No. 8, in a column by Don Tanner where he says of Harry Blackstone Sr. - "Blackstone used a cage trimmed in red ribbon. He placed a piece of red felt in the bottom of the cage, giving the appearance of a solid bottom cage. The soft felt does not interfere with the vanish."

Red felt makes sense for the cage trimmed in red ribbon. I'm not entirely sure if that was Blackstone who did it , because Blackstone did the repeat vanish. I can't imagine being able to quickly reset the cage with the piece of red felt positioned correctly on the bottom of the cage, but if not doing a repeat vanish I think it could be a nice subtly , to imply that the cage has a solid bottom.


An idea I have is to use a piece of white felt and imprint a Newsprint pattern on the felt so it looks like a piece of newspaper in the bottom of the cage. I don't currently own a cage to try this , but using Photoshop this is how I imagine it would look:








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Re:post above.


The Don Tanner column in Linking Ring magazine Vol. 42 No. 8, Aug. 1962 was titled 'This And That by U. F. (Gen) Grant' As told to Don Tanner.
Tanner wrote: "Blackstone used a cage trimmed in red ribbon. He placed a piece of red felt in the bottom of the cage, giving the appearance of a solid bottom cage. The soft felt does not interfere with the vanish."


I think that piece of felt in the bottom of the cage was U.F. Grant's idea , because in an earlier issue of Linking Ring (Nov. 1953), Grant has a One Man Parade , which includes this Bird Cage Tip:

"For those that have the red ribbon binding type of bird cage, cut out a piece of red felt the size of the bottom of the cage and place it inside the cage on bottom, this makes the cage appear to have a solid bottom and is much more sturdy appearing. Still it does not interfere with the vanish of same."

In two clips I've found of Blackstone Sr. performing the vanishing bird cage there is no solid bottom to the cage , ditto in clips I've watched of Blackstone Jr. performing it. So I don't think Blackstone (Sr. or Jr.) ever used that idea , but it seems worth trying.

In the video I mentioned above -- "The Vanishing Birdcage Re-Imagined" by John Carney -- he has a couple of variations where the cage is first covered with a cloth and then vanished.

I recently watched the film "The Mad Magician" starring Vincent Price (the whole film may be watched for free on YouTube). At one point in the film , Vincent Price performs a vanishing bird cage effect. The cage is held by his assistant, the cage is covered, then the magician takes the covered cage and makes the cage disappear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftXaF16sA-Q


In doing some research on the film I found out the magic consultant on "The Mad Magician" was Charlie Miller.

An article in Linking Ring notes: "One fun bit of movie magic history took place in 1955 when Charlie Miller was the consultant who taught actor Vincent Price his card work and various magical wonders for the movie, The Mad Magician." (the article has the incorrect release date for the film as 1955. It was released in 1954.)

Although another article about The Mad Magician (in Genii, June 1961) mentions Bob Haskell as a magic consultant on the film. So maybe both Charlie Miller and Bob Haskell worked on it as consultants, but neither of them has screen credit (as was often the case in those days ; nowadays everyone and his dog gets on the credit roll for movies)


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A much BETTER covered vanish is by Mark Kalin. This is really elegant.





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