I am started to have a few Grand Illusions. I started off with French Guillotine and then went on to Floating Table which I bought directly from Losander. Slowly my collection is increasing as I already have Metamorphosis and Twister. A friend is making me a suspension which would soon be added to the collection and so on. My question is how to store the illusions? The guillotine packs into a trunk and the floating table come in its own suitcase. My Metamorphosis trunk also packs flat but they even then they are taking a lot of space to store and they are eating up my garage space. I want to build or purchase some illusions with a base but I am afraid they would take up a lot of space. I would like senior and more experienced colleagues to share their experience and suggestions about storing illusions. Thanks.

If you want the illusions to not be damaged by heat, cold, and humidity, you only solution is to rent heated, climate controlled storage space. Keeping them in a garage or trailer, will destroy the paint and wood, unless it is climate and temperature controlled.

You will also need travel cases made for you illusions, so the will not get damaged during transport. As you are going for the really large illusions, you will have to have semi tractor and trailer at some point. You can rent them as well. You will need a CDL license and learn to drive a "rig" or hire someone to drive the rig.

Good luck on our adventure into illusion shows.

When I saw Jason Bishops show a few years ago, he was touring in a trailer behind a SUV. He has ALOT of stuff... so I wouldn't worry about a semi-truck.

You do want climate controlled storage and obviously you want good cases for your illusions. Some illusions can be designed to pack down smaller then others. Dream illusions brags about how quickly and easily their Fire Cage and K-Kube pack flat into their cases. In comparison I have a Forzetting / Woodbury Duplex (similar to K-Cube) that is a royal pain to break down. Could probably set up 5 or 6 K-cubes and STILL take a coffee break before I was done putting it together. ha. All that to say... buying props that are practical to travel with and to store is a smart move.

The real answer, which no one wants to hear, is get a table for each type of show that you do. I have a Hank Moorehouse cube and ultimate table base for small shows and strolling, a 10 Second Table for medium size shows and a Lefler Suitcase table that can be used in combination with the other two for larger shows.

For the Life of me, I cannot understand why anyone carries a table that does not hold props. (unless you have a large stage show.) The cube table can be adjusted to table height at restaurants for strolling. I consider putting your props next to someone's food to be bad form. (This is just an opinion.) Once I had my mind power deck ruined by a spectator who was so excited, she split her water and I learned a valuable lesson.

I live in a COOP in Brooklyn and next week, any props that do not fit into these tables is going into my basement storage unit!

What has worked well for me is I found a large office / warehouse building. The space that I rent is climate controlled and just a large 1200 sq. ft space that allows me to have storage, a small office and work area, and I still have enough room to set up and rehearse in. (The tenant before me used it as a personal training space... So looking for spaces that do body building, workouts, karate teaching etc. Is smart, they usually need large open spaces and are also usually looking for affordable rent! Ha.)

My unit has a double door with no center post (this is important when you get some of the bigger ata cases). Also, there is a large roll up door that is just down the hall from my unit, this allows easy loading and unloading for props.

Oh yes... And ceiling height! I've got almost 10' ceiling. While that would still be low for some larger illusions, it's tall enough for my elevator and that's all I care about for now. Ha. If you are only concerned with storage, you wouldn't need the ceiling height but I wanted a space to rehearse, photograph, etc. It makes sense to me to have a storage space that can double as an office and a rehersal location.

I built a 6,000 square foot warehouse with 4 large bay doors and 25 foot ceiling.

I have rented out space to numerous magicians over the years including Joan Spina, Dave Womach and several others to help with the cost.
I have a stage with Marley flooring for the dancers and mirrors on multiple sides and stage lighting.
I have had it for 20 years and the cool thing is I was just offered 4 times the purchase price