But there is another long established magician /craftman whose pedigree goes way back to the days of Harry Stanley and Ken Brooke. Bob Swadling. With his lovely Oxfordshire accent and a brain and skilled hands that were trained at top level working in the aero/atomic industry that were turned to the craft of making outstanding magic props where quality and reliability were paramount. He was the man behind the scenes who made superb fake coins and other engineered items of magic for top professionals and the trade and on his retirement he created Swadling Magic, creators and manufacturers of original quality magic. I was reminded of all this at his excellent lecture at The Magic Circle earlier this week when once more I saw his amazing changing cards that literally change in mid air. (This is an outstanding item and he made me a special set some years ago whereby any card could be freely selected from a spread and shown to be the only card with a different coloured back. It’s quite brilliant)

But he showed a whole parade of brilliant thinking and craftsmanship, lovingly put together for those who value quality.From his Power Pack whereby a deck delivers timed coins into a tumbler, to his exquisitely made coin box, the stylish aluminium three shell game, torn and restored card that becomes whole in mid-are in a flash of fire and his visible coin through handkerchief where you actually see the coin  penetrate! Everything he makes looks terrific and works perfectly, the hallmark of Swadling magic. And look out for his shortly to be seen prize winning coin in the bottle whereby the coin is seen to penetrate in the side of the bottle!

And if you want to witness his ingenuity ask to see the Kristal Card Stab, designed by him for his daughter’s cabaret act where a dagger pushed through the side of a deck correctly stabs a selected card, seen on the blade as the deck drops away in a burst of flame. Great theatre and great magic. Bob and his wife Val (herself a magic competition prizewinner) are just off to to the U.S. for Christmas with their daughter but he’ll be at Blackpool so do yourself a favour and check out his outstandingly made magic. Or if you want a quick run down on his items, he produces  two DVD’s called “Magical Moments with Bob Swadling” – email:swadlingmagic@btinternet.com

But one dealer who really does come up with something good for most conventions and works really hard at getting the punters involved is Colin Rose of Five of Hearts Magic. Former professional magician and master craftsman he creates and makes all the original items on his stand and this year he rang the bell for children’s entertainers with an item called “Balls Up

Basically it is a stylish aluminium box on a stand and a large size puppet – monkey, puppy or what you will. The puppet and a number of coloured balls are placed in the box and at inappropriate moments during the magician’s patter the balls fly high in the air out of the box, one at a time, causing vocal reaction from the children. Wrapped in a routine whereby the puppet is ostensibly going to find the selected ball, it is a vehicle for sheer pantomime entertainment (it’s behind you etc.) Working children’s magicians recognising a great piece of magic theatre quickly snapped up “Balls Up” and Colin was sold out before the end of the week.

He not only offers the complete set up as described above but for magicians with imaginative presentation ideas he also offers just the gizmo with timer that does all the work that can be introduced into your own container. No wires, no threads, no batteries, completely self -contained and beautifully thought out and constructed in the quality that is the hallmark of magic by Five of Hearts productions. I don’t do children’s magic but I know  good heatre when I see it. Why not check out the details and see the demo on www.fiveofheartsmagic.co.uk

Some keep it small and have everything secreted on their person but perhaps this does restrict the number of effects that can be performed. And possibly that is why we are deluged with sponge balls, card effects, card to wallet,, copper and silver and Flying Ring. I remember  Anthony Page when editor of “The Dungeon” magazine held a survey as to the most popular close-up effects and the above listing  came out massively ahead of many other magic tricks.

At the other end of the scale I once saw a magician who had a small table on wheels that he rolled around the floor like an ice cream trolley, nudged it into the guests and produced everything from the space below the working surface. I don’t know. Everyone has their own way of working.

But I did see an item recently that was practical, non-intrusive, magical and had hidden  storage capacity. It was called “The Hopper“. It is a simple, crab like claw that rests on the side of the dining table, something like the device that waiters sometimes place on the side of a guest’s table to hold a wine bucket.

But extending at the front, resting about a couple of inches  above the table is a circular 7″ felt covered disc, strong enough to support chop cups, etc and a good, visual, focal point for your presentation that doesn’t require you to move glasses, knives and forks and other tableware in order to perform. And resting at the rear, below table level and out of sight  is a small bag, but big enough to contain cups and balls, packs of cards, sponge balls etc. All entirely self contained and collapsible

When I tell you that The Chopper is made by Colin Rose from an idea by James Cooper you’ll know that this is a beautifully made and entirely practical  item that solves all the problems of prop management in order to present a smooth magic show at the table side. Recommended.

If you like to know more about The Hopper check out www.fiveofheartsmagic.co.uk or call Colin Rose on 01775 840 103

You could throw the business ball into the cup and roll it out quite freely and when you decide to apply the “fluence” the ball would stay in the cup? Interested.

Well a Japanese magician has come up with a version called the Sencitive Chop Cup that has caused a  mild storm in Japan. And now Colin Rose, that master craftsman of magic from of Five of Hearts productions has signed a contract to make and distribute this new version cup in his inimitable style in wood.

 If you’d like to know more about this new, advanced chop cup, check out Colin Rose at  www.FiveofHeartsMagic.com or telephone +01775840103

His name is Colin Rose. Trained as a designer and worker in fine silver jewelry and objets d’art, his hobby magic, led to him winning the The Magic Circle Young Magician of the Year which led to offers to become a professional magician. And so he devised together with Pat Page one of the first magic fire acts in the business “Fantasy in Flame” that went around the world for many years including a season with the great illusionist Richiardi Jnr. Jeff McBride openly admits to being influenced by his card manipulations.

With the increasing popularity of fire acts and safety restrictions he turned his creative skills to the manufacture of fine magic apparatus and set up a studio and workshop in the Midlands just a short hop outside Peterborough. Here for eleven years together with his wife Sharron (with her former career in property and finance,) they have made some of the finest apparatus worthy of the quality props that were produced in the days of Victorian magic.

The superb flash frame from playing card size up to portrait size that was featured by Silvan in Italy. Magnificent mahogany tip over boxes, both for the hand and for the stage beautifully crafted with superb dove tailed joints and a lustrous finish. A wooden chop cup that delivers as the final load a stack of coins. The original gimmick which he designed has been described as one of the finest pieces of magic technology in the last ten years. All these and more are produced in Colin’s workshop and nothing leaves until it passes his eagle eye and is die stamped with his unique Five of Hearts trademark. Anything not bearing this mark is a fake and not from the Rose workshop.

He makes illusions for touring  and cruise magicians where his long stage experience helps originate many new features. The Miser’s Dream? Not only did he replicate in modern materials the original Prof. Hoffman wand and split coin that worked like a dream, he now makes from an idea by Gaeton Bloom a slender pair of silver forceps for the magician to reach into space and produce a silver coin at the very tip. The coin is then quite openly and loudly dropped into a silver cup only for the magician to reach in the ether once more and produce more and more coins, You wouldn’t believe the technical simplicity of this beautiful piece of apparatus. A Colin Rose original.

His items are not cheap reflecting the many man hours that are crafted into each and every piece of apparatus that is now recognised and distributed throughout every continent in the world. He has a big demand from magic collectors anxious to possess beautiful replicas of the magic of yesteryear – ball vases, carved wands, production boxes and the like – all made in rare imported woods from Africa, the Americas and other parts of the globe.For the Magic Circle Centenary celebrations he made a ball vase in a rare wood that contained a full size ostrich egg that could be vanished and reproduced at will. It sold on sight.

Colin Rose does not mass produce and all his magic effects, both standards and originals are individually produced in his own workshop in an age that often dismisses the singular quality that was the highlight of the great magicians of the past. Today in our world of magic there are still performing magicians and collectors who fortunately treasure such excellence.

If you would like more information on Colin Rose, Master Craftsman of Magic you can contact him at www.FiveofHeartsMagic.com or +01775 840103

But now he has come up with an absolutely stunning, modern version of this classic effect. He has designed a simple pair of metal tweezers or forceps, about 8 – 9 inches long, held casually in the hand and he reaches out and a silver coin appears held at the end of the tweezers. Just like that. But there’s more.

He then tosses the coin into a metal cup or bucket and you are certain that you actually see and hear the coin drop into the container. He then reaches into the air again and produces another coin and tosses it into the bucket. And he can go on doing this all night.

As a climax, and to prove the tenuous value of money, he tips the cup upside down and silver confetti floats to the floor, the accumulation of coin having now vanished. It’s magical and delightful to see and lends itself to a good patter theme about money for kids and adults. Based on an idea given to Colin by that master of mysterious methods Gaeton Bloom. For more information contact Colin Rose – 01775 840 103.