I published the outline of the workings of the box and the gimmick some years ago and a few magicians have asked me where they could get the gimmick made. Good metal workers who can handle magic props on a lathe are few but I believe I’ve found a technician in magic who is able to create the precision required to make this rather stunning and unique item that is so different from the run of close-up effects.

So if there are a number of  magi out there who are interested in this specialist item, I believe I could commission from him a small quantity to be exclusively made (he won’t make a number of this precision item) . If anyone is interested contact me early and if the number is right I would be prepared to commission this rather special magic item. It won’t be cheap, custom made precision work never is but you would be the owner of a very exclusive and  stunning classic of magic. 

Any Okito or Boston Box routine requires the magician to replace the lid and at the same time secretly turn the box over. The standard move is to rest the box on your left palm and the left fingers secretly turn the box over as your right hand replaces the lid. Another method is to rest the lid on the edge of the box on the table and in the act of replacing the lid and picking the box up, it is secretly turned over in a one hand movement.Fred Kaps did it this way.

Some magicians do this well but many fumble the move so that the spectator knows that “something” has happened. Using Dai Vernon’s expressed philosophy that all movements should be natural, Jack devised this beautifully simple and natural move to turn the box over without raising suspicion.

HANDLING

1. Place the Boston Box containing four coins to the left of your table just in front of your left hand. (In using the Boston Box a fifth coin is in the recess in the bottom).

2. The upturned lid is similarly placed in the same position just in front of your right hand. Both hands are palm down and relaxed.

3. Cross your hands, placing your left over the right in preparation to pick up the coin box and the lid.

4. The extended fingers of both hands momentarily cover the box and lid. Grasp the sides of the lid between your left thumb and fingers as your right hand simultaneously grips the box in the same manner.

5. Immediately uncross your hands and turn your right hand palm up to freely show the box. The box is held in a natural position and the audience see the single coin nested in the recessed bottom but everything appears normal. In this simple, natural movement you have turned the box over. 

6. Pivot the lid downward and place it on top of the box.

If you use a regular Okito Box, keep your right hand cupped or turned inward so that the spectator cannot see the solid brass bottom, then replace the lid as your hands pass each other.

This is a stunning move that has revolutionized the Okito Box routine for many magicians that was devised with a simplicity that was the hallmark of Jack Avis’s work. The move is described and illustrated in greater detail in a excellent book by Jack Avis called “Vis a Vis”, published by Richard Kaufman, Kaufman and Company, 4200 Wisconsin Avenue, NW,  Suite 106 – 292, Washington D.C. 20016, USA.