Back in Two Weeks

It's time for Mike to take a little vacation. So, while he is gone, we're all going to be pulling double-duty in his absence. Thanks for tuning into this page from time to time. I promise I'll be back in two weeks with more Hocus Pocus happenings. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the web site for incredible new products and explosive deals!

Until next time,

Paul

Breaking All Records!

Well, July has come and is almost gone, and we've broken all sales records in our 30-year history in the magic business here at Hocus Pocus! We cannot thank you enough for your continued and growing support for we realize that none of this would have been possible without you.

In other record-breaking news, the heat has not let up. We are in the 13th day of average 107 degree heat with no end in sight! The last time it was this hot in Fresno for this long was in the mid-eighties. Last weekend when I helped my daughter Aimee move into her new apartment, the temperature on Sunday reached a whopping 113 degrees as promised by the good ol' weatherman! When we were done moving, we all decided to take a swim in our pool, and when I dove in, it was like diving into my bathtub as the temperature was 85 degrees! No relief there...

Fish by mail! My son Max has discovered that you can buy tropical fish ONLINE! Who would have guessed it? He currently putting together an order, and it will be very interesting to see just how these fish are delivered. How things have changed since I used to raise tropical fish! It's still a terrific hobby and very relaxing watching, along with my son, the fish swim around.

Hope many of you had a chance to catch the first Criss Angel Mindfreak special on A&E last Wednesday. We enjoyed watching it and are looking forward to the upcoming episodes. Let me know your comments and thoughts here on the blog if you get a moment.

Had a surprise guest this week at the shop. Mark Murphy, owner of Murphy's Magic Supplies, stopped in to visit, take a look at the shop, and talk. While he was here, he and his wife decided to take a trip to beautiful Yosemite Valley, located only 2 hours away! They had never been there before, and I'm sure their camera will be loaded with photos!


Mike's soon-to-be old house in 30 days!

The real estate market is booming here in Fresno despite contrary reports. To give you an example, our own Mike Giusti put his 3 bedroom, 2 bath house on the market Tuesday and it was sold within 24 hours! He got a total of 4 bids and was able to pick and choose which one he liked the best. Congratulations, Mike! Just don't ask me to help you move. Ha!

Once again, thank you for making July an unforgettable month here at Hocus Pocus, and I hope wherever you are is a lot cooler than it is here! Tonight Max and I will put in the online tropical fish order. I'll report back next week.

Until next time,

Paul

Mindfreak

No, that's not my state of mind; it's to remind all of you to watch Criss Angel's TV series, "Mindfreak," starting this Wednesday, July 20th on A & E. Check your local listings for times and show schedules. It was certainly exciting for all of us here at Hocus Pocus to be involved in a small way with this project.



Be sure to check out a brand new Hocus Pocus Exclusive called Kinetink we secured earlier in the week! This comes to us from Craig Matsuoka, and when he first sent the video demo over, I knew it was a winner! Pre-orders are being taken now as only 100 units are being offered. Don't let this one pass you by! Also, be sure and check out Entity by Peter Loughran, a state of the art device that allows you to control and move objects seemingly with only the power of your mind. If that doesn't do it for you, check out the online video and watch for yourself.

In other happenings this week, we're all trying to stay as cool as possible as the temperature has been soaring into the 107-110 degrees and is expected to go as high as 113 tomorrow! And Tony thought he was escaping the Vegas heat... Or perhaps he brought it with him?

Betty just left to take my oldest son, Cole, to get all four of his wisdom teeth removed! Just the thought of it causes my jaws to ache! My daughter, Aimee, is moving into her brand new (and first) apartment this weekend. What better time to move all that furniture than in 113 degree heat! Max, in the meantime, has turned into quite the tropical fish eficionado as he now has a 10-gallon and a 30-gallon tank in his room. He's on the Internet constantly learning about all the different kinds of tropical fish in the world and filling me in on all the details. My oldest daughter, Renee, called me all excited last night to tell me that she has just received a big promotion with Macy's -- she's now going to be a specialist in charge of Macy's exclusive line of women's clothing! Before graduating this year, she had worked with them both part and full-time for two years. She's very excited, and so are we! I have to say I'm truly blessed to have such great kids!

Mike has not been able to look up from his keyboard or do anything else this entire week! On top of moving out of his house and performing in the evenings, I've been having him list all of the Warner pieces on the site I told you about last week! He came up with the "Warner 5-A-Day" idea, and it's a good one; as soon as he lists them, almost all sell right away! Even if you're not a collector of Warner magic, you should still look at the pictures and descriptions as each piece is absolutely gorgeous to look at and unique in their own way!

My sister, Jan, has been gone this week on vacation in Las Vegas. We're all anxiously awaiting her return on Monday. In case you didn't know, Jan almost single-handedly runs the entire shipping department. She does such a good job and makes it look so easy, we sure found out it isn't as easy as it looks! ARE YOU BACK YET, JAN?

So, while we're trying to stay cool this weekend while moving my daughter and the trips to the pet store for more tropical fish for Max (he really wants a pair of Zebra Danos), think of me with cool, cool thoughts. Please.

Until next time,

Paul

What a Great Week It's Been!

First of all, I'd like to say that I hope you all had a great 4th of July Weekend last week. I certainly enjoyed my time off with my family. We had a great time on the 4th watching fireworks and eating lots of good food. There are so many things that have happened; let's start right away, shall we?

As many of you may know, next week will be the official Centennial Celebration of the Magic Circle of England. To commemorate this event, Colin and Sharron Rose of the Five of Hearts Magic Company have created a special line of museum-quality magic apparatus in limited quantities. Rare woods with historical context and importance have been used to create this very special line. Some pieces are limited to only one. We are extremely honored that they have made available to Hocus Pocus exclusively the entire line. In fact, these pieces are so rare and unique that we've created an entirely new category to represent them called "Trafalgar/Victorian," located within the site. Again, please remember: these are extremely limited pieces and will not be available for long. This is truly your chance to own a piece of history as well as unique magic. For the story, photos, and history of the Trafalgar and Victorian Range of magic, we have set up a special page on the Hocus Pocus web site located here.

In other big news this week, I have just purchased an entire collection of Alan Warner magic. There are 58 pieces in this massive collection. Some of them have not been available for years and some were done in extremely limited quantities like "Flight of the Falcon," "Spirit Cabinet," "The Millennium Collection," and so many more. If you are a Warner collector and are looking for specific pieces, I would urge you to contact me either by phone toll-free at 800-407-4040 or via email. Let me know if there's a particular piece you are looking for because there's a good chance it will be in this collection. In the meantime, you'll start seeing these being displayed on the web site. As you all know, Warner pieces never last for more than a day or two once we've listed them on the web site...

As if that wasn't enough, we've had a TON of products arrive in the store. A few things I urge you to check out are the new Graffiti effect, Table Lifter Set, and of course, the long-awaited CelebriTie! All of these I give my highest recommendation. Speaking of highest recommendations, yesterday we just received the new Marvyn Roy book, "Mr. Electric Unplugged," which I took home and read last evening. This is an incredible book by one of magic's most legendary performers and one of my personal favorites. I literally could not put the book down and was up until almost 2:00 AM reading it. If you are serious about magic in any way, pick up this book!

Yesterday, I was surprised when one of my very best friends from high school, Mike Baretta, stopped by for a surprise visit! Mike and I haven't seen each other in 4 years as Mike moved to Sacramento. We had a great time reminiscing about the old days, and my kids tried pumping Mike for information about dear old Dad in his prime of life. Mike is very excited about a brand new venture of his. He began a business called "Remember When Candy," in which he sells, for all you baby-boomers out there, all the candies from way back when we were growing up. We had a great time going to his web site and looking at all the different items he has to offer. If you have some time, check out his web site, and why not place an order there as well? Tell him Paul sent you!





I thought I'd share these photos with you guys from the 4th of July. It's our own Mike Giusti performing for the Copper River Country Club for their Annual 4th of July Celebration. Mike has worked this event for the last 4 years consecutively, and each year the event has gotten larger and larger. The photos were sent to Mike from the event coordinator, and he passed them on to me. Believe it or not, Mike was performing in those clothes in 104 degree heat and in a coat and tie no less. He's a better man than I.

So that about covers it. Once again, as I always say, there's never a dull moment here at Hocus Pocus. Have a great weekend!

Until next time,

Paul

AWOL Paul

Mike Giusti here (yes, that really is - was - me above), and I'm hijacking the blog again as Paul has finally taken a much needed 4 day weekend! You know it's time for Paul to take a vacation when he comes up to you, tells you something, and then an hour later, he tells you the exact same thing, and then another hour later, well, you get the idea...

I've gotta be honest, it's been one heck of a week! Yeah, I know -- you hear us say that a lot, but just take a look at the tons of things coming in and going out just today:


Jason up to his neck in shipping

In addition to dozens and dozens of new products hitting the store, the biggest sale in Hocus Pocus history has taken us by the necks and cranked us up into high gear! Not only are people saving 25% off but everyone's getting free magic, getting entered into a drawing for a prize per day, and also getting entered into a drawing for a huge $1500.00 Hocus Pocus Gift Certificate to be given away at the end of the sale! What's that? You wanna get in on the sale? No problem; click here and start saving and winning!

The 4th always means lots o' gigs for me, so in addition to my weekend restaurant gigs and helping Tony Blanco move into his new house, I'll be enjoying my 4th performing for many families, and that's just the way I like it! Two years ago, as I was performing my signature 4th of July finale, 3 fighter jets flew over right at the perfect time. I still get goose bumps thinking about it...

Speaking of Tony, my pal and brother in magic, he is now officially living in Fresno as the last of his Vegas belongings made their way here and the sale of his old house was completed just last evening. I'll let him tell you all about it. Take it away, Tonester!



Thanks, Mike. I tell you folks, besides being the "Cindy Crawford" of Hocus Pocus ads, Mike is a super guy and truly the brother I wish I had growing up. Now to my new postion here at Hocus Pocus: Paul has hired me on to be his right hand man but he really just calls me his "Personal Slave." Paul doesn't understand why I even bought a home since I'll never be able leave this building to have a life of my own. Paul's vision is to have Hocus Pocus give as much a personal touch to each customer.

Now the big question most folks are asking me: Why are you leaving Las Vegas? Are you giving up performing? The answers are simple, really. I have been performing for over 30 yrs (18 of which in LV) being a creative kind of guy I just really reached a level of, "So this is all there is in Las Vegas?" Lots of ideas and creative things are what I plan to bring to Hocus Pocus.

I have been very luckly to have appeared in Las Vegas at Circus Circus as a Clown to Stage Magician on the Court Jester Stage at Excalibur. So after 18 years, leaving Las Vegas for me was easier than it was for Nicholas Cage. I enjoy performing very much, so there is no way I will give that up. Only now I will hope to be a Big Fish in a Small Pond here in Fresno. This is my first blog since Paul is away, so trust me, I will find more ways to get him out of the office more! Please feel free to say hello when you call with orders; I will be here as your personal slave too! Not to spend blog time on the matter but if you want to get to know me: www.tonyblanco.com

Now that Tony has finished his biography, on behalf of Paul, Tony, and myself, make sure you and your family have a happy and safe 4th of July Weekend!

Mike & Tony