Back to the 70s

Talk about taking a trip back in time, last week at the Magic Castle Swap Meet, I purchased several of the late Doug Henning's costumes. The one with the stars is most recognizable as the costume Doug wore when he performed the Dancing Handkerchief and Things That Go Bump in the Night on his network television special. I was also fortunate to pick up several Henning posters and other memorabilia as well. I intend on putting these items into a custom shadow box and displaying it in the showroom. If any of you have any Doug Henning items you wish to part with, please contact me via phone at 800-407-4040 or email me at sales@hocus-pocus.com


Two of Doug Henning's costumes

Speaking of the Magic Castle, next Sunday, May 6th is Dealer's Day! The entire Hocus Pocus gang, including Mike, Tony, Betty and myself will be attending and selling. Also at our booth will be the legendary Carl Ballantine, who will be signing and selling his special edition posters, and our good friend, Robert Baxt. We hope that if you are in the Southern California area, you'll make a point to stop by and say hello. If you're not a Magic Castle member and wish to attend, simply tell the receptionist at the front desk that you are a guest of Hocus Pocus. It starts at 10:00 AM and ends at 3:00 PM and promises to be a very exciting and fun-filled event!



Lots of new products this week, including one of the most notable, The Red Carpet by Jason Palter! This is entertaining mentalism with an ending that is so startling and funny, it is sure to bring the house down!

Originally presented in its debut performance in 1985, the routine caused such magic notables as Sid Lorraine, Howard Lyons, Norm Houghton and Bruce Posgate to give a standing ovation! This closely guarded routine is now being released to the public for the first time.

The Effect:

We are a society that is obsessed with celebrities and famous people. Their sometimes fairy-tale stories are published all over, and many of us seem drawn to these reports. Everywhere we turn there is some story about someone famous doing something!

With that introduction, you display a large sketch book of celebrity and character illustrations drawn by your friend. No, your friend is not a stalker; just an admirer of the rich and famous! The book contains 40 different images of famous people and personalities.

An audience member is brought on stage and allowed to randomly select one of the images from the book. The spectator mentally focuses on their chosen icon. Then, while you are blindfolded by the "Red Carpet" (actually a red fabric bag that covers your head to prohibit any peeking), you actually fail to find the name. After what appears to be a botched attempt at entertaining and mystifying the crowd with an experiment in telepathy, you whip off the hood to reveal you have now transformed into the exact likeness of the chosen celebrity! A hilarious smash climax that will bring the audience to their feet!

The Red Carpet is simple to learn, and is easy to perform. It is a hysterical and astounding commercial mentalism effect that is perfect for all professionals and hobbyists and the routine has been honed through countless live performances. This is a fresh and brand new approach to mentalism, and the eye-popping routine will play to audiences of all sizes.

The Red Carpet comes complete with everything you need to perform the full routine, including all props, gimmicks, the detailed 8-minute audience-tested comedy script, a performance DVD, and live and broadcast performance rights.

Each trick is hand signed, numbered and comes in an authentic metal film-reel canister from the movies!

You are supplied with EVERYTHING YOU NEED to perform this trick, right out of the box (or the film canister, as it were!), and that includes the comedy, audience-tested 8 minute routine.

Also includes a sketchbook with custom, hand-drawn, ROYALTY-FREE celebrity and character images. To have one of these produced, it would cost more than $1100.00! Any performer can use it without any worry of copyright infringement during performance.

To read more about this exciting product and to check out the performance video as well as the many other products that have come through our doors this week, click here!




Where's Laurel and Hardy? That's who you'd expect to see driving this car... If you are looking for a vintage Model-T, the same one pictured above, give me a call. This belongs to Max, my youngest son, who's more interested in a Chevy Chevelle right now. He's hoping to sell the Model-T to help fund his Chevelle passion. Max will begin driving lessons this year, and he can't wait.

That about wraps it up this week. I'll be back on Thursday of next week before Hocus Pocus' trip to Hollywood, so until that time,

Paul