Congratulations! Another year past and I presume if you are reading this, you made it to the other side!
2022 was personally a great success and this coming year I hope to continue, with many new and exciting products lined up.
I can't reveal everything (a magician never tells his secrets!), however TWO new products for 2023 have already been added to the website, namely the "CHICKEN BANDANA" and the "DOUBLE DEVIL".
Fabrics for both items have been received from our printers and prototypes are being made up as I write this. It's a long process (which you can read more about below) introducing a new product, and it all begins with YOU the reader! We listen to feedback, critics, reviews and customer comments which are the seeds for our planning.
"Professional Chicken Bandana"
The "Professional Chicken Bandana" is new in our range of "Confetti Bandanas", which is strange as there is NO confetti! The bandana emblazoned on both sides with the picture of a large white chicken is shown, the bandana is shaken and a shower of white feathers fly into the air. The fate of the chicken is revealed as it is now in distress and NAKED! If the performer wishes the process may be reversed by showering feathers once again over the bandana and showing the chicken "dressed" once again as at the beginning. Alternatively the bandana can be used as a cover to produce a rubber chicken via a body load.
"Double Devil"
The "Christmas Bandana 2022" was the first DOUBLE pocket devil's hank that I released and it was an immediate hit selling out at international magic dealers within days. Following feedback from customers I am pleased to announce the "DOUBLE DEVIL", a devil's hank in the guise of a pocket square (smaller than our bandana size devil's hanks) with TWO pockets. The DOUBLE DEVIL is aimed at the close-up and cabaret magician. With two pockets items can be transformed with ease at the same time allowing the pocket square to be shown empty BEFORE and AFTER.
The mentalist will also benefit from TWO pockets as you are able to easily force TWO items to the same or different spectators!
The design process - from seed to fruition
Graphic design of the product is an extremely important part of the procedure and it often takes several attempts before getting it right. Over the years we have learnt that often "less is more" is the best policy when it comes to graphic design. Colors are carefully chosen to make products as visually pleasing as possible, without losing any technique. Sometimes we come into difficulty as with the best-selling "Old MacDonald's Gag Bag" for example. This particular product took many trials to get right. Background colors had to be changed so that the various characters were not visible prematurely, and the graphics themselves had to be juggled in such a way that the animals depicted worked in harmony with each other.
Once a design has been decided upon a test fabric is printed and the product is made and finished by hand. It rarely happens that the first prototype is the finished product, however I am happy to report that I have learned a lot from experience and it takes far fewer tests to get a new product right!
All products are road tested with actual performances. Real world audiences are my trusted source for genuine feedback. This proved a little more difficult over the past two years when suddenly all our audiences disappeared (I am by no means technically minded so I did not indulge on the Zoom show circuit). If there is no audience then I share with a select number of fellow magicians whom I consider friends and who offer their own input into a product. After performance a product may be altered whether it be color, design or technique. In this case the above procedure is repeated. It may be that a product never sees the light of day - some ideas are destined for the scrapyard!