All I Want For A Magic Christmas

It looks like I’ll have to buy my own Christmas present this year if I’m going to get one. My mother, rest her soul, loved Christmas and even in her last years she always made sure her boy had a present. I don’t know if I ever let her know how much that really meant to me. I think she knew. I hope she did. (There’s a lesson there) My wife and I bought a “house” gift and my mother-in-law is in the hospital. …..so I guess it’s up to i/m to do it for himself – old age blows!!

Anyway, the longer you’ve been in magic, the less you are interested in “tricks”. I went to a magic estate auction recently and saw a lifetime accumulation sold for peanuts. There were no collector’s items, just the basic stuff – good quality, but nothing special. If it’s not on the front page of Ellusionist, Hocus Pocus, Penguin Magic etc. it’s old and basically worthless. Just watch people try to sell last week’s miracle on the Cafe or eBay e.g. Black Widow – a rude awakening for sure.

Anyway, when shopping for me, you might consider the following:

• A high end set of cups from Riser, RNT2, Sherwood or Owen. Stainless steel is my medal of choice, but I’m not picky.
• A set of Todd Lassen’s unexpanded shell sets in soft Morgans. For a stocking stuffer you might consider a Walking Liberty gravity flipper.
• A set of Owen Linking Rings – 10” preferably.
• Books – I love books. The new Cardini and Benson books would be great. I’ve never bought Steve Beam’s Semi-Automatic Card Trick series and they always sounded interesting.
• DVDs – Off hand I can’t think of any DVDs in 2007 that really made my must-have list. The closest was the Bill Malone set and I have them. I’ve never seen the Revelations series – believe or not, but never felt like forking over 200 bucks for the pleasure. I guess a complete set of L&L’s World’s Greatest… would be nice.

Next week – what i/m is getting for some of the well known people in magic. Don’t miss it.

Take care………

Quote: When W.’s history is written, he will be seen as the rebellious teenager crashing the family station wagon into his father’s three most cherished spots — diplomacy, intelligence and the Gulf.