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pkessler New user 89 Posts |
So Martinka yesterday auctioned off an Okito Handkerchief Tray and Glass. Novice that I am, the workings felt like a revelation. I don't find any mention of the effect in Okito on Magic. Yes, I imagine Albo wrote it up -- but I do not own Albo! (Perhaps I should buy a set, but then there would be no milk for the baby). Anyway, I've been thinking the last few days about replicating the effect. Bazar de Magia inexpensively addresses the first third of the problem. The second part of the problem and the third part of the problem feel solvable, even if my conception of the solution for each stage is perhaps less elegant than it might be. (This is particularly true for the third part of the problem, which is predicate to producing the silk. I am apt to fumble if too much is left to chance, so I had wondered about a m*****, though I concede that that is probably not the best answer. But if I'm forced to fumble with anything less dependable, there will be failure and sadness). Any public or non-public insight into this trick?
Also, I sometimes wonder why the Magic Café does not have a separate section devoted exclusively to Okito. |
hugmagic Inner circle 7655 Posts |
I believe it is also in Okito on Magic that was published long before Albo. I think Magic Inc. may still sell it as they own the copyright.
Richard
Richard E. Hughes, Hughes Magic Inc., 352 N. Prospect St., Ravenna, OH 44266 (330)296-4023
www.hughesmagic.com email-hugmagic@raex.com Write direct as I will be turning off my PM's. |
pkessler New user 89 Posts |
I'll go back and check more closely . . . thank you.
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61magic Special user Sacramento California 775 Posts |
Yep, it is in Okito on Magic page 130. I have one of the one of the 1973 editions by Magic Inc...
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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pkessler New user 89 Posts |
Thanks. Now I'm home and I see it. How silly of me! And the workings of the last stage, at least as he designed it, are far more elaborate than I imagined. Daunting. Tenyo-esque, even.
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
In Okito's "day" a lot of props were made like that. I had to go look it up! I have the boxed numbered edition from the '50s. It' signed by Bob Parrish, George Johnstone, and some Dutch Jewish guy who called himself OKITO.
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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pkessler New user 89 Posts |
Dick,
Your collectable is amazing! And thank you for your insight. Your comment makes me think about another, perhaps more apt comparison than "Tenyo-esqu": Rube-Goldberg-esque. Which is to say, glorying in the elaborately mechanical purely for the pleasure of the elaborately mechanical. Novice that I am, I had not previously understood this about Okito. His love and indulgence of the ornate is itself so dazzling that it has obscured other elements from me. Old hat to you, no doubt, but news to me. It appears that ebay had the same item listed in January -- a more intact version than Martinka's -- and it sold for a price appropriately well above the Martinka item. Going back to problem #2 and problem #3, I've been snooping around the last few days and realizing that the tray is hard to replicate without building it oneself. I'm not referencing the trick elements, now. The gimmick portion of problem #2 is not overly hard in theory; and there are solutions to problem #3 other than Okito's. But simply finding a comparable shape with comparable features is proving really really hard, and it makes me appreciate the overall design. After having looked at roughly 400 pictures of trays, I'm surmising (flame me if I'm wrong!) that everything in the Okito trick was made from scratch and that the entirety of the apparatus was designed and built purely to effectuate the trick. The tray was not simply "found" and adapted -- as I had hoped. I did happen on an old, old tray, though, that is more cumbersome than the Okito, and of course more plain, but that might lend itself with modification to staging more than simply the "Okito Handkerchief Tray and Glass," and might instead serve as a home base for a second milk trick, as well, even permitting a tweaking of Multum in Parvo so that the tray is home to a routine involving three reveals rather than just one. Time permitting, in the next several months I'll try to abuse that particular tray into something serviceable. |
jimgerrish Inner circle East Orange, NJ 3209 Posts |
Keep in mind that new advances in technology make it possible to reverse engineer many of the effects of the old masters and reproduce them more simply. We are standing on the shoulders of giants in so doing, but I am sure they would have applauded our ability to improve upon their inventions, just as I expect someone will be able to improve upon mine given the continued advance of technology into the future. Okito could not have predicted the development of simple things like Velcro(r), invisible monofilament threads, neodymium magnets and the like, which eliminate the need for all that stuff in his tray or even for the need of a tray in accomplishing the same effect, with or without his wonderful Okito glass. We owe it to the past masters to learn from our history and keep it moving forward, while appreciating all they did and the methods they used.
Jim Gerrish
magicnook@yahoo.com https://www.magicnook.com Home of The Wizards' Journals: https://magicnook.com/wizardsTOC.htm |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Most assuredly, this tray was built for the purpose. There are some things that are attributed to Okito but were in fact made by other magic builders (such as Thayer), but then decorated by Okito. As a side note, I believe P&L re-purposed some things, like the trays used for the Vanishing Alarm Clock, but those modifications were extremely minor. For the OHT&G, the tray itself would be relatively easy to make. The mechanics would be the challenge.
The Albo books are certainly expensive, but a more affordable solution to the information would be in the DVDs. Byron Walker has extra sets of those that were included with The Ultimate Okito. You can buy the entire set of eight, or apparently each DVD individually. http://www.byronwalkermagicbooks.com/magic.html This trick is on disc #2.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Trick Supply dot com has the video tapes of Okito Vol. 1 to 4 for a reduced price of $75, if you have a tape player.
http://www.tricksupply.com/product-p/albovideookito.htm Check the list to see if the trick you are seeking is listed, don't know much about the Albo sets of books, tapes and DVDs. It would be exciting to watch all those old time tricks being performed. That is if Dr. Albo was good in performing his presentations. Never seen one, so cannot comment how complete and good they are. No one has actually commented on the quality of Dr. Albo as a magician. |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 27, 2014, Bill Hegbli wrote: The VHS tapes were produced by Stevens Magic Emporium, and are considerably older than the DVD set. There are/were only 4 tapes in the set (plus a booklet). Much of the material is similar, although some things are not on the tapes. However, the tapes have some really nice biographical inclusions not found on the DVDs. The trick in question is also on the VHS set. It would be unfair to judge the quality of Dr. Albo as a performer/magician. He was a collector and a historian. He demonstrates the apparatus and offers historical footnotes. The quality of his knowledge of Okito is what counts. In that regard, he was well beyond the rest of us.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
pkessler New user 89 Posts |
Thank you, Jim. I appreciate your comments on Okito's constraints, and on the relative wealth of materials we enjoy. By the way, you have a great pair of websites.
Also, thank you as always Michael. I've sent an email to Byron Walker. The DVDs would suit me fine if available and would also give me lots of fodder for impulsive posting on the Magic Café for weeks to come. Also, re the Okito item itself, as you say, I imagine that the tray itself would be a relatively straight-forward build -- at least for you -- and that in your hands it would be something astonishing. As you know, I think the world of just about everything you make. I imagine that the craft involved in solving problem #2, the first gimmicking, would involve principles involved in certain models of nested boxes, and agree that the third element is the challenge, in part because, as Jim suggests above, our vantage in 2014 invites departure from the 1908 prototype. I'd think it would also be a question of a performer's flexibility. The particular junk tray that I've ordered is a different proposition altogether. Basically, for reference, it is not too far from being a legitimate Hospitality tray. Thus I could without too much imagination, and with the use of all ten of my thumbs, see my way toward experimenting with a couple debasements and elaborations of the underlying Okito idea, and add to that (or precede it with) a Multum in Parvo sequence -- with a special kicker that pushes the Multum in Parvo further. Not too hard to see how that all works. I'm thinking of the junk tray as an ungainly wooden prototype. I've been thinking a fair amount lately about milk. Bill, I had been eyeing the videos from Trick Supply for a month or so now, and I believe they also have, or had, the Albo Thayer on video, as well. Trick Supply may also have eventually posted one or both on ebay. Unfortunately I lack a VHS to DVD converter, and given the way time disappears around me, the videos would simply sit in my closet reproaching me for for months and months to come. And I am not a completist. Or not today anyway. |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Yes, I hesitated before mentioning the tapes, as I have been trying to convert my collection of tapes to DVD for a while now. It is a difficult task only because of what is sold as DVD players today. So far I have gone through 6 DVD players, as most break after the 1st to 3rd tape being played. Most will not rewind as well so forget the seek function, some just damage the tape severely, luckily I made back up copies of some of my tapes, so much so, I have had to take the machine completely apart to save the tape. These all plastic DVD players just cannot play the old cassettes. Loaders break, spindles in the player break for no reason at all.
I am not a collector as well, but I seen the title you were looking for and hoped, as Michael Baker followed through to confirm my find. Thank you Michael for your valuable insight and information. |
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