If you want to see a fantastic Vanishing Bird Cage effect check out this link.

Walter Blaney has to have the record for most performances of this illusion and I think does it best. Its very slick.

http://wm.gannett.speedera.net/wm.gannet......r-4p.wmv

Best,

Tim

Mr. Blaney has a great rep but going into my back pocket for another birdcage? What was he thinking?

This is part of Walters routine. He can reach back and in an instant produce another cage. Watch it again as see how fast he can get that cage in his hand...watch the vanish again as see just how smooth the vanish is. He's been doing the " second cage" bit for 40 years and if you saw the reaction he gets from his act you wouldn't question it. I've learned a lot from Walter and I never have to question " what was he thinking" as he's one hell of a showman. He has his reasons for every single move or gesture he does. He has that great "rep" for a reason.

If you get a chance...catch some highlights of his act here http://www.timothydrake.ca/vidbg.mpg

Best,

Tim

It's amazing how he can setup like that, I just think taking this bird cage out of a back pants "pocket" is not believable.

I'd agree....but that's how he does it. Where else would you produce a birdcage from when surrounded by people and your half way through your bit ? It's never been questioned by a layman as far as I know. Walter can reach under a table or into a box and appear to simply pick up the cage.

Years ago Bev Bergeron was appearing at the Magic Castle and Walter was in the audience . The two of them had some fun set up for the crowd. Bev picked both a man ( Walter) and a woman out of the audience to sit right up close to the stage. Bev announced that he was going to do something " totally new" that night and he invited Walter to reach under the table and bring out the birdcage that was under it. Walter did ( using his move ) and Bev asked both Walter and the woman volunteer to hold the cage tightly. Bev placed a silk over it and with his fingertips wisked the silk away and vanished the birdcage instantly. He never touched the cage which made he effect totally baffle the audience.

Thought you'd enjoy that story.

Best,

Tim

I did like when he had them put their hands on the cage. Lance Burton does a similar thing in his show with a few kids and he has them put their hands on the cage.
Have you guys seen Tommy Wonder do his? It's in Visions of Wonder Vol. 3.

Tim
That's a pretty cool story. I see your point about doing it stand up. Are there notes anywhere on his routine? I think there is a lot to be learned from his handling.

I don't think there are notes anywhere on Walters routine. This goes for most of Walters material , which is a shame as it's all priceless.

It really is a shame. Maybe one day.

Of course now , all these years later , Walter Blaney did release his notes on handling the vanishing bird cage. It's included in the Walter Blaney Perfect Vanishing Bird Cage made by Daniel Summers. (it's still rather exclusive knowledge , because the cage plus all the extras like Walter's detailed notes on the handling cost $2,500) . However, if anyone wants to get a really solid tutorial on the cage vanish , check out John Carney's video "Vanishing Bird Cage Re-imagined", available directly from Carney on his website: https://carneymagic.com/carneymagic-2013-complete-series/ It's part of a series of 13 videos called "CarneyMagic 2013 Complete Series" , which you can buy as a set or individual titles a la carte. All of Carney's tutorials are excellent.



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I have to confess, as expert as Walter Blaney was doing the vanishing cage (his was really the slickest, fastest vanish -- it looked like real magic), I've never much cared for that "reaching under his coat to get another cage from the back pocket" bit. Shocking, right? Who am I to dissent? I know it seemed to work for Walter and he did it that way for many years, but to me it telegraphs the method. Reaching down under a table or into a box to bring out "another cage" makes sense , but to me it doesn't actually make any practical sense that someone would be carrying around a solid metal cage in their back pocket or under their jacket. (?)

Other performers (notably, Blackstone Sr. and Jr.) have briefly left the stage to "get another cage and another canary" to repeat the trick . I know some people don't care for the optics of the performer leaving the stage, but John Booth had a clever idea he published in one of his books, which is to say to the audience: "allow me to get another cage and another canary" and have a second cage waiting off-stage that is trimmed in a different color of ribbon (this is for the Abbott style cage that usually has a red ribbon border) , so the first cage has a red ribbon, and the second cage has a green ribbon. That underscores the idea that you really are getting "another cage" to repeat the trick.

By the way, I forgot to mention that the photos I posted above of the cage with red ribbon trim and the cage with the green ribbon trim are not my cages, they belong to Charles Hadala . Charles has come up with his own method of stabilizing the Abbott-style cage so that it can be held in a more casual manner , even held with one hand. (and yet still allows the very fast vanish that the Abbott cages are noted for)




This is the small version of the Abbott cage. They used to make them in two sizes , one that is slightly larger. Now , sadly, Abbott's does not make them at all, but they do show up on eBay and magic auction sites. This style of cage is totally different from the Lindhorst-style cage that was favored by Walter Blaney and also favored by most modern performers. I don't perform the vanishing bird cage , but I think I would tend to favor using the Lindhorst-style cage, but it is interesting looking back at which performers favored the Abbott-style cage: Fred Keating, Blackstone (Sr. and Jr.), Al Baker, John Booth, Carlyle, Neil Foster, Lee Noble, among others.

Here is Carlyle (Lyle Laughlin) performing the cage vanish with a LARGE cage that was made in a similar manner to the Abbott's cage, but with a much tighter wrap of the ribbon.


(this is from a newsreel made by British Pathe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxBTRd-PLbY David Charvet noted that this newsreel was filmed at Boeing Field in Seattle during the 1947 PCAM convention. On YouTube it is mis-identified as having been filmed in 1941.)



Here is Blackstone Sr. performing the cage vanish. Note that his cage also has the tightly wrapped ribbon trim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD7n0yI-UP0

I have 2 of the old antique very large cages that are wraped tight. They are almost double the size of the large Abbott cage. I have however never used them.

Abbott's made two sizes of cages. The cages pictured above are are the smaller. Blackstone Jr. always used the larger cages.

The cages I have are larger than the cage Blackstone Jr. used.It is rectangular and not square.

One cage is red and one is silver.

Don