I thought I would mention an item the famous Roy Johnson from England used in his patter act.

This is a great idea, but of course depends on the items you use during your act. Roy performed most of his act in his hands. This case can accept large Giant Playing Cards and tricks like the Baby Gag. There is a special compartment for this so they do not get in the way.

It is what is called a "Catalog Case" that salesmen use to sell industrial products to companies.

Roy Johnson would place the case on a chair at the engagement, and one of the flaps would open and rest on the back of the chair. Thus the flap could be used as a table top to place things momentarily. Of course this depends on the height of the chair's backrest of the chairs available at the show date.

Hope some of you find this interesting and suitable for your shows. I believe the price is right for every magician. So many props are so different in height and length that this may just fit your needs. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Here is a link to the case I am refering to: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/39......se-13-H/

I think one of my catalog cases is the same model. I've had it for about 16 years and may replace it, soon. It's my favorite type of on-stage prop case. I use one for a close-up case, that I set behind the scenes.

Alan, if I remember correctly, you said you use plastic tubs for your stand up shows. This looks better anyway. But it is limited to by the magic you may want to present.

Aldo Columbini uses such a case in one of his videos (can't remember which) and Steve Bidwell uses one and actually has a gaffus built in to facilitate a trick (it throughs a jumbo card into the air). I beleive it is on his "MD Not Required" video.

I've known a few performers that have worked out of this type of case. I have even known silent acts that work out of this type of case and use it as a dump box in the process.

I have one that has a flange built in to take a cut down Eureka base so I am not just stitting it on a chair or on the floor. I have built a small shelf on the lid (it opens out flat toward the audience) to hold the Houelette' for the Jumbo Hathaway card rise until.

These are nice cases and work well for the small act. Frankly I have always liked them better than a roll on suitcase type of table.

I decided to order the case from http://www.ebags.com as it was on sale for the same price as Office Depot. Will have the case in a day or two and give a review as to how it will work for a stand up show.

This type of case is what Jeff McBride suggests using in the Commando Act on the first Magic on Stage video. I've used a catalog case to carry a street act that held all the props and the small fold-up table I used.
I found it to be really handy and when setting open in back of your table a perfect place to ditch items.
If anyone doesn't have the McBride video it is worth a look to see a great example of using this type of case.

Received the Catalog Case this afternoon. It is has molded plastic end plates, the long front and back are cardboard, covered on the outside with vinyl and on the inside with cloth. This is good as holders can be glued or velcroed onto this for gimmicks and decks of cards.

It comes with 2 dividers on the inside attached to the long sides, I removed on to make room for props and left the other divider for those had to handle large card display tricks, like Baby Gag and Chase the Ace Giant cards tricks.

I have to do some re-modeling on the inside, but in the end I believe it will work very well for my stand-up patter act.

Hope you all can see the potential this may have for convenience in transportation and ease in use to and from a show.

I plan to attach steel right angles to the underside of the handled flap, I removed the pen holders and card holders to make a smoother working surface.

It looks nice and if used properly will be great way to do several shows in one day. With most of the time not knowing the set up of the room that you will work in, this may be of good use.

Hope this information helps you decide if it will fit your needs.

I have decided to remove the other partition divider, this will allow more bulky items to be inside the case. I am getting a large portfolo type of under arm bag to accommodate the large flat card items. This will be velcroed to the outside of one side.

The totes are for the family/kid shows. The catalog cases are for the adult shows and strolling performances.

The Catalog Case I listed above turned out to be to small for the items I use in my banquet act. So I found this high class catalog/pilot case at OverStock dot com. It has a portfolio attached on the outside and 2 end pouches to that can hold small items and jumbo cards.

Take a look and it is reasonablily priced. http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bags/Ma......uct.html

This looks expensive and sharp, hold large items like the Dreibeck Die, Chinese Sticks and even a production table.

I use a catalog case. I am considering purchasing this bag to set inside the case. Kinda like a kangaroo pouch.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/bags/bfc0/

Just ordered a second at OverStock.com this is really a great case, well made and very professional looking. Will hold my set of 3 - 12 inch rings, a production table and all my props for the act.

http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bags/Ma......uct.html

Got a really great case at the Goodwill for 5 dollars. It was like new and even had pockets on the sides that can fit jumbo cards. You can see it on my homepage at

http://www.erictyree.com

Anyone have the one from think geek? Looks great!

Heritage Vinyl Catalog Case for $40. Hmm... Sounds about fair right. Looking at it, it does fit the description on what magicians could use on a presentation. I also checked that one at Goodwill, for $5 for real? What's its actual size?

I've been using this kind of case, with a Jumping Stool for maybe 30 years. My full comedy club act fits in it like a charm, Chase the Ace cards, Linking Rings, Chinese sticks and my card in balloon (and more).

I purchased the case a year ago that Bill mentioned in his original post. The price was right and it is decent quality but not super-super durable. I later picked up a used catalog case in a resale store for $10 that was much more robust - leather with metal reinforced corners, etc. Bottom line is keep your eyes open for used cases but this one for $40 isn't bad either.

I used a catalog case to carry half of my school show for about 10 years. The first one was picked up at a yard sale. It was leather and fibre,almost new, probably retailed in the $50 area. I paid $3.00! I just set it on a chair with a velcroed flash drape and after about 3,000 shows, it still looks good. After the first year or two, I started checking thrift shops,and yard sales for a back up. I bought 5 or 6 cases (never paid more than $5.00. They're all in my prop storage room, used for>>STORAGE! The original is still very usable. A couple of years ago,when I dropped the birds from the show, I switched back to a fibre salesman's sample case--it's 13" x 20" x 8". In the old days, that was the largest size for under the seat storage in a plane. (Jay Marshall suggested the size when I was inhabiting the Charlie Miller Suite at Magic Inc.in the '70s. It now carries the complete 45-60 minute school show (exept for the mutilated parasol which travels in a zippered nylon case designed to carry a six pack of beer (cost $1.00-yard sale). The case sits on a waiters tray stand that is about 3/4 the size of a standard waiters stand. This "jr.size" stand cost me $5.00 in a thrift shop!I'm keeping the catalog case! Someday I might want to use doves again! About 40+ years ago,I had a Merv Taylor Suitcase table custom built (Taylor was "out of business")I used it for about a season and a half. It looked great and was very efficient--but it was just too heavy with the show props.

PS::: WALMART has a folding stool (folds like a waiters tray stand). It has a round top about 10" diameter,and stands about28" high. I think the price was under $15.00. If I didn't have the "jr. size" stand, I would use the Walmart stool.