Welcome to The Haunted Dungeon!Updated April 5, 2018 The Haunted Dungeon is my personal collection of Magic & Halloween. Many magic items, I use in my Halloween Spook Shows. Others are strictly magic props that I have collected over the years, and of course some that I have used in my regular shows. I also have a sizeable number of Halloween decorations. Some of these will be documented on a separate webpage. The Main Entrance and the Welcoming Committee  Displayed PropsThe Haunted Dungeon is an ever-evolving work in progress. The main room has changed as more shelving was added and more items set out for display.   The items on the lower shelves cannot be seen in these photos, due to the storage containers, boxes, and other items on the floor blocking view. As more props get displayed, things get shifted around, so I can work. Little by little, it is coming together. Still, there is a lot of stuff being displayed in a comparatively small space. It takes some creativity, to be sure!  Part of the bottle collection, which has grown significantly since these first photos were done. Having started my full-time magic career behind a bar, I found myself attracted to tricks done with bottles, glasses, etc.   This next photo is not in the dungeon, but is a display in another part of my home. Most of the props seen here, are some that I made.  Back to the Dungeon... This is a faux iron gate that I made to separate two areas of the room. The pictures on the wall are an original cover from Saturday Evening Post - a Norman Rockwell painting of a man doing magic for two young children. Below that is an original page from Esquire magazine, featuring Cardini. The female assistant shown is model Pat Ogden, not Cardini's wife, Swan, who assisted him in his act.   Production Champagne Bottles from Mikame Craft of Japan, including some on the lower shelf that I relabeled years ago. The giant bottles in back are store display bottles. I have used a few of them in my act.  A collection of tricks known by a few different names, The Chinese Bottle, Prayer Vase, and Rope and Bottle are among them. Several of these are/were marketed items, while others are vases that I found that work very well for the trick.   Several makes and sizes of The Zombie Floating Ball. The fishing bobbers are modified Zombies that were acquired from another performer. Clever idea, I think!     The majority of items seen below are from Manfred Thumm's company, The Magic Hands, in Germany. These Champagne Bottle tricks are the best ever made.  The four bottles seen here are all Champagne From Balloon. The two on the left are from The Magic Hands. Furthest to the left is my first Champagne bottle trick from them. I purchased it sometime in the early 1980s. The other was acquired, and I assume manufactured much later. Notice the slight variation of the labels between the two. Both of these make a loud "POP!" when opened, and champagne may be poured from them. The next bottle to the right is a Boretti Champagne from Balloon from Supreme Magic of England. I am unsure when it was made. It does not contain liquid. On the right is one that I made in 2017. It also does not contain liquid, but it is the only one of the four capable of standing freely on the table.  Check back! There is a lot more to come........... |