StringsAndBubblegum
This effect is a horrible reworking of a coin nest of boxes. It’s cheap plastic and utterly not worth $5 much less the $50 they charge for it. Get a real brass nest of boxes and use that instead.
Wow, folks! I just realized that Nick Brown and Meir Yedid are offering their versions of a magic trick that’s been around for ages. It’s so old that tracking down the original creator might be tough. What surprises me is they’re selling it for as high as $30.
The effect is that you have a “door” cut into a dollar bill and the spectator holds onto this door while the bill mysteriously flips over so that instead of you looking at the front of the bill, you are now looking at the back of the bill. Shame on you Nick & Meir for pretending it’s your own creation.
Welcome to the intriguing world of illusion and sleight of hand—this blog is for magicians who are tired of getting burned by over-hyped tricks that turn out to be nothing more than repackaged string and bubblegum.
Our goal is simple: help you spot the difference between genuinely practical, performance-ready magic and gimmicks that waste your time and money. When necessary, we’ll reference the Penn & Teller: Fool Us Code to discuss methods responsibly and keep secrets out of the hands of common laymen.
Magic isn’t just about the “secret.” It’s about the skill, presentation, and deception that create real awe and wonder. The right trick in the right hands elevates your act—while the wrong purchase just leaves you with, you guessed it, string and bubblegum.
In summary:
Learn to recognize quality tricks vs. over-hyped gimmicks
Avoid wasting money on ill-conceived “miracles”
Understand that strong magic comes from performance, not hype
Use discernment when building your repertoire
Refine your work to captivate audiences more effectively
And if you’re one of the sad sack magicians who constantly insists, “it’s all about the secret,” understand this: that mindset makes you part of the problem—right alongside the so-called “creators.” It’s due to people like you that others don’t call out the people who are often doing little more than directly stealing.
If you want to know more about us, check out Our Mission.
Stay tuned for some scathing reviews.
I know that there are going to be a lot of upset magicians when we post this but there’s nothing to defend here. Dean Dill’s Box is one of the most expensive props in the world. There is nothing special about this box other than the craftsmanship. The only thing that separates this box from pretty much any other is a magnet. There are no other gimmicks and to sell this thing for $300, and for magicians to defend Dean for doing so is a crime in and of itself.
This is a prop and nothing more. There is no gimmick, you can search online and find your own tiny plunger(the author has seen one for sale as a wine stopper). If they hadn’t stopped selling the gimmicked version of the plunger along with this trick, then Tiny Plunger wouldn’t be listed here because the gimmicked version is a bit of a fooler even when you know it’s gimmicked. How’s that for ironic?