VANISH
MAGAZINE
PUBLISHER Paul Romhany & Joomag
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & DESIGN LAYOUT Paul Romhany COVER PHOTO Sandy Chang BACK COVER PHOTO Thanks to Xavier Mortimer THANK YOU TO Chipper Lowell SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nick Lewin ASSOCIATE EDITORS Hal Meyers, Ben Robinson CONTRIBUTORS Paul Romhany, Louie Fox, Nick Lewin, Ben Harris, Felicity Fields, Connie Boyd, Christopher T. Magician, Hal Meyers, Pierre Hamon & Gus, Dave Attwood, Patrick Kuffs, Nigel Harrison, Ben Robinson, Richard Webster, Dave Attwood ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jennifer Holden CREATIVE DESIGNER & LAYOUT Paul Romhany VANISH CONVENTION DIRECTOR Steve Hocevar CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION Joomag
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D D R R
FROM THE EDITOR
CELEBRATING 100TH ISSUE This is a very special edition as we celebrate the 100th issue of VANISH. This does not include the dozen or so Specials we have produced over the past 12 years but the regular issues that come out every month. With so many wonderful things to celebrate I am pleased to announce a major step forward in how you can now read VANISH on your mobile device. ANNOUNCING A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH: If you are reading this on your phone or tablet, you will notice a different layout than if you read this on your desktop. For the past few months, I have been working with a team of experts to take VANISH to a level in digital reading never seen before. The system now automatically detects what device you are using and adjusts the magazine accordingly. All the main articles will come up now as text, and you can scroll up or down on your mobile device making it much easier to read on your phone or tablet. If you want to view the magazine in all its glory, then read it on your desktop and it will appear as the regular magazine. While other magic magazines have tried to do this VANISH is the first to take it to this level and once again, we offer cutting edge technology to magicians. Reading magazines on phones has always been hard and this is a major advancement for the magazine world in general. While it hasn't been cheap, and the time involved has seen months of sleepless nights I am excited about the future of digital publishing. We have so much more to bring readers and will be releasing new features gradually. You can now find VANISH on the AppStore - just search VANISH magic magazine. We are currently working on the Google Store version now so should be up soon. I am excited to once again have full plans to build stand-up and illusions in this issue by Nigel Harrison. Another first for VANISH offering full illusion plans for those who enjoy building magic. This month it is a very novel presentation of a production of a rabbit or any other item. You will love the creative thinking behind this. Finally, thank you to Greg Gleason for allowing VANISH to offer a worldwide exclusive deal on his amazing new routine. It is well worth looking at and I know many will love this routine he has developed.
Paul Romhany The Great Pokkus
ADDRESS PLEASE NOTE: New address so email prior to posting any product reviews to VANISH. editor@ vanishmagazine.com
BY PIERRE HAMON AND GUS
CONTENT PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT
NOVEMBER 2022 ISSUE 100
84
05 Editorial 05 The Adventures of Pokku Part 19 08 Looking back at 100 issues of Vanish 14 XAVIER MORTIMER - Feature
LOOKING BACK AT 100 ISSUES
08
14
28 2022 AMA Ceremony - Nick Lewin 34 Product Highlight - Art Decko 38 Buster's Back - Ben Robinson 42 The Van Hargen Twins - Connie Boyd
XAVIER MORTIMER Social media sensation and Las Vegas Headliner. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Xavier Mortimer has amassed over 7 billion views and 15 million combined followers on social media. We get the scoop on the latest from Xavier and find out where he is headed.
ILLUSION SERIES
D E R U T A FE
42 Connie Boyd gets the first exclusive interview with the amazing Van Hargen Twins after their sensational appearance on Penn & Teller's Fool Us. You will be surprised by these two soon to be superstars of magic.
88
Let's Taco "Bout it! - Christopher T.
68 Magician
70 Hanky Pranky - Wayne Rogers - Trick 78 Wild Ways - Ben Harris - Trick
LET'S TACO 'BOUT IT
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83 The Pendulum Knows - Richard Webster
50
84 Cards that tell a story - Felicity Fields
Breaking the magician's code. A scientific look at exposing magic by Gustav Kuhn.
90 Illusion Design - Bunny Box 106 Kids Magic - Dave Attwood
CARDS THAT TELL A STORY
114 MAGIC PRODUCT REVIEWS
84
BUSTER'S BACK
38
28 50 Breaking The Magician's Code 58 ThoughtCast 2.0 - Product Highlight 62 Step by Step - Patrick Kuffs - Trick 64 Take Out Production - Louie Foxx - Trick
An exclusive interview with Amy Kimlat about her amazing new book aimed at getting kids, and in particular girls, interested in magic. A book that is destined to become a best seller. NOVEMBER | 2022
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CELEBRATING
100 ISSUES
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his issue marks 100 for Vanish magic magazine. with new advancements being released in this issue it is a good time to reflect on where it started and where it is today. I started Vanish magic magazine back in 2011, and the main goal was to have a magic magazine that was current and offered something no other magic periodical provided. The two biggest things in my favor were that Vanish could provide the very latest news and stories because it didn’t have to be at a printer’s a month or so earlier. You can see this throughout the past 100 issues, as I was able to break major stories hours after they were announced. There are many examples including paying tributes to legends of our industry that had passed. This would mean having to re-think the entire issue that was planned and having it out within 24 hours. Recently, a week after FISM finished, VANISH offered a full free special edition with more photos and stories than anybody could do in a printed magazine. I realised that with today’s access to instant media and social media any
news that comes out a month or two late is old news, and by the time it comes out people have moved on. The other thing in my favor was I wanted Vanish to be an independent magazine: in other words, we weren’t affiliated with any magic clubs or organisations, so we could offer a much wider range of stories and more that were outside of what we had been used to in other publications. With that in mind, the magazine could reach a much wider audience and over time some issues of Vanish have had more than 300,000 downloads!! The largest one was the Criss Angel special edition that blew the roof off the downloads when Criss tweeted out to over a million followers. I have had complimentary emails from musicians and other artists that are outside of magic but enjoy the magazine and
PAUL ROMHANY Paul Romhany has been performing magic since he was eight years old. He started his professional career at 20 and has worked on high end cruise ships, theaters, and tours in over 125 countries. As well as being editor and creator of Vanish magic magazine he is also an established author with over 60 books, products and tricks that are being used by magicians around the world. When he has time, he lectures and attends magic conventions but that has been rare with his commitment to making sure Vanish gets out on time.
have said they wished their industry had something like this. One of these came in from another well-known musician who again has over 1 million followers!! Every now and then, right out of left-field, I will get emails from people who I had no idea were subscribers and it makes me realise I am on the right track. I have also seen VANISH as leading the way in how it delivers the magazine to its readers, and with the new feature being launched in this issue nothing is more evident than the hard work that goes on doing this. In the early days Vanish came out bi-monthly and would be 200 pages. I kept this going for a few years, until I realised a smaller monthly publication was the way to go. Originally, I took the concept of Apple Magazine where it produced a large magazine every few months, and it would take that long until you finished it. One of my favorite parts of that magazine included the advertising for new products and accessories. The same can be said for magic. I remember growing up and getting various magazines, and the first thing I would open would be the advertising pages to see what the latest and greatest tricks for sale were. Advertising still plays a big part in Vanish, and without them the magazine would not continue. Vanish is, and always has been, a labor of love. Magic has always been
good to me, and having been performing professionally for over 35 years, this was a way for me to give back to the community. The secret is to surround yourself with dedicated and like-minded people who I respect and who have carved out incredible careers in magic. Vanish gives them a voice to share their knowledge with magicians around the world, and hopefully make you think about what you do. Nick Lewin has been with Vanish since day one and you will find something inside every issue from Nick. There is nobody I respect more than Nick, and it’s such an honor to have him as part of Vanish. Over the years, other friends have joined the team including Ben Robinson and Hal Meyers. Both have offered wonderful articles; Ben also had several special editions that I produced, and although these aren’t always magic related, they are important for magicians to read. Hal has offered his hand in helping with contacts and editing, as well as several major breaking stories, and continues to be my go-to person all things magic. Very few people have the skill and knowledge that Hal has, and having him on the team has been wonderful. Connie Boyd joined the team a few years ago, and has really provided Vanish with such amazing stories and introduced us all to a world of magicians we probably didn’t know, or who are about to hit the world stage. Again, by having this team we can get you stories long before anybody else.
Louie Foxx is another who manages to get his article in every month, and every month has a creative and original routine that he performs at different events. His volume of work and creativity is truly remarkable. Felicity Fields has also provided Vanish with a different and modern point of view with topics no other magic magazine would touch. Again, she can reach out to a generation of magicians that are coming up and able to give them a voice. I would like to thank my Kiwi friends Richard Webster, Wayne Rogers, and Alan Watson. Sadly, Wayne passed away a few years back, but like Alan and Richard, he was a great supporter and encouraged all my endeavors. I am forever grateful to them, and to Chipper Lowell for his support in the early days of Vanish, who could see a need for such a publication. Having great mentors has been part of the success of the magazine. Perhaps the most important part of Vanish is giving people a voice that most publications wouldn’t touch because they aren’t “well known,” or “famous.” This has always been something I pride myself on and we continue to strive for. More than any other magic magazine, Vanish offers a diverse range of cultures and topics in our