How Is It Friday Already?

Sorry for a short blog this week but to say that this week has been extremely busy here would be a severe understatement, and I couldn’t be happier! We’ve had several guests visit us from all over this week, Trade-In Days has proven to be a massive success with tons of goodies coming through the doors daily, including an original Okito piece! Mike has been sick with the flu all week, so look for some of this great magic to start appearing on the Website as soon as Monday.

We’re still putting a lot of work into the Big Event, and some of the local magicians are trying to get a sneak peek at some of the merchandise that will be displayed, but we promised all who reserved a spot that it will be first-come, first-served. And speaking of the Big Event, Daryl has signed up to be a dealer for that day and Greg Wilson has announced that he will debut and perform his full manipulation act on that day as well! Nice! There are a few seats available, so do yourself a favor and reserve your spot today.

All the above combined with your orders going out, my inbox filling up with emails as I type this, and the phones ringing off the hook, I think this weekend will be well deserved. Excuse me, but my phone is ringing.

Until next time,

Paul

30 Days to the Big Event!

The excitement is building here at Hocus Pocus! In only 30 days, we’ll be celebrating our annual Big Event/Swap Meet. For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been climbing the racks, unearthing boxes, and finding stuff I forgot I had. Some date as far as 10 years and even more! It’s like being on a magic treasure hunt; I pull out a box, open it up, and say, “Man, I forgot I had that.” There are literally thousands of items here. I only wish you could see the tables set up lined with those items. The upside to all this is that if you are attending the Big Event, you’ll be able to scoop some of these great finds up at bargain basement prices. There’s new, old, rare, and antique. Something for everyone’s tastes. To give you an idea of the bargains there will be, there will be stuff as cheap as 10 cents, a dollar table where everything on it will be just that — a dollar, or how about a Zig-Zag illusion for only $250.00? Oh, don’t forget — there will be door prizes, drawings for free magic items, 2 lectures featuring Europe’s Lee Alex and Michael Ammar! In case I haven’t said it enough before, the entire day is free to attend. I hope you can see that with these kinds of prices, this is the place to be Saturday, February 27th. Now, if you have stuff you wish to sell and would like your own dealer’s table at the swap meet, we still have some limited space available for you. If you’d like to reserve a table, please call 800-407-4040 or 559-266-5150 and ask for Debbie or Paul. We guarantee you’ll have a great time but we only have a limited number of seats left for the lectures, so if you’ve not yet called to reserve your seats, please do so soon to avoid disappointment.

We’ve Got Fleas

Well, not really. Just got off a Skype conference call with my good friend, Bruce Kalver. Bruce, as you may know, is a creator of the Growing and Shrinking Head, Tipper Monkey, and many more. He’s also a full-time pro who knows his stuff. Several months ago, he told me about his newest creation in the works called the Knock Knock Flea Circus. He was in the process of putting the finishing touches on it at the time and it made its debut in his act at the Magic Castle a few weeks ago where it got tremendous acclaim and response. He showed it to me today via Skype, and sent me a video of him performing it at the Magic Castle, and I knew we had to have this. I immediately purchased every single one that he had as Bruce graciously granted us the exclusive on this fantastic new item. It’s the perfect “packs small, plays big” routine. If you don’t believe me, check it out HERE and view the online video. Thanks, Bruce, for another winner!

On the home front, today is my oldest son, Cole’s 22 birthday! Where has the time gone? He’s turned out to be quite a fine young man, and his mother and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’ll be coming home tonight to spend the weekend with us. We’ll be taking him out to dinner this evening to celebrate. Happy birthday, Cole.

So get your reservations in for the Big Event if you haven’t already done so. Simply click the banner at the top to get all the details, and I look forward to seeing you here.

Until next time,

Paul

And the Week Starts Out with a Bang!

Monday, we had the pleasure of hosting the Shoot Ogawa lecture. After watching Shoot, it’s abundantly clear why he has won the awards and accolades he has. He is truly a master of the art, and if you ever get the opportunity to see him lecture or perform, do it; you won’t be sorry! As an added bonus, Greg Wilson, son of Mark and Nani Wilson was here to deliver the magic props I purchased. He graciously offered to perform a segment of his new 12-minute silent act. Dressed in white tie and tails, he performed a flawless billiard ball routine in a manner that would make Cardini proud. He also performed an egg bag routine while wearing gloves and using a round rhinestone-covered ball instead of an egg. He then finished with an elegant four ring Linking Ring routine. His music, stage presence, and enthusiasm were top rate! It was great to see magic performed as it used to be: with class and style. Thanks, Greg, for allowing us to take a peek at your new act.

With Shoot Ogawa

Greg Wilson performs a flawless billiard ball routine

Greg closes with his Linking Ring routine

YOU’RE CORDIALLY INVITED

It’s coming! It’s almost here… It’s the Annual Hocus Pocus Big Event Swap Meet! Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 27. Doors open at 9am. You want to be at Hocus Pocus headquarters at 1492 N. Clark, Suite 104 in Fresno, CA. This is a FREE event, but seating is limited…phone 800-407-4040 for reservations now!

What is the Big Event? The Big Event is the most exciting day of magic you’ll have this year. Join us for our Annual Hocus Pocus Big Event Swap Meet…get ready to experience magic history in the making! Sneak Peak…a look at some of the fun events we have planned for the day:

FREE ANNUAL SWAP MEET - This is your opportunity to see and obtain many one-of-a-kind magic props. Swap, buy, sell, or barter just like the good ol’ days — We have everything from small pocket tricks to large scale stage illusions. We have so many magic props that we have already started setting up for this event! The Swap meet will run continuously all day long!

FREE MEET WORLD FAMOUS MAGICIANS Mark and Nani Wilson of Magic Land of Allakazam fame will be here in addition to other magicians

FREE LECTURES:

10am – Stay tuned, it’s a surprise
11:30am Lee Alex, Master of Costume Quick Change
3-5pm Michael Ammar, offering a brand-new, never before seen lecture

FREE MIX AND MINGLE – Everyone who’s anyone will be here…meet your fellow magicians and magic enthusiasts, share stories, refine your skills, and grow your magic network.

Door Prizes *** Drawings *** Free Gifts

This is a FREE event, but seating is limited…phone 800-407-4040 for reservations now! The only cost to you is your time to attend. It’s our way of saying thank you for all your support over the years. Those of you who have attended this event in the past know how much fun it is and what great bargains you can find. First timers, get ready for the most magical day ever!

We are already stacking items on tables, and I can’t believe some of the things we’ve found. I’m excited to meet you all here on Saturday, February 27th. Don’t forget to call and reserve your seats.

IT’S ABOUT TIME DEPARTMENT

Finally, after several long months and false starts, Meteors is finally in stock! Yea! So, if you pre-ordered, your order is going out and if you were sitting on the fence thinking about it, order yours soon as we have a limited supply left, and it will be months before it will be available again.

TRYING TO STAY DRY

California this week has been like the lost city of Atlantis with the amount of rain we’ve been getting. The rain has been relentless and has caused quite a bit of havoc from power outages, downed trees and power lines and more. We even lost Internet connectivity for most of the day last Tuesday. The weatherman says that the end of the storms is near and I hope they are right. In the meantime, we’ll try to stay dry.

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to call 800-407-4040 and RSVP for the Big Event.

Until next time,

Paul

A Pretty Great Week

Well, the title says it all; it’s been a great week here at Hocus Pocus. First off, on Tuesday, Betty and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary! It was a great day, we had a nice dinner out at our favorite restaurant. It’s hard to believe that 19 years have gone by so quickly… I’m a pretty lucky guy that she said yes because they’ve been the best 19 years of my life.

Wednesday, Betty and I were honored to attend the SAM Assembly 112 Awards Banquet in Concord, California. We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Walnut Creek around 11:30 AM where we met up with my son, Cole and his girlfriend, Amanda, and we spent the afternoon doing some shopping and had a great lunch. We then attended the banquet that evening and had a great time. I was impressed that they had around 75 of their members in attendance. Everyone was treated to a Chinese buffet, and I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen so much food in one place before in my life. After dinner, they presented awards to many people. Betty, Cole and I were surprised when we were given an award. It was quite an honor, and I very much appreciate the invitation and award. After the awards were handed out, several of their members entertained the group and then door prizes were awarded.

Let the banquet begin

Betty, Cole, and I with our good friends, Dan, Danielle, and Kristen Lamb

Danielle is quite an accomplished performer with a great personality and enthusiasm for the art of magic. I predict that she will go far in any endeavor she chooses. They are 3 of the nicest people you could ever meet, and I am proud to call them my friends.

Betty and I receiving the award

This will be proudly displayed in my office. Thank you, Assembly 112!

Betty and I thanking the group

Betty, Cole and I were both overwhelmed and appreciative of Assembly 112’s warmth and generosity. Before we knew it, it was almost 10 o’clock and time to head back to Fresno. All the way back home, Betty and I talked about the great time we had. It made me realize that sometimes, slowing down the pace and enjoying good company with good people is really what life is all about.

Returning Thursday morning to work, we sent out the latest Estate and Private Collection list out. We’ve been overwhelmed by the phone calls and emails regarding this list. If you’d like to participate, you should do so soon as all these items are one-of-a-kind and many have been unavailable for years. You never know; there may be that one thing you’ve been looking for in this list. If there’s something specific you are looking for, you should always contact us because we still have thousands of items yet to be listed. Check it out below:

As we wrap up the week, we are already getting ready for next week’s excitement. Monday, we host a lecture with Shoot Ogawa, which we are all very excited about, and as a bonus, Mark and Nani’s son, Greg will be here delivering the Drum Illusion used by Mark and Nani on the Magic Land of Allakazam and the Magic Circus as well as other performances. This piece will be a part of my private collection, and it will be on display here at Hocus Pocus along with all the other magic and memorabilia I’ve collected over the years. These items are always on display in our showroom should you decide to drop on by and visit. As a bonus, Greg will be debuting his new 12-minute act as pre-show entertainment before the Shoot Ogawa lecture. I’ll report next week both on the lecture and on Greg’s performance.

Greg Wilson

Mark Wilson and his Drum Illusion

So, like I said, it’s been a pretty great week, and it looks like next week doesn’t look too shabby either.

Until next time,

Paul

8 Days In

I hope your holidays were great and that you had time to spend with your family, friends, and loved ones. We’re only 8 days into the new year and so much is already happening. First off, we’ve been busier than ever, and we have you to thank for that. Next Tuesday, Betty and I have been invited to attend the SAM Assembly #112 Awards Banquet in Concord, CA. We’re very excited to attend this event and looking forward to meeting everyone there. I’ll report all about this next week.

Web Site News

This year, we will be making new changes to our web site. Some you’ll notice and some you won’t, but it’s our goal to make our site run, operate, and offer you more features quickly and efficiently. We recently changed servers, so you might have noticed that our site runs faster and visually, you may have noticed the addition of Cris Johnson’s brand new blog called Trick Talk! We chose Cris because of his credentials of being a professional entertainer and vast knowledge of magic. Those of you who know me know that I’m a straight shooter. I call it like I see it. When I initially asked Cris to be our new product reviewer, I knew he would be the right man for the job. His reviews are complete and extremely thorough. He also calls it like he sees it, which is the most important thing, in my opinion. We’re very honored to have Cris on board. If there’s a product you’d like reviewed, make sure to contact Cris through his blog. If you haven’t had the opportunity, check it out by clicking the banner below:

A Gift Just for You from Allakazam

Just spoke to Greg Wilson, and he, Mark and Nani are putting together a special free gift item for all Hocus Pocus customers! I think you’ll be very pleased with their generosity, and I’ll be posting more about this and how you can obtain this gift very soon, so stay tuned to the blog and web site for more details. You’ll be glad you did.

Ultracinese Update

This has probably been one of the most anticipated and sought-after new effect. Well, I have great news: I just received confirmation and all pre-orders will be shipped Friday, January 22. We thank you all for your patience with this product’s availability, and free shipping will be honored until that date if you have not yet placed your order. And, that’s free shipping anywhere in the world!

More Product Update Info

Mojoe by John Kennedy – Just received email confirmation this morning, and this will arrive early next week. So once again, all pre-orders will be shipped out immediately. This has caused quite a stir, pun intended, throughout the industry, and we’re very excited to get our hands on this one.

Lecture Update

On Monday, February 18th, we’ll be hosting a lecture by Shoot Ogawa. This is a brand new lecture for those of you who had the opportunity to see him 2 years ago. We still get great comments on his last lecture, and if you were here, you know it was standing room only. Click the banner link below for more information and to make your reservation:

The Big Event Update

We’re really excited about this year’s Big Event for a number of reasons: First of all, it’s a whole day of magic, swap meet, where you’ll be able to buy anything from a small close-up pocket trick to a full-blown large stage illusion. You be able to haggle and bargain like the good ol’ days. There will be several lectures, including Europe’s Lee Alex on costume quick-changes. This will be a lecture unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Our feature lecturer, Michael Ammar, is offering a brand-new, never before seen lecture, and it is garnering some rave reviews. There are even a few surprises soon to be announced as well! Oh, and did I mention the best part: the whole event is FREE! It will only cost you your time to attend. It’s our way of saying thank you for all your support over the years. Those of you who have attended this event in the past know how much fun it is, what great bargains you can find, and the great fellowship shared. So don’t delay; you must reserve your seats in advance for all lectures. Click the banner below for more information:

So not too bad for just the first 8 days of the month. I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2010 will bring.

Until next time,

Paul

The Start of a New Year

Hope you all had a great Christmas. We celebrated at home with all my kids. Not an easy task to get them all together in one place anymore but we managed to do just fine. We had a great Christmas dinner and reminisced about Christmases past. Before I knew it, the day was gone, and Christmas over. Saturday morning, my sons, Max and Cole and son in-law Jonathan began to dismantle all the outside decorations. Betty and I took on the inside decorations. After all these years, we finally formulated a plan: I start at one end of the house and Betty the other, one room at a time, until we meet in the middle. What started at 9:00 AM was finally finished at 5:00 PM. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing until returning to work here on Monday.

HOLIDAY HIJINX

It seems that, while we were away, the gremlins were at work here at Hocus Pocus. I arrived Monday morning around 5:45 AM to stacks of orders, thanks to all of you, and then a funny thing began to happen: The phones would ring, I would answer, and no one was there, or so I thought. This continued for about 45 minutes, and as I began to become a little frustrated, a customer was able to get through, and he explained that he was able to hear me, but I couldn’t hear him. A panicked phone call to AT&T to find out what the problem was, and thankfully, they were able to immediately send out a technician who diagnosed the problem — it wasn’t gremlins at all but squirrels. And fog. Yep, you read that right — squirrels. It seems that a certain squirrel family had chewed the phone lines just enough to allow the low moisture to creep into the phone lines that caused the problems. Who’d have thought? Within a half hour, the lines were repaired, and all was well.

So, as we near the end of 2009, I reflect back, I have a lot to be thankful for. Yes, there were both high and low points, but the high far outweighed the low, and even in a year of financial difficulties for many, I am thankful that we had your continued support and friendship to help things along the way. Remember the most important things are your health, family, and friends. However you celebrate New Year’s, I wish for all of you good health, happiness, and prosperity in the upcoming new year, and I thank you for your continued support and friendship. So onward and upward as we prepare for 2010. I think it’ll be the best year yet.

Until next year,

Paul

It’s Christmas Eve

It seems like just yesterday, we were talking about the beginning of the holidays and now, in just one day, Christmas will be upon us. Thank you all for keeping us busy this time of year and, of course, for your continued support and friendship. No matter what you do or how you celebrate, I hope you create new holiday memories of your own to cherish forever! On behalf of my family and everyone here at Hocus Pocus, I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.

Until next time,

Paul

One Week And Counting…

Can you believe it? Only one week away from the Big Day. Every year, it seems like the month of December passes faster and faster than the year before. This year is no exception! To say we have been busy would be a severe understatement. We’ve been literally running from one department to the other to make sure you have what you need in time for the holidays. I’ve been arriving between 5:00 and 5:30 AM every morning, and the orders are stacked up online, including a record-breaking number of emails to answer and process. It is fantastic. Who knew I would be able to operate so well with so little sleep? There’s still time for your last-minute shopping and to guarantee delivery, we can still ship via overnight and second day.

NEW TENYO 2010 UPDATE:

Tenyo Floating Card

Tenyo Illusion Truck

Exciting news: the new 2010 Tenyo line just arrived as I’m sitting here typing the blog! Although there were several new tricks offered, we hand-selected what we felt were the best two effects out of them all. And, after checking them out, I think we made the right choices. If you were among the group who pre-ordered, yours will go out immediately. If not, and you wish to get in on the frenzy, order soon because we have a limited supply. These would make great Christmas gifts and are perfect stocking stuffers! Simply click the images above to take you to the products online.

AN ALLAKAZAM CHRISTMAS

Click here for yours! In stock and ready to ship!

Wednesday, Cole and I made a one-day trip to Southern California to meet Mark and Nani Wilson at their warehouse to pick up the 50th Anniversary Allakazam Hats. It was quite a sight to see them all lined up and ready to be picked up. Cole, Greg Wilson, and I carefully packed them into the back of the Jeep. At first it didn’t seem like it was going to be that big of a deal, but the faster we packed them into the Jeep, the faster they seemed to multiply. Believe it or not, we got them all in there. Once again, Jay Leslie has done an outstanding job carefully crafting each and every Allakazam Hat. If you’ve pre-ordered your 50th Anniversary Allakazam Hat, good news; it’s already on its way to you.

Beginning the packing process

How are they all going to fit?

Almost there…

Believe it or not, they all fit!

Safe at home in the warehouse and ready to be packed and shipped

After all the hats were packed into the car, Mark and Greg showed us the new updates on the new Magic University web site, and boy, does it look fantastic! They are even offering a special this month with a great discount and bonuses for all who sign up. This is also a great holiday gift idea. Just think about it: nothing to wrap, nothing to exchange, and it’s a gift that keeps on giving; all lessons are automatically sent to you via email. Once again, Mark Wilson has revolutionized learning the art of magic! Magic University has a universal appeal to anyone at any age anywhere in the world who wants to learn magic. Now, it’s only a click away! I urge you to check it out by clicking the banner below:

On the home front, almost all our Christmas shopping is done. The gifts are wrapped and are resting comfortably under the tree. Tonight, all the kids will be coming over to have pizza and watch A Christmas Carol (with Alistair Sim, the best version, in my opinion) and, as a double feature, It’s a Wonderful Life. I’m really looking forward to tonight. It’s times like these that make the holidays special.

As promised, several weeks ago, below are some pictures of the outside of the Gross household:

Lights, lights, and more lights

Penguin Parade

Gingerbread house

Santa and his sleigh

Nativity scene

So, as you can see by the photos, we take the holidays seriously. I’m dreading, however, the arrival of my electric bill. Oh well, it’s only once a year after all.

Until next week,

Paul

Run, Rudolph, Run!

That’s what we’ve been doing here at Hocus Pocus all week. Never in the history of Hocus Pocus have we been this busy in December, and I mean NEVER, and we love it! Everyone, and I mean, everyone has been running around frantically making sure your orders come in and go out in a timely manner. I haven’t even had time for my blog, so just a quick note to remind you to finalize your Christmas Wish Lists and shoot ‘em our way to insure you have what you want and need for all your holiday shows. Speaking of lists, my friend, Steve Dick and I are finalizing the next round of the Estate and Private Collectibles that should be ready very soon, so stay tuned. I’ll be back next week. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Until next time,

Paul

‘Tis the Season.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We certainly had a great time and had our fill of turkey and gravy. Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we were slammed. I arrived at 5:00 AM, and the voice mail was completely filled on our phone, and orders stacked up online. It was the busiest day after Thanksgiving we’ve ever had! Thanks for making that happen.

On the home front, while Betty and I were at the shop, my sons and son in-law were feverishly working on putting up all our outdoor decorations. They started at 8:00 AM and worked until almost 8:00 PM! This year’s display is even more spectacular than before, and I’ll have pictures to share with you next week.

Saturday, Betty, the boys, and I decorated the house on the inside. A major undertaking, to say the least. Every year, we set up the miniature Dickens Christmas Village on top of our piano. This year, I had the bright idea of creating a new display. It turns out, my bright idea wasn’t so bright after all; I built up a platform with Styrofoam, and then covered it with snow (flocking). Next, all the houses, along with all their electrical wires to light them were installed (this process takes almost 2 hours by itself). After getting almost 80% of the display done, it began to collapse! I looked at Cole, he looked at me, and he could see my frustration, to which he calmly remarked, “Go in the other room, finish decorating, and I’ll take care of this.” He completely dismantled what we had spent hours on, and rebuilt the display as originally intended. And everything was perfect:

The Dickens Village complete

Every year since Betty and I have been married, we bought different pieces to this Dickens Village

Now last year, you may remember my story about the 8 foot nutcracker that my son and I found and brought home. Well, this year, while we were out, last weekend we found a set of life-size Christmas carolers. I guess I don’t need to tell you we brought them home.

Life-size Christmas carolers next to the Dickens Village

So, I guess you could say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, both at Hocus Pocus and at home.

50th Anniversary Allakazam Hat Update:

Just got off the phone with Jay Leslie, and he will be delivering the 50th Anniversary Hats to Mark and Nani on Wednesday of next week. This will give them a couple of days to sign and number them, and then Mike and I will make the trip down to the Los Angeles area to pick them up. So, we’ll have them in plenty of time to ship so that you have them in time for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, make sure you print off your wish list and leave them around in a conspicuous place so your loved ones will come across them. As usual, we have extra staff on hand to process your orders faster than ever and various shipping options to insure your package is delivered to you on time.

So let’s deck the halls and let the holidays begin. Back next week with photos, and possible video blog from our trip to Allakazam!’

Until next time,

Paul