PRODUCT INFORMATION

Photos and a list of illusions after this writing.

Why have I created this theatrical illusion show piece?

Times have been changing. The entertainment on cruise ships, especially a lot of magic shows, has changed since COVID. Many magicians I know only take fly-on shows to perform on ships’ large theaters. In front of large audiences, sometimes a full 3000-seat theater with just a table and a video camera pointed at the table, seems to be the norm now.

I wanted to create “a sense of place” on stage. A Magical Night in the Orient Express is exactly about it. Still for a parlor or close-up show, but it allows you to perform close-up magic with class. A larger version with an assistant vanish and reappearance at the end is coming soon. See story boards.

It's a restored wall piece of the train presented as an antique, purchased from an auction house. You present a piece of the Orient Express train and inner dinner seating display. There is so much history behind the Orient Express. Aside from a beautiful prop, the magic effects are built into this piece of artwork.

This prop breaks down to 44 inches long by 30 inches tall by about 12 inches deep and is about 69 lb. so far. We will have a supplier with light fiber cases for this prop. It will go on an airplane at oversize and maybe overweight, but it's not air cargo depending on the airline. Standing at the tallest point of 7 feet 6 inches, 44 inches wide and 40 inches deep. With the seating, it has a large presence on any performance floor. You can set this up with a video camera. You perform your close-up magic with an audience volunteer seated with you on stage. You present the outside of the train first. You tell the history of the train and the people who have traveled on the train: Leo Tolstoy Marlene Dietrich, Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel, Charles de Gaulle, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Mata Hari, Harry Houdini…just to name a few.

The famous movie Murder on the Orient Express is from Agatha Christie’s novel. She wrote the novel when she was on that train and met her husband there.

This prop comes with 15 or so simple built-in magic illusions/tricks that you perform with your audience volunteer. (Does not include a single card or coin trick). All the tricks are suited to be presented with the theme of a journey on the Orient Express. You could conceivably buy this package and have 20 to 30 minute pre-organized and pre-written close-up routine to add to your show. With added illusion ideas from a support list, the time limit could fit any length a production is asking for (supporting list means close-up or parlor effect widely sold on the market that would fit into this concept but are not built or provided with the equipment). 

Why does this work? If you were to purchase all of these effects separately, you would end up with a collage of props that have separate cases and different color designs. For example, “card on seat” needs 2 chairs in a case, “milk in light bulb” needs a lamp on a table, “arm through glass” needs a wooden frame of glass on wheels, “menu prediction” needs small deceptive table with hidden parts, etc. It means by adding the Orient Express, stables of your show material are all in one place also the price for each prop would be a concern and just doing those effects by them self’s might look out of place but on the Orient Express it all fits together, cohesively, making sense to the entire routine and a proper sense of place.

I have created this illusion not just from a builder perspective, but also as a magician who performed for 30 years around the world. This routine will add class and quality to your show and will amplify your magic performance.

This prop can be painted in darker red façade representing the Wizards Express with a jumping chocolate frog appearance and other mischief items featuring different effects that fit more for a family/children-oriented show.

LIST OF ILLUSIONS - 10 to 16 illusions in progress or development

Musical background suggestions and sound effects will be provided: Train arriving, departing smokestack puffs, European high-pitch whistle, train moving over the train. Tracks can fade in and out, giving a great feel to this theatrical show.

1. Dying rose

First, you introduce a restored artifact as a famous train side and table setting from the Orient Express recently purchased at an auction and talk flourishing history about the train. While you explain how the most extravagant train in history went in disrepair back in 1970’s a single stem rose on the table dies. During an inspirational lighting and musical change, the magician appears a new rose bud or red silk to rose bud and places it on the empty stem. representing how the LITS passenger cars were found and restored back to their 1900’s glory and still are in service today. The effect is done by a remote control. Mike’s version of Beauty and the Beast rose effect.

Now, select a volunteer from the audience.

2. Airborne glass

A bottle of champagne is served, and a magician offers a glass to the volunteer. You pour champagne into a floating glass, but they don’t get that glass of course. A traditional method. We provide our gimmicked custom-made glass and 3d-printed insert for your bottle.

3. Flying bubbles flourish

“Why is it called bubbly?” Pour in your hand a small amount of champagne and bubbles fly out with a hidden fan in the ice bucket. This is a new gimmick - Bubbles from hand, which Mike created back in 1995. Now it is 3d-printed.

4. Tickets please

The volunteer’s train ticket has vanished, only to find out he/she is sitting on it - Ticket on cushion. We will print a stack of orient express tickets to write on the train’s car name and suite number, but it will be a duplicate that appears on the cushion after it vanishes. Remote control release (simple method).

5. Map of Europe

You speak about the famous Orient Express routes and ask the volunteer for his/her dream locations to be called out. You close the map - only to open it later with the volunteer’s dream locations marked in large red marker. Maps will be printed and can be bought later in bulk.

6.Creamer to lightbulb

Teatime is served on a silver platter, with tea pot, sugar and creamers and small orange tree with flowers, etc. - Creamer poured in a small newspaper then vanished, a quick electrical short in the upper light sconce burns out its bulb. You unscrew it and find and pour the vanished creamer back into the mini pitcher. Mike’s custom mini milk pitcher and unbreakable lightbulb.

7. Growing orange on tree

Teatime vase has an arrangement of flowers, branches and mini oranges. You borrow a dollar, tear off one end and burn it. Pay attention to the tree - one orange grows life-size in slow motion. You remove it, drop it with a thud on the table, cut into it to reveal the bill in orange.

8. Teatime menu

The teatime menu is brought out with the tea tray, when the open menu is placed on table edge, a large colorful silver leaf display of 12 tea cakes appears magically moments later. Don’t eat ha-ha – they are not edible.

9. Tear and restore heart to confetti snowstorm with a tea cake heart-shaped doily

Using the same fan in the ice bucket, just a flourish not a full snowstorm (sorry Kevin). We show how to prepare the tea cake papers and presentation.

10. Vanish of drink coaster - Reappears outside of the top train cabin window

The spectator writes their name on the back side of an Orient Express drink coaster; it vanishes only to magically appear in the upper window (outside the train).

Work in progress, mysterious women’s Lipstick heart with initials written on top windowpane vanishes to reappear later, work in progress. Top windowpane has the ability to appear or vanish an item.

11. Arm through window

Using a small sheet of newspaper, you hold it over a section of the window and magically tear-poke through the large, bottom glass window and pluck the coaster from the top window, then pull it back into the cabin. Turning it over to reveal the spectator signature on the back side. The window is unaffected without any holes in it. It works great if you have a live camera operator showing the penetration from a side view. Work in progress other items can be retrieved, working idea: retrieve floating light bulb outside window, work in progress.

12. Menu prediction

A menu is placed on the table. Without opening it, you ask for a dream dinner from the volunteer and shout-outs from the audience, only to open the menu and printed on the first page under plastic is the specials of the day stating the matches the volunteers/audience announced. Method exposed upon deposit.

13. Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express paperback book prediction

A book prediction - Select a page, pick a word and the selected word mysteriously appears written in the clear window.

14. Vanish of volunteer/spectator’s finger ring to small train case, mini nest of boxes

A train case is in full view of audience on top of the brass luggage rack. The case is retrieved by the spectator. It is then opened and a second smaller case is inside. He/she opens that to reveal a tied closed satin bag with the spectator ring inside. Ring does not leave the table area, not a risky ring flight concept.

15. Luggage tag mysteriously attached to the handle

When the volunteer retrieves the train makeup case, they are surprised to find a hand-printed luggage tag of the volunteer’s name, address and cabin number attached. This could be the closer for the audience volunteer section of the show. How did it get there?

16. Floating lightbulb

You can remove the other lightbulb from top sconce, light it and float it at the table. Also, you can stand up, step away from the wall and float it using the Burling Hull idea. You can even step over it as it’s floating then float it up and back to you flying right through the hoop. It can be a closer for the show, working on a vanish and light reappears lit back in the sconce. Could crush the bulb for a large snowstorm.

Mike will not authorize any short TV rights for this show. It is not for a competition show either. There will be rights to it that are NOT transferable for all his new products starting 2026. Test video demonstration coming February 2026, TV rights can be bought only if over 15 minutes broadcast can be shown. This presents the illusion of being fully understood by the audience and not chopped up.

17. Large version closer (OPTIONAL): Vanish and reappearance of the mysterious lady or train attendant. The same wall will mount onto the platform version, you could buy the stage version and mount your train prop to it later.

Stage ending routine - below is Mike’s version

The train piece is mounted on a small wooden platform on wheels with a decorative wine-red curtain around it with orange glow lights from underneath. There is no base for this platform. During the show you can see clearly under this prop. Measurements: 78 long x 44 wide and 11 inches tall. The chairs cannot fall off the platform because small wood edging catches the legs at the outer edge just in case. Now the wall sconces reach a height of 8 feet 4 inches. Goal is to build this wood platform light enough to also go on oversize and overweight but not air cargo.

The table will fold down after the table setting is removed, leaving a nice small platform open area. There is a top outer curtain ring with a white satin cloth that can wrap around this space. It’s closed and held with ties during the close-up section. The camera and lighting are also mounted in the center of this ring.

With a feeling of early 80’s vignette, the music becomes dramatic for a mysterious dancing passenger to approach the magician. She may be accompanied by a bell boy pushing a luggage cart. The luggage is hanging on a tall hook in a net used for train storage (not a hotel bell cart) for a different look than other illusions. See storyboard.

A magician invites her on the train platform all to music. The magician pulls the satin cloth all around the train platform, then spins the train wall and platform to face the audience. You can see the girl in the window. He steps in, hypnotizes her in standing position. Next, he pulls down a white shade over the entire windows followed by a bright white light showing the girls figure in the shadow of the window from the outside. He steps out.

With a surprising loud train whistle and a straight up burst of steam shooting near 8-12 feet in the air, light goes out, the shade rolls upward and the magician tears off the curtain spins the train platform again and she is gone.

The bell boy brings the luggage cart forward, near the train prop but about 16 inches away from it. The magician and bellboy untie the cargo net placing the luggage around (this helps the illusion to allow our girl to get into position) and they reassemble the luggage into a shape or just place it into position (ever so lightly moving their work away from the train prop for a more surprising reappearance). They lift a pre-mounted curtain hidden in the frame of the luggage cart and the girl can appear sitting or standing with the luggage or can be inside the largest steamer trunk.

IMAGES

VIDEO NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

PRICE LIST