Reviews of products by Supreme-Magic-Company
1 ★★★★★ reviews
1 ★★★★★ reviews
1 ★★★★★ reviews
Magigram Volume 2 (Sep 1968 - Aug 1970)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christopher M. Reynolds (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 October, 2026)
I recently binge-watched the entire seven seasons of the TV show Mad Men. If you're not familiar, Mad Men is an award-winning period drama set in the glamorous world of New York’s Madison Avenue advertising agencies during the 1960s and early 1970s. After finishing the series, I became curious about what magic-trick advertisements looked like during that era. So I plunked down $3.00 and downloaded Magigram Volume 2 (Sep 1968 - Aug 1970).
Much to my surprise, the 800+pages of Magigram were filled with as much drinking, sexism, racism, and homophobia as there was an entire season of the TV show. Don't get me wrong. I’m no namby-pamby, bra-burning male feminist, or an uber-sensitive college soy boy who’s here to whine about the sins of our spiritual fathers' pasts. Far from it.
I always felt that magic and illusion were mostly disconnected from the outside world—focused solely on secrets and sleights while turning a blind eye to the cultural and political trends of the time. The art seemed content to endlessly draw from its rich historic past, never progressing much beyond the Houdini or Blackstone eras, willfully tucked away in a charming fantasy Neverland.
But now I stand corrected.
One advertisement that jumped out at me on page 543 was for a product called the Sex Cards. Here’s the ad copy verbatim:
Here’s a great gag from Tom Fitzgerald. We had a sell-out of these some time ago at a convention, but we are now pleased that they’re back in stock again. The specialty printed card says: “If you are in the mood for sex, keep this card and smile. If you’re not in the mood, tear this card up.” You hand the card to any attractive female. The gag comes if they try to tear the card up … because they can’t! These cards happen to look like flimsy paper ones but are in fact printed on a special material which is completely untearable. What a gag! What a laugh! What can you lose! What can you gain!?!
Oh my, how times have changed! There was even an ad for a product called “Nudist Cards For Children.” WTF! Much of the humor here has aged like fine milk, and after a while the women-bashing jokes left a sour taste in my mouth. I’m guessing now that failed Andy Warhol assassin Valerie Solanas wrote her 1967 SCUM manifesto after witnessing a bad magic act.
If you're looking for new tricks, I don’t have much to offer—the magazine was filled with advertisements and presentations for apparatus-style magic, which isn’t really my thing. I find props like dove pans to be “strictly for the birds” (pun intended). Honestly, the pages of Magigram were overflowing with ads for dove pans, as well as books and encyclopedias dedicated to them. After a while, I wasn’t sure if I was reading a magic magazine or a small game cookbook. By the end, I had the sudden urge to go into the kitchen and roast a squab.
While much of the material in Magigram felt stale and past its prime—like discount meat at Walmart—it still had a few valuable gems, some wheat hidden amongst the chaff.
What caught my attention most were the hand-drawn pen-and-ink illustrations, especially the small, standalone spot illustrations scattered throughout the magazine’s pages. Many were rough and crude, with a raw, naïve style I found utterly charming—so different from the cold, soulless AI-generated graphics seen today in online publications like VANISH or Magicseen. Unfortunately, there were no credits, so I have no idea who these artists were—which is a real shame.
A series of articles by a young Billy McComb, “At Homb With McComb,” also offered advice on becoming a professional magician. As someone who still struggles as a semi-unprofessional ‘ham & egger,’ I found much of his advice a bit over my head. Still, Billy McComb is on my short list of favorite magicians, and I found his articles a welcome addition.
All in all, reading these old issues of Magigram was a treat. For just $3.00, I was able to step back in time—like an episode of Mad Men—to a bygone era of suave, tuxedo-clad nightclub magicians like Channing Pollock, as well as socially awkward tricksters intent on sexually harassing their female audience members.
That said, I don’t believe we need to “cancel” this material or erase it from history. As magicians, amateur or professional, we’re part of a lineage that stretches back to prehistoric times, and it would be a shame to dismiss this material as insignificant or “problematic” simply because it’s tacky or cringe-inducing.
Borrowed Bill in Balloon
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by hal barlow (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 05 January, 2025)
This is a good idea and a good routine, but you will need to find a new method to gimmick the balloon, as the one given does not work well.
I found a way to do this and now use the trick to good effect. The effect is like the classic bill in lemon, but easier to prepare and no mess!
The Living Head Illusion
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Fred Ledo (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 01 May, 2023)
Angles are definiely wrong!
Magigram Volume 1 (Sep 1966 - Aug 1968)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Vidar Fors (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 May, 2014)
This was fun reading! It is from 1966 and it is packed with old stuff, and you can even learn a few effects. And it's only 3 dollars.
Magigram Volume 11 (Sep 1978 - Aug 1979)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Henri
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 01 January, 2012)
This is by far the best way to spend three dollars in magic I have seen so far. Not just this particular issue (Or 12 issues) but the magigram in general. Everybody (Absolutely everybody) will find something they like in this magazine. Magigram 11 is almost one thousand pages long. There is every kind of magic you can think of. I loved this PDF and I guarantee that you will be pleased, if you like silk magic, rope magic, mentalism, dove magic, children's magic, stage, parlour, or almost any other kind of magic. Except maybe escape magic, though I haven't even finished the 1000 pages and there might even be some of that. And only three dollars!
This is the best three dollars I have spent in magic so far.
Magigram
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Derek Renfro
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 03 January, 2010)
NOTE: While I have only purchased the first five volumes of the Magigram so far, I am writing this review for the complete file as I am sure that I will feel the same about each volume.
I never read the Magicgram when it was in print. I had no idea what I was missing. But now that I have the first five volumes, I can honestly say that it is a gold mine and will get the entire run. I paid fifteen dollars for the first five volume (three dollars each) and I have found items worth ten times that price in just the first volume alone.
I imagine that by the time I finish buying and reading all 27 volumes I will have more than I could ever use in a lifetime (which I do anyway!). Honestly, if you don't find this pays for itself ten times over, you are either not a serious magician or you have a serious case of anhedonia!!