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Tommy Wonder

Tommy Wonder

(Lisse, Holland: 29th November 1953 - 26th June 2006)

Real name was Joseph Bemelman. Inspired seeing a magician on TV at age 4. Learned magic at 10. Pro close-up and stage magician since age 18. Aka "Julian" (1973), "Jos Bema" (1973-78), and "Tommy Wonder" (since 1979). Died of lung cancer.

1972 Junior Magician of Holland; 1979 FISM 2nd prize in close-up; 1988 FISM 2nd prize in general magic.

Invented a version of Diminishing Cards (c1972) and Floating Cage (1987). Wrote two lecture-note booklets: Original Magic from Holland (1977) and Wonder Material (1982); plus The Books of Wonder (1996, 2 vols with Stephen Minch). See also Gene Matsuura, Tommy Wonder Entertains (1983).

Coauthors: Troels Holm, Chris Wasshuber

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Tommy Wonder & Chris Wasshuber
Frozen Lock Improved by Tommy Wonder & Chris Wasshuber

In the second volume of The Books of Wonder Tommy Wonder describes what he calls a Frozen Lock. This is a utility device for the Jack Miller holdout, but it can also be used for other holdouts and pulls. It allows one to keep the holdout higher up in the sleeve until you want to lower it. Exactly how this works and how it should be used is something you will need to read in Tommy's book. This item comes with no instructions. I am assuming customers know how it is being used.

Tommy Wonder produced his lock from brass. However, brass is not necessarily the best material for this type of device, because...

$120
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Tommy Wonder
The Shrinking Fan of Cards by Tommy Wonder

This is the classic 'Diminishing Cards' effect, but completely revamped Tommy Wonder style. The gimmick is ingenious and allows for an extremely visual effect. The cards are held in a nice fan and are gradually getting smaller in full view. There is no squeezing and exchanging of cards. The fan simply shrinks in size including the card faces and indexes. The clever gimmick does it all. Video explains how to gimmick is constructed and it is used.

★★★★★ $5
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Tommy Wonder
The Ring, the Watch and the Wallet by Tommy Wonder

The magician explains that he was once robbed. The thief took his ring, his watch and the money from his wallet. All these items are put into an envelope. Immediately after the magician tears up the envelope. All the items have vanished and returned to their original place. The ring is on the ring finger, the watch is on the wrist and the money is back in the wallet.

In this video you get a detailed explanation of how this routine works. As is typical with Tommy Wonder, he always teaches lessons which apply to many other effects. For example, he spends some time talking about where to attach...

★★★★★ $5
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Tommy Wonder
Lighter to Matches by Tommy Wonder

You take out a lighter to light up a cigarette or candle. But the lighter doesn't work. You try several times but it simply does not burn. In an instant you change the lighter to a box of matches, take out a match and light your cigarette or candle.

Using this effect Tommy Wonder also teaches the pros and cons of approaching potential spectators with the question: "Do you want to see some magic?" Of course, he offers a much better alternative.

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Tommy Wonder
Torn and Restored Card by Tommy Wonder

This is Tommy Wonder's improved version of a Paul Harris 'Torn and Restored' card effect. You truly only use one card. There is no additional card or piece of card that is used as gimmick. You take one card tear it into four pieces and restore it. Of course, there are many little tips and bits of business Tommy Wonder addresses - all of which are lessons you can apply to many other effects.

Tommy Wonder also teaches a very important lesson on putting things into your pockets which will make this action much more natural.

runtime 13min

★★★★★ $5
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Tommy Wonder
Cards to Card Case by Tommy Wonder

This is a beautifully motivated opening effect for a card manipulation act. A deck of cards is introduced. The cards are taken out of the case. The cards and the case magically switch places several times. Besides the clever gimmick it is really a lesson in how to motivate the various effects in the performance. Wonder demonstrates how this effect of a deck of cards switching place with its case can be turned into a wonderfully motivated episode rather than an unmotivated series of effects. Wonder finds a good reason for every sequence that turns a simple trick into a story and thus beautiful...

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Troels Holm & Tommy Wonder
Squeeze by Troels Holm & Tommy Wonder

Squeeze is a wonderful effect created by Tommy Wonder. A regular deck of cards is 'squeezed' into a miniture case. It is an incredibly visual effect and was published in the first volume of the Books Of Wonder on page 149.

The biggest problem with this effect is to prepare and build the props. In order to remove the time consuming design work Troels Holm has created the necessary drawings. These sheets make it easy for you to produce all the special items needed for this trick. However, keep in mind that even with these PDFs there is still a significant amount of work left to build all props and prepare...

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PDF

Tommy Wonder
The Card in the Box by Tommy Wonder

Be prepared to receive a good dose of Tommy Wonder's clever magical thinking. Critically hailed as the best "Card in Box" ever created. Tommy shares all of the intricate details of this powerful routine, including the incredible "Two Second Card Fold", where you fold the the card three times into 1/8 of its original size. This is how magic is meant to look.

Tommy Wonder thinks about every minute detail. For example

  • What is the perfect size of the box?
  • How should the hinge operate?
  • What to do when a spectator stares at your hands while you want to perform a move?
  • And many more insights...
★★★★★ $6
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Displaying 1 to 8 (of 8 products)