The Magic Hands

[Luis]

In 1965 Lin Searles with Don Stern and Jim Cooper produced 130 short films (3 minutes each) called Tricks and Treats with The Magic Hands.

Leo Behnke's hands were used and John Mather was the narrator, each program showed and explained a trick using simple props.
Because they were released in TV, magicians all over the world complained about exposure.

Does anybody know if they are still available?

Is anybody puting them into Video or DVD format?

Thanks,

Luis A Durruty
Los Angeles, CA

[Richard Kaufman]

Luis, that's interesting stuff! I have NEVER heard about this before ... anyone else???

[Tom Stone]

Originally posted by Luis:
In 1965 Lin Searles with Don Stern and Jim Cooper produced 130 short films (3 minutes each) called Tricks and Treats with The Magic Hands.

Was it filmed with closeups on white hands against a black background?
If so, I saw them on swedish TV around 1973-74. Good stuff, I think, since I still remember it. (I was only 6 years old then)

[Michael Edwards]

Weren't there also some early Fred Kaps instructional films that showed only his hands? :confused:

[Luis]

Tom:

Yes, you could only see the hands, against a black background, black art style.

I was a kid when I used to watch the series, and still remember the theme song, it was something like this:

The Magic Hands will tell you.
the way to learn,
beautiful magic tricks,
the rest is up to you.

Every episode finished with the hands, palms facing the camera and the tips of the right and left thumb touching each other.

Leo Behnke, the hands' owner, had experience in TV ads and he just finished working in "The Magic Land of Alakazam" (1960-1964)
Many years after that Leo worked at David Copperfield's library. He applied that experience when he wrote the book "The Conservation of Magic" (Reviewed in Genii, Nov. 2000)

In the United States 44 TV channels showed the series. Between the effect and the explanation they could insert ads.


Luis

[ August 17, 2001: Message edited by: Luis ]

[ August 18, 2001: Message edited by: Luis ]

[ August 18, 2001: Message edited by: Luis ]

[Guest]

Its funny, I know in Spain several very good magicians that started in magic because The Magic Hands, and the song was the same…..but in spanish.
They teach a wonderful trick, - how to make a coin cry.

[Ben Harris]

This series (Magic Hands) showed in Australia when I was a child. I had forgotten about it completely. Your mention of it brings back firm visual images. It was a wonderful series.

Ben Harris

[Luis]

I talked to William McIIhany during the MAGIC Live! Convention and he told me he has some of the Magic Hands Videos.

May be Genii can publish an article on that series, or perhaps an interview with Leo Behnke.

[MagicMarko]

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Behnke, owner of the Magic Hands:
https://medium.com/@markweissburg/trick ... 3e9944603d

[Richard Kaufman]

Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmOo92GXHoI

[Dustin Stinett]

I talked to William McIIhany during the MAGIC Live! Convention and he told me he has some of the Magic Hands Videos.

If Bill had some, that means Magicana (David Ben and Julie Eng) has them now. I believe that they are still going through that massive collection.

[Tarotist]

Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person alive who saw "Into Thin Air" on BBC television. It was a 30 minute show in the days of black and white television and it featured Dai Vernon, Slydini and Cy Endfield. I think Harry Stanley had something to do with it. I was quite enthralled with it at the time but I was very young. Alas I think it has disappeared for ever.

[katterfelt0]

Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmOo92GXHoI

Here are two more.

[MarcillaAitor]

444 / 5.000
Resultados de traducción
Resultado de traducción
Some time ago I asked Leo himself about this material. I collaborate in Spain, in a television space, imitating the format. I spoke of more than 20 years ago, at that time there were no references to any program and I contacted a collector of old videos and he sold me a video copy of the original that was recorded on 16 mm film. No copies are preserved, only some copies that were transferred to video.

[Tom Gilbert]

I remember seeing a few of these as a kid. For some reason I'm remembering something different than the posted Youtube links. I thought it was a black background and hands wearing white gloves.

[John M. Dale]

I remember seeing a few of these as a kid. For some reason I'm remembering something different than the posted Youtube links. I thought it was a black background and hands wearing white gloves.

I remember these, too, Tom. In particular, seeing the cups and balls being presented using sponge balls.

My memory associates them with watching Captain Kangaroo when I was a kid, but it may have been on some other kids show maybe even during the old Saturday morning cartoons.

I don’t believe there are any explanations for how the tricks were done in the ones I remember.

JMD

[Tom Gilbert]

Thanks John, I think you nailed it with Captain Kangaroo. They weren't a regular feature, maybe more of a filler. I don't recall explanations either, but that's stretching the memory bank pretty far.

[Joe Lyons]

Leo discusses this in his book The Magic in Books. Some great stories, highly recommended.

He also spent five years as the hands for the Man from Glad.

[Q. Kumber]

This may bring back some memories, from The Avengers TV series with manipulation by the late John Wade.

https://youtu.be/U8OyQ3e9SqY?t=52

[Edward Pungot]

I know this was way before my time, but for some reason I remember segments of close-up magic showing hands only in between Mark Wilson’s “The Magic Circus” reruns. This wasn’t here in the States, but of all places in the Philippines on summer afternoon television back in the early 90s.

[Tom Gaudette]

I was a child in the 1960's and remember this on a local children's show "Ranger Andy" which aired on the Hartford CT CBS affiliate WTIC (now WFSB.) We had a black and white TV so I do not remember it being in color.

[Tom Gilbert]

Tom, another good call, I used to watch that show. Easily could have seen The Magic Hands on Ranger Andy.

[Grippo's Wish]

I also used to watch as a kid Trick or Treat (The Magic Hands)

I remember seeing there, for the first time in my life, the trick where you remove your thumb... I almost melt from seeing it...

[Grippo's Wish]

In Argentina they created a few more episodes but it was cancelled or there was some sort of story to that

[MagicMarko]

More info about Leo and his magic hands here, may he rest in peace:
LINK REMOVED: Potential malware on that site.

Excerpt: "Behnke: The original idea came to me while I was working at Disneyland in the Main Street Magic Shop, in about late 1960. I had convinced myself that the best magic on TV was close-up as illusions were too small in their images and parlor magic lost its panache. So I envisioned close-ups of a pair of hands, using a black background to focus the action, and everyday objects to forestall suspicion about the props. I sketched out some ideas on a scratchpad, and filed it away."

[Tarotist]

When I was a kid I saw Robert Harbin on television teaching origami but you could only see his hands. He would make the origami models and you were supposed to copy his actions and do it along with him. I was never able to finish the model and I don't suppose anyone else did. The show was called "Mr Left and Mr Right"

[Hugo Marceau]

Hi Luis,

That's fascinating! I've never heard of this series before, but it seems to have had a lasting impact on many magicians around the world.

[Leo Garet]

I'm far too young to remember the series Mister Lewis refers to.

This is the one I do recall. Mister Harbin quite visible. I also remember the book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0Y7jjJGgQY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Origami-Art-Pa ... 0340109025

https://cfcorigami.com/creator/robertharbin