The Genii Forum

What a boring name for such a great trick! The magician shows an empty cardboard box on all sides. A spectator is handed the box and asked to look inside. “Do you see any flowers, silk handkerchiefs, flags, rabbits, secret trap doors, mirrors?” asks the magician. The helper says, “No.”

The magician takes the box from the helper and suddenly it falls open, showing silk handkerchiefs, flags, flowers, a mirror, and a secret trap door in the center. After the audience laughs and recovers from seeing all that stuff in the previously “empty” box, the “secret trap door” flies open and a rabbit puppet makes its appearance through the door.

After an entertaining puppet routine, all the stuff goes back in the box and disappears, leaving the spectator with an examinable empty cardboard box once more. Why the boring name? That's why it has been a secret "weapon" of The Wiz Kids since 1987. It doesn't sound interesting enough. Only those who have seen it in action know what a great children's laugh-making trick it is. Jim finally decided to release it in The Wizard's Journal #38 - probably the last Journal to which he will ever contribute.

Jim who?

Blake Vogt just did this in his show at MagiFest (or at least, something close -- I don't think it had a trap door with a rabbit puppet.)

Jim (Gerrish) acknowledges Blake Vogt's more recent version (Jim's dates from 1987) in his writing, and you can easily see the difference between the two versions in photos: https://blake-vogt.myshopify.com/produc ... inable-box and https://www.magicnook.com/WizJ38/WizJ38 ... ingBox.htm, so they are alike in concept, but with a more complicated plot and room for expansion in Jim's earlier version. Just sayin...