Tops Article



Abbotts Spectacular Finale

Here's an illusion that is not mentioned in my forthcoming book So You Want To Be An Illusionist. The book, to be released on Thursday, August 6th at my lecture during the annual Magic Get-Together, is a treasure trove of advice and information for the performer who desires basic illusion information, tips, advice and all the "inside dope" that you'll never find in any book of plans and drawings. It will inform you, amuse you, and -perhaps- ruffle some feathers as I tackle a few controversial topics. Copies should be available from Abbott's and, of course, directly from me. The price is unknown as I write this.

Abbott's has devoted a full page of every catalog I can recall from the mid 1960s to its unique Spectacular Finale prop. It's not exactly an illusion, but it doesn't qualify elsewhere in their catalog either other than the "production" section I guess.

It has always been pricey, but there's a lot of expensive silk included so that may explain its high cost.

I bought mine back in late 1970 for the 1971 edition of my "Great International Magic Show" at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. That show ran for ten annual editions and we used the Spectacular Finale at each one.

The prop has three components. Let's begin with the appearing flagstaffs. As many readers are aware this is a precision-made telescoping staff made out of brass. When the performer grasps the outermost section firmly and snaps/swings it out, it quickly expands to its full length and a silk banner or flag sewed to it will unfurl. Two five-foot flagstaffs are included, each with a 3'x6' silk banner in a tie-dyed pattern. These would be "worn" as a body load and produced from nowhere. I never tried this. It just seemed awkward to me. Instead I used the Neil Foster technique of having the flagstaffs painted black with a white "tip" so they appeared to be magic wands. I gave these to two of my assistants since I also owned one of the seven-foot flagstaffs outfitted with a 5 1/2' x 8' Rice's American flag. The three of us took our final bows with top hats and "magic wands" in hand and produced our flagstaffs.

That cued the rest of the production. Two handsome Chinese pagodas that have been hanging in view unexpectedly break open revealing bright Oriental parasols and four colorful silk streamers. It's wise to load some confetti in these pagodas for a little more action. There's a clip to hold a hat coil, too, but their amazing cost now will likely curb their use.

The final component is a set of twelve cloth banners, 18? wide and 18' feet long that fly down across the stage behind the performer(s). Regular Get-Together attendees witness this part of Spectacular Finale each August with their "Welcome Magicians" message. My outfit's banners were an odd hodge-podge mixture of paisley, gingham and other non-theatrical patterns. There was two of each design. Seen from a distance, the unusual fabrics didn't seem so "hokey," but I always wondered WHO made such unlikely choices.

You will read more about magic manufacturers and fabric selection in my book and how I deal with this issue now.

You can roll up sheets of tissue paper within the banners so that they'll flutter down when the banners are released. That adds more color and action.

Because I was not fond of the original banners I had them remade for our 1976 edition. It was easy to obtain fabric to produce four red banners, four white banners and four that were blue with white stars. It was the bicentennial year and seemed appropriate. I didn't care at the time that the patriotic red-white-&-blue motif had nothing to do with the two Oriental pagodas.

To properly stage this display you really need a well-equipped theater with a traditional fly system for scenery. This is composed of a counterweighted series of battens (pipes) that can be easily raised and lowered for backdrops and other scenery and lighting instruments.

You'll need one batten for the pagodas and another for the banners. These battens are lowered to a workable height. The pagodas are attached by a length of sash cord (black) that forms a V so that the pagoda will not spin or rotate. Another cord is attached to the shoebox lid-type top of each of them. This cord runs up and along the batten to its end and then down so that an offstage person can give it a good yank. When the loose-fitting lids are pulled up, the four sides of each pagoda fall open and everything springs forth in a dazzling manner.

Each fabric banner has its own plywood panel with twill-tape ties. These are lashed to an upstage batten and a long release line with twelve pins and an elastic end is rigged along the batten. All it takes is another good yank to pull all the pins as one and have the banners unroll, propelled by the dowel sewn into the bottom hem of each one.

This rigging does not really take much time. Resetting the entire effect, though, is best done with a full crew of helpers. The entire outfit packs in a case that Abbott's supplies. It's about the size of a military footlocker.

We've used my Spectacular Finale in two recent editions of my Halloween "Illusions in the Night" show. The pagodas added a scenic element to a Chinese sequence that we performed in front of a brilliant red eyelash curtain. Of course those patriotic banners wouldn't do. My long-time assistant and friend, Peggy Peterson, tackled a creative project for me with the help of her husband Jim. She produced six banners that were each 36? wide and 18' long. They all were shiny black - plain black. Peggy then used glitter to produce colorful images of exploding fireworks on the black fabric. The black contrasted with the bright red curtain that they dropped in front of. And, the fireworks motif was carried out as my audio engineer, Brian LeBoeuf played the sounds of exploding fireworks shells as they appeared. The Abbott Spectacular Finale was routined into the patter of the sequence. It was used as part of an odd staging of the famous Abbott's Shredder illusion and for the one-of-a-kind Owen Tea for an Oriental Potentate act.

Neither of these closed the show so I had to follow this production with something 'in one' to give my crew time to fly the banners up and out (they were rerolled after the show). The pagodas, though, had to be immediately re-set since their size when opened did not allow for them to be flown out. They would foul on the battens on either side.

This prop now costs ten times what I paid for mine. It's not for the casual hobbyist since it requires a real theater and plenty of help. But, get out your catalog and look at the illustration. Except for the flagstaffs and flags seeming way too big (or, perhaps the magician is a dwarf) it's a very accurate image of this act. Unfortunately, it doesn't capture all the color.

David Seebach's Wonders of Magic
www.davidseebach.com



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