Topsy Turvy Illusion

The English magician, Robert Harbin, produced some great effects and published them in a book that he put out around 1970. The book originally sold for around a hundred dollars which was pretty steep for the times. It was supposed to be a limited edition, maybe just a couple hundred sold in the U.S.. There was some controversy at the time because magicians in the U.S. started producing the props that Harbin provided plans for. I don't know if the buyers were supposed to agree not to do so, or if there was some other embargo in place. I do remember that Jim Sommers, a friend of my Dad, presented the Zig Zag Girl out here on the West Coast long before every other magician in the 1970s was using the effect as a substitute for sawing a woman in half.

One of the other illusions in the book was Topsy Turvey. A girl goes in to a narrow box that pivots on a podium from side to side, she can be right side up and then flipped over to be upside down.

The Magician turns the girl upside down, shows her to the audience, and closes the panel. Then with a clap of the hands and by changing the indicator arrow on the fron of the pedestal she reverses positions instantly.

As I mentioned in another post, it would have extended my Dad's stage career considerably if I had been a girl, or if I could stay 13 or fourteen for an extra few years. I am posing here because I was available everyday while he was building this prop. I am pretty sure that this was another illusion he made for Tihany. We never did it on stage. In the early eighties, we did perform the Zig Zag on stage for certain shows.

My Dad frequently added improvements to blueprint plans that he would start with. Most of the time, he figured out proportions and angles that would be much more convincing and dramatic looking, than what was originally called for. Clients often had color schemes they wanted and the customer is always right, but here are some details on this that made the prop look better: he used some sparkling gold material that was very popular at the time for all the arrows, instead of simple paint; the panels are framed with red pin stripes to add color and contrast; the pedestal is not framed, to make it look narrower than it would have appeared as well; there was a set of rollers that covered part of the gimmick, which were far superior to the elastic that was called for in the original plans.

Most of the props my Dad made, could be displayed like fine furniture, but they were also sturdy and practical working props.