It’s our first “illusionette”- something that packs small but can play on the biggest stage. A highly versatile prop we designed as a radical update of the “assistants revenge” plot it’s brilliantly deceptive, incredibly practical and completely unlike any other effect you own. Utilising a COMPLETELY NEW principle it’s a mechanical marvel you will enjoy performing while leaving your audience completely baffled. Designed for real touring performers it’ll pack down small enough to travel as “Excess Baggage” (so perfect for the fly-on performer) and will only cost about the same as a snow animator! The very first “production unit” went straight to an American magic megastar and we have shipped Wrapped to every corner of the planet!
The effect is simple, direct but very very powerful; there’s a wooden post on stage and the magician is tied firmly to it = you can use pallet wrap, cling-film, gaffa tape, cellotape, hazard tape, police “do not cross” tape, (the possibilities are endless) and you can be tied up by ANY spectator; there’s no funny loops to go through, they can wrap you to the post as tightly as they like using as many knots as they like. Once they’re happy you’re completely secured your assistant holds up a cloth to cover you and in an instant you and your assistant change places INSTANTLY. Your assistant is now firmly wrapped to the pole (and has to be cut out!) whilst you’re free. It’s that simple and it’s that impossible.
The wooden pole (it’s actually aluminium) contains all the gimmicks making this effect completely self contained. It resets in seconds and has the punch of a mega-illusion but at a fraction of the price!
You can choose to have Wrapped! made by our team; or it is also licensed for special versions to be built by Tilford Illusions www.tilfordillusions.com Ray Lum www.kmdfabrication.com & Keith Fields www.keithfieldsmagic.com
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The original "assistants revenge" plot was created by Robert Harbin in the mid 1960's, refined in to a working prop with Ali Bongo who premièred it on the David Nixon TV specials in the early 70's with a prop that looks almost identical to modern day assistant's revenge props. By the mid 70's several minor UK performers had evolved it from the big frame in to the "totem pole" illusion and in the process gradually switched it from being a swap to a straight escape. This escape idea was popular in cabaret/illusion acts across the 80's then fell out of favour. In 2002/2003 Peter Marvey created a variation of the old totem-pole illusion but updated with chains and pyro's - watching this inspired this version of my illusion as although the methodology and gimmicks are completely different (obviously) he has a choreographic move in his routine which provided the "eureka" moment for applying my method to a presentation; switching from my original idea as a way to secure someone inside a box to utilising this method to update the classic totem-pole illusion idea. In late 2010 (whilst we were already playing with the first prototype of this prop) Dany Lari presented an effect shrink-wrapping someone to a pole and changing places however he used a COMPLETELY different method and has a rather clunky presentation that requires at least 3 other assistants to perform it - I was initially annoyed that someone else had gotten a similar idea out before me but when I realised he WASN'T exploiting the principle I’d discovered and has this very convoluted need for so many assistants and props that i resumed work on my version. Wrapped has gone on to become one of my most talked-about creations employing radical new methods and modern technologies to create a novel new presentation of one of the great classic magical props. It’s been lauded by performers and enjoyed by audiences everywhere thanks to its simple premise and baffling method
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