I love vintage magic, but sadly so much of it has been lost to time. So I'm often thrilled when I uncover something good, or that has promise and deserves to be resurrected. This effect is by the British magic dealer Edward Bagshawe(1902-1940).

Edward Bagshawe was a professional dealer during the 1920s in London, England. He edited the magic magazines Magical Monthly (1923-1926), Talks on Trix (1926 - 1927), and Edward Bagshawe's Magical Journal (1927-1932), reports were that he was a very creative magician, but a very troubled young man, who died all too soon.

Read his books and you'll see a very clever and inventive mind. We lost him to suicide, who knows what miracles the world would have witnessed had he survived. So, this is my little tribute, a little remembrance, 'awareness' and salute for Edward Bagshawe.

Aside from the many books he authored, Bagshawe invented a ton of great commercial magic including the Reverso and Optica Decks, and is often credited with the popular paper modification of the Out-to-Lunch principle which he used in 'The Recurring Name' which can be found in Twenty Magical Novelties (1930) a fabulous little book of original magic. Interestingly 'The Recurring Name' also had a Celebrity theme, and I will teach it a bit later as it makes a great partner to this effect. Clearly Edward was keenly aware of how to bring glamour and public interest to magic.

After his suicide, his business was absorbed by Davenports who continued to market a great number of his effects, including another celebrity trick, where a signed picture of a celebrity ends up in your wallet, rubber banded between two pieces of cardboard, and all with zero palming (yes I will probably detail that one too, it's really good).

So here it is, 'The Missing Film Star Mystery', an effect that could easily be updated today with cards that look like Instagram pages, fronted by celebs and influencers... the patter writes itself.

enjoy
Steve