by Trevor Lewis and manufactured by Hank Lee
Type: Stage, Parlor
Skill Level: 
Retail Price: $135
Effect: Magician shows a regular looking flashlight. It does not
work. He comments it needs new batteries and puts it under his arm to look
in his case. It lights but he does not see it. He does this several times,
until finally he opens it up to change the batteries. "There are
no batteries," he says and shows the handle is empty. However the
top part of the flashlight, which houses the bulb lights. Of course, the
magician does not see it. He shinesthe light into the handle and the handle
illuminates.
Performance Time: 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending upon your routine
and how long you want to milk it.
Reset Time: None
Angles: 
Quality: The prop is well made by Hank Lee's Magic Factory.
Mike Maione: Yep... it's expensive alright. There aren't many of us silly enough to plunk down that kind of money for a $5 flashlight. And, that makes me happy because not every magician in town will have it. This prop has the Silly Magician written all over it... 3-4 minutes of wacky kid comedy that fit perfectly into my show the day I got it. The prop is actually two flashlights, a regular flashlight and a gimmicked one. You make a switch during your routine.
If you are familiar with Trevor Lewis's work, you know this is a take off on his blooming bouquet routine, where he puts the bouquet under his arm, turns around and it flowers. When he takes it out from under his arm the flowers are gone. The first part of the Flashlight Fun routine is essentially the same as his blooming bouquet routine, but with a flashlight. (The old look but don't see routine is a tried and true kid pleaser. And, I bet every kid's magician uses it at least once in his show.)
What compounds the fun is what happens next. The flashlight is opened to reveal that there are no batteries. Even adults who smirk knowingly when you flip the switch as you put the flashlight under your arm, scratch their heads and backtrack when you take the light apart. Then, when the top part of the flashlight, the head, begins to shine, even the most cynical person has to smile. Finally, when the barrel (battery compartment) of the flashlight lights and remains lit after the lamp portion is shined into it and then put out, it is impossible not to laugh.
The prop is well made. Hank Lee found small batteries and powerful lights that make the gimmicked head of the flashlight look very innocent and ordinary. And it seems like a durable prop. What I don't like about it is that the unit is not serviceable. If the battery in either the handle or the head go, Hank wants you to send it back with $10 and he'll put the batteries in it. Hmmm. $10 for batteries? Seems a little rich, but I guess if you were silly enough to pay $135 for a flashlight, then $10 for a batteries doesn't seem too bad. Of course, it's not money that bothers me, it's being without this great prop while Hank fixes it. Anyway, this one gets a huge thumbs up
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