The Trick That Never Was

By Angelo Carbone - Tuesday, May 7, 2019

So some years ago I came up with an exciting method for a new Tenyo trick. I was experimenting with a prototype I made for a novelty toy idea I had and I noticed something special about it. It led me to a great method to a classic of magic – the Bending Mirror. For those that don’t know, the method for the standard Bending Mirror (or sheet of glass) is that it partially slides out of a slot in the side of the frame allowing you to bend the frame before reversing the actions. This needed to be all done in a slightly larger opaque cloth bag. I knew the idea for my method could work so I made a cardboard prototype and used a plastic mirror. The trick worked surprisingly well. I personally felt it was more deceptive than the classic version. My framed mirror was inserted into an envelope of the same size and the envelope had two window cut outs so you could see the mirror at all times. These two features alone made it deceptive. There was no way it could slide out if the envelope and you could see the mirror before, during and after the bend. Of course the mirror was examinable too!

I immediately made a video of it and sent the YouTube link to Tenyo for their opinion. Soon after they replied and said they loved it and asked if I could FedEx my sample to them. I agreed to it, but not before I made a second prototype which had some improvements. So eventually they had it in their hands and I waited to hear back from them.

Some time after they said they had made two plastic hand samples with some variations between the two. They showed me video demos of them. They were low quality 3GP files but I could see that what they did with my trick was great! It started already to look like a Tenyo trick. They said they needed more time to release it and I had to wait a year. Magicians who I showed it to all agreed it would make an excellent Tenyo addition! It was typically Tenyo in look and effect and had a lovely gimmicky method. That's what all Tenyo fans want. So a very long year later, I got an email from Tenyo. I was excited! I opened the email and read it. I was shocked! I was disheartened! I was probably even a little teary eyed. They said they were no longer going to release it. They didn’t give me a reason. To this day I still don’t now the exact reason why they ceased with the idea.

So why is this the Tenyo trick that never was? What about my other ideas which were pitched to them in the past? Well back then when I showed them my ideas, it was in round 1 (so to speak) when they said yes or no. With my bending mirror, they were interested, made me send it to them, made two plastic samples and said they were going to release it a year later. That’s why I was hurt. They had built up my hopes and expectations only to do a complete U-turn and say no. To me it was a typical Tenyo trick. I couldn’t have done anything more to it. I was so sad for a long time. I just wanted it to be realised - instead of sitting on my shelf doing nothing.

Tenyo's Bending Mirror was no more.

Below is a demo video Tenyo showed me. They made the prototype in the video.