This may be good for some people but for me it was a big waste of money. Most of the tricks require
you to have a gimmicked chair that you must make and haul around and all of the tricks you must have
an assistant to help you because your animal must be loaded right before you perform it. There are
no step by step directions on how to build the illusions. This is not practical at all and I was
very disappointed in it.
Welcome to the world of live animal magic! The need for an assistant is a real-world, practical one... for humane reasons. It is not one I have arbitrarily imposed.
The chair (which I designed) was included to make these effects more deceptive. It serves the purpose very well. If you're concerned about lugging a chair around, DO NOT perform with animals. You will be lugging many items around with you, not the least of which will be the animals themselves. You must learn to love your animals and your props. Otherwise, you will not treat them with the care needed.
For each mini-illusion, I show every part of the construction in much more detail than the original text... well enough (in my opinion) to allow a competent do-it-yourself-er to replicate the props. If it's beyond your skill level, you can always use my original presentations to dress-up some off-the-shelf apparatus.
Most importantly, remember that working with animals is a huge commitment. You are absolutely correct... it is not practical at all. It requires an enormous amount of time, money, energy, and lugging things around... for just a couple of minutes of delight on stage. The things we do in the name of entertainment!
--Harlan
Rabbit and dove magic
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