CHUCK CAPUTO
Mr . Caputo was fortunate enough to work with the great Del Ray on the same bill in 1986 ( also from Pittsburgh ) which sparked Chuck ' s interest in electronic magic . Chuck says : " I literally could not believe what I was seeing when Del was performing ... tables moved , stuffed animals became animated and flashes of fire came from nowhere ! Truly a magical sight all under the control of this amazing magician . I was very poficient in sleight of hand but I knew electronic magic would become part of my acts . After several years of experimentation and reading everything I could about electronics and circuit boards I soon started developing my own uniqe props for my magic shows and sold limited quantities of these to other magicians "
Around 1989 Chuck discovered another electronic wizard from Holland , formally known as Anverdi . " I was hooked , I lived and breathed Anverdi ... over twenty years later I acquired one of the largest Anverdi collections in the world , both electronic and plastic effects . By plastic items I am referring to his liquid magic miracles with trays , glasses and bottles . As far as Tony Anverdi ' s liquid effects go I really enjoy performing his Stack of Rings Glasses .
The performer visibly stacks clear circular plexiglass rings ontop of each other , on his / her command the glass fills with dark wine ! You can literally hear the ' gasps ' from an audience when performing this ! Regarding Anverdl ' s electronic magic I really like his miniature talking skull , the skulls mouth actuates via a tiny remote , I added a toe switch to the transmitter for hands free operation . The Mental Die is probably the most ingenious item , this is what started it all ! For years there was talk about such a magical invention where a small die is placed into an opaque box with closed lid , despite these impossible conditions the magi can discerns the number side up on the die without touching anything ! Through the miracle of electronics once the die is placed into the box a signal is sent to the receiver which lights a corresponding LED . You must realize Anverdi brought this into reality in the 1960 ' s when LED technology was in its infancy . Integrated circuits were not commercially used at that time , tedious wound coils were used in both the die and receiver with tuning screws or " pots " as such items frequently went out of tune . I have one of the original Mental Die ' s in my collection which is in perfect working condition , truly something to see ! "
As far as his own creations in magic Chuck credits Del Ray as the real innovator stating he was way ahead of his time , being fortunate enough to remain friends
with Del until his death . Chuck uses his own creations in his magic acts and lectures for other magicians . Some of Chuck ' s inventions include spirit bells , rapping hands , self writing chalkboards and both manual and automated flea circuses .
Chuck says " I have to admit I do gravitate towards spooky magic , I love to scare people wiyh my magic .... not just around Halloween but all year round ! You can see many of my inventions demonstrated on Youtube as well as collectble vintage props , I like to highlight such things to encourage the young magicians to come up with ideas or improve on old ones . Anyone could get into electronics or building magic props in general , make sure they work properly and look professional . It is very satisfying to see your creations come to life during your shows amazing audiences . Technology is advancing everyday as we speak , we harness advanced technology that we could only have dreamed of a few years ago . I honestly believe the sky is the limit ! Currently I am working on holograms , experimentation in this field opens up new doors to our art ! What I stress to performers is to disguise the electronic aspect of an effect , of course never actually stating the effect ( s ) you are performing is electronic , this may sound obvious but I have seen otherwise . Your presentation could be about receiving a particular object from a haunted house , hence why it moves , falls over , etc . My hopescis that
VANISH MAGAZINE www . VanishMagazine . com
47