Blades of Opah – Robert Harbin concept, John Gaughan manufacture

This illusion allows the magician to slice through the body of a person with two blades at once. It is a real piece of magic history. The full story is told on page 315 of Eric Lewis’s book The Genius of Robert Harbin published by Mike Caveney’s Magic Words. The concept for the illusion was Robert Harbin’s. In 1976 Harbin passed to John Gaughan the original version he had built, with permission to manufacture the same should John wish. In 1977 when Harbin was again in Hollywood, John presented Harbin with an improved Blades of Opah which had been built by John Gaughan and Associates. This item N3555 is that actual illusion. Harbin performed with it but, sadly, it was close to the end of his life and he was only able to perform it a few times. This illusion passed to Alan Shaxon who can be seen performing it with his wife Anne on page 36 of the book Alan Shaxon – The Sophisticated Sorcerer published by Full Moon Magic Books. In time, the illusion passed to the Davenport Collection.