A M a ste rp ie ce b y L u b o r F ie d le r,

B ro u g h t to y o u B y T en yo

W h ile in N u re m b e rg in F e b ru a ry 1995, Tenyo’s S ugaw ara a n d K o n d o cam e acro ss a m a n

p e rfo rm in g a tric k u sin g a p ro to ty p e device th a t he h a d fa sh io n e d him self. T h e tw o m agic
in v en to rs fro m Tenyo w ere so tak en b y w h a t a p p e a re d to b e a n im p o ssib le effect th a t th ey
c o u ld o n ly ask h im , as if th e y th em se lv e s w ere m e re novices, to re p e a t th e tric k o v er a n d
o ver ag ain . “O n e m o re tim e , o n e m o re tim e , please d o th e tric k ju s t o n e m o re tim e .”
T h e m a n w as L u b o r Fiedler, a n d he w as p e rfo rm in g his new est in v en tio n , “Invisible Z o n e ”
S u g aw ara a n d K o n d o w ere u n a b le , ev en a fter re p e a te d v iew in g s, to fig u re o u t h o w th e
effect w as ach iev ed a n d , in th e e n d , h a d to be s h o w n b y th e in v en to r.
L ubor, in fact, h a d d ev elo p ed th e tr ic k w ith Tenyo in m in d , so th e talk q u ick ly tu r n e d to
in c o rp o ra tin g it in to o u r p ro d u c t line. S ugaw ara a n d K o n d o b r o u g h t th e p ro to ty p e m o d e l
b a c k to Ja p an w ith th e m a n d u se d it to p e rfo rm th e Invisible Z o n e tric k a t a n e w p r o d u c t
m e e tin g a t Tenyo. It w as a n im m e d ia te h it, even w ith in th e c o m p a n y itself. T h e d ecisio n
to m a r k e t th e p r o d u c t w as m a d e fo rth w ith , a n d a c o n tr a c t w as sig n e d w ith L ubor.
Tenyo th e n set a b o u t to w o rk o n th e p r o d u c t a n d m o d ify it to b rin g it in line w ith T enyo’s
design style a n d policies. W ere th e re a n y d ifficu lt p o in ts o r ro u g h edges? H o w c o u ld it be
m a d e so th a t th e tric k cam e o ff a lm o st autom atically? H o w c o u ld th e design b e sim plified
to th e p o in t th a t it w o u ld a p p e a r as if n o tr ic k w ere a c tu a lly involved? Etc., etc., e t c ....
T h e n , th e m o ld s h a d to b e m a d e , th e d e s ig n re fin e d , a n d th e p a c k a g in g p r o d u c e d — a
p ro cess th a t to o k over h a lf a y e a r o f h a r d w ork.
T h e f in is h e d p r o d u c t h it th e sto re s in J a p a n a t th e b e g in n in g o f O c to b e r a n d c re a te d
q u ite a s e n sa tio n . You ca n a lm o s t h e a r m a g ic ia n s a t m a g ic c o u n te rs acro ss th e c o u n tr y
p le a d in g , “ O n e m o re tim e , o n e m o r e tim e , p lease d o th e tric k ju s t o n e m o re tim e .”