Tuesday is pizza night at our house: we order pizza delivery every Tuesday evening. A brilliant declaration by my spouse, "Pizza Tuesday" helps everyone get through the week, a happy little mid-week indulgence to tide us all over.
On one recent "Pizza Tuesday," I was playing around with those little plastic dollhouse tables they put on top of the pies to keep the box top off the cheese. (In the world of COVID, these devices have taken on a second function, allowing you to hold down the next slice while you pull yours away, so you don't touch anyone else's food). I happened to have a silver dollar with me, as I had been building an effect. After a few minutes of manipulating, something happened. I repeated it, and it worked again. I couldn't believe it.
Having washed and dried all of the pizza savers (as I now know they're called) that came that evening, I later retired to the magic library to experiment. My son came in. "It's late," he observed. "But I bet you'll be doing that for a while." I assured him that I'd be off to be bed in a few minutes.
He popped back in an hour later. "See?" he crowed. "I told you!"
That's how "The Pizza Miracle" came to life. You can see it here:
I decided this effect would make a fine gift for the magic community. The concepts here are not entirely new - and the piece draws heavily from routines employing the "slot box" gimmick dating back to the 1800s. But there's something innovative in there. And it's similar (yet more innocent) than the "mini wood coin table" that dealers have sold in recent years. To use the style of old dealers' catalogs: "Pizza Miracle uses no threads, no wires and no magnets. It's easy to do. Self-working." There are many potential applications – this can be combined with other coin routines, an Okito/Boston/Slot Box, a coin cup, miniature silver dollars, etc. It's fun to perform.
And here's something you never see: it's free. Watch the video, then head over to the "Free Magic" page to download "The Pizza Miracle Performance Guide."
Update 12/2/21 - Several readers have suggested to me that different pizza places might use different suppliers of these items, and some may be different sizes. Because my intrepid regard for the magic community never wanes, I made my way back to my local pizzeria and demanded that they identify their supplier. Here’s a photo of the very confused counter guy holding up a box of the pizza savers used in the effect
So the item you're looking for is called a "NEATTOP" Pizza Box Lid Support, made by a firm called Victoria Bay. (Victoria Bay has its own website, so should you find yourself in need of 1,000 pizza savers, you can buy a case.) And, remember, these pair with the fake stainless steel silver dollars, available from lots of magic dealers and vendors.