A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking on the phone with esteemed Doug Henning collector Chip Romero. During our extensive phone call, Chip covered many topics and elements of his fascinating collection of Doug’s life and work.

However,  what really stopped the presses for me was what came next. You see, Chip was generous to share with me a new and stunning item he recently purchased that is truly a “wonder” to behold. Rather than explaining it, I’ll let Chip himself take it away in highlights from our conversation. 

“So fifteen years ago, I’m hanging with (magician)Gregg Wilson, and he says ” You know, I’ve got Doug’s Zig-Zag?” I said “I didn’t, but I do now. I’ll file that in the back of my head, and that’s exactly what happened.”

So now, some fifteen years later, I called him up two or three weeks ago and I said “Do you still have Doug’s Zig-Zag?” and he said “Yes.” I said I needed pictures (from him)…”

“So, anyway I’m looking at these pictures (from him) as we’re talking, and I sent him one of (my) pictures of Doug performing it. So, he’s then mid-sentence saying “Okay, Holy S***!” I then said “Mr. Wilson. You are in possession of the Zig-Zag that Doug and Dennis Loomis built.”…

So, him and I made a deal…and that was it. The deal was done!”

“As you can (now) see, there are no supports and no blades. So, what I’m going to do is have supports made of three-inch acrylic, and I may even cut the blades myself out of quarter inch plexiglass. In other words, I’ll ghost the missing pieces…Boss, when I put lights on that, it will be one of the hottest displays ever.”

A very special thanks to Chip Romero for his generosity with this exclusive. Chip sent me many more select items that I’ll be featuring once per week, as each one is a rare gem in itself!