S Dante's line as a magic word in my rope routine and silk to egg, sort of a tribute thing. I liked the Ali Baba/Aladdin kind of sound of the words."42 After the Second World War, Kalanag, the stage name of professional German magician Helmut Schreiber, "toured the world with his spectacular, colorful illusion show Sim Sala Bim. . . . His show is now in the collection of the popular British magician, Paul Daniels."4 Sim Sala Bim is the name of a card trick by Kolin Tregaskes. Professional magician Jade uses the magic phrase sim sala bim in Houdin's Light & Heavy Chest illusion: "A box is easy to carry until -- zap! -- the magician Jade says the magic words. Suddenly, the box can't be moved! In the front stage, you are invited to lift Jade's magic chest. Then, with just the magic words, 'Sim sala bim,' Jade makes the chest too heavy to lift."44 Orson Welles uses Sim Sala Bim as magic words in the 1967 film Casino Royale. Variations and Incantations: • Abracadabra-simsalabim -- Susanne Friedrich (2001) • Abracadabra, hocus-pocus, sim salabim, open sesame! -- Allan Pred, "Re-Presenting the Extended Moment of Danger: A Meditation on Hypermodernity, Identity and the Montage Form," Space and Social Theory: Interpreting Modernity and Postmodernity (1997) • Bimsalabim abrakadabra alakazam -- Kaskus.com (2004) • Seem salabim -- Howard Stern, Private Parts (199 ) • Sim sala bam • Simsalabim • Sim salabim -- Robyn Hode: A Mummers Play • Simsalabim-salabam-salabim This is a German expression, discussed in Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers by Henning Nelms (1969). • Simsalabim bamba sala do saladim "You'd never suspect that, if you utter the magic phrase 'Sim sala bim bamba sala do saladim,' a door will appear in the side of this large concrete block, allowing those with a key to gain entrance." -- Martin Krzywinski, "Port Knocking" (2004) 42 Quoted by Tim Quinlan, "The Whit Haydn Interview," Inside Magic (200 ). Whit Haydn's website is WhitHaydn.com. 4 Bruce Smith, Great Coin Tricks (1995) 44 MagicExhibit.org (2000)