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[Illustration:]
INDIAN CONJURING
BY
MAJOR L. H. BRANSON M.I.M.C.
Indian Army
With 8 Illustrations
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
* * * * *
_I dedicate this small volume to_
MY WIFE
_who has always been my best audience and my keenest critic
at the innumerable sleight-of-hand performances that I have
had the pleasure of giving in her presence._
* * * * *
_Portions of this book were published by the TIMES OF INDIA,
ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY, by whose kind permission they are
reprinted._
* * * * *
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A COMPARISON 1
II. THE CUP AND BALLS 16
III. THE BAMBOO-STICKS 23
THE RING ON THE STICK 26
IV. THE GLASS BOX 32
THE BUNDER BOAT 35
V. THE BOWL OF RICE 39
THE COLOURED SANDS 42
VI. A ROPE TRICK 46
THE SWASTIKA 49
THE EGG BAG 52
VII. THE DANCING DUCK 54
THE MANGO TREE TRICK 57
VIII. THE BASKET TRICK 65
IX. THE INDIAN ROPE TRICK 76
X. SNAKES AND CROCODILES 89
XI. GENERALITIES AND OTHER MYTHS 98
* * * * *
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
My old friend Shah Mahommed, aged 87 years,
son of Ghaus Mahommed, who died aged
75 years, and grandson of Nur Mahommed
who died at the age of 78 years, All three
were itinerant conjurers and had never
seen the rope trick Front
Shah Mahommed singing Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay
between two experiments Facing page 10
Shah Mahommed with two assistants for the
Ring on the Stick Facing page 28
Preliminaries of the Restored Rope, the only
rope trick that I have ever seen performed
in India Facing page 46
Shah Mahommed performing the egg bag trick Facing page 52
The Dancing Duck, performed with an enamel
bowl instead of the cocoa-nut shell Facing page 54
The preliminary stage of the mango tree trick
as shewn by Shah Mahommed Facing page 60
Conclusion of the mango tree trick Facing page 62
* * * * *
INDIAN CONJURING
CHAPTER I
A COMPARISON
Since the world began Magic and wizardy seem to have held a great
fascination for mankind, an example being in the story of the Witch of
Endor. That this tendency has in no wise altered is clear from the
popularity of conjurors, illusionists, and so called magicians who
still, be it East or West, attract an audience so easily and so
surely. This little volume is written in the hopes that it may prove
of interest to the thousands who reside in India, and those other
thousands who, visiting its coral shores from time to time, often
discuss in wondering amazement how the Indian conjuror performs his
tricks. It is also written to uphold the reputation of the Western
conjuror against the spurious ascendancy held by his Eastern confrere.
Before describing the many well known tricks that are shewn by the
"house to house" Jadoo-wallah, and explaining how they are done, we
will compare the average Indian conjuror with his mystic friends in
Europe, America and China.
Let us for a moment picture in our mind's eye the stage and person of
the European or American conjuror. A few small tables with spindle
legs (upon them a steel frame or so, transparent and decorative) are
exposed to our view. The performer appears with rolled up sleeves in
close fitting clothes and by the end of his performance has filled the
stage with several large flags, a bouquet of flowers and, may be, a
beautiful lady, all, possibly produced from a top hat. His performance
is given to the accompaniment of amusing patter and is brightened with
the colour of the articles he produces.
He may be an illusionist pure and simple and does not indulge in
sleight-of-hand at all. In this case the comparison with the Indian
Jadoo-wallah is not a fair one, as the latter has not the means to
purchase the complicated mechanism necessary for up-to-date illusions
as shewn by European magicians.
Whether or no his superior education is the reason, the European
conjuror gains in skill and shows his inventive genius as time goes
on. His effects are studied, and his paraphernalia embraces more and
more varied articles. The disappearance of a Christmas tree with all
its candles lighted is an excellent example to what he has risen. He
takes an interest in his profession or calling and strives to outdo
others in neatness or by inventing an exclusive trick to which his
name can be given and handed down to posterity. This may be the result
of large fees that can be earned at the "Halls" or by private
entertainments by those at the top of the tree. But these fees are
open to a conjuror of any nationality, and I am confident that the
interest the European takes in his hobby has more to do with his
superiority than education and large fees. The ruling Princes of India
are very fond of watching a clever conjuror and can pay enormous fees,
but no Indian conjuror appears to appeal to them. A Western performer
always wants to give his best to his audience and takes a pride in
mystifying them. David Devant, who is one of the greatest living
exponents has quite recently written an article in the Strand
Magazine of his dreams of tricks that he would like to be able to do.
To meet the late Charles Bertram "at home" was a study in itself. To
have seen him playing, as a child would play, with a pack of cards
until he stumbled across a new sleight and watched the enjoyment
written all over his face, was a proof of his deep interest in his
hobby.
Can anyone imagine an Indian conjuror dreaming of a new trick? "Ghee
and khana" (clarified butter and food) form the subject of the
majority of his dreams. When he does play with anything it is to
caress lovingly the "paisa" or pieces of money that he last earned,
not to improve his dexterity but because they will give him a good
meal, a cup of arak, (or intoxicating liquor) and a long lazy sleep.
The Chinaman gives his entertainment with his stage well filled with
tables covered with gorgeous dragon-be-decked draperies that reach
the ground, and behind which useful assistants could be easily
concealed. His own garments are roomy and his sleeves could contain a
multitude of billiard balls and rabbits. But he gives a showy
performance with clean bright articles, ending up occasionally, as I
have seen, with the production of twelve large Chinese lanterns all
lit!
The Chinaman is the inventor of many of the most beautiful illusions
that are performed. One of the prettiest tricks imaginable is that of
the production of bowls of gold fish in real water, one of Chinese
origin. He has improved from ancient times as an up-to-date showman,
and is a wonderful illusionist. To show what can be done in the
voluminous garments of a Chinaman, on one occasion, I, in his national
costume, produced a large bowl of water which took two men to carry
away, then a little boy aged ten, and his younger brother aged five,
ostensibly from a shawl without moving from the centre of a stage
devoid of trap doors, or any furniture. It was more a feat of strength
than skill at conjuring, though, as one may readily imagine, extremely
effective.
The Chinaman is also a clever productionist and excels in producing
flowers, lanterns and similar articles. His dexterity or
sleight-of-hand is good but inferior to that of the European. He has
and uses well, many extremely ingenious devices, or "fakes." One in
particular has always appealed to me and is worth describing. He takes
a piece of tissue paper which he either chews, or moistens somehow and
rolls it into a small ball like pulp. This he places on his fan and
tosses up into the air several times while it gradually assumes the
shape of an egg. After some few seconds it has become a large duck's
egg which he places in an egg cup on the table in full view of the
audience. This little trick is very effective, easy to do, and can be
purchased for half-a-crown at any magical depot in London.
I hope that I have gained my point in showing that the Chinaman is an
ingenious and a neat performer. There are many other amazing tricks
which were originated in China and the far East, (as the Japanese are
as good, if not better than the Chinese) but this egg trick is to my
mind the most symbolical of Chinese magic.
The Indian juggler or Jadoo-wallah arrives with a basket large enough
to contain a man, as we will see later, a huge dilapidated bag, a
voluminous dhotie or loin cloth, and possibly a snake basket or two.
He is a poor man or "gareeb admi" and looks it. He starts a whine in
the hope of getting an audience through sympathy. If he does not whine
he assumes an air of superiority that is somewhat exasperating. At
sleight-of-hand he is far below the level of the average European
performer. He spoils his art by the continual diving into his bag
ostentatiously to dig out the bone of a cow or an antiquated "dolly,"
of the rag doll type. If only he would do his little tricks away from
his impedimenta in clean clothes he would add 50% to the merit of his
performance though it would probably be not so entertaining to those
newly arrived in India.
I have very little praise to give to the Indian conjuror as an artist,
either in sleight-of-hand, in juggling, or as an illusionist. His
tricks are as "old as my unpaid bills" and from time immemorial have
been performed with the same monotonous patter and the irritating
drone of the "bean" or so called musical instrument. I may here say
that this musical torture is used to disguise movements of the
showman's hand in the same way as the European uses his magic wand, an
instrument that does not appeal to me at all, though at times very
useful.
The articles used by the Indian conjuror are very very primitive and
of indifferent manufacture. The Jadoo-wallah has remained as he was
50, 60, or 100 years ago. The old gentleman whose portrait forms the
first illustration of this book told me that the tricks he does were
learnt by his great grandfather from a friend in Lahore. This takes us
back some 150 years. The tricks have remained the same as when taught
at Lahore though my old friend has brought them up-to-date by singing
"Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay" between each experiment!
The Indian conjuror has never indulged in pure sleight-of-hand to any
extent, and has never improved upon any of his illusions.
[Illustration: Shah Mahommed singing Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay between two
experiments.]
He seldom has any patter worth listening to and that which he uses
consists usually of "Beggie, beggie, aow" or "Beggie beggie jaow."
"Bun, two, three, four, five, white, bite, fight, kite." Amusing to a
casual observer but hopeless from an artists point of view.
Latterly some Indian conjurors have attempted to give in India
performances on European lines. They have purchased the necessary
paraphernalia from London and have as much idea of using it to its
best advantage as a crocodile has of arranging the flowers on a dinner
table. Our Indian Jadoo-wallah usually gets himself into a very tight
fitting third or fourth hand evening dress on these occasions, to
show, I presume, how European he is. The audience is more concerned
with the possibility of its bursting and their having to leave the
theatre for decency's sake than they are of the feats he is attempting
to imitate.
His patter is excruciating and, to hide his want of skill in
sleight-of-hand, he moves his hands and arms in grotesque curves, with
his body so bent that it is almost impossible to see what he is trying
to do. I have never yet seen any Indian give an English performance
that would be tolerated on the sands at Slushton-on-Sea the seat of my
ancestral home. While writing the above I have in mind one of these
Indians, an impossible person, who, as Court performer to several of
the Ruling Indian Princes, makes the astonishing total of Rs. 1200 or
L80 a month.
The only native conjurors that I have seen who are consistently good
at sleight-of-hand, (and they are Arabs or Egyptians) are the invaders
of the ships at Port Said, and their one and only good point,
magically, is their manipulation of those unfortunate chickens. Their
"Gillie, gillie, Mrs. Langtry" is more up-to-date and an improvement
upon the "Beggie, beggie, aow" of India.
It has always been a marvel to me how the Indian conjuror has gained
his spurious reputation. I can only ascribe the fact to the idea that
the audience start with the impression, sub-conscious though it may
be--of Mahatmaism, Jadoo, or any other synonym by which Oriental Magic
is designated. This allows them to watch with amazement tricks that
are so simple that no English conjuror would dare to show them to his
youngest child.
Without partiality I can safely assert that of the three types under
discussion, the European, the Chinaman, and the Indian, the average
European conjuror is the most skilled particularly at sleight-of-hand.
He certainly excels in card manipulation which is seldom touched by
the Oriental magician. In illusions he is beyond comparison, as many
of our readers may certify who have seen the wonderful productions by
Messrs. Maskelyn and Cooke, Devant, and their many followers. The
gradual disappearance of a lady in evening dress, visibly, and in mid
stage growing smaller and smaller until she is small enough to be put
into a paper bag, which is rolled into a ball and thrown away, is an
illusion that no Oriental will ever attempt to compete with. Such
illusions can be seen at any time of the year at the Palace Theatre
and other halls in London, in Paris and even Bombay.
There may be many who will readily disagree with my disparagement of
the Indian Jadoo-wallah. I admit that Magic may have come originally
from the East. The Egyptians for instance, had wonderful illusions
that were freely used by their priests in the temples mainly for the
extortion of money or valuables from their gullible disciples. These
illusions were merely mechanical devices such as the mysterious
opening and shutting of doors on the sound of a certain word like
"Abracadabra." These devices can be duplicated by our skilful
mechanics, but would not be worth very much these enlightened days as
a lucrative investment.
It may also be said that the comparison to the detriment of the Indian
is not a fair one as he has no stage upon which to perform, whereas
the European gives his show usually in a roped off portion of the
drawing room, or on the stage of a concert hall. The reason of this is
that the European cannot as a rule collect his audience in the open.
When he does get an outdoor assembly he is just as much an adept as he
is indoors. Many of my readers may have regrettably to agree with me,
especially those who have met our "three card trick" friend, or the
perfectly good gentleman with the thimbles and the pea, at Ascot.