TRICKS WITH AND WITHOUT COLLUSION.
In resuming my hints to amateurs, I shall now offer some remarks upon
two subjects.
FIRST.—I will notice the class of tricks that are performed by the
collusion of a confederate. Old books on conjuring record several of
this description, and some conjurors still practise them. But I do
not advise the inexperienced frequently to exhibit tricks of this
sort, for the co-operation of assistants used in them is liable to be
traced by spectators, or to be divulged by the person who has been
employed to aid in the exhibition of them. They may, indeed, be very
well as a make-shift until dexterity of hand is acquired; but they
will always rank as an inferior branch of the science of conjuring,
and if the collusion is discovered, it will throw discredit even
upon those tricks which the same performer may exhibit without such
collusive arrangement. An instance of the annoying failure of such
dependence upon confederates is recorded in “Houdin’s Memoirs.” It is
there related that Torrini, at the commencement of his career, was
insidiously induced by an envious rival (Pinetti) to undertake a public
exhibition of his art before a very grand assembly. Torrini was at the
time diffident of his own attainments, but he was persuaded to make
the attempt by the assurance of Pinetti that he would take care that
several confederates should be present, and should help in carrying out
sundry illusions which he would have to display. One of these was, that
the conjuror, after borrowing a ring, was to restore it magically into
the possession of its owner. The ring was borrowed, and some mysterious
gesticulations practised; but instead of the contemplated result being
produced, the false confederate proclaimed aloud that he had lent
a very valuable jewelled ring, and had only received back a common
copper ring. The audience was of course disappointed at such words so
derogatory to the conjuror. This unpleasant feeling was deepened by
the malicious meddling of another false confederate. Torrini had to
present some cards to the King of Naples, who was honoring the assembly
by witnessing the exhibition, and a card was selected by his Majesty.
Instead, however, of being pleased with what he saw on the card, the
king manifested intense disapprobation. The confederate had written on
the card words of disrespect and insult, and Torrini had to retire amid
the loud censures of the enraged spectators. There may be no danger
of so disastrous results to a young amateur; but dissatisfaction of
a milder kind will probably ensue whenever it is discovered that any
trick has depended upon the secret co-operation of an assistant among
the spectators.
The SECOND topic which I propose at present to discuss is the
employment of mechanism—such mechanical constructions as boxes with
false sides, cabinets with secret drawers, or double compartments, etc.
It makes a great difference whether such arrangements are used as
subordinate aids, or as constituting the essence and substance of
the illusion. In the former respect it is quite legitimate to take
advantage of any well-arranged mechanical aid subordinately. In fact,
nearly all tricks must be performed with some modified aid of artistic
contrivance, or with mechanical implements adroitly used. The conjuror,
therefore, unavoidably requires, and may advantageously employ,
mechanical arrangements to give greater effect to his illusions. I only
wish to dissuade the learner from relying solely upon mere mechanical
puzzles, or artistic contrivances, for furnishing an interesting
exhibition of the conjuror’s art.
The fewer the contrivances which he employs of this sort, and the more
entirely the performance rests upon sleight-of-hand the more lively
will be the surprise of the spectators.
I myself prefer doing without the aid of any confederate, and without
mechanical aids; but I must remember that I am writing for amateurs and
novices in the art, and that, in proportion as they are unpractised
in palmistry, and in what the French term prestidigitation, (preste
digite, signifying “ready fingers,”) it will be desirable for them, at
first, to have the assistance which mechanism will supply towards the
exhibition of their tricks.
Let them, however, keep such aids as subordinate and as secret as
possible. For instance, in the preparation for exhibiting the first
trick described on page 12, the small tin tube (which is requisite for
the performance of that trick) must not be seen by the audience, either
BEFORE or AFTER the trick is exhibited, but must be kept secreted in
the pocket. Again, in Trick No. 4, the preparation of the hair and
beeswax must be made PRIVATELY beforehand; and these implements must
vanish out of sight when the trick is over. And the reader must observe
that in both the first and fourth tricks the mechanical aid employed
is the minor and subordinate part of the tricks, and that a successful
exhibition of either of them depends really on the dexterity of the
passes, and of manipulations by the performer.
It may be admitted, then, that, with regard to the first topic of our
present paper, the young conjuror need not be restrained from employing
the subordinate aid of an assistant, so far as this may carry him over
difficulties which he cannot otherwise surmount in the present stage of
his imperfect skill.
And in regard to the second topic, the employment of mechanical
contrivances, (though it may be well to begin with those departments of
the art which are easier, because aided by mechanical apparatus,) it
will be desirable for the amateur to strive to get free from dependence
upon such aids. Mechanical arrangements cannot be wholly discarded at
any time, and the conjuror will always require a few implements; but
the more he advances in dexterity of hand, quickness of eye, control of
his hand and eye, instantaneous adaptation of his words and movements
to contingencies as they arise, the more able will he become to elude
the observation of the most watchful spectators, and to mislead their
imagination, so that they shall fancy that they see him DO things which
he only APPEARS to do, and shall blindly fail to observe actions and
movements carried out before their very eyes.
And here let me say, that I have, by long experience, come to the
conviction, that the simpler and more common the objects are on which,
and with which, a trick is performed, and the less anything beyond
dexterity of hand is openly used, the greater will be the astonishment
and the amusement of the spectators. There are, it is true, some very
striking and complicated illusions which it is impossible to present
without resorting to artistic contrivances of mechanical or scientific
arrangement. On these illusions, as being beyond the power of a young
amateur, I need not dwell. Nor need the preceding remarks be considered
as any disparagement of the combinations and extrinsic aid which are
indispensable for developing such startling illusions. The scope of my
present remarks is simply to this effect, that to depend mainly upon
the co-operation of a confederate, or upon mechanical contrivances, for
what can be far better carried out by mere sleight-of-hand, will not
pass for a satisfactory exhibition of conjuring now-a-days; and the
amateur will find that, as he advances in skill and dexterity, he will
swim more freely the less he trusts to such unsubstantial bladders to
uphold him.
Having thus discussed my two topics I shall now add explanations of a
few more tricks, which the learner may practise with the hope of making
progress in the art of conjuring. The only way to make such progress
and gain high attainments in the art, is to practise diligently over
and over again the passes I have described in my former paper, and to
learn to do a few tricks neatly, and without hesitation or stumbling.
I subjoin, therefore, some simple but effective tricks, in which they
will do well to perfect themselves.
TRICK 5.—To make a quarter and a penny change places, while held in the
hands of two spectators.
PREPARATION.
Have a quarter of your own secreted in your right hand. Then borrow two
handkerchiefs, and a quarter and a penny, from any one in the audience.
Tell the lender to mark or accurately observe them, so that he will
know them again. In placing them on the table, substitute your own
quarter for the borrowed one, and conceal the borrowed one in your palm.
MEMORANDUM.
It is better to use things borrowed than coin of your own. Still, the
conjuror should provide himself with articles requisite to display any
trick, or otherwise much delay may occasionally arise while borrowing
them.
Commence the trick by pointing out where the quarter and the penny are
lying on the table. Take up the penny and show it openly to all. Then
take up one of the handkerchiefs, and while pretending to wrap up the
penny in it, substitute in its place the borrowed quarter which you
had concealed in your palm, and ask one of your friends to feel that
it is enfolded in the handkerchief, and bid him hold the handkerchief
enclosing it above his head. Ask him if he has got the penny there
safely. He will reply that he has.
Then take up your own quarter which was laid upon the table; pretend
to wrap it up in the second handkerchief, but adroitly substitute the
penny, (which you concealed in your palm while wrapping up the first
handkerchief.) Ask some friend to hold it up above his head, indulging
in some facetious remark. Slip your own quarter into your pocket. Clap
your hands or wave your wand, saying, “Change.” Tell your friends to
unfold their handkerchiefs. They will be astonished to find that the
quarter and penny have changed places.
TRICK 6.—Another trick with the dime, handkerchief, and an orange or
lemon.
PREPARATION.
Have an orange or lemon ready, with a slit made in its side
sufficiently large to admit the dime easily; and have in your pocket
a good-sized silk handkerchief with a dime stitched into one of its
corners.
Borrow a marked dime. Take out your handkerchief, and while pretending
to wrap this dime in the handkerchief, conceal it in your palm,
and take care that the one previously sewn into the corner of the
handkerchief can be felt easily through the handkerchief. Giving it
to one of your friends, tell him to feel that it has the dime in it,
and to hold it up over his head firmly. While giving these directions
to your friend, the dime that is in your palm must be transferred to
your pocket, and introduced into the slit of the orange. Then bring the
orange out of your pocket, and place it on a table; you will keep the
slit on the side away from the audience.
Then make a few mesmeric passes over the hand of the person that holds
the handkerchief, saying, “I will now destroy the sense of feeling
in your hands. Tell me, can you feel the dime?” He will say, “Yes.”
You can reply, “Oh, you must be wrong, sir. See! I will shake out the
handkerchief.” Taking hold of one corner of it, shake it out, saying,
“Observe, nothing will fall to the ground. You see that you were
mistaken about feeling it in the handkerchief.”
The fact is, the dime being stitched in the ‘corner’ could not fall
out, and you must take care not to let that corner of the handkerchief
hit against the ground. Put the handkerchief in your pocket, and say,
“But I must return the borrowed dime.” Exclaim: “Fly, dime, into the
orange on the table.” Cut up orange, and show the dime concealed in it,
and then restore it to its owner, asking him to tell the audience if he
finds it to be his own marked dime.
TRICK 7.—How to double your pocket money.
The only preparation is to have four cents concealed in your left palm.
Commence the trick by calling forward one of the spectators, and let
him bring up his hat with him.
Then borrow five cents, or have them ready to produce from your own
pocket should there be any delay.
Request your friend, while he places them one by one on a small plate
or saucer, to count them audibly, so that the company may hear their
number correctly. Inquire, “How many are there?” He will answer,
“Five.” Take up the saucer and pour them into your left hand, (where
the other four are already concealed.) Then say, “Stay, I will place
these in your hat, and you must raise it above your head, for all to
see that nothing is added subsequently to them.” You will have placed
these nine cents in his hat unsuspected by him.
Borrow five cents more. Make Pass 1, as described on page 9, appearing
to throw these five into your left hand, but really retaining them in
your right hand, which is to fall by your side as if empty.
Afterwards get rid of four of the five cents into your pocket,
retaining only one in your right palm.
Hold up your closed left hand, and say, while blowing on it: “Pass,
cents, from my left hand into the hat. Now, sir, be kind enough to see
if they have come into your possession. Please to count them aloud
while placing them in the saucer.” He will be surprised, as well as the
spectators, to find that the cents in his hat have become nine.
You may then put on a rather offended look, and say: “Ah, sir! ah!
I did not think you would do so! You have taken one out, I fear.”
Approaching your right hand to his sleeve, shake the sleeve, and let
the one cent, which you have in your own hand, drop audibly into the
saucer. It will raise a laugh against the holder of the hat. You can
say: “Excuse me, I only made it appear that you had taken one. However,
you see that the original money is now doubled.”
TRICK 8.—The injured handkerchief restored.
PREPARATION.
Have a dime of your own wrapped in the centre of a piece of cambric
about five or six inches in diameter, the ends falling down loose.
Conceal these in the palm of your left hand.
Borrow a marked dime from any of the spectators, and a white cambric
handkerchief. Throw the handkerchief spread out over your left palm,
(holding under the handkerchief your own dime wrapped in the small
piece of cambric.)
Openly place the borrowed dime on the centre of the spread-out
handkerchief. Keeping hold of that dime, jerk the ends of the
handkerchief over, so as to fall loose down from the lower side of your
left hand. Draw out from between your thumb and fingers (that is from
the upper side of your left hand) about two inches of the smaller piece
of cambric, containing your own dime. The spectators will naturally
conceive the two pieces of cambric you hold in that hand to be merely
the cambric handkerchief.
Call any of the spectators forward, and request him to mark off with
his knife the portion of the piece of cambric which holds your own
dime, and whisper to him to cut it completely off, and to let the dime
drop on the table. The spectators will believe that he has cut a hole
in the handkerchief itself, and that the dime falling out is the one
you recently borrowed, whereas it is in fact the other piece of cambric
that has been cut, and the borrowed coin remains still wrapped up in
the handkerchief.
Pretend to blame the person who cut the two inches off, saying: “Dear
me, sir, what have you done? You have quite destroyed this nice
handkerchief. Well, I hope, madam, you will pardon the mistake, if I
manage by magic to restore to you your handkerchief in perfect order,
and I request you to allow me to try to do so.” Carefully holding in
the candle the edges of the cambric, (both of the part cut off and of
the portion from which it was cut,) and letting the real handkerchief
hang down from the same hand, pretend with a conjuring wand to weld
together the edges of the cambric when they get hot, as a blacksmith
welds metals together. You can prevent the flame from reaching the
real handkerchief by tightly pressing your fingers. Then exclaim: “Oh,
where is the dime?” and while picking it up from the table, get quietly
rid of the pieces of cambric with their burnt edges into a hat or some
corner unseen by the audience.
Holding up the dime which you had just lifted from the table say: “But
to complete my trick I must replace this dime in the centre of the
restored handkerchief, whence it was cut out.”
Make the Pass 1, appearing to pass it into the centre of the
handkerchief, but retaining it in your hand, and afterwards secretly
pocket it. The handkerchief has already the borrowed dime in it. Say to
the handkerchief: “Change—restore!” and unfolding it, show the borrowed
coin in it. Shake out the handkerchief and show it is all sound and
right, and restore it with thanks, as well as the borrowed dime, to the
owners.
TRICK 9.—To make a large die pass through the crown of a hat without
injuring it.
I will now give my young friends a nice, easy trick, requiring very
little dexterity, as the articles for its exhibition can be purchased
at any depot for the sale of conjuring apparatus; therefore the most
diffident amateur will be able to display this trick.
PREPARATION.
Have a die exactly like the common dice, only it may be about two
inches square. Have two covers for it, one of them exactly resembling
the appearance of a die, only hollow, except that one side of it is
open, so that it can easily be placed over, or be taken off, the solid
die.
The other cover may be of decorated material, and it is intended to be
placed over the first die-cover. Let this last cover be made of some
pliant material, so that by compressing gently two of its sides with
your fingers, while lifting it up, you can lift up the first die-cover,
which will be within it.
Commence the trick by borrowing two hats; place one with its rims
upwards on the table, and show that you place in that hat the die with
its first cover on it. But say, “I forgot to appeal to the company
whether they will like to see the trick done visibly or invisibly.”
They will most likely say, “Visibly;” but it is of no consequence which
answer they make, for the process of the trick is the same in either
case.
Take out from the lower hat the first cover, which is painted exactly
like a die, and having placed the second hat (with its rims downwards)
on the other hat, display the first cover, and openly place it on the
crown of the upper hat. All the spectators will believe it to be the
solid die itself. Then take your penknife; you may just thrust it
into the crown of the hat, and pretend to cut all round the die-cover
there lying; say—“I shall now bid it move into the lower hat, but it
will not do so while uncovered, so I must place this ornamental cover
over it.” Do so; show that you have nothing in your hands or sleeves;
then wave your wand or your hand, and say, “Change, pass, die, into
the lower hat.” Give it a little time. Then, compressing the outward
cover gently, lift off also with it the painted die-cover, which it has
inside it. Lift up the lower hat, and show the company the solid die
lying in it. Show all that the upper hat has received no injury.
The illusion to the audience will be that the solid die has passed
through the crown of the upper hat without at all injuring it. Return
the hats to the owners, and show them to be uninjured.
TRICK 10.—To produce from a silk handkerchief bon-bons, candies, nuts,
etc.
PREPARATION.
Have packages of various candies, wrapped up in bags of the thinnest
tissue paper, and place them on your table rather sheltered from
observation. Have also a plate or two on your table.
MEMORANDUM.
It will be always desirable to have the table removed two or three
yards at least from the spectators, and of a height that they cannot
see the surface of it while sitting down in front of it.
Commence the trick by borrowing a silk handkerchief, or any large
handkerchief. After turning it about, throw it out on the table, so as
to fall over one of these packages.
Having carefully observed where the bag lies, place your left hand
so as to take up the bag while catching hold of the middle of the
handkerchief.
Taking the handkerchief up by nearly the centre, the edges of it will
fall around and conceal the bag; make some pretended wavings of your
wand or right hand over the handkerchief, and say, “Now, handkerchief,
you must supply my friends with some bon-bons.” Squeeze with your right
hand the lower part of the bag which is under the handkerchief; the bag
will burst, and you can shake out into a plate its contents.
Asking some one to distribute them among your young friends, you can
throw the handkerchief (as it were carelessly) over another bag, from
which you can in the same way produce a liberal supply of some other
sweetmeats, or macaroon biscuits, etc., etc., all of which will be duly
appreciated by the juveniles, and they will applaud as long as you
choose to continue this SWEET trick.