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WATER WIZARDRY
A COLLECTION OF TRICKS IN WHICH WATER IS THE CHIEF AGENT
BY
ARTHUR AINSLIE
_ILLUSTRATED BY 20 DIAGRAMS_
London
C. Arthur Pearson, Limited
Henrietta Street, W.C.
1922
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CONTENTS
PAGE
I. Little Tricks 11
The Impossible--"An old One"--A Quaint Mixture--The Shower
Bath--A Steady Hand--In the Soup--On the Edge
II. Little Tricks--(_continued_) 26
Topsy Turvy--A Sporting Offer--A Feat of Dexterity--More
than Full--The Obedient Corks--A Peculiar Egg--The Suspended
Mug--The Sticky Glass--The Floating Pin--Washing a Card
III. The Hydrostatic Tube (David Devant's Trick) 43
IV. The Passe-Passe Trick 50
V. The Rice Bowls 60
VI. The Indian Sands 75
VII. The Dissolved Card 83
VIII. Miscellaneous Water Tricks 96
The Wine and Water Trick (David Devant's method)--The
Vanishing Glass of Water--The Vanishing Water--The Aquarius
Tube--Links--The Milk Cans--Water from Waste Paper--Cotton
Wool to Water--Silk from Water
WATER WIZARDRY
CHAPTER I
LITTLE TRICKS
The following tricks are suitable for informal performances. These
tricks are easy, but I advise the amateur conjurer to try them over
privately a few times before showing them to an audience. The first
trick I call
The Impossible
Three tumblers, a jug of water, and a piece of stiff paper about eight
inches by four are required. Pour the water into the tumblers until each
is about half full. Be very anxious--before an audience--to see that
there is the same quantity of water in each glass, not that this little
detail has anything to do with the actual working of the trick, but it
may lead people to think that it has--until they see you do the trick.
Now, place the paper on the edges of two of the glasses, forming a kind
of bridge between them. Pick up the third glass and let it rest, while
the hand still holds it, on the paper bridge. Naturally, the paper will
sink down under the weight. Then you move the two glasses a little
nearer to each other and try again, and again the paper bends under the
weight of the glass you place on it.
[Illustration:
{3 half-full glasses and piece of paper}
_THE APPARATUS_
{half-full glass supported by pleated paper on top of 2 half-full glasses}
_THE TRICK_
Fig. 1]
You pretend to be in difficulties and encourage the "knowing ones" in
your audience to jeer at you as you try the trick again and again. You
explain that there is a way of resting the glass on the paper in such a
way that the paper shall not sink down. Some brainy person will then
say, "Impossible!"--or it is to be hoped that they will--because that
will give you the opportunity of saying:
"Thank you. I remember it now. 'Impossible' happens to be the name of
the trick; thanks for giving me the clue. It won't be such a bad
trick--will it?--if I make a bridge between these two glasses with this
piece of paper and then place the other glass on the bridge. . . ."
"With the water still in the glass," says one of your victims.
"Of course--with the water still in the glass."
Some members of your audience will be sure to say that it cannot be
done; others will beg to be allowed to think it out. You will probably
hear whispering:
"The water in the glasses has something to do with it. Why was he so
jolly careful to get the same quantity of water in each glass? Now, wait
a minute. . . ."
This is where you chuckle secretly. You invite anyone to come and try
the experiment. Your audience will suggest putting something under the
paper--a strip of cardboard or something of that kind. You work up the
excitement as you say: "No cardboard is used in the trick."
Your audience will jump to the conclusion that something besides the
articles they see is used, but they are wrong. The trick can be done
when you know how to do it.
When everyone has "given it up" fold the paper in pleats lengthwise,
open out the pleats a little, and rest the paper on the tops of two of
the glasses. The paper is then in corrugated form and it will bear the
weight of the third glass, half full of water, upon it. You have
achieved the "impossible."
Of course you could do the trick in about half the time by merely
asking: "Can you do this?" and then proceeding to do it, but by working
up the trick in the way I have suggested you make it more effective.
You will now see the necessity of a little private rehearsal with the
glasses and the paper that you are going to use. You have to make sure
that the paper is sufficiently thick, that the pleats are folded
properly (they must not be too wide) and that the glass is not too
heavy. The trick is quite simple with a "pony" glass, but as the base of
the glass is small the pleats of the paper must also be small; otherwise
you will have difficulty in balancing the glass on the paper.
"An Old One"
If you have a small boy in your audience when you start to do your next
trick you will be sure to hear him say that he has seen it before and
that it is an old trick, but you need not let a little thing like that
worry you. The trick is old, but I have given it a little "twist" which,
I think, will leave the small boy guessing as to how it is done.
You have a glass of water. You borrow a penny, throw a handkerchief over
it and ask someone to hold it over the glass; the penny is held by the
edges. You instruct the person helping you to drop the penny into the
glass of water when you say "Go!" They obey your instructions and the
penny is heard to drop into the water. (You will understand, of course,
that the handkerchief is draped round the glass, and so the penny is not
seen to fall.) You pull the handkerchief away and hold the glass up to
the light. The penny has vanished.
The old way of doing this trick was with an eyeglass, which was
concealed in your hand. In throwing the handkerchief over the penny you
brought the eyeglass up and under the handkerchief while you kept the
penny concealed in your hand. The eyeglass was therefore dropped into
the glass and it sank to the bottom. By using a glass of the right size
it is possible to pour out the water without giving the trick away; the
eyeglass adheres to the bottom of the little tumbler.
In all probability, therefore, at the conclusion of the trick the small
boy in your audience will say:
"Now let's look at the tumbler."
You pass it to him at once; he thinks he has "got you," but he hasn't.
The glass is empty.
The little "twist" I have mentioned consists in using an eyeglass with a
hole in it. The hole enables you to attach the eyeglass by a short piece
of cotton to one corner of the handkerchief. The trick is doubly
effective when done in this way because at the beginning you can show
that you have only the penny in your hand. Arrange the handkerchief in
your pocket before commencing the trick; you will find it convenient to
have it either in your right trousers pocket or the left-hand inside
pocket of your coat; then you will be able to get at it easily. The
prepared corner, with the eyeglass resting on it, should be at the top.
When you take the handkerchief by the prepared corner from your pocket
the eyeglass will hang down behind the handkerchief and be hidden there.
Then take the handkerchief by the prepared corner in your left hand and
apparently place the penny under the handkerchief, but of course you
conceal the penny in your hand and bring up the eyeglass. Someone grasps
the eyeglass by the edge (through the handkerchief) and lets it fall
into the tumbler. You then take the handkerchief by the prepared corner
and pull it upwards quickly and then away from the glass. Put the
handkerchief into your pocket as you pour the water out of the glass to
show that the penny has vanished. The small boy may ask to see the
handkerchief again, and so you have taken the precaution to have another
handkerchief, bunched up in your pocket, in readiness. And this is the
handkerchief that you produce for inspection--if someone insists on
seeing "the handkerchief" but not otherwise.
A Quaint Mixture
A soda-water tumbler, a jug containing from a quarter to half a pint of
water, and a cup of coffee with a little milk in it are needed for this
experiment.
The trick is to pour both the coffee and the water into the big tumbler
and then separate them again. Possibly somebody will attempt this feat
by first placing a small tumbler in the large one, pouring the coffee
into the small tumbler and the water around it. But can it be said that
you pour both the coffee and the water into the tumbler when you really
pour the coffee into another glass placed inside the tumbler? No, that
solution does not work.
Here is the way in which you carry out your intentions.
Pour the coffee into the big tumbler and place on it a disc of thin
cardboard; the disc should reach nearly to the edge of the tumbler. Then
pour the water very slowly, a few drops at a time, on to the top of the
cardboard, which breaks the fall of the water. The water runs off to the
edge, and as the coffee is heavier than the water the latter remains on
the top. The cardboard disc floats upwards with the water, and so the
first half of the trick is accomplished.
The separation of the liquids can be brought about in two or three ways.
For example, you can offer to drink the coffee without drinking the
water, and you achieve this apparent miracle by merely putting in a
straw and sucking up the coffee; in that way you have separated the two
liquids.
With the help of a scent spray you can pump the water into the jug
again, taking great care, of course, not to disturb the surface of the
coffee. You can also take out nearly all the water with a small sponge
and the remainder with a piece of blotting paper.
The Shower Bath
This is not really the title of the next trick, but it is sometimes
suitable for it when the trick is performed by a man who has never had a
rehearsal. It is quite a good trick to play on to somebody at a
Christmas party. Just tell your audience that instead of doing the next
trick yourself you will show somebody else how to do it. Then pour out a
glass of water, put a small plate on the top of it and, pressing the
plate with the left hand on to the glass and holding the glass with the
right hand, turn the lot over. Thus you have a glass of water inverted
on a plate.
The trick is to drink the water, but in order to get the glass to your
mouth you must use only one hand.
To do it--lift the plate with the glass upon it and place it on your
head. Balance it there for a second. Then, pressing the glass against
the plate with the right hand, bend down to the table until you can put
the glass on the table and leave the plate on the top of it. Then all
you have to do is to lift the plate and drink the water.
There is another way of doing this trick, and if the first does not
result in a shower bath for the man who is trying it for the first time
the second way is almost sure to have that effect.
After the glass of water is inverted on the plate, bend down until the
top of the head touches the bottom of the glass. Then, pressing the
plate against the glass slowly raise the head and stand erect. Stand
quite still, remove the plate, and then remove the glass and drink the
contents--if you like.
[Illustration:
{forehead placed on inverted glass on plate,
then invert head so glass is upright}
Fig. 2]
There is a kind of first cousin to this trick. Take two claret glasses.
Half fill one of them with water and place the empty glass on the top of
it. The trick is to pour the water into the empty glass and drink it,
but you must use only one hand and you are not to touch the top glass
with it.
Pick up the two glasses together by taking the bottom one by the stem
(it is just as well to practise this with your own glasses and to stand
over a bed during the rehearsal) and then pull off the top one with
your mouth and hold it firmly between the teeth. Then you can pour the
water into it. Still holding the other glass in your hand place the
glass with the water on the top of it, and then, holding the two
together, you can drink the water.
A Steady Hand
You can use one of the glasses for this trick. Half fill it with water
and then, tilting the glass, try to balance it on the edge of the foot.
With care and a little practice you can accomplish this feat by sheer
skill, but you simplify it considerably if you take the precaution to
slip a match under the table-cloth before you begin. If you are doing
the trick at a dinner table it is just possible that some evil-disposed
person may notice the little bump in the tablecloth caused by the match,
and so you prepare for that charge by tying a piece of cotton to the
match. The end of the cotton hangs down below the table-cloth close to
your hand, and directly you have done the trick you quietly pull the
match away, and then you can challenge Mr. Know-all to do the trick
himself.
In the Soup
The soup in this case is represented with water, and you can use the
same glass; it should be about half full of water. Lay a piece of nice
shiny cardboard on the top of it--a piece about eight inches square is
large enough--and on the cardboard and exactly over the glass stand a
cork. On the top of the cork balance a tangerine orange. Now, if you
give a sharp knock to the cardboard with your right hand the cardboard
should go skimming away, taking the cork "off the premises" with it, and
the tangerine should drop into the water.
This feat appears to be very difficult, but it is not; the weight of the
tangerine helps you. When you can do the trick every time with one glass
you can try it with two glasses--using a larger piece of cardboard, of
course--and then three glasses, and, finally, four. It is not so easy
then.
This feat is often performed on the stage, but eggs--or, rather,
imitation eggs--are used in place of the tangerines, and the trick in
that form is difficult because the eggs are light. Don't follow up your
stroke when you are hitting the cardboard away. Just give it a sharp
knock and bring the hand to a standstill with a jerk. Look around you
before you do the trick; otherwise, you may hurt somebody with the
flying piece of cardboard. To avoid any accident of this kind get a
friend to stand a little to the side of your table so that he may catch
the cardboard.
When the trick is performed on the stage a tea-tray is generally used,
and the raised edge of the tray adds considerably to the difficulty of
the trick.
On the Edge
Hold a card by the sides between the fingers and thumb of the right
hand, the face of the card being towards the audience. Now, can you
balance a glass half full of water on the top of the card?
[Illustration:
_PLAN_
{from front it looks like glass is balanced on edge of card,
from side you see index finger is helping to balance glass}
_FRONT_ _SIDE_
Fig. 3]
I know of four ways of doing this trick, but we need not take any notice
of the first because you are not likely to trouble to learn it; it
consists in actually doing what you profess to do--balance the glass. It
can be done, but you need a very steady hand and long practice.
The second way is by the aid of a specially prepared card. This is made
of two cards, fastened together.
Fold a card lengthways in half. Stick one-half to the back of another
card and then fold back the half which is not stuck so that the back of
the prepared card may appear to be the back of an ordinary card.
Now, if you hold up this card by the sides you can easily fold the loose
half back a little when you are putting the glass on the edge of the
card, and thus you get a firm standing place for the glass. If you wish
to be able to throw this card down on the table without giving away the
secret (because there will naturally be a little curve in the part which
you folded back) you must make a little spring hinge by means of a strip
of india-rubber down the card. A card prepared in this way can be bought
at a conjuring shop. The trick is quite a good one when done in this
way, but, of course, it has this drawback. If you are performing at a
friend's house and you are using borrowed cards it is more than probable
that the backs of the borrowed cards will not match the back of the
trick card. Well, you can do the trick without the use of a specially
prepared card, and this brings us to the third method.
Take any card and fold it in halves lengthways. Then fold it back again
and put it on the top of the pack. Of course, if you are performing with
a borrowed pack of cards you will have to seize your opportunity to do
this when the attention of the audience is directed to another trick, or
you can do it before your performance begins.
Now, pick up the two top cards together and hold them in the right hand
in the way described, with the face of the lower card towards the
audience. You will understand, of course, that to the audience these two
cards must appear to be one card. When you take the glass with your left
hand and try to balance it on the top of the card the back of the left
hand is towards the audience and the hand nearly covers the whole of the
card. This gives you the chance of bending back the top card to make a
firm resting-place for the glass. The bending is done with the right
first finger. To assist you in keeping the cards nicely squared up while
you are bending back the top one place the right little finger under the
lower edge of the cards and the left middle finger and thumb at the
sides, the left thumb being just above the right thumb. Of course, the
left hand is held in this position for only a few moments while you are
balancing the glass.
After you have done the trick in this way casually return the two cards
to the pack and shuffle the cards, thus getting the bent card out of
sight.
The fourth method is, to my mind, the best of the lot, because you use
only one card. Hold it in the way described and bend it slightly, the
convex side being towards the audience. Now, in the act of balancing the
glass on the edge with your left hand just stick your right first finger
straight up behind the card and rest the glass partly on the edge of the
card and partly on the tip of your finger which, of course, is hidden
by the card. It will be necessary to hold the card up fairly high so
that no one can get a glimpse over the top of it. The trick is over so
quickly that no one notices that the first finger is concealed behind
the card.
CHAPTER II
LITTLE TRICKS--(_continued_)
I have often thought that many conjurers--amateur and professional--take
themselves and their conjuring far too seriously. It is just as well to
unbend occasionally, and as a little change from tricks to spring a
simple catch on your audience. Here is one.
Pour some water into a glass and cover it with an opera hat. Throw a
large cloth over the hat.
"Now then," you say to your audience, "do you think that I can drink the
water without lifting the hat?" The answer is in the negative, as they
say in the House of Commons when they mean "No."
Hold up the cloth so that it hides your face. The audience see both
hands on the top edge of the cloth and therefore are convinced that you
are not removing the hat. Make the sound of a man drinking from a glass.
(I confess that this part of the experiment is not all it ought to be!)
Then announce that you have performed the feat and drop the cloth.
Somebody will be sure to pick up the hat to see if the water is in the
glass; then you drink the water. You have performed the feat of drinking
the water without lifting the hat.
Topsy Turvy
A more difficult experiment--until you know the secret. Ask someone to
put water into a glass when the glass is held upside down. Naturally,
they give it up. Then:
Pour some water on a plate. Crumple up a small piece of paper, light it
and drop it into a tumbler; let it burn for a second or two and then
invert the glass over the plate. You will see the water rush into the
glass. You have kept your word and have put water into the glass when
the glass has been upside down.
A Sporting Offer
Bend a wooden match into the form of a capital V, taking care not to
break the match. Lay the match on the top of a bottle and just at the
angle of the "V" place a threepenny bit. Tell someone that they may have
the coin if they can get it into the bottle, but they must not touch the
match, or the coin, or the bottle, or the table on which the bottle is
standing, and they must not blow the coin into the bottle.
You have probably guessed--since this book has to do with water
tricks--that water must be used in this trick in some way. In that case
you are right. Drop a little water on the angle of the match; the wood
will expand, the "V" will open and the threepenny bit will drop into the
bottle.
A Feat of Dexterity
Pour some water into a tumbler and balance two pennies on the edge of
the tumbler; the coins should be opposite to each other.
The trick is to remove the coins together, using only a thumb and one
finger.
To do this place the thumb on one coin and the first finger on the
other. Quickly slide the coins down the sides of the glass and bring the
first finger and thumb together, taking the coins with them.
This is a feat of dexterity; it is not difficult, but you will not do it
at the first attempt. The water helps to steady the glass.
More Than Full
If a glass is full of water it will not hold anything else; that is
obvious. But----
Fill a glass with water. Stand it on a level surface. Wipe the edge of
the glass very carefully, because for the purpose of this experiment it
must be quite dry. Then, with a steady hand bring the edge of a sixpence
to the surface of the water and let the coin go. If you are careful you
can put a dozen sixpences into the glass without causing the water to
run over the brim.
The Obedient Corks
For this little experiment you want a nice large rose bowl, full of
water, and seven corks. The trick is to put the corks into the water
and to cause them to float in a perpendicular position.
This is how you do it. Grasp all the corks in one hand, and hold them
under the water until they are thoroughly soaked. Then hold them in the
position you wish them to assume and let them go; they will remain close
together and in an upright position.
A Peculiar Egg
The peculiarity of the egg used in this experiment is that it neither
floats on the top of a large glass of water nor sinks to the bottom, but
merely remains an inch or two under water all the time.
Make a saturated solution of salt and half fill a big tumbler with it.
Then, with a spoon fill up the tumbler with ordinary water, putting it
in very steadily so that it does not mingle with the brine at the bottom
of the glass. Now if you drop an egg gently into the liquid--which looks
like ordinary water--the egg will sink down through the water, but will
come to a standstill on to the top of the brine.
The Suspended Mug
This is an easy catch--more suitable for the garden than for the
drawing-room.
Tie a piece of string to the handle of a mug. Hold the other end of the
string, so that the mug is suspended, and pour in all the water it will
hold in that position.
Stand on a chair and ask for the services of an assistant. You tell
your assistant that you are going to cut the string, and it is his job
to catch the mug without spilling a drop of the water. The first
assistant naturally fails because you cut the string when he is not
expecting the mug to fall. Another assistant tries his luck; he probably
holds his hands just under the mug. You protest that that is not fair,
but you will try the trick, nevertheless. While talking you quietly move
the string until the mug is just over your victim's head, and then you
cut the string quickly. (Note. Don't try this trick with a bad-tempered
person, or you may spoil the party, and, obviously, the man must be
wearing a hard hat or the mug will hurt him badly.)
You can keep the game going for quite a little time if you can induce
enough brave spirits to take a hand, but sooner or later someone is sure
to suggest that you try the trick yourself. You at once consent, and you
tell your audience that if they will cut the string you will most
certainly catch the mug directly it falls. While making this apparently
rash promise you quietly tie a little loop in the string and keep it
hidden with your hand for a moment. When your assistant is holding one
end of the string and everyone is prepared to see you get a ducking you
take your hand away from the loop, tell your assistant to cut the string
"just there" pointing to the loop, and you will catch the mug directly
it falls; of course, it will not fall.
All this is only a catch, something to amuse people at a juvenile
garden party. To go to the opposite extreme, here is a little trick
which will "want doing" if it is to be done well.
The Sticky Glass
Pick up a wineglass and fill it with water; while doing so say something
about the state of the glass; you can say that the stem feels a little
sticky, but perhaps it will do for the trick. Dip a small square piece
of paper into the glass of water and take it out again. This action
naturally spills a little of the water, so you fill up the glass once
more. Then you place the piece of wet paper on the top of the glass and
turn the glass over, and take the hand away. The paper remains over the
glass, and the water does not run out.
If there is a schoolboy present he will be sure to tell you that there
is nothing in that; anybody can do it. It is even probable that the boy
will explain to you that the pressure of the air on the under surface of
the paper is greater than the pressure of the water in the glass. Hence
the apparent miracle. Let the dear boy prattle on. Then tell him that
you have not done the trick yet.
Slowly take the paper away from the glass. The water remains. Put the
paper back again; turn the glass right end uppermost, remove the paper,
and show that you have nothing in your hands except the paper and the
wineglass of water.
This is a capital little trick, but it needs practice. The edge of the
top of the glass should be ground perfectly flat, and the base should be
rather larger than the top. You also need a disc of celluloid with the
edge slightly sunk so that when the disc is placed on the glass it fits
there and cannot easily slip off sideways.
[Illustration: _Paper disc_ _Paper_
_Celluloid Fake_ _Fake_
_PAPER PLACED ON BOTTOM OF GLASS_ _PAPER & FAKE COVER GLASS TOGETHER_
Fig. 4]
Before commencing the trick dip this celluloid disc into some water and
place it under the base of the glass, the sunk edge being against the
glass. The water will cause the disc to adhere to the glass, and
therefore when you show the glass you have nothing concealed in your
hands. Fill the glass with the water and dip in the piece of paper. This
causes some of the water to overflow and you naturally want to pick up
the jug to fill it up again, but you are holding the glass in the left
hand and the wet paper in your right. To get the right hand free you
place the paper under the base of the glass and therefore under the
celluloid disc while you fill up the glass with water. Then, in putting
on the paper again you take the disc away with it and the disc goes
quietly on the top of the glass. It is advisable to make the water
overflow in the first place because you want to get the edge of the
glass wet.
Press down on the paper and shape the paper round the glass and you need
not worry about the rest; the celluloid disc will adhere tightly and you
can wave the glass about after you have taken the paper away. You have
said something in the first part of the trick about the glass being
sticky, and you now mention that it must be very sticky, since all the
water has stuck to it.
In replacing the paper on the top of your glass get your thumb nail
under the disc and lift it up. Then remove the paper with the disc under
it, place both under the glass, take away the paper, leaving the disc
stuck to the base of the glass and the trick is over.
A similar trick is done with a tumbler, but as the base of an ordinary
tumbler is smaller than the top the disc of celluloid cannot be hidden
under the tumbler; it is usual to have it on a tray, and after wetting
the paper to place the paper over the disc and pick up both together.
The tumbler used for this trick usually has a small hole made in one
side (if there can be any side to a round tumbler). At the beginning of
the trick the hole is closed with wax, and to conclude the trick the
conjurer holds the inverted glass with the paper on it over a glass
bowl, scrapes away the wax, thus admitting air, and the water rushes
out, carrying the paper and disc with it into the bowl.
For a very much finer trick of this kind the reader is referred to
Chapter III, "The Hydrostatic Tube."
We now return, for a moment, to our wineglass which was left at the
conclusion of the trick, with a celluloid disc adhering to its base. The
conjurer will naturally want to get rid of this disc at the earliest
opportunity, and so he provides his own opportunity by performing this
Feat of Dexterity
First of all, the conjurer says that the base of the glass is wet. He
takes out a clean handkerchief to dry it and in so doing wipes away the
celluloid disc and puts it into his pocket. He pours a little of the
water out of the glass, which should not be more than about half full,
especially during the first rehearsals!
The feat consists in looping the loop with the glass, by swinging it
right round with the hand, without spilling the water. It is as well to
rehearse the feat in the garden!
Pick up the glass by holding the back of the hand towards the table and
getting the stem of the glass between the second and third fingers.
Extend the arm and then, with a quick semicircular sweep of the arm,
which should be held stiffly, bring the glass right round and deposit it
on the other side of the table. You want a little nerve, and the feat is
not difficult, but it appears to be.
[Illustration:
{glass of water with stem held between index and middle finger,
inverted in arc, and placed back on table without spilling water}
Fig. 5]
Japanese performers present a very spectacular feat of this kind in
which they use two large buckets tied to the ends of a rope. The buckets
are swung about at an alarming pace and in "impossible" positions
without a drop of water being spilled; centrifugal force explains the
mystery.
The Floating Pin
This is a "quieter" trick. Give someone a bowl of water and ask them to
lay a pin on the surface of the water and leave it there. The pin
naturally sinks to the bottom of the bowl, whereupon you complain that
your directions have not been carried out properly; they are not likely
to be unless the person to whom you hand the pin happens to know the
secret of the trick.
Lay a cigarette paper gently on the top of the water and put the pin on
the paper. In a few moments the paper will sink, leaving the pin
floating on the surface of the water.
Washing a Card
You can begin this trick by asking someone if they have ever tried to
wash a playing card with water; if so, have they noticed the effect. You
ask for a pack of cards and begin the experiment by holding the pack in
the left hand, with the fingers on the lower side and the thumb on the
other.
There is no harm in saying that the experiment is most successful with a
five-spot card, and you put, say, the five of clubs on the bottom of the
pack and therefore hold the pack with that card facing the audience.
Then, this is what you apparently do.
Dip a finger into some water and rub on the pip at the lower corner
nearest to you. To dry the card you take your handkerchief from your
pocket and dab the corner. The audience see that you have apparently
washed away one of the pips.
Turn the cards over in your hand, so that the blank corner is now at the
top and repeat the experiment with the pip which is now in the position
occupied by the first. This action reduces the number of pips on the
card to three, arranged diagonally across the face of the card.
Repeat the experiment, but this time wash away the two corner pips at
once, leaving only one pip in the centre of the card. Then wash away
this pip and you have a blank card, which you hand out for examination.
[Illustration:
_WASHING OFF THE SPOTS_
{hold five of clubs, then wash off one club at a time until all gone}
_SPECIAL CARDS REQUIRED_
Fig. 6]
To begin with, the request for the loan of a pack of cards is not quite
what it seems. You arrange with a kind friend in the audience to "find"
a pack of cards when you ask for one, and that person has no difficulty
in "finding" the pack which you have prepared for the trick and placed
in some convenient hiding-place in the house.
The disappearance of the first pip is easily managed: You dip a finger
into the water, shake it, and rub the corner with a dry finger. Then
shake the pack as though you were trying to dry the card; this action
enables you to turn the pack, in a natural way, with its face towards
the floor and thus the audience do not see that the pip is still on the
card. Then you take your handkerchief from your pocket, and in so doing
secretly take out a five of clubs with one spot missing behind the
handkerchief. It is not a difficult matter, under cover of the
handkerchief and while pretending to dab the corner of the card, to slip
the prepared card on the face of the pack. Having done that, show your
hands and the handkerchief to your audience, to let them see that you
have not merely slipped the pip off the card, but have apparently
dissolved it in water and removed all trace of it.
Directly after you have shown this card on the bottom of the pack turn
the pack over in the hand, so that the blank corner is now at the top.
Now if you bend the third and little fingers of the left hand slightly
they will conceal the pip at that corner, but before you bend the
fingers let the audience see the card. Now you have to exchange that
card for another with only three pips on it, the pips being diagonally
across the card.
This prepared card is at the back of the pack. While you are talking
bring the right hand to the front of the pack, push up the back card
with the first finger of the left hand, extend the fingers of the right
hand and push the card to the tips of the fingers of the right hand, at
the same time slide the card down on to the face of the pack.
This movement takes a long time to explain in print, but it is done in
the fraction of a second. All you apparently do is to bring the right
hand up to the pack to square up the cards.
Directly you have the "three card" at the face of the pack, bend the
third and little fingers slightly and thus hide the place where the
missing pip ought to be. The card is now apparently the same card which
the audience saw before--a five spot with one spot missing.
This time, when you dip a finger into the water and pretend to wash away
a spot you must work rather quickly, and as you take away the tips of
the third and little fingers to enable you to wash away the pip which is
supposed to be there, you must bring the right hand over the spot at
once, otherwise the audience will see that the spot is not there! This
time you have the advantage of being able to show the blank corner
directly you take away your right hand. Take out your handkerchief, dab
the corner with it and return it to your pocket.
Now tell your audience that if you wish to rub away two spots at once
you have to use both hands. Take the cards in the right hand for a
moment while you dip a finger of the left hand into the water. In the
act of passing the cards from one hand to the other you slide the next
card from the back to the front; this card has one pip in the centre.
(If your cards have no index corners you can use the ace for this card.)
While you dip the finger of the left hand into the water you must hold
the pack with the face card downwards; take it, in the same position, in
the left hand, while you dip a finger of the right hand into the water.
Then rub first one corner with the left hand and then the other corner
with the right hand and bring up the pack with the card facing the
audience, but hold the pack in both hands with the hands at the corners
(top and bottom) as though you were merely hiding the pips there.
Someone is sure to tell you to "take away your hands," and, apparently
reluctantly, you do so, disclosing the card with the single pip in the
centre. The laugh will then be in your favour, and you take advantage of
this temporary diversion to slip the next card from the back to the
front of the pack. Then hold the pack by the sides in the right hand
with the fingers right over the centre, and the audience will think that
the single pip is still there, being hidden by the fingers.
To conclude the trick you can say that your fingers are damp enough to
manage one pip and you pretend to rub it off the face of the card, which
is thus blank.
Take this card away in your right hand, and offer it to someone on your
left hand for examination, taking care to turn the pack down with its
face to the floor as you remove the blank card, otherwise the audience
will see the next card, which is the one-pip card.
The object of handing the blank card to someone on your left is to
enable you to turn in that direction in a natural way, because directly
you have turned you drop the pack you are holding in the left-hand
pocket of your coat (or dinner jacket) and take from it another pack,
from which the five of clubs has been abstracted. This is important
because a juvenile audience is merciless to an amateur conjurer as a
rule and someone is sure to say: "Let us have a look at the cards."
Don't be in too great a hurry to hand them out for examination; always
"play" with the younger members of your audience when you get the chance
to do so. Of course, if the children are so exceedingly well behaved
that they do not ask to see the cards you must suggest that "perhaps you
would like to have a look at the cards," but I hope for your sake that
the children are not of that kind. An audience of very prim and proper
children may be easy to a conjurer, because they do not attempt to catch
him out, but in another sense they are very difficult because it is by
no means easy to engage and hold their attention. I much prefer an
audience of children who are quite natural and who are therefore always
eager to pounce upon any little weak point--or point which they think is
weak--in a trick.
The preparation of the trick cards required for this trick is not a
difficult matter. If expense is no object the best plan is to buy
several packs of cards, with the backs all alike. A blank card usually
goes with each pack. If the cards have no index corners you need prepare
only two trick cards--one with four spots on it and one with three. To
get the spots, put a ten-spot card in cold water and let it soak until
you can peel away the face of it. Dry it on clean blotting paper. Then
cut out the spots very neatly and paste them on two of the blank cards,
taking care to get the pips at the corners in the right positions.
The other method of preparing the cards (presuming that you do not wish
to invest in several packs) is to float off the backs of a couple of
cards, dry them, paste white paper on them and then stick pips on the
paper. The drawback to this method is that the paper will probably not
match the paper on the faces of the other cards in the pack.
CHAPTER III
THE HYDROSTATIC TUBE
This trick is one of the many masterpieces of Mr. David Devant, and I am
greatly indebted to him for his permission to include a full description
of it in this book and to give his method of working the trick.
It was Mr. Devant's custom to follow this trick with the "Wine and
Water," and he had an object in doing so, for the preparations for the
second trick assisted him in performing the first.
On a tray on the table were four tumblers, the second and fourth of
which (counting from the performer's left hand) were inverted. Behind
the glasses there was a large glass lamp chimney with a piece of paper
tucked into one end, and a finger bowl, with two spouts, filled with
water, and a long hat pin.
The effect of the trick--to the audience--was as follows. The performer,
having shown that the tube was not prepared in any way, closed one end
with a piece of paper (half the piece which had been tucked into the
tube at the commencement of the trick). He then filled the tube with
water and placed the other piece of paper on the top. He then removed
his hand from the lower piece and the water remained in the tube. He
explained that there was no trick about that, the pressure of the air
kept the paper in its place and so prevented the water from rushing out.
He then removed the paper from the lower end of the tube and still the
water remained inside it. Then he took the paper from the top of the
tube, and still the water remained in the tube. Having replaced the
papers he picked up the large hat pin and held the tube over the bowl.
He pierced the upper paper with the pin and held it there for a moment.
Directly he withdrew the pin with the paper impaled on it the water fell
out of the tube into the bowl, carrying the lower paper with it. The
performer then showed once more that the tube was free from preparation
by rattling the pin inside it, and he at once went on with the "Wine and
Water" trick, using the water in the finger-bowl for that trick.
And now for the explanation. Two small discs of glass which fitted over
the ends of the tube were required. The ends of the tube were ground
perfectly level and the glass discs were made with a "shoulder" (or sunk
edge), so that when once they were placed on the ends of the tube they
could not be moved laterally. The edges of these glass discs were also
ground perfectly flat and were made to fit exactly on the ends of the
tube.
One of the glass discs had a hole in the centre, and this hole was
filled up, just before the commencement of the trick, with a little
piece of moistened soap. If the soap were prepared too long beforehand
it would become crumbly and dry; it has to be soft and damp.
The other glass disc was not prepared in any way. Before the
commencement of the trick the disc with the hole in it was placed on the
top of the fourth tumbler--and therefore to the performer's right. The
other disc was laid on the top of the second tumbler in the row of four.
The piece of paper tucked into the glass chimney was half of a double
sheet of note-paper. (Tear a double sheet from side to side.)
And now for the actual performance.
Begin by taking up the glass chimney, removing the paper, picking up the
hat pin and rattling it inside the chimney--thus showing that it is not
prepared in any way for the trick.
Put the chimney down, pick up the paper and tear it in halves. (The
object of having half a double sheet is to enable the conjurer to tear
it easily; the crease is ready for him.) The action of tearing the paper
is proof that there is no trickery in the paper.
Place one piece of paper on the top of the fourth tumbler (and therefore
over the disc with the hole in it). Dip the other piece of paper into
the glass bowl, shake it a little, and lay it on the top of the second
tumbler. Take the piece from the fourth tumbler, wet it in the same
way, and replace it on the top of the fourth tumbler.
Thus both pieces of paper are now wet and are over the two glass discs.
Pick up the piece of paper on the second tumbler, secretly taking with
it the glass disc (which, of course, is under the paper) and place it on
the top of the tube, taking great care not to let the glass disc "talk"
against the top of the chimney; the audience must not hear the slightest
"chink" of glass knocking against glass.
Now turn the tube over, holding the disc and paper in place, with the
second, third and little fingers underneath the paper, which should be
moulded round the end of the chimney. Fill the chimney with water, and
see that it is really full. Put the bowl down and pick up the other
paper, secretly getting the disc under it, and place the disc with the
paper over it on the top of the chimney.
Mould the paper round the top of the chimney and turn the chimney over,
thus bringing the glass disc with the hole in it at the bottom of the
chimney. Press on the disc and then slightly relax the pressure; if it
is firmly in place you will feel that it is "sucking" and you can go on
to the first part of the mystery.
Take your hand away from the lower end and the paper will naturally
remain in position. Then, holding the tube by the middle with the right
hand, peel the paper away slowly from the bottom of the tube and put
the paper between the lips for a moment while you take the top paper
away. In doing this you make use of an excellent little piece of
showmanship; you pretend to be very nervous.
The tube is now held perfectly still for a second or two, and as the
audience know that it is full of water and cannot see that there is
anything either at the top or bottom of the tube, the effect is very
mysterious.
Put the paper which was on the top under the lower end, pressing it well
round that end, and take the other piece from the lips and mould it
firmly round the top. Then invert the chimney, thus bringing the disc
with the hole in it to the top again. Again press the papers well round
both ends of the chimney.
Remove the lower paper once more, and still the water remains in the
chimney. At this point in the trick Mr. Devant had an excellent line of
patter which I hope he will forgive me for giving away; it always
brought a round of laughter. "Supported entirely by voluntary
contributions."
Replace the paper on the lower end of the chimney, and pick up the hat
pin. Place the pin in the top paper; of course, the pin passes through
the little plug of soap in the glass disc. As you take the pin out again
the air naturally gets in and the water begins to fall. (It will be
understood, of course, that at this stage of the trick you hold the
chimney over the bowl.) Directly you feel the water is moving put the
pin back into its place; this is a very important "move."
The water rushes out, naturally taking the disc and paper at the lower
end with it. The pin is sticking through the top paper and therefore
through the top disc. Remove the pin, taking the disc and paper impaled
on it, and push the paper off into the bowl; while you do this you can
lift the first paper slightly out of the bowl, so that the top disc
sinks to the bottom on the top of the one already there. Then remove
both papers and hold up the bowl of water. All trace of the method you
employed for bringing about this very mysterious effect is now
concealed, for the glass discs cannot be seen at the bottom of the bowl.
You pick up the pin and once more rattle it in the glass chimney to show
that you have nothing inside it, and then you go on to the next trick.
I have heard conjurers say that if they get one good trick out of a book
they have received excellent value for their money. If that be true--and
I, for one, certainly think it is--then, thanks to Mr. Devant,
purchasers of this book have no cause for complaint, for I know of no
finer trick with water than "The Hydrostatic Tube."
One little helpful hint. When the conjurer is about to put the pin
through the top paper he may have a slight difficulty in finding the
exact place for it. A little stain on the plug of soap will help him to
find the right place at once.
The trick needs a steady hand, and the conjurer must not know the
meaning of "nerves," but if he will see that the discs fit the ends of
the glass chimney perfectly and will carry out these directions he need
have no fear of any mishap.