THE RICE BOWLS
In presenting this trick the conjurer begins by showing two small bowls
on a tray. Into one of the bowls he places a little rice and covers it
with the other bowl. On lifting the uppermost bowl the conjurer shows
that the quantity of rice has increased; the lower bowl is now heaped up
with rice, some of which falls on to the tray.
Using the empty bowl as a kind of scoop the conjurer removes some of the
surplus rice, letting it fall on the tray. Thus one bowl is now filled
to the brim with rice and the other is empty.
Once more the conjurer places the empty bowl over the one containing the
rice, and once more he raises the empty bowl. All the rice has now
vanished, for it has been magically transformed into water, which the
conjurer pours from bowl to bowl.
Thus there are two entirely different effects in this trick. A small
quantity of rice placed in a bowl increases in a mysterious manner; the
rice is afterwards changed into water.
There are two entirely different methods for this trick. For one of them
two china bowls are required; for the other the bowls are of brass. I
used the latter method when I presented this trick at St. George's Hall,
and I prefer it to the other, especially if I am performing in a room.
However, the other method is the more popular of the two, and I will
explain that before giving away the secret of the other method.
First, let me give a rough idea of the secret of the first method, in
which two china bowls are required, because this method admits of one or
two variations, and, of course, it is useless to describe these until
the reader knows just "how it is done."
The edge of one of the bowls is ground perfectly flat. This bowl is then
filled nearly to the brim with water. A disc of thick celluloid of the
same size of the top of the bowl is also required. The disc should be
made with a "lip," so that when it is laid on the top of the bowl it
cannot easily be pushed off it.
To prepare for the trick dip a finger into the water and run it round
the edge of the bowl; dampen the "lip" of the celluloid disc in the same
way. Then put the disc on the top of the bowl and press it down evenly
all round the edge. If the disc fits properly it will then be possible
to turn the bowl upside down without spilling the water; the disc will
adhere to the bowl. It is always advisable to have a disc specially made
to fit the bowl; then you may be certain that, with a reasonable amount
of care, accidents will not happen. If the disc fits properly you can
throw the bowl into the air and catch it without any fear of the disc
coming away from the bowl.
After the disc has been properly fitted to the bowl wipe it thoroughly
dry and place it, upside down, on the tray on which a couple of wooden
matches have previously been placed; there is then no risk of the disc
adhering to the tray. The empty bowl is placed, upside down, over the
faked bowl, and with a bag of rice on the tray, you are ready to do the
trick.
Pick up the empty bowl and show it to the audience. Fill it about half
full with rice and stand it on the table. Place the faked bowl on the
top of it and, holding the hands round the bowls, get them exactly
"together"--an easy thing to do because the bowls are the same size.
Keeping the hands in the same position round the bowls pick up both
bowls together and reverse them, so that the faked bowl is now
underneath. Obviously, there must be some excuse for doing this; that
will be provided for in the "patter." The rice naturally falls on to the
top of the celluloid disc, and when the top bowl is lifted the rice
seems to have increased in quantity.
Hold the empty bowl in both hands and scoop off some of the rice,
letting it fall on to the tray. Repeat the operation, taking a little
more rice away. In taking still a little more rice away get a finger
nail under the edge of the disc, and in apparently scooping off a little
more rice lift the disc under the bowl and place it on the tray; as the
disc with the rice on it is placed over the loose rice which fell on the
tray in the first instance it is not noticed. The latter part of this
"move" must be done fairly quickly, especially if one is performing at
close quarters, and the empty bowl is at once placed on the top of the
other bowl which now contains only water. To show the final effect is,
therefore, an easy matter. The top bowl is lifted with the right hand,
the other with the left hand, and the water is poured from bowl to bowl.
[Illustration:
_Celluloid Fake._
_Bowl "double filled" with rice_
_Fake_
_Removing Fake with rice_
Fig. 8]
Now for the "variations" of the trick. The weak point of the trick is at
the beginning; only one bowl is shown to be empty. Is it not possible
that some of the very attentive members of your audience will notice
this fact and will say to themselves: "He showed us only one empty
bowl--wonder what's in the other?" Of course, people ought not to think
in this way, and some conjurers believe that they do not, but my
experience tells me that there are always some persons in every audience
who do not miss much when it comes to judging a trick and trying to find
out the method of the conjurer.
Theoretically, when the conjurer picks up the faked bowl and holds it
upside down he convinces the audience that the bowl is empty. How can
there be anything in a bowl which is held upside down? Still, I think
you will admit that if you can show the interiors of both bowls at the
beginning of the performance you make it a much "stronger" trick than if
you show only one bowl and let the state of the other be taken for
granted. Besides, being an enthusiastic magician you will naturally want
to make your performance as nearly perfect as possible, and therefore
you will want to begin this trick by showing "two empty bowls." How are
you to do it?
Obviously, one bowl has to be exchanged for the faked bowl, and that
means that the faked bowl has to be hidden at the beginning of the
trick. Here is a simple way of getting over that difficulty.
Have a fairly large bag of rice. Place the faked bowl near the back of
the tray and the bag of rice in front of it; the bag can be shaped round
the bowl. You will also need a "servante" at the back of your table;
this can be either a small shelf or, better still, a bag with the mouth
slightly stiffened with a strip of whalebone. The "servante" is hidden
from the audience by the tablecloth, which hangs down in front of the
table.
Proceed in this way. At the beginning of the trick stand on the
left-hand side of your table. Pick up a bowl in each hand, show the
bowls to the audience, put the one in the left hand on the table and
apparently put the other on the table behind the bag of rice; of course,
you really drop it into the bag or place it on the shelf at the back of
the table. Continue the movement of the arm until your right hand is
resting against the faked bowl which is hidden behind the bag of rice.
At the same moment pick up the bag of rice with the left hand. The
audience see two bowls on the table and naturally think that they are
the two bowls which you have just shown to them. One of the bowls has
not left their sight, and if you make the "change" skilfully no one will
suspect you of having made it.
If you use this method of exchanging one ordinary bowl for the faked
bowl you should have a very small tray and a very small table;
otherwise, you have no excuse for apparently putting one bowl behind the
bag of rice. Why should you not put it at the side of the bag if there
is room for it there? Inquisitive people ask themselves these questions
sometimes. If you have a very small tray you naturally have to put the
second bowl down on the only vacant spot on it--behind the bag of
rice--but at the same moment you lift the bag.
Directly you have picked up the bag of rice with the left hand you pass
it to the right, pick up the empty bowl with the left hand and pour some
rice into it. Take care to let the audience see that rice, and nothing
but rice, goes into the bowl. Then put the bag down, pick up the faked
bowl, and present the rest of the trick in the way described.
This method is perfectly safe if you are performing on a small platform
or stage, so that your table is raised, but it is not practical in a
small room with the audience close to the table. If you wish to do the
trick under those difficult conditions I suggest that you use very small
bowls and have a box of rice in place of the bag. The exact size of the
box will depend on the size of the bowls.
Dip both bowls (having first shown them to be empty) into the box and
scoop up as much rice as you can get into them. Pour the rice back into
the box. Do this two or three times, and while you are apparently doing
the same thing for the third time bury the bowl which you have been
holding in your right hand in the box of rice and bring up in its place
the faked bowl, which was hidden in the box before the commencement of
the trick. You must take care to remember the position of the faked bowl
in the box.
In exchanging one bowl for another in this way your hand must not pause
in its movement down into the box and up again. To make quite sure of
getting the movement right practise in front of a looking-glass. First,
dip the two bowls into the box of rice and scoop up the rice into both
bowls. Remember just how your hands moved when you did that. Now start
again, but this time exchange the bowl in your right hand for the faked
bowl.
[Illustration:
_PLAIN BOWL_
_Escape Hole_
_Air Hole_
_Water_
_Plaster_
_FAKED BOWL_
Fig. 9]
Now tilt the rice back into the box, and the audience should be
convinced that you have two empty bowls in your hands because both bowls
are now upside down. Put the faked bowl, upside down, on the table. Take
a little rice from the box with the right hand and let it fall into the
empty bowl; continue doing this until you have filled the bowl. Then
pick up the faked bowl and continue the trick in the way already
described. You will find it convenient to close the lid of the box and
to use the top of it as your table.
If brass bowls are used no celluloid disc is required, and it is not
necessary to exchange one bowl for another; the secret of the trick
lies in the preparation of one of the bowls, and yet, at the beginning
of the trick, both bowls can be held with their interiors facing the
audience. Thus, the second method is altogether different from the
first.
The shape of the two brass bowls is shown in the illustration. The faked
bowl has an inner lining fitted to it, with sufficient space between the
lining and the bowl itself to hold a considerable quantity of water. The
lining is of highly polished brass, like the rest of the bowl, and if it
is kept "on the move" it can safely be shown to the audience. People
think that the lining is really the interior of the bowl, and the fact
that they can see inside both bowls helps to convince them that the
bowls are unprepared.
It will be obvious that the interior of the faked bowl is really much
smaller than that of the "plain" bowl; if, therefore, the latter bowl is
filled with rice and the faked bowl placed on the top and both bowls are
turned over together the quantity of rice appears to have increased
because it overflows. (The edge of the faked bowl is made to fit into
the edge of the other bowl, and thus the task of inverting the bowls is
simplified; they cannot slide apart.)
Near the brim of the faked bowl there is a small air hole, and there is
another hole in the centre of the bottom of the bowl. To fill the space
between the inner lining and the bowl itself with water and to prevent
the water from falling out until you wish it to appear, proceed in this
way.
Place the bowl in water and let it remain there until no more air
bubbles rise to the surface. Move the bowl once or twice in the water to
make sure that the space is properly filled. Lift the bowl out of the
water by the brim, but just before you get the brim clear of the water
put a finger on the air hole there; then the water will not run out of
the air hole at the bottom of the bowl.
Keep the finger jammed down tightly on the air hole in the brim of the
bowl, wipe the outside of the bowl thoroughly dry and place a small
piece of adhesive rubber plaster over the air hole in the bottom of the
bowl. You can then turn the bowl upside down without any fear that the
water will escape through the air hole in the brim. Wipe the inside of
the bowl thoroughly dry and you are ready to start the trick.
Place the faked bowl, upside down, on the table and the other bowl over
it. (You will understand, of course, that the bowls should be in this
position on the table when you are about to present the trick.)
Pick up the plain bowl with the left hand and the faked bowl with the
right, and show the interiors of both bowls to the audience. Pour rice
into the plain bowl until it is nearly full, and put the faked bowl on
the top of it. Invert the two bowls together; when you separate them the
quantity of rice will have apparently increased, because the interior
of the faked bowl is really much smaller than that of the plain bowl.
[Illustration: _Extracting rice from faked bowl._
Fig. 10]
As there is no celluloid disc to get rid of there is no need to use the
empty bowl as a scoop with which to level the rice; in fact, it will be
inadvisable to use it. By using the bowl as a scoop one would merely
level the rice, whereas it is really necessary to get nearly all the
rice out of the faked bowl. Begin by levelling the rice with the left
hand while you hold the other bowl in front of it; just before you
replace the empty bowl bend the left fingers slightly and thus scoop out
as much of the rice as you can possibly get out in this way. You must
not let the audience see that you are really trying to empty the bowl,
and no harm is done if you leave a little rice in it.
Replace the empty bowl on the top of the faked bowl, and invert both
bowls together; just before putting them on the table remove with the
left thumbnail the piece of rubber plaster which has covered the air
hole in the bottom of the faked bowl. (If you are performing in a hall
with part of the audience in a gallery, so that they can look down on to
the top of the bowls, it is as well to disguise the little piece of
rubber plaster with a touch of gold paint.)
Directly the rubber plaster is removed the water will start to run out
into the bottom bowl, and here we come to one of the disadvantages of
this method. To my mind it is only a very trifling disadvantage, but I
know that some conjurers regard it almost as a serious defect. The water
runs out of the air hole slowly, and therefore it is necessary to
"patter" for about a minute while the water is dropping into the lower
bowl. (The exact time will depend on the size of the bowl.)
Some conjurers do not talk at all during their performance; therefore
this method of doing the trick does not appeal to them. Some conjurers
who do talk during their performances are chary of pattering for a whole
minute without doing anything; they think that to do this looks as
though they were "holding up" the trick. Until you have pattered for a
whole minute without doing anything you do not realise what a very long
time one minute can seem to be; you must remember that, to some members
of the audience, at any rate, you appear to be talking for no reason
whatever.
Well, I have presented this trick at St. George's Hall and at private
performances and, as I have said, I prefer this method to the one with
the china bowls. I admit, however, that a drawing-room conjurer may find
the preparation of the trick a little tiresome. I have known a conjurer
to prepare the faked bowl--fill it with water and seal it--before
setting out on his journey to give his performance, but I should not
care to risk doing that myself. If the air hole should get uncovered
there would be a tragedy! The question therefore arises--How are you to
prepare for the trick in a drawing-room?
The simplest plan is to take a small pail--about as large as a child's
seaside pail--with you. Remember, the bowl has to be placed in the
water. Carry your own pail in your bag, and then all you have to ask for
is a large jug of water. Now, to continue with the presentation of the
trick.
When the water has trickled through into the lower bowl pick up the top
one--the faked bowl--with the left hand, take the other bowl with the
right hand and pour some of the water into the faked bowl. There will be
more than enough water to fill this bowl, and so if you wish you can
pour some into a glass bowl on table. You will notice that in this form
of the trick both the rice and the water increase.
I give some suggestions for "patter" which, of course, can be shortened
considerably if the conjurer is using china bowls. Some "silent"
conjurers dash through the trick in about half a minute, but it is as
well to let your audience see what you are doing. If you are going to
use brass bowls you should rehearse the trick very carefully, so that
you may be able to fill in the time while the water is running from one
bowl to another.
"I will try and show you how to make a rice pudding--a new kind of rice
pudding. You cook it in two bowls, so as to give the rice room to swell.
Even then it isn't swell rice. Swell rice is the kind which is used at
weddings. A man doesn't mind how much of this (_pouring rice into bowl_)
he has thrown in his face on his wedding day, but he does object to cold
rice pudding more than five times a week after his wedding day. And he
often gets it! Believe me, he does. You will notice that by this method
of cooking (_lift the bowls, wave them in the air and finally invert
them_), the rice is cooked entirely by friction. No fire needed;
therefore no coal bill; therefore, the coal merchant goes broke. You see
what new methods lead to. I don't know if the rice is done yet; excuse
me for a moment while I listen to it. There is no sadder sight in this
world than an underdone rice pudding. Yes, I think it is done; anyhow
we'll chance it. (_Lift bowl, showing quantity of rice increased._) You
see, by this method your rice does not swell in the cooking; the more
you cook the more rice you get; there's far too much here. (_Level rice
off and replace bowl; if brass bowls are used invert them._)
"Perhaps I ought to have explained at the beginning that this method of
cooking rice is rather slow; if the rice is at all aged and tough it
may take hours and hours--or even longer--to cook itself in a proper
manner; of course, this rice is strictly proper--highly refined. It can
be used for puddings, cakes, poultices, dog-biscuits and bill-stickers'
paste; it can also be used for waterproofing boots, and it is invaluable
for invalids. I once induced an invalid friend of mine to try some of my
patent rice pudding. The invalid got better at once--afraid of having to
face a second dose. It's dangerous stuff--rice pudding. Many a happy
home has been nearly wrecked--all through a cold, heavy, stodgy,
underdone, beastly rice pudding. Ladies, let it be a warning to
you. . . . I beg your pardon--I've been talking so much that I've been
forgetting my own cooking. (_Lift bowl and pour water from one bowl to
the other._) I'm very sorry. Really I must apologise. All the rice has
been cooked away--perhaps it's as well, because nobody really likes rice
pudding."