THE DISSOLVED CARD
Every good trick has a clear, logical conclusion. Although the conjurer
is apparently reversing one of Nature's laws he must also be more or
less reasonable in his performance. For example, if he tears up a piece
of paper into little pieces and then causes these pieces to form
together into four strips equal in length when laid end to end, to the
original piece, the conjurer is not behaving in a reasonable manner; he
should cause the little pieces to join together into one strip and the
audience must be led to believe that that strip is the original piece of
paper and that in some mysterious manner the conjurer has joined the
pieces together. The conjurer who does that brings his trick to what may
be called a "logical conclusion."
I mention this matter here because it bears upon the trick which I am
about to explain. In its simplest--and crudest--form this trick consists
in causing a playing card placed into a jug of water to disappear; the
water is supposed to dissolve the card. I imagine, however, that no
intelligent audience would be satisfied with the trick in that form;
there is obviously something wanting, and that something is the magical
reappearance of the card.
There are dozens of ways in which the trick could be completed--that is
to say, in which the card could be caused to reappear--but it must be
remembered that the card has apparently been dissolved in water, and
that therefore to bring the trick to the "logical conclusion" which is
the attribute of all good tricks, the water in which the card has
apparently been dissolved should be used in some way to bring about the
reappearance of the card.
It seems to me that if we were to reproduce the card in a box, or case,
or frame which had previously been shown to be empty we should not have
a very convincing trick. It might be argued, of course, that if instead
of suggesting that the card is dissolved in water we suggest that it is
made to disappear from the water we may fairly be allowed to reproduce
the card in any way we please. To regard the trick in that way is to
destroy the plot of it and to substitute another plot. In the one case
the conjurer is suggesting to his audience that the card remains in the
water in a state of solution and in the other that the card has
disappeared altogether from the water. I think you get a much better
effect if you induce your audience to think that the water has dissolved
the card, and it is for that reason that I have given the title "The
Dissolved Card" to the trick.
I propose, therefore, that we should present the trick in this way. The
conjurer brings forward a pack of cards, shuffles the cards with their
faces towards the audience, and asks someone in the audience to take a
card and to place it on the top of the pack. A glass jug, nearly full of
water, is then held up for inspection, and, lastly, a large dark silk
handkerchief--or muffler--is casually shown. If one of those very trying
persons who are always anxious to discover a conjurer's secrets appears
anxious to examine the handkerchief the conjurer will do well to pretend
that he is in a tight corner for a moment, but, somewhat reluctantly, he
allows the interrupter to examine the handkerchief; as a matter of fact,
the conjurer is not at all perturbed, because there is no "trick" about
the handkerchief.
While the jug of water and the handkerchief are being exhibited the pack
of cards is on the table. The conjurer picks it up, removes the top card
and asks the person who took it to say if it is the card which was
chosen and placed on the top of the pack. The answer is sure to be,
"Yes."
The conjurer holds the card in his left hand with its face towards the
audience, and his thumb and lingers pointing upwards. (The position of
the hand is important for the working of the trick, and therefore the
reader will do well to remember it.)
The conjurer throws the silk handkerchief over the card and arranges it
neatly, so that the card is about in the centre of the handkerchief.
Bringing his right hand over the top of the handkerchief the conjurer
takes the card in that hand and holds it over the jug of water, while
with his left hand he drapes the handkerchief round the outside of the
jug, practically hiding it. Someone in the audience is asked to take the
card from the conjurer (holding it, of course, with the handkerchief
over it) and to drop it into the water at the word "Go!" When this is
done the handkerchief naturally drops down and covers the jug. The
conjurer picks up the jug with the left hand and whisking away the
handkerchief with the right hand shows that the water has dissolved the
card.
The conjurer then brings forward two slates, and in order to get them
thoroughly clean wipes them with a small sponge which he dips into the
jug of water. The slates are dried, placed together, wrapped in a sheet
of newspaper and given into the possession of a member of the audience.
The audience are led to believe that the name of the card is to be
written magically on the slates, but when the person holding them takes
off the paper he finds to his surprise that the card is between the
slates and, as a matter of fact, the card is the identical card that was
chosen in the first place.
This effect is brought about by means of a few subtle--but quite
easy--"moves" and the use of one little "fake." The jug of water is
standing on the conjurer's table; placed just behind it is the large
silk handkerchief folded in four, and behind the handkerchief is a
piece of transparent celluloid of the exact size of the cards which are
to be used; beside the piece of celluloid is the pack of cards.
Picking up the cards, the conjurer shuffles them with their faces
towards the audience, thus showing--without directly calling attention
to the fact--that the pack is an ordinary one. The conjurer advances to
someone with the request that a card may be chosen.
[Illustration:
{shows card in hand, then covered by handkerchief slips card into sleeve
with other hand}
_Celluloid_
_CARD AS SHOWN_
_Celluloid_
_CONCEALING CARD_
Fig. 12]
"Please take any card you like," says the conjurer. "Perhaps you would
like to take the pack in your hand and select a card at your leisure.
When you have made up your mind will you please put the card on the top
of the pack. . . . Have you done that? You'll know the card again when
you see it? Thank you. In order that everyone may remember the card I
will show it to the audience; there is no harm in my knowing what it
is."
The conjurer receives the pack back again, lifts off the top card, shows
it to the audience, returns it to the pack and then, turning the pack
over, drops it face upwards on the table so that it falls on the top of
the piece of celluloid. If the cards spread a little when they fall, so
much the better. The conjurer then exhibits the jug of water.
"A jug of water," he says. "If there were any trickery about this it
would be a transparent fraud, wouldn't it? But there is no trickery
about it; it's just the ordinary water that comes down from the clouds
and is charged for at the ordinary rates." (He puts the jug on the table
and picks up the handkerchief.) "A large silk handkerchief. Three
hundred silkworms had to work overtime for a fortnight to make the silk
for this handkerchief; it isn't one of those tiny little handkerchiefs."
(The conjurer shows both sides of the handkerchief and puts it down
again.) "And now I am going to see if you all have a good memory. Do you
remember what card was chosen and placed on the top of the pack? You do?
Well; let us see if you are right."
It will be remembered that the cards are face upwards on the table. The
conjurer picks up the pack with his right hand (including with it the
piece of celluloid), turns it over, and places it in his left hand;
directly it is there the right hand is brought over the pack to square
it up. The left thumb then pushes the piece of celluloid over the edge
of the pack for about half an inch--the right little finger preventing
it from going too far--and the left thumb then pushes the top card
forward in the same way. Thus the piece of celluloid is now directly
over the top card, and the two can be lifted off the pack together and
exhibited as one card. The conjurer shows the card to the audience on
his right and then places it in his left hand and shows it to the
audience on his left. Great care must be taken to nip the piece of
celluloid and the card closely together, and when the card is in the
left hand the thumb should be behind it, the fingers in front and the
tips of the thumb and fingers should point upwards.
The conjurer picks up the handkerchief with his right hand and throws it
over the card, at the same time saying:
"I cover the card with the handkerchief. I do this because it is so much
easier than covering the handkerchief with the card. I want to get the
centre of the handkerchief just over the card."
Directly the card is hidden by the handkerchief the conjurer pushes up
the piece of celluloid with his thumb, while with his fingers he slides
the card down a little way towards his wrist. In order to arrange the
handkerchief properly over the card the conjurer puts his right hand
under the handkerchief and lifts it into position, so that the centre is
over the card. While his right hand is under the handkerchief the
conjurer takes the card from the left hand and slips it for a moment
into the left sleeve, taking care to push it down, so that when his hand
is afterwards removed the card is hidden. The conjurer then brings his
right hand over the top of the handkerchief and, gripping the piece of
celluloid through the handkerchief, asks someone to hold it over the jug
of water; of course, that person naturally thinks that he is holding the
card, and the fact that the conjurer's hands are empty is proof that the
card must be under the handkerchief.
The next step in the trick is very simple. Having draped the
handkerchief round the jug and asked the person holding what he believes
to be the card to release "the card" at the word "Go!" the conjurer
merely has to take the handkerchief away and hold up the jug; the
celluloid sinks to the bottom and is therefore invisible. The assistant
is thanked and he returns to his seat.
The conjurer continues his patter:
"For a time the card is dissolved in that water, but if you would care
to wait a few hours you will see the water gradually evaporate, leaving
a kind of impression of the card stamped upon the jug. If you want the
trick done quickly you have to send a special message to the good fairy
who arranges these things. You would like the trick done quickly? Very
well, then I must write the message to the fairy on one of these slates
and ask for an immediate reply."
The conjurer picks up two ordinary slates and holds them in his left
hand. The palm of the hand should be facing the audience and the fingers
slightly bent. The ends of the two slates are rested on the fingers and
against the arm.
"When writing to fairies," says the conjurer, "you must always have a
clean slate." He dips a little sponge into the jug of water and sponges
over the slate which is facing the audience; the slate is turned over
and the other side is washed.
The conjurer now shifts the position of the slates. With his right hand
he grasps them near the ends which are resting on the left hand, and as
he does this he inserts the first and second fingers of his right hand
into his left sleeve and draws out the card, keeping it hidden behind
the slates. Directly he has done this the conjurer takes hold of the
slates with the left hand, holding them by their sides; his fingers keep
the card behind the slates. He should turn to his right when taking the
slates in the left hand. The next step is to slide out the under slate
by taking it with the right hand, while the left fingers keep the card
pressed against the slate which has been at the top. The slate which has
been taken away with the right hand is now placed on the top of the
other, both sides are cleaned, and the conjurer, taking a piece of
chalk, writes on the slate facing the audience:
"Please hurry up."
This slate is now drawn away with the right hand and placed under the
other, thus getting the card in between the two slates, which are then
wrapped in a sheet of paper and given to a member of the audience. The
conjurer picks up the jug of water for a moment and pretends to discover
suddenly that he has spoiled the experiment.
"I quite forgot," he says, "when I was cleaning the slates that I was
using some of this water. There's no telling what may happen now; you
may find little bits of the card all over the slates when they are dry.
Would you mind having a look at them?"
The person holding the slates unwraps them and finds the card in between
the two slates, and the conjurer finishes by suggesting that the fairy
has saved the situation.
The only "move" in the trick which is not quite easy is that which the
conjurer makes to get the card out of his sleeve and hidden behind the
slates. A very little practice, for preference in front of a
looking-glass, will enable the conjurer to get over this difficulty; he
should bear in mind that what he is apparently doing is to lift the
slates with the right hand and take them by the sides with the left
hand. If those movements are practised until the conjurer can make them
without having to stop to think about them he can then go on to practise
making the same movements while, at the same time, he gets the card out
of his sleeve and hides it behind the slates, keeping it there with the
fingers of his left hand. This is quite easy, but for the benefit of
beginners who may wish for a still more simple method of doing the
trick I suggest the following.
The card is "forced"; that is to say, the conjurer apparently allows the
person who is taking the card to have a free choice, but he really makes
sure that the person takes one particular card. An expert card conjurer
can "force" one particular card from an ordinary pack, but to do this is
not easy, and even an expert cannot be absolutely certain of forcing the
card which he wishes to use in a trick. Therefore, since the beginner is
out to make the trick as simple and sure as possible he should use a
"forcing pack," which consists of one card repeated, say, forty times; a
few other indifferent cards are placed on the top and below the forty.
The conjurer who is going to use a "forcing pack" should do some other
card trick with an ordinary pack and then exchange it for the "forcing
pack"; of course, the backs of the two packs must match. The conjurer
must also take care to hold the cards down when he is having one
selected, so that no one may get a glimpse under the cards.
The card is taken and placed on the top of the pack as in the first
method, and the card is got rid of by being pushed down the left sleeve,
but the procedure afterwards is greatly simplified.
One of the two slates used is a "flap" slate; that is to say, a loose
piece of cardboard painted to resemble a slate is laid inside it. The
cardboard is painted on both sides, and, therefore, when the ordinary
slate is placed on the top of the flap slate and both are turned over
together the "flap" falls into the ordinary slate.
The working of this part of the trick will now be obvious. A card
similar to the one which has been forced is placed under the flap of one
of the slates. When the conjurer picks up this slate he must be careful
to hold the flap firmly with his thumb to prevent it from falling away.
He lightly sponges both sides of the slate (in reality one side of the
flap and one side of the slate); he then cleans the ordinary slate in
the same way and places it on the top of the flap. He cannot give the
slates to a member of the audience to hold, and, therefore, after he has
turned them over, to get the flap to fall, the conjurer merely places a
broad elastic band on them and stands them up for a moment against a
candlestick or some piece of apparatus on the table after he has written
the message to the fairy.
By using a flap slate in this way the conjurer can produce a message on
one of the slates in addition to producing the card. The message is
written on one of the slates and is then covered with the flap; when the
flap falls the message and the card are both disclosed. Since the
conjurer apparently cleans all four sides of the two slates and leaves
them slightly damp he ought really to dampen the underside of the flap
and the side of the slate concealed by the flap before he begins the
trick; otherwise, someone with a very alert mind may point out at the
conclusion of the trick that although the conjurer wiped all four sides
of the slates with a damp sponge, two of them (really the underside of
the flap and the side of the slate which was concealed by the flap in
the first instance) are not quite dry. It is always as well to be
prepared for interruptions of that kind.