c * L , B # / r
WILL ALMA
C L O S E - U P M A G I C
t FOR
J THE NIGHT CLUB MAGICIAN
O Chapter I. The Night Club Field and Its Requirements Page 2 ° U Chapter II. INTRODUCTORY THICKS
t* O
o 2 M. Moreau's Opening Page 3 £ 3 Other Performers Page 4 « Card Announcements Page 5 £ ''2 Chapter III. MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS
£ P 1- T h e P e a r T r i c k P a s e
C ) 2. Sugar and Coffee Mystification Page 7
^ < 3. The Ring and Wand Page 8 S 4. The Flying Ring Page 9 -J 5. Cut and Restored a. With Cotton Thread Page 10
s b. With String .'. Page 11
G. Pocket Knife and Bottle Page 12 7. Tearing Off and Restoring a Button Page 13 Chapter IV. TRICKS WITH BILLS
1. Impromptu Drinking Cup Page 14 2. Tearing a Bill and Restoring It Page 14 3. Bill and Card Combination Page 15 4. Cigarette and Bill Trick Page 17 5. A Bill Change Over Page 18 Chapter V. TRICKS WITH CARDS
1. The Tacked Card Page 20 2. Snappy Card Restoration Page 21 3. A Poker Deal Extraordinary Page 22 Chapter VI. TRICKS WITH COINS
1. Coin from Glass of Liquid Page 24 2. Coin and Two Cards Page 25 3. Novel Vanish Page 26 4. Coin in a Dinner Boll Page 20 5. The Best Coin Fold Page 27 fi. Coin and Harness Bings Page 28 7. Coin Through Hand Page 29 Chapter VII. TRICKS AT THE TABLE
1. Vanishing a Glass of Wine Page 29 2. Vanishing a Plate Page 30 3. Swallowing a Knife Page 30 4. Spoon Through a Glass Page 31 5. Plate and Balls Page 31 0. Vanishing Matches Page 32 7. Cigarette Papers Page 32 8. Walnut Shells and Pea Page 33 Chapter VIII. VESTING AND SLEEVING Page 33
Published by Copyright, 1934, by MAX HOLDEN Max Holden. 220 W. 42nd St., N. Y. C.
CHAPTER I.
THE NIGHT CLUB FIELD AND ITS REQUIREMENTS In France, and on the continent of Europe generally, a recognized branch of the art of magic has been for a very long time the giving of impromptu performances to the patrons of cafes. It is quite pos-sible that the magician of the cafes represents the intermediate step between the itinerant street trixter and the illusionist of the stage. The field is a wide one and while its scope is necessarily restricted, as compared with stage work, many clever performers have acquired fame and fortune by working it.
Until quite recently this branch of the art has been almost wholly neglected in the United States. The decay of vaudeville and the rapid rise to popidarity of the cafes and night clubs have aroused the pro-fession to its new opportunities. It does provide a lucrative field for clever performers, but the qualifications required for success in it are perhaps even more exacting than for vaudeville or stage work generally. The greatest authority on magic has said that "for success in magic three things are necessary; firstly, dexterity; secondly, dex-terity; and thirdly, dexterity." In the cafe field it is more than ever required for the performer has to work at the closest quarters and is subject at all times to the interference, good-natured or malicious, of his patrons. He must have, in addition, a never-failing audacity and a smiling imperturability. He must have an inexhaustible fund of good humor, proof against all mishaps, accidental or designed. He should be able to turn every unforeseen happening to his own advan-tage, and above all, he must have a good address; in plain American, he must be a good mixer. At the same time he must maintain a most courteous demeanor and take care to avoid undue familiarity. In short, he must be a gentlemen at all times.
This list of qualifies!tions may seem to be a rather formidable one, but these qualities can be cultivated, and even if the reader con-fines his endeavors in the magic art to his own family circle or that of intimate friends, their practice will help to equip him for greater sucess in whatever line of life he may pursue to gain his daily bread and butter, and greatly aid him in getting additional slices of cake, so acceptable to all of us.
A word with regard to dress. This should be in good taste and faultless in fit and condition. Particular attention must be paid to the hands. They should be regularly manicured and kept in the best possible condition. No regulations can be laid down for the performer's patter, but all gags and jokes that are azure in color must be avoided.
To sum up, the successful cafe performer will have such con-fidence in himself, and such a good address and appearance, that so far from there being any feeling of condescension by his patrons for him, they will rather get the impression that it is through his genial good humor that they have the opportunity of seeing his feats.
CHAPTER II
INTRODUCTORY TRICKS
A vital part of the cafe performer's art is his introduction. It is not by any means good enough to,step up to a table, take a pack of cards from your pocket and baldly make the age-old request, "Please take a card". Though I have seen just that done. The reaction of most people would be antagonistic and the performer would have an added difficulty in overcoming this feeling. N o one likes to feel that something is being forced upon him. The approach to the par-ticular table selected for attack should be apparently accidental and the first feat performed should be of such a striking nature that the sitters' interest is aroused, and make them wish to sec more. Per-haps the best way of illustrating methods of approach and opening feats will be to describe those adopted by some of the most successful performers in this field.
M. MOREAU'S OPENING
M. Moreau flourished in the cafes of Paris in the latter part of last century. He was acclaimed by his magical conferes as the clev-erest card artiste of his time. He confinejl his work to cafes and private engagements, and seldom, if ever, appeared on the stage. Hence his fame has not extended to other countries, but from reports that have come to us he was undoubtedly a marvelously clever magi-cian. His favorite method of introducing himself was this: Entering a cafe he would quickly select a table that appeared likely to yield him the best returns, as for instance one that was well filled, at which the sitters, having just finished their meal, were relaxing for a chat. He would seat himself at a table nearby and, while waiting for his order to be filled, would take out a pack of cards and begin building a fancy card castle. Occasionally before placing a card he would throw it in the air, making it return to his fingers, boomerang fashion. Presently, as if by accident, a card would fall on the table he had chosen for attack. Walking over to it he would apologize profusely for his clumsiness. He would then, again apologizing for the straying of his cards, abstract a number of them from the sleeve of one of the sitters, at the same time seizing the opportunity of pushing a partic-ular card well up the patron's sleeve and leaving it there. This card would figure later on in a trick in which a card, a duplicate, would apparently vanish from the pack and be found in his sleeve by the spectator himself. Having thus broken the ice, he would find his little audience ready and anxious to see more, with the result that at the end of his performance the voluntary contributions for the entertain-ment lie had given were very satisfactory to him. Unfortunately details of his tricks have not come down to us but he is said to have played with the cards as a virtuoso improvises on the keys of a piano.
ANOTHER OPENING METHOD
Another Parisian performer who attained great success in the cafe field invariably began by approaching a table, and with an apol-ogy, would pull a Louis d'Or (gold coin), from a spot on a sitter's clothing, following this by producing several more from other pa-trons. These he would let lie carelessly on the table while he pro-ceeded with several other tricks. The psychological reaction being that in the end the least his audience could do would be to add to his slock of gold. This method could be adopted very well in the West-ern Stales with five dollar gold pieces, or silver dollars, but would not be suitable here in the East where small coins only are in pop-ular circulation. However ihe same idea can be applied to dollar or five dollar bills. For instance, taking crisp new bills you roll up four or five lengthwise, cigarette fashion, and clip them in a row between your right thumb and the side of your hand. Then you casually abstract them, one by one, from various parts of a patron's coat. You have a roll of bills, neatly folded into a small package, in a fold of your left sleeve just below the elbow. After producing the single bills, you unreal them, and, showing them in your right hand, you pull up your right sleeve with your left hand, you transfer the bills to your left hand and pull up your sleeve with the right, at the same time securing the roll. You develop the roll under cover of the single bills and spread the whole lot out, making as big a dis-play as possible. You might then remark that "Sometimes the man-agement allows m e to distribute the bills as souvenirs," and you make a motion of so doing, "unfortunately tonight is not one of those nights", and you pocket the bills. Here again, the reaction of the spectators would be that here is no impecunious fellow and they would feel ashamed to do less than add to the bills.
Still another mode of entry successfully used is this: Passing by the table selected the performer stops casually and feels for a cigarette. Failing to find one he borrows one, lighting it and taking a few puffs, he remarks that it doesn't seem to draw well. Breaking it open he abstracts a five dollar bill. He hands it to the person w h o gave him the cigarette. On opening it out he finds he has only a piece of newspaper. The method is sufficiently obvious. The bor-rowed cigarette is palmed and exchanged for the prepared one, which is disposed of in getting a match from the pocket. After show-ing the bill it is crumpled into a ball and exchanged for the little ball of paper. There is ample opportunity for misdirection in making these moves as the spectators have not been expecting any set trick.
Again in passing a table the performer may drop a crumpled bill unnoticed by the patrons. He picks it up and asks if it belongs to any of the sitters. Whether anyone claims il jokingly or not, he hands it to someone to hold for future restoration to the loser. Here again the person finds himself holding a piece of newspaper, when he is asked to record the number of the bill.
INTRODUCTION BY TABLE CARDS
A method of introduction that is often used is this. £ards are printed announcing that "The Great Magician w h o has just arrived from Europe (or Timbuctoo), will entertain patrons with bis marvellous and unrivalled feats of magic", and so on and so forth. These cards arc put on the tables of the hotel or club rooms. You m a y also have several of your photographs, with sim-ilar announcements, displayed in the lobby or anterooms. W h e n you are ready to display your talents, the head waiter picks a table in a prominent position and calls the attention of the patrons there to the card. If they fall for his strong recommendation of your abil-ity he brings you along and you do your stunts. If you are a good entertainer, and the patrons at other tables see that your first cus-tomers are having a good time, you will have no difficulty in con-tinuing from table to table. But stress must be laid on entertain-ing. Avoid as poison all intricate or long drawn out problems, no matter how clever you think you arc.
Always include a trick with a bill, and, without being ostentatious take occasion to display a roll, even if it is only stage m o n e y with a dollar bill around it. You may say, "Now I need a bill," and you bring out your roll, "but perhaps it would be better if I ulsed one of yours," so you put your roll back in your pocket and borrow a bill. Don't do too much and let your last trick he one calculated to upset the gravity of the sitters as much as possible. What you want is hearty laughs, so politely termed "Belly-laughs" by Variety, so that the rest of the house can't help noticing. For instance, if you finish with a version of the cups and balls, bring out potatoes or onions from two of the cups, and from the last a mechanical toy, set to scoot across the table when the cup is lifted. The resulting excitement, particularly among the ladies, will draw all attention to your table and there will be a demand for your services at the others. Just one further example from an actual performer's methods. You have your wand in your right sleeve. You approach a person and with a casual apology, you thrust your right hand under his coat. With your left hand on the outside of the coat you press -the
end of the wand, which you have caused to protrude from the right sleeve, against his body, rapidly slide your right hand back to the other end and then slowly withdraw the wand from his coat.
From these examples you can either select one of the methods described, or adapt some little trick of your own program to get the same result, that is, an apparently casual or accidental approach. Once having gained the attention and interest of your little audience you must be prepared to continue without delay with tricks that lead up to your best effort and then stop. Beware of dragging out your entertainment. Of course, you must exercise good judgement, and if your reception justifies it, you may add a trick or two, but as a general rule it is better to leave your patrons wanting more, than run the risk of boring them.
CHAPTER III.
MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS
1. T H E P E A R TRICK
Here is a trick the effect of which is as surprising as one could wish. There is a dish of pears on the table. You take one and ask a spectator to push a dime, which he has marked plainly, right into the fruit. Handing the pear to a second person you have him press the prongs of a fork into it making four,small holes. A third member of the group present is told to cut a segment out of the pear and eat it. You take the fruit and toss it to the first spectator, who, to his astonishment, finds it quite whole, with his marked dime in it and the marks of the fork on it.
To do the trick you have secured a pear beforehand, in it you push a dime and you mark it with the prongs of a fork. This pear you have under your vest or in a coat pocket. You take a pear from the dish, selecting one of about the same size and appearance as the one you have prepared. You ask someone to mark a dime and then push it into the fruit. Next you have a second spectator mark the skin by thrusting the prongs of a fork into the pulp. For this .you hold the fruit in such a way that the marks must be made in just about the same position as those on your own pear. As this is be-ing done palm your pear in your left hand. Turnbe-ing to your left and going to the other side of the table, you transfer the pear to your left hand, really palming it and showing your duplicate. You give this to a third person, asking him to cut out a segment, without in-terfering with the dime or marks, and eat it.
This having been done you take the cut pear, again make an exchange in passing it to your right hand and immediately toss this one across the table to the first spectator, asking him to take out his dime.and identify the marks. As he goes to do this he is astonished to find the fruit is whole again, with his dime in it and the prong marks on it. In the meantime you have got rid of your pear.
Smartly done this little trick has a most astonishing effect. Your movements from one side of the table to the other afford am-ple cover for the necessary exchanges and as the spectators have no idea of what you are going to do they have no occasion to look for any exchange or trickery.
2. A SUGAR A N D COFFEE MYSTIFICATION
This trick, properly introduced has an extraordinary effect. Let us suppose that coffee is being served with loaf sugar. You ask someone to take a lump of the sugar and you hand him an indelible pencil with which he is to print his initials plainly on one side of the lump. While he is doing this you surreptitiously wet the ball of your right thumb. If you 'are having coffee yourself you can do this easily in handling your spoon; if not, you affect a contemplative attitude, hand on chin, and turn slightly away, as if you did not wish to have any opportunity of seeing the initials as they arc being print-ed. You thus secure the necesary moisture from your mouth.
W h e n the person has written his initials on the lump, you tell him to turn the initialled side downwards. You take the sugar from him between your right thumb and fingers, the thumb below and its ball pressing tightly on the writing. You hold it over his cof-fee cup for a moment, then drop it in. An impression of the initials in reverse will then be transferred to the ball of your thumb. Keep-ing this imprint out of sight, you take the person's left hand with your right, holding it with your fingers on the back and the ball of your thumb pressing 011 his palm. Thus you secretly transfer an exact reproduction of his initials to the middle of the palm of his hand. You guide his hand over his coffee cup and have him hold it there, palm downwards, of course, while you tell him to concen-trate his thoughts on his initials. You explain the process whereby the stream of thought waves will act 011 the vaporized atoms of the writing, causing them to collect and reproduce themselves on the palm of his hand . . . or any such fairy tale as may suit your style of patter. Anyway you prove your point by having him turn his hand palm upwards, showing to all the astonishing results of the experiment.
The trick can also be done with beer, ginger ale, etc., but not with quite so good an effect. It is well to carry a few pieces of the loaf sugar in case granulated sugar only is served. You m a y before appro-priate audiences show your erudition by remarking that the ,word coffee is an adaption of the Arabian word "galiwah" or Turkish "qahveh" meaning wine. The Turks pronounce it "kahveli". Cof-fee came into use in the English language at the close of the six-teenth century. Tins gives you a chance of tying up the trick with the famed mysteries of the East.
3. THE RING A ^ D W A N D
This is a very old trick which has recently been revived with good effect. As in all the surviving feats of the old-time magicians, the plot is simple. A borrowed ring is put 011 a wand, the ends of which arc held by a spectator, and the magician causes the ring to vanish, finding it later in a spectator's pocket or elsewhere.
You borrow a gentleman's ring, a signet ring for example, and you hold it so that the plain part of the band shows. Taking your wand you pass the ring on it several times very openly, and let it drop off into your left hand. You make the motions of again passing the ring on the wand, copying exactly the movements you made in really putting it on, but instead you slide the wand along outside the ring which you retain in your right hand near the base of your fingers and then hold the wand by its middle in the same hand. You ask a spectator to take hold of the ends of the wand. You offer first the right hand end for him to grasp in his left hand and your left hand passes under your right in motioning for him to do this. As you turn the left end of the wand towards his right hand, your left hand passes under your right again. This time you secretly let the ring drop into it. You must not on any account look at your hands at this moment. Address the spectator boldly and look him straight in the eye. As soon as the ring is safely in your left hand you an-nounce what you are going to do. You simulate great effort, work-ing your hand up and down the wand, finally remove it showwork-ing that the ring is gone. You can find it in a spectator's pocket or where you will.
If left at this stage the trick is weak. Most people would quickly arrive at the correct solution—that the ring was not really placed on the wand at all, and this is just the frame of mind you wish them to have. It is the follow-up that gives the trick its punch. You go right on and again you show h o w the ring is put on and drop-ped off. Then you really put the ring on the wand, covering your motions with your closed fingers, so that the ring is not actually
seen to be on the wand. In the meantime you have secretly secured in your left hand a ring of your own. Again you offer the ends of the wand to be held by the spectator. As before you motion with your left hand passing it below your right, but this time you make a palpably clumsy catch, as if the ring bad really dropped from your right hand. You go right on, however, and have the ends held as before, but you affect a furtive expression. Again you announce that the ring being firmly on the wand, you will take it off by magic. You are sure to be challenged, you will be told that the ring was never put on the wand, that it was seen to drop into your left hand, that it can be seen there now, as you awkardly allow a part of the plain band of your ring to be visible in your left hand. You keep up the argument, but you refuse to open either hand. Finally you give in and admit that the spectators were too sharp for you. How-ever you say that you must do something to retrieve your character, so you undertake to pass the ring on to the wand although the ends are so firmly held. Giving them no time to think you make a throw-ing motion with the left hand, and pullthrow-ing your right away from the wand, you cause the borrowed ring to spin rapidly around it. Under cover of this surprise you get rid of your own ring from your left hand.
The trick in this form is peculiarly suitable for close work and it can be varied in. many ways. Giovanni, the pickpocket magician, gets wonderful effect from it.
The action of passing the ring on the wand should be studied before a mirror, so that your moves when pretending to put the ring on will be exactly the same. The ring should be held near the roots of the fingers and the hand slid over the wand.
4. THE FLYING RING
This is a trick that depends 011 the same move described in the preceding feat, that is, a secret transfer from one hand to the other. You require two small rubber bands, which you have in your coat pocket on the right side. You borrow a ring and you put it on your left palm, then slowly close your fingers on it and turn your hand back uppermost, holding it about shoulder high, the arm half bent, You ask for a handkerchief, and, while getting it, you quietly work the ring into such a position that by lifting the tip of your left mid-dle finger the ring will drop. Taking the handkerchief in your right hand you throw it over your left fist, completely covering it. You then take one of the bands from your right coat pocket and ask a spectator to pass it over the handkerchief, so fastening round your wrist; as you make this request you make an indicatory
ges-hire with your right hand, passing it over the back of your left, then down and under the handkerchief towards your left elbow. Here is the critical point and the whole trick depends on smooth, non-chalant working. As the right hand passes you drop the ring into it. There must be no stoppage and no indication of your making a catch. If you know the billiard ball drop vanish you will recog-nize the move.
The handkerchief over your left hand having been secured with the band, you ask for a second handkerchief. You have utilized the interval to work the ring into position at the roots of the second and third fingers of your right hand. Concealing it thus you can safely hold your hand so that the palm is visible. As before, you close the fingers slowly and have the second handkerchief thrown over it and fastened round the wrist, the spectator having taken the second band from your pocket for you. Having expatiated on the fairness of your procedure and the impossibility of your removing the ring from the left hand unless the covering is taken off first, you say that is what you are about to do. You assert that you will make the ring pass up your left sleeve, down your right and into your right hand. You ask on which fmger the audience would like it to appear as if that added still greater difficulty to the feat. The choice hav-ing been made, you shake your left arm, waggle your shoulders and
then shake your right arm as if you were governing the movements of the ring, in the meantime slipping it on the chosen finger.
You have the band and handkerchief removed from your left hand, the ring is gone. Your right hand is freed and you display the ring on the chosen finger. You allow the owner to take it off.
The indicatory gesture of the right hand over and under the left and the dropping of the ring must be tried out before a mirror. Smoothly worked this little illusion is very effective. It should not be included in the same program as the Ring and W a n d trick.
5. CUT A N D RESTORED
The recent great popularity of the cut and restored rope, a popularity that is, perhaps, greater with magicians than with their audiences, is such that one can hardly see a magical program with-out witnessing this trick. Working under the conditions described in this book a performer would hardly burden himself with the lengths of rope he would require for the number of times he would have to work the trick on the same evening. However there are variations of the same feat with less cumbersome material, cotton thread for instance, winch are even more effective for close work.
W I T H COTTON THREAD. You have a spool of while cotton in your pocket and from it you have previously broken oil' a number of pieces of about 15 inches in length. These you have rolled up in-to little balls so that they will unwind easily, and you have put them in your pockets so that you can get them one at a time as required. In a corner of the pocket carrying the spool you have one of these little balls. Let us suppose you have led the talk to the subject of the rope trick of India. You offer to show the real Hindu method and you bring out the spool of thread. You break off a 15 inch length, and you take the opportunity of letting it be seen that your hands are empty otherwise. You replace the spool in your pocket, at the same time nipping the little ball of thread between the first joints of your second and third fingers.
You take the thread between the tips of the first finger and thumb of each hand, closing the other fingers on your palms. You have a spectator cut the thread in the middle with a sharp pair of scissors (you carry a pocket pair for this purpose). The instant the cut is made bring the cut ends together with a sharp twisting move-ment, take both ends in the left fingers and rub them together for a mo-ment. Take the lower ends with the right finger and thumb and again stretch out the cotton, n o w double, to be cut.
Repeat the same manoeuvres exactly after each cut is made un-til the resulting bits are loo short to be cut again. Then with your right fingers only you very openly rub the pieces together, rolling them into-a little ball and, in the process, you add the ball from be-tween your second and third finger tips. Holding the two balls pressed tightly together, you slowly show all parts of your fingers and hand, then resume the rubbing, bringing the whole piece above the other little bundle, which you conceal between the first joints of your second and third fingers. The moment you have it secure you take hold of the free end of the whole piece and slowly draw it out to full length.
Do not be misled by the apparent simplicity of the trick. W o r k it as if it were a real Hindu mystery and you will be surprised at the reception it will get. Make the utmost of the deceptive twisting and rubbing together of the ends as you bring tlieni together after each cut is made, as if the whole thing depends on that alone.
W I T H STRING. You have an elastic cord running up your left sleeve across your back, the end being looped over one of the trouser buttons on the right side. The free end has a loop of string tied to it. The length of the elastic and the string loop must be such that the end of the loop will lie in your shirt cuff, safely out of sight, and yet readily get-at-able.
You show a piece of string and you have it measured. There is no necessity to carry a foot rule, you enn have it stretched on
the table and two pencil marks made at tlie points the ends reach. You place the string across your left hand and you make a great fuss about taking it in the exact middle. You make several at-tempts, each time drawing the string, doubled, towards the left fin-ger tips, but you are not satisfied and you lay the string across your hand again. Finally you get the loop from your sleeve and you draw both it and the middle part of the string towards your finger tips. But you bring only the loop into sight. You deliberately cut this thru and you have four ends plainly in sight. You have now only to roll the string up in your left hand, at the same time allowing the elastic to draw the cut loop up your sleeve. You stretch the string out showing it restored and again have it measured.
6. POCKET KNIFE AND BOTTLE
This is a trick that has apparently been lost sight of, yet it is well worth the attention of any performer for close quarter work. The effect is this—a borrowed knife is dropped into a bottle in which, at command, it gradually rises, until it comes right out and topples to the floor. To do it 3'ou need about two feet of fine black silk, one end of which you fasten to the lowest button of your vest, while at the other end you make a loop which you hang on the top vest button. You see that a bottle is handy; this must be one without a shoulder, the sides sloping down evenly.
You borrow a penknife and you open the large blade. You have it examined and take the opportunity to secure the loop of silk with your left fingers. Taking back the knife you have the bottle examined in its turn and you secretly slip the blade of the knife through the loop of silk up to the notch near the handle. You hold the knife, blade pointing downwards, between your right thumb and first joint of your forefinger, keeping the loop taut, the silk run-ning back under your other three fingers, which you keep closed. Taking the bottle in your left hand you hold it in a sloping position and let the knife slide into it. This must be done in such a way that the loop will remain in the notch and yet allow the point of the knife to strike the bottom of the bottle with an audible "plunk". The position now should be that the silk is stretched taut and the least outward or upward motion of the bottle will cause the knife to rise. This you order it to do and, very slowly, you move the bottle away from you, the knife gradually rising until it comes right to the top. You let it topple to the floor, slipping out of the loop as it does so. Bottle and knife may then be handed back and will tell 110 tales of how the trick was done. Experiment will show that, even at close quarters, the silk is quite hidden by the bottle and your arms.
7. TEARING A BUTTON FROM A SPECTATOR'S VEST This is a trick which has helped to make the reputation of more than one magician. It is not a difficult feat but it requires some au-dacity to carry it through properly, which is probably the reason why it is not more often used. The effect is that you deliberately tear oil' a button from a spectator's vest, show it separate from the vest and then attach it again. The working is quite simple and easy to do if you have sufficient confidence.
Most vest buttons are black and all you need to carry is one of these to which you tie an end or two of thread to give it the appear-ance of having been torn off the vest. You have this in your pocket. W h e n you are ready to do the trick you get this button between the tips of your right first and second fingers. You approach your victim and, making some remark about one of his vest buttons being loose, you open the lowest part of his vest, freeing one button. Place the ball of your left thumb just below the button and grasp (he lower edge of his vest between your thumb and fingers. Bring your right fingers to the button which is just above your left thumb nail and pick at it several times, bringing your right hand away each time, leaving the button in full view, but, of course, hiding the one you have between your first and second fingers.
Again bring your right fingers over the button and, under cov-er of them, slide your left thumb upward a little, covcov-ering his vest button and leaving yours with its side clipped against the cloth by the tip of your left thumb, just above the button now concealed. Pick at your button, which the spectators take to he the one they have seen right along, and bring your hand away again.
N o w grip your button by its side and with a sharp jerk snap it away. Show this button with the little bits of thread hanging from it and point to the vest. There is 110 button now above your left thumb and the spectators do not realize that you have simply slid your thumb over the real button. However, you give them 110 time to think about it. Again you show the loose button, then as you appar-ently put it back on the vest you thumb palm it, placing your empty fingers over your left thumb tip. Rub the tips of your fingers over the cloth and, under their cover, slide your left thumb back slightly, so that when you remove your right hand the real vest but-ton is again visible and firmly attached.
The effect obtained by this little feat is well worth the effort to master it. It is advisable to carry a brown and grey button, as well as the black, for use in an emergency.
CHAPTER IV.
TRICKS WITH BILLS
I have already laid stress on the necessity of including a trick or two with borrowed bills. Before actually doing the trick it is well to do a little flourish, apparently impromptu, with the borrowed bill. The following will he found diverting:
AN IMPROMPTU DRINKING CUP
You have a thumb tip, that ubiquitous fake, which you get secretly on your right thumb. You borrow a bill and you roll it into a little, cylinder, using the tip of the right thumb to start rolling it, and you leave the thumb tip inside the roll. You take the cylinder in your left hand and with your right you pick up a bottle, a jug, or whatever liquid container may be on the table, and you pour a little of the con-tents into the rolled bill, i.e. into the thumb tip. From this you drink it, remarking that a bill always improves the flavor of the wine, or what-ever the drink may be. With a rwhat-everse movement you unroll the bill, getting the fake onto your thumb tip, and at once hand the bill for examination. No trace of moisture will be found. You may follow this by
2. TEARING BILL TO PIECES
You borow a bill, being careful to take one that is in good condi-tion, the newer the better. You smooth it out, using both hands, and letting it be seen plainly that they are otherwise empty. Suddenly you take the upper right hand corner between the thumb and first finger of your right hand and jerk the hand sharply downwards towards your body as if tearing the bill in half. A rustling sound will result as you bend the corner down and leave it between the third and little fingers of your left hand. You hold the right thumb and fingers together, as if half the bill were there and, without a moment's hesi-tation, you bring the two hands together with a pretense of placing the halves one on the other.
You repeat the same manoeuvre, apparently tearing the halves to quarters, but really only doubling the bill down as before. Bring the hands together once more and this time simulate great effort in tearing the folded pieces of the bill. Show both hands separate for a moment, thumbs and fingers gripped tightly together at their tips. Finally put the imaginary fragments in the right hand on those in the left, i. e. on the whole bill, roll the bill into a small ball, blow on it, and slowly open it out restored.
The trick m a y be repeated with added effect. Just beforehand you have secreted a bill of your own in a fold of your left sleeve at the elbow. You offer to show how the trick was done and again you smooth out the bill. Holding it in your right hand you show all parts of it, letting it sink into the audience's mind that the bill is all you hold and with your left hand pull up the right sleeve. Transfer the bill to your left hand, showing that hand also otherwise empty, and pull up your left sleeve, securing your own bill in your right hand. This bill should be folded to quarter size. Concealing this in the bend of right fingers, you repeat the first two pretended tearings of the bill, but when you appear to tear it the third time you actually show part of your own bill between your right finger and thumb, the audience will be persuaded you really have torn the bill. You repeat the man-oeuvre several times, crumpling each bill smaller as you pretend to tear the fragments into tiny pieces.
Finally put both bills together, squeezing them tightly, and show all parts of your hands. Slowly open out the borrowed bill, holding yours, now crumpled into a small ball, behind it. Palm this in your left hand and get rid of it as you hand the borrowed bill back to its owner. The trick requires boldness of execution more than skill. The result will justify the trouble of mastering it.
3. BILL A N D CARD COMBINATION
A little preliminary preparation is necessary for this trick, but the effect is well worth the trouble. A borrowed bill is vanished, a chosen card is torn up and the pieces are held by a spectator. The card is made whole and inside it, enclosed between the two layers of its material, is found the borrowed bill. This is taken out by the owner and its number identified by him.
To prepare you take a card, a court card is best for the trick, and you split it by soaking it in water. Remove all the glue from both pieces and dry them between sheets of blotting paper under a weight. W h e n they are quite dry and flat, glue them together round two sides and one end, leaving one end open and using but little glue so that there is as much free space in the card envelope as is possible. W h e n the glue has set, crease the card in half and again in half, pressing the creases firmly so that the card can be readily folded in the same way, that is, into quarters. In the back lining of your right outside coat pocket fix a paper clip with a safety pin, open out the card and insert the back of the card in the clip so that the opening is upwards. Squeeze the sides of the card well open. In a corner of your handkerchief have sewn a small wad of paper, which is to mas-querade as a folded bill. You are ready.
If) C L O S E - U P M A G I C
From your pack you force a duplicate of your prepared card, which you leave for a moment in the person's hand. You borrow a bill, any denomination, the larger the better. You fold it up into a wad of about the same size as that in your handkerchief, say about 1 Vl> in. by % in. You wrap it in your handkerchief apparently. Really you clip it at the roots of the middle fingers of your right hand and bring the corner with the wad sewn in it under the middle of the handkerchief. You twist the handkerchief under the wad and give it to a spectator to hold. You place the handkerchief between his finger and thumb so that the wad is just above the fork of the thumb and make him hold the rest of the handkerchief below in his oth-er hand. It is thus made safe from any untoward investigation. N o w you call attention to the chosen card. You ask the holder to crease it carefully in half and then tear it along the crease, then to put the halves together, crease them in half and tear them in the same way. While this is being done and you are concentrating your whole attention on the tearing, as if everything depended on that, you have quietly slipped the bill into the card in your pocket, detached the card from the clip and folded it into quarters, the creases already in it allowing you to do this easily. You clip the folded card at the roots of your middle fingers.
The card having been torn to your satisfaction, you borrow a handkerchief. You take it by two corners and spread it out, showing one side, then cross your arms and show the other side. You thus show the palms of both hands, the folded card in your right hand being covered by a corner. You throw the handkerchief over your right hand, at once taking the folded card between the tips of your first two fingers. You lean over and take the pieces of the chosen card with your left hand, you put them under the handkerchief, really leaving them at the roots of the two middle fingers and at the same moment pushing up the folded card under the milddle of the fabric. You grip the card from above with the left hand and get someone to hold it.
You have now only to finish the trick with dramatic effect. You whisk away your handkerchief, in which the borrowed note was sup-posed to be, and shake it out. By getting the wadded corner in one hand you can show all parts of the handkerchief. Showing your hands freely you lift the edge of the other handkerchief and take out the card. You slowly open it out and show it is whole again. By gripping the open end you can deliberately show that all its edges are intact. Still hold-ing this end you have the owner of the bill feel it. He will at once say that there is something inside it. You let him tear off half and extract his bill, which he identifies by its number, which should have been recorded at the time the bill was bori*owed. The piece of the card remaining in your hand you tear up and toss away.
By rubbing one side of the open end of the card envelope with diachylon, and then squeezing that part tightly when showing the card to be restored, you can allow all parts of the card to be examined. It is interesting to note that diachylon, so much in vogue now with magicians, was used by Hofzinser over sixty years ago. Cards pre-pared for this trick can be obtained from the publisher of this book.
4. CIGARETTE AND BILL TRICK
The effect of this trick is that a borrowed bill is burned and later on recovered from a borrowed cigarette. It is akin to the popular card and cigarette trick but m u c h easier to work at close quarters. Beforehand you prepare a cigarette by extracting part of the tobacco and you insert in its place, a bill of your own, folded and rolled into small compass. You light the cigarette and take two or three puffs, just enough to blacken the end, then let it go out. You also require a plain business envelope, in the back of which you make a slit with a razor blade, about one and a half inches long, just below the point that the flap will reach when closed down. The slit must run parellel with the sides of the envelope.
You begin by borrowing a cigarette, and you may, for added effect, ask the lender to put it between your lips himself and light a match for you. You take two or three puffs and let it go out. You also borrow a bill, taking one that resembles your own as closely as possible. You fold it until it is in a neat package about 1 y2 in. by % in. in dimensions. While doing this you are careful to let it be seen that your hands are otherwise empty. You show the envelope, with your thumb over the slit, so that it appears perfectly fair. You open it with the address side to the front and you put the folded bill inside, taking care to push its lower end through the slit, so that it protrudes at the back of the envelope. You cover this end of the bill with your left thumb and turn the envelope showing the bill actually inside.
Again turn the envelope, address side to the front, and lift it to your mouth to moisten the flap in the usual way, at the same time pulling the bill through the slit with your right thumb, letting it drop into your right hand at the roots of your middle fingers, a slight contraction of which will hold it securely. You then take the envelope in your left hand and thrust your right into your pocket to get a match and you leave the bill in your pocket. You set fire to the envelope, holding it over an ash tray, and this diversion gives you ample cover for exchanging the borrowed cigarette for the prepared one. A f e w moments later you casually relight the ciga-rette at the flame of the envelope, remarking that you always use dollar bills as cigarette lighters—when you can borrow them.
After getting as much fun from the apparent burning of the bill as you can you open your cigarette and produce your bill from it. In the meantime you have quietly unrolled the bill in your pocket until it is just doubled in half. You show your bill plainly, fold it in half and make a gesture of handing it to the lender, but you stop and say, "By the way, you gave m e this bill, didn't you?" He an-swers, "Yes." You thank him and put the bill in your pocket. This gets a laugh and gives you an opportunity of exchanging it for the borrowed bill. You hand this to the owner and have the number identified.
The trick will be found easy to work and very effective. It is well, if you have the spare capital, to prepare a number of cigarettes at once. The firse few m a y be somewhat troublesome but a little practice will make the work easy.
5. A BILL CHANGE OYER
Take a $10 bill and a $1 bill, you will find that, after a little ex-perimenting they can be folded in such a way that the resulting packages will look exactly alike. You fold a dollar bill of your o w n in this manner and secrete it in a clip or pocket. W h e n you are ready to present the trick, you obtain your folded bill in your right hand and hold it clipped at the roots of your second and third fin-gers, which allows you to show the palm of your hand empty. You borrow a $10 bill and you fold it in exactly the same way, making a duplicate package of it. While folding it if you keep your two right middle fingers bent you will be able to show the palm of your right hand freely and th ie will be no suspicion that you have any-thing besides the visible bill in your hands. Finally you get the two bills together and hold them tightly as one, showing all parts of your hands. You ask someone to take charge of the $10 bill and as you put it apparently in his hand you slide your $1 bill forward with your thumb and clip the $10 bill at the roOts of your middle fin-gers. You make him close his hand on the $10 bill, as he supposes, and clench his fist tightly. You tell him you are going to take the bill out of his hand no matter h o w tightly he holds it.
Next you borrow a $1 bill and you repeat the same manoeuvres exactly, this time exchanging the dollar bill for the ten spot, which you hand to a second spectator to hold in his fist.
You pocket the dollar bill finally left in your hand and you make a parade of passes over the spectators' hands as if trying to conjure the bills away, causing them to clench their hands tighter than ever. You decide to do it invisibly by making the bills pass from one per-son to another. "Hey, Presto, Pass," you exclaim and you make your
magic passes. Tlie man who held the $10 bill finds he has the $1 bill and the other spectator has the $10 in place of the $1.
You take the $1 bill back to its owner and taking the $10 bill you turn to its owner and ask him if he thinks he can hold it. No matter what he says, you fold the bill as before, take it between the first finger and thumb of your right hand and ask him to hold out his left hand. You say you will put the bill on his hand and you want him to close his fingers on it rapidly. You slap the bill down on his palm and he closes his fingers on it. You tell him he wasn't half quick enough and you take the bill again as before. This time you say you will count "three" so that lie will be prepared to act smartly. You raise your right hand about level with your ear and strike down on his palm, saying "One". Raise your hand again, but this time slip the bill into your collar at the side of your neck and instantly bring your hand down, holding your thumb and fingers exactly as when the bill was there, and count "Two". Once more raise your hand and slap it down on his palm, calling "Three". Automatically he will clench his fist and you at once grip it with your left hand and keep it closed. Your right hand is seen to be empty and you say jokingly to him, "Now, if I can get the bill away from you I suppose I can have it?" He opens his hand —• the bill has vanished.
You have as much fun over its disappearance as you can and you feign bewilderment as to its whereabouts. You pull up your sleeves, you feel your pockets, no sign of it. You run your hands through your hair and you nip the hill from your collar with the tips of your right first and second lingers of your right hand.
Having regained possession of the bill you can pretend to find it anywhere you please—in another person's pocket, under the table cloth, anywhere you find the o c a s i o n will make its re-appearance most effective.
An Egyptian Magician playing in N e w York City at this time, seemingly places a five dollar bill in the hand of a spectator, asking him to hold the bill tight. But in place of the bill a folded piece of paper is found. The magician immediately reaches into the specta-tors^ inside pocket and produces the missing five. Next a small chicken is produced and vanished and spectator asked to reach into his inside pocket and there is a chicken. Clever misdirection and loading. This same magician performs the cups and balls and at finish under the cups he finds small chickens.
Again two magicians are performing the Lemon Trick, both have different methods and both being talked about. One magician with two pitchers of clear water performs "Any drink called for" pouring out into small glasses the drink requested.
CHAPTER V
TRICKS WITH CARDS
1. THE TACKED CARD
Of the innumerable tricks with cards only the most "snappy" and striking should be done at the table. The necessary action must be carried through smartly and the finish made as startling as possible. All long drawn out counting of cards and involved arrange-ments must be avoided. The trick with a thumb tack, in which a chosen card is impaled on the wall or ceiling, is still one of the best, and though it may be old to magicians, the effect is new and strik-ing to present day audiences.
To do the trick you have a card in your pocket, through the cen-ter of which you have pushed a thumb tack, the point protruding at the back of the card. You force the duplicate of this card on a spectator. You have it replaced and then let the person shuffle the cards so that his card is really lost in the shuffle. You secretly secure the card from your pocket and, taking back the pack, you add it to the pack, on top, and you hold the cards in your left hand. You cover the protruding point with your thumb.
Next you introduce a packet of thumb tacks, on the lower side of which you have stuck the head of a tack, the point of which has been filed ofi', with a spot of wax. You have someone pick out a thumb tack and you secretly scrape off the tack head and hold it between the first joints of your right second and third fingers. You take the selected tack with your thumb and first finger, and, moving your hand upward a little, as if to show it better, you let it drop into your palm and show the d u m m y head in its place.
Holding the pack upright in your left hand, make a break with your left thumb and drop the d u m m y head into it. You close the break leaving the impression that the tack is somewhere in the mid-dle of the pack, really you have let the d u m m y head slip through the pack into your left hand. You get rid of the examined tack from your right hand by dropping it into the packet from which it was taken, as you close it.
You then take the pack in your right hand, the faces of the cards towards you and the backs outermost. You have the chosen card named, and instantly you throw the pack squarely against the wall or ceiling. The chosen card remains tacked firmly while all the other cards scatter and fall. Care must be taken that the pack hits squarely and, if the ceiling is high, some little practice in throwing the pack should be made beforehand.
If the ceiling is too high and the walls not of wood you can se-cure the same effect by throwing the pack against a door. Fastid-ious performers m a y prefer to palm the chosen card before having the pack shuffled, but the risk of this card showing up on the floor is so slight that it may be disregarded and the extra effect gained by having the drawer replace his card anywhere in the pack and then shuffle to his heart's content. Audacity is a sine qua non with the close quarter worker.
At a pinch the effect may be obtained by using a pellet of wax. In this case a duplicate card is not required, but the result is not so striking. Using the thumb tack method the trick has been a favorite of Horace Goldin's for m a n y years.
2. A S N A P P Y TORN CARD RESTORATION
The feat of reproducing a card that has been torn up and all the pieces but one destroyed, has been done in m a n y ways. The restored card has been found in a cigar or cigarette, in an orange or an egg, etc. Here is a new idea:
You have a duplicate of the card you are going to force, say it is the nine of clubs. You tear off from one corner a piece about % in. by 1 in., and you have this corner in a clip or pocket from which you can obtain it nnpcrceived when you require it. The remainder of the card you fold in half lengthwise and roll it up as tightly as you can. Round it you roll a piece of cellophane, twisting the ends tight-ly, so that the little package will be moisture proof if held in your mouth for a minute or two. This you have in a handy pocket. T w o small squares of newspaper Mill also be necessary, one of which, rolled into a loose ball, you have in your right coat pocket.
Briefly, you force the nine of clubs. You have it held up to view so that all can take note of it and you seize the opportunity of securing the corner torn from your duplicate card. Holding this in your right hand between the tips of your first and second fingers, you take the pack in the same hand for a moment giving you an ex-cuse for taking the chosen card back in your left hand. Put the pack down and bringing your right hand to the card as if to tear oil' a corner, you adjust your hidden piece to the back of the card, at once tearing it, using your corner as a guide to get a piece as closely resembling it as possible. Thus you have two corners between your right thumb and fingers. You slide the top one out into view and clip the other between your second and third fingers. You hand the visible corner to a spectator,to be held and the mutilated card to a second person, asking him to complete its destruction by tearing it into small bits. The hidden c o m e r you get rid of by dropping it into your pocket in taking out your cigarette case.
You ask permission to smoke while you finish the trick, the strain on your nerves being so great and so on. If the audience think you are going to reproduce the card from the cigarette so much the better. The pieces of the card you roll up in the square of paper and you squeeze the ball into about the same size as the empty ball of paper which you have just palmed in replacing your cigarette case. You exchange the balls and set fire to the empty one—see that there is an ash tray handy before you light it. As it burns you lean over and relight your cigarette at the flame. You have ample op-portunity to get rid of the balled up fragments of card and grip the little cellophane package at the tips of your first and second fingers. The next move is to get this into your mouth. You take your cig-arette from your mouth in the same hand, as you ask the spectator w h o has the corner to hold it up. As you replace the cigarette be-tween your lips you slip the little packa'ge in your mouth.
By this time the paper will have been reduced to ashes. You show there is no trace of the card left and you break open your cig-arette but you find only tobacco there. You feign a sudden choking. You put your hands to your mouth and quickly unrolling the cello-phane open out the card and bring it from your mouth. "I always forget" you say, "one should never inhale while doing this trick." The production of the card, perfectly dry, and the fitting of the piece to it, make the trick most effective.
3. A POCKER D E A L
If you include any tricks with cards in your program it is prob-able that someone will remark, "I wouldn't like to play poker with him." That will be your cue to show your ability to deal extraordi-nary poker hands. Most people think that any card magician can do this at will, but in reality, very few magicians know anything about gamblers' methods, and in the course of a long career in magic I can count on the fingers of one hand the magicians I have met w h o have mastered the art of stacking, second and bottom dealing, and the other artifices in the gambler's repertoire. However, to impress the public, it is not necessary to spend the enormous amount of time necessary to acquire facility with these sleights. If you can make one deal that is convincing that is all you want. The following ar-rangement will be found to make an extraordinary impression.
A little prior arrangement is necessary. In the upper left vest pocket you have the four kings and the four aces of the pack you have used for other tricks. These eight cards are arranged, king, ace, king, throughout. You have the pack shuffled by several of the spectators and you call special attention to this to convince everyone that you cannot possibly know the whereabouts of any . particular card.
You take the pack and make several of the moves known as "The Palm and Recovery." For instance, you palm a packet from the top and, thrusting your hand under a spectator's coat, produce them in a fan. You repeat the move getting cards from behind your left knee, and again from behind your right knee. Then palm-ing only a couple of cards you show how easy it is to pass cards up your sleeve. You riffle the pack with your left thumb and at once thrust your right hand under the left side of your coat, you pull out the eight cards from your vest pocket, adding the two palmed cards on top of them and bring them out fanned, but with their faces away from the spectators. Close up the cards and add them to the top of the pack.
You now have merely to get rid of the two cards above the set-up packet of kings and aces and you are ready for a poker miracle. So you shuffle, first running oil' (he two (op cards, then false shuffl-ing as convincshuffl-ingly as your skill permits, finish with several false cuts and leave the arranged kings and aces on lop. Offer the pack lying on your left hand to be cut, complete the cut and slip the tip of your little finger between the packets. Have your opponent selected and deal one card to him and one to yourself, very openly, from the top of the deck. Make a motion of dealing a second card to him, but pause, holding the pack in position for the pass. You make some remark about not having fixed the slakes, and under cover of an appropriate gesture you make the pass. It makes 110 differ-ence whether your opponent is willing to bet or not, you say that after all you never bet 011 a sure thing, and you continue the deal. He gets the four kings and you the four aces. For the fun of the thing you m a y see how far lie would go in belting 011 his hand before you turn your four aces.
As soon as you are set, that is, after having made the pass, you should deal the cards very slowly and openly. The knowledge of the possibility of dealing seconds has become quite widespread of late, mainly through novices trying to parade dexterity. Carried through confidently and with a passable degree of skill, Ibis feat forms as strong a climax as can be desired to a series of card tricks.
An alternative method of manipulation is this:
After your false shuffles palm the eight cards from the top and offer the pack to be cut as it lies on your left hand. As soon as the spectator lifts off a portion, take the rest with your right hand, ad-ding the palmed cards to them, take the cut from the spectator with your left hand and reassemble the pack. Begin the deal immediate-ly. The palmed cards are in your hand for a few moments only and
your movements are quite natural, so there is nothing to arouse any suspicion. Of course there must be no hesitation and your whole at-tention must be concentrated on the left hand and the person mak-ing the cut. Palmmak-ing cards really requires more confidence than skill.
Space will not permit details of further tricks with cards. The student must refer to the many books and pamphlets recently pub-lished on this branch of the art. Many very subtle arrangements suitable for close work will be found in Annemann's recent book, "Sh-Sh-It's a Secret."
CHAPTER VI.
TRICKS WITH COINS
1. COIN RISING FROM GLASS OF BEER
Briefly the effect of this trick is that a coin, which has been dropped by a spectator into a glass of beer, rises spontaneously to the rim of the glass, whence you take it and at once hand it for ex-amination. The trick is done at the closest quarters.
The secret is a hair and a pellet of wax, but the method of con-cealing these accessories is very ingenious. You take a length of hair of about fourteen inches and tie one end to the lower button on your left sleeve, the one nearest your hand. To the other end you attach a pellet of wax and, bringing it under and right around the sleeve, press the wax on the same button. Thus attached the hair can be carried safely for any length of time and is always ready for use.
To do the trick you ask for a coip, a half-dollar or a quarter, and you have it marked. As this is being done you pull your left sleeve back a little and secure the pellet of wax. You receive the coin in your left hand which passes it to the right and you press the w a x on its lower side. Then hold the coin directly over a glass of beer and ask the owner to take it and drop it as you count three. Since you are holding the coin flat he can only grip it by its edges and therefore he cannot disturb the w a x or the hair. At the word "three" he lets it drop into the beer.
To make the coin rise out you have simply to move your left hand very slowly from the glass at the same time making myster-ious passes with your right hand. As soon as it arrives at the brim of the tumbler you take it in your right fingers, detach the w a x and hand the coin to the owner of it. As the mark is being identified, you again adjust* your left sleeve and attach the pellet of w a x as be-fore. You are then ready for a repetition of the trick at will.
It will be well to note here several other ingenious ways of fix-ing a hair and w a x pellet. The usual method is to attach one end to the lowest button of your vest and press the wax on the other end of the hair to the top vest button. This has the advantage of be-ing very easy to fix, but there is always the chance of the hair gettbe-ing in your way in the course of other tricks. A much better way is to fasten a tiny weight to one end of the hair and let this into (lie lin-ing of your coat by cuttlin-ing a small slit a liltle above the level of your outside coat pocket 011 the left side. Then thread the hair through the cloth and fix the pellet of wax to it. When it is free the weight will draw it up against your coat 011 the outside, yet you can secure it at will, in the perfectly natural action of adjusting your handkerchief, and draw it out to whatever distance may be necessary for your trick. The moment you release it the weight will fall and draw it back against the cloth. You will then have nothing to get rid of and nothing suspicious can show up. One of our clev-erest close quarter workers utilizes this idea by fixing the hair in the same w a y in his left trouser leg, the w a x being drawn against the cloth at about the height of the fork of the trousers. I11 this position it is readily get-at-able and perfectly safe for any length of lime.
It must be left to the reader to make other uses of this very in-genious accessory. A card m a y be made to walk out of the pack, to rise from a glass or out of a hat, a bill can be made to perform extraordinary gyrations, in fact there is 110 end to the various Iricks to which it may be applied for close work. Under artificial light the hair is invisible. *
2. COIN A N D T W O CARDS
For this pretty little impromptu trick you get a half-dollar se-cretly into your left hand, holding it by bending the two middle fin-gers slightly inward, the edges of the coin being clipped between their second joints and the base of the fingers. You ask someone to hand you a card, any card. You receive it with your right hand and transfer it to your left, placing it over the coin. You show the card thus and a moment later you take it again in your right hand carrying the coin away behind it. With a careless gesture you let it be seen that your left hand is empty. With your left fingers snap the card and again take it in that hand, securing the coin behind it.
You ask for another card and take it in your right hand. You turn it around showing all parts of it and your hand. Don't say anything about your hands being empty at any time, just let the fact be unmistakeable and let it sink in automatically, so to speak.
You give the spectators the choice of having the cards put to-gether face to face or back to back, and you act accordingly.
