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rinciples

n

eceptions





Photo by J . M cDerm ot t

ARTHUR H BUCKLEY

Past Pres ident of The Socie ty of Amer ican M agicians Assembly N o. 3 Chicago I l l inois .

Pas t Pres iden t of The Intern at ion al Brotherhood of Ma gicians Ring 43 Chicago I l l inois .

Also l ife mem ber of The Society of Ind ian Mag ician s Bom bay Ind ia.

I l l





•r ^jCK \e

Principles

and

Deceptions

RTHUR BUCKLEY

rinte by THE WILLIAMSON PRESS INC. SPRINGFIELD I I I .



358 ILLUSTRATIONS

hotogr phy y

LEO R. NEWMAN CHICAGO

Copyright 1948 by ARTHUR H. BUCKLEY.

VI



NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE

PRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION

IN WRITING FROM THE

AUTHOR PUBLISHER.

Protected By The Copyright Laws of The

United States of America.

1948.

FIRST EDITION





edicated to

ALLAN SHAW

and the Memory of

T N E LS O N D O W N S





PRINCIPLES and DECEPTIONS

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

ONE age

Photograph of the Author iii

Dedication ix

Introduction by Theo Bamberg (Okito) xix

Foreword by the Author xx

The Principles of Magic 22

Manipulation

25

Substitution

Duplication

Camouflage 26

Imitation

False Partition

Concealed Mechanism

Falsification

Arrangement 27

Preparation

Misdirection

Concealment 28




CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE (Continued) age

The Entertainment Value 30

Showmanship

33

Sleight of Hand

Something

New 34

Invention 35

Talking Acts Versus Silent Acts, and Pantomine 37

The Practice of Leaving the Stage Unattended

Assistants from the Audience 38

Fakes and Accessories

Gimacs 39

The Plot 40

Timing, Rhythm

and

Pace

40

Footwork 42

Presenting the Act in Public 43




CONTENTS

gic With oins

CHAPTER TWO

age

Sleeving 47

The Muscle Pass with One Silver Dollar 48

Chinese Coin Mystery 49

A Coin, A Ring and a Handkerchief 51

The Bounce Vanish

52

The Rear

of the

Thumb Palm

53

The Pencil and the Silver Dollar 54

The Turnover Pass With One Coin 55

The Pinch Pass With a Single Coin 56

A Very Pretty Disappearance

Allan Shaw's Vanish of a Coin 57

Front and Back of Hand Transfer of a Coin 58

Three Methods

of

Producing

a

Coin

59

Downs' Palm (first method) 61

(second method)

62

The Vanish

of a

Coin From

the

Fold

of the

Pants

Leg 63

Second Method .. 64

Third Method 64




CONTENTS

gic W ith oins

CHAPTER TWO (Continued) age

To Pass Four Coins From Hand to Hand, Through Your

Head One At a Time 65

The French Drop

and the

Eye-glass

65

The Roll Down Production

for

Four Coins

(Buckley Method) 66

The Downs Click Pass Viewed from

a New

Angle

(improved)

68

An Illusive Pass (original) 69

The Click Pass

and the

Table

69

The Spread Vanish (Allen Shaw) 70

The Color Changing Discs (original)

70

A Fine Coin Transfer Pass (by Downs) 72

The Throw Away Vanish

of

Five Coins (original)

73

The Appearance

of

Five Coins

One

After Another

At the

Finger Tips (Allan Shaw) 74

The Surprise Appearance of a Coin (by Ron Leonard) 76

The Magnetic Pass With One Or Several Coins

x




CONTENTS

gic

With oins

CHAPTER TWO (Continued) age

Silken Silver (by Frank Cruse) 77

Borrowed Money

78

John Mulholland's Slide Pass With

a

Single Coin

81

Another Very Effective Production of Five Coins in the

Left Hand (original) 82

The Lynn Pennies

(by

Terry Lynn)

83

The Steal (my method) 84

Passing Several Coins Through the Table At Which

You Are Seated 85

The French Drop (improved) 86

Another Original Five Coin Pass

The Miser's Dream 87

Finale To The Miser's Dream (by W. J. Alkinson) 89

Coin Through Handkerchief (original) 90

A Coin Vanish

and

Reappearance

By

That Clever Artiste

(Carlyle) 91

The Steal (by Cardini) 92

Twenty-one Cents (by Ross Bertram) 94

Coins Pass One By One From the Left Hand to the Right Hand 96




CONTENTS

Magic With oins

CHAPTER TWO (Continued)

age

The Transfer

of a

Silver Dollar From

One

Hand

to the

Other

99

John Platt's Chinese Coin on Pencil Illusion (with permission) 100

Five Silver Dollars and a Handkerchief Routine 102

An Invisible Journey (improved)

106

The Eureka Vanish

(by T.

Nelson Downs)

107

Production

of

Five Coins

One By One At

Fingertips

and

An Original Change Over 108

The Thumb Pass With a Silver Dollar 109

Split Fans

and

Coin Production (original)

110

A Production

of

Twenty-four Coins

in a

Series

of

Fans,

An Original Routine (by John Brown Cook) 112

The Multiple Roll Out (by John Brown Cook) 114

A Phantasy

in

Silver—A Complete

Act

with Coins, Fully

and

Carefully Explained

and

Illustrated

115

A Phantasy in Silver—A Complete Act as it was presented by

the Author at the I.B.M. Show, Chicago, on Jan. 17, 1948. 116

x




CONTENTS

M agic W ith ards

CHAPTER THREE

age

M a g i c W i t h C a r d s 137

F o r e w o r d to C h a p t e r T h r e e 139

O p e n i n g

For a

C a r d

Act 143

A F i n i s h for a C a r d Act 145

T h e B u c k l e y F a l s e S h u f f l e

146

C a r d s

to

P o c k e t , W i t h Ten C a r d s w i t h i m p r o v e m e n t s )

148

T h e C o u n t o r i g i n a l )

151

T h e F a l s e C o u n t

for

M o r e

152

M y C a r d in C i g a r e t t e I l l u s io n w i t h i m p r o v e m e n t s ) 153

T h e T h i r t y C a r d s and Two A s s i s t a n t s w i t h i m p r o v e m e n t s ) . . . 155

T e n and Ten 157

T h e V a n i s h

of the

L a s t

Two

C a r d s

in

P r e s e n t i n g

the Ten

C a r d s to P o c k e t 159

M e t h o d of D o u b l e C u t t i n g C a r d s 160

T h e T r i p l e C l i m a x o r i g i n a l ) 161

A n A m a z i n g C a r d I l l u s i o n , J u s t T h i n k

of a

C a r d

164

T h e C r i m p (one h a n d ) 167

Exchanging

a

Card

in

Passing

168

The Peek Location 169

The Hofzinser Force

The Slap Shift 170

Sighting While Fanning the Cards 171

xvii




CONTENTS

gic With illiard alls

CHAPTER FOUR age

My Original Billiard Ball and Card Harness 174

Pointers 175

The Production

of a

Ball From Behind

the

Left Hand followed

by the Take Away Vanish 176

A Ball Held in the Finger Palm Position by the Left Hand is

Secretly Removed by the Right Hand in Passing 177

The Wrist Roll 178

The Production of a Ball on the Fist 179

Moving the Ball Down from the Fist Position to the First

and Second Fingers 180

The Production of a Ball Between the Middle Fingers from

the Palm Without Aid from the Thumb 182

The De'Biere Production of a Ball 184

The Ball Roll from Finger to Finger 186

The Ball Roll with Another Ball Concealed in Your Palm 188

The Knee Roll Vanish

190

The Strike Vanish 192

The Wrist Roll and Palm Off Vanish 193

Concealing a Ball Behind the Hand While Both Palms Are

Shown 194

Color Changes (first method) 196

(second method) 198

(third method)

200

(fourth method) 202

The Ball and the Handkerchief 204

Production of Eight Solid Balls at the Finger Tips Without

a Shell 206

Concluding Remarks 218

xvni



I N T R O U T I O N

While cards have always been assigned first place in manipu-

lative magic, coins and billiard balls are equally welcome for the

high enter ta inment value of the seeming miracles they may be

adapted to create. I have been privileged to study the contents of

this book, and I am both pleased and astonished by the remarkable

knowledge the author has displayed on the handling of his subject ,

which has come to pass from his forty years professional ex-

perience in i ts many branches. I t is with great admiration for his

abil i ty in the dual capacity of the art ist and teacher that I at tach

my signature to these introductory remarks to herald this advance-

ment of the art of manipulative magic.

This is truly a great book on practical manipulative magic,

ta ug ht in a m ann er th at w ill inject new life into magic and per-

petuate many masterpieces of great skil l . The author has given

credit to others and to the great masters, Downs and Shaw. These

men were great art ists in their day, and no doubt they would rank

highly in the practice of their art today, but I am confident their

knowledge and combined skil l could not exceed the modern meth-

ods taught in these pages. I wish to compliment the author , Arthur

Buckley, and recommend to you this great book.

T H E O . B A M B E R G ( O kito )

x i x



FOR WOR

The practices as set forth herein and the theories of my con-

temporaries will often be found at variance, and sometimes in di-

rect conflict . I t is self evident that theories which are anti thetical

cannot both be true. Because of this, I have carefully analyzed such

statements as fully and clearly as I am capable of doing before

print ing the things I judge to be correct .

I find it to be imp ossible for a m ind info rm ed on the pr inc ip les

of magic and the inner workings of i l lusion to receive impressions

similar to one not so inform ed. T he reason for th is is th e inform ed

person is necessari ly conscious of the reali ty of the happening. Such

a person sees these thing s different ly than an uninform ed person.

The latter is often merged in the tangled bewilderment of his

own imagination and the pseudo evidence offered him by the ma-

gician. When the evidence of which a spectator is conscious is

subjected to the process of analytical reason, the spectator is often

left more bewildered than before. This, I believe, is why some

chi ldren more correct ly def ine the workings of many i l lusions

better than one capable of reasoning analytically. Perhaps my last-

ing impressions of Allan Shaw are founded on my complete ignor-

ance of the ways and wiles of magicians. I was privileged to see

this master before I was enl ightened by such understanding, and

to this day I still retain those first impressions—the shock of see-

ing the hand of Allan Shaw, with the grace and art istry of a

Pad erew ski , pluck from the air a coin I t was am azing Ho w could

anyone formulate, let alone believe, in such a theory that the coin

was concealed within the open hand when the fingers were moved

with such app arent f reedom as evidence of the con trar y Shaw 's

quiet , easy m anne r was in i tself a hig hly po ten t factor in dis-

bursing the evidence that may eventual ly have given support to

such beliefs.

Those around me as I watched Shaw's performance with my

intense and always growing interest were no wiser in their de-

ductions, so I became an admiring, baffled spectator unti l one day

I made inquiries at a large book store (Dymocks) about a treatise

on the subject of coin magic, and to my pleasure and amazement I

was direc ted to a shelf c on tain ing "M agic S tage Il lusio ns and Scien-

t i f ic Diversions" by H. T. Hopkins, Sachs ' "Sleight of Hand," "New

Era Card Tr icks ," "Conjur ing for Amateurs" by El l i s S tanyon,



"Magic by Professor Hof fman," Howard Thurs ton ' s "Card Tr icks , "

and "E xp er t a t the Card Tab le" by Erdna se , and m y eyes po pped

at the sight of the l i t t le t reasure of my dreams, "Modern Coin

Manipula t ion" by T. Nelson Downs. I f I had discovered a gold

mine, which in fact I had, it could not have given me either the

surpr ise or the happiness the purchase of th is l i t t le book brought

to me. I t was later my con stan t and treasur ed com panion in the years

to fol low. Within the hour I was thus ini t iated into the secret work-

ing of this lovable, wonderful art . I could now become a magician,

or perha ps a man l ike Al lan Sh aw A m aste r Ho w many years

would i t take? What did i t matter? Time was only relat ive. I would

study, learn and practice. Closeted for hours alone in my room,

I would practice every moment when I had the t ime available to

do so. I recall one morning my mother, in those days an early

riser , came downstairs one morning to f ind me practicing in front

of the sideboard mirror , and exclaimed, "You are up early this

m orn ing , son." I replied, "I haven 't been to bed yet , m othe r." I was

not conscious of the passing t ime, so intent was I on learning

to become a magician.

In a comm endable , thou gh natu ra l ly an am ateur ish way, I

copied ray idol, Allan Shaw, and dreamed of that other man in the

book, T . Ne lson D ow ns, in the far-off land of Am erica . On ly six

months passed when my chance suddenly came. I was launched

on a professional career as yo un g D ante, "K ing of Koin s." Such

was my egotism and superb lack of modesty that I proclaimed my-

self the King, but in my heart I can now truthfully say I never fel t

that I was any more than a poor and inferior imitat ion of Shaw.

Later I had the opportunity and pleasure of seeing Owen Clark

present the Maskelyn and Devant show in Sydney, Austra l ia , and

when fair ly dexterous (for my years and the t ime spent) in card

manipula t ing, g leaned most ly f rom the books of Thurs ton and

Er dn ase , I became the self-crowned K ing, not alone of coins, bu t also

"King of Kards." I have before me as I wri te the evidence of this

naive gui l t , a new spaper c l ipping re la t ing to these ear ly perform-

ances . For tunate ly , as my knowledge of cards and dexter i ty grew,

my self-bestowed t i t les were al lowed to diminish to more sensible

p ropor t i ons .

T h e A u t h o r .



THE PRINCIPLES OF M GIC

Th e princip les of m agic are very definite th in gs indeed and

each and every one has a very e ssen tial app lica tion as I shall at-

tempt to show.

M agicians those wh o prac tice the art of m agic often do so

without being aware that magic has a set of principles on which

the art they practice is founded. This is undoubtedly because

mag ic may be and is often acquired prac ticed and tau gh t w ith ou t

knowledge of or reference to i ts principles; nevertheless the prin-

ciples are present even though some may not be fully aware of them.

I bel ieve a com prehensive und ersta nd ing is equipm ent that w ill not

fail to recompense anyone for the study.

Perhaps you may have a r ight to question ray authority for

sta tin g that th is or tha t is a prin cip le of m agic and because I am

concerne d with wha t you thin k I shall try to prove ray poin t on

a basis of logic.

M usic as we are be tter aware has recog nized p rinc iple s on

wh ich tha t art is found ed but it is also practice d by m any w itho ut

any t raining or knowledge of these things; that is they cannot

read m usic. Th at to some exte nt is not unlike the m agician wh o

may build an i l lusion and present i t often very commendably

without knowledge of the pr inciples embraced. To ascer tain each

and every principle that magic is comprised of will require much

care and research. I trust you will f ind the l ist I give complete.

My method is to carefully search the different types of magical

effects define and enu m erate the prin cip les upon wh ich each is

founded and by that means I hope to embrace them all . Fo r ex am ple

I shall take a few effects tha t em brace pr inc iple s that differ from

each o ther. Th e first ex am ple : If you see a m agician t ie a kn ot

in a hand kerchief and la ter the knot disappears wh at wo uld you

say was the pr inciple embraced in this procedure? Disappearance?

N o

because disap pea ranc e is not a prin ciple but an effect . Or to

put i t more clearly the principles of magic which permitted the

illusion of disappearance of the knot to be effected were in fact

two falsif ication and m anip ulatio n for you know the kno t was

never t ied.

Fo r our second exam ple a lady enter s a box the box is locked

a moment later the lady makes her appearance elsewhere and the

box is shown to be em pty. A gain th e effect is disap pea rance and

reappearance but the pr inciples that permit ted these effects to be

brought about in a magical manner were false parti t ion and con-

cealed m echanism for the box in this exam ple had an extra con-

cealed bottom to which was attached the back and the mechanism

permitted the bottom to take the place of the back when the box

was closed and thus permitted the girl to hide behind the newly

formed back lying on the part that formed the back before the girl

entered the box. Another principle besides false parti t ion and con-

cealed mechanism was involved because the girl in reali ty hidden

behind the false parti t ion of the box apparently walked on the stage

from the wing and before the box had left our sight. This principle



is duplication. The girl who walked on stage sufficiently resembled

the girl who disappeared to be mistakenly identified as the same

one that vanished.

A handkerchief disappears from a water bottle or decanter at

the command "Go ", and instantly reappears in another glass-stop-

pered bottle held by an assistant. The principles underlying this

effect are again concealed mechanism, and also manipulation, for

the performer manipulated the "sleeve pull" to cause the first

handkerchief to leave the first decanter by way of its neck and pass

quickly up his sleeve, and the assistant released the spring pull

that rapidly caused the duplicate handkerchief to be drawn through

an opening in the rear side of the stoppered bottle into its in-

terior, by the thread passed through a tiny hole in the bottom of

the bottle, so in addition to the principles of concealed mechanism

and manipulation, the principle of duplication is also employed.

I believe we can also safely add the principle of falsification, for

the bottle, held by the assistant, was falsified by having a hole cut

in its side and a hole drilled in its bottom for the thread to pass

through.

The performer places a girl on a table, and after covering her

with a sheet causes her to rise into the air off the table. The table

is pushed aside, a hoop passed over the girl, and lo at a command

the girl vanishes. The sheet, under which her form could be plainly

discerned, flutters empty in the air. The audience looks at the table

to see if she could have been exchanged for something more easily

disposed of than flesh and blood, but no, the table is far too thin

and innocent for this contingency. The principles that permit this

illusion to be sustained are substitution, concealed mechanism, ma-

nipulation and camouflage. Substitution of a wire form for the girl

during the interval that the girl was hidden from view by the

manipulation of the sheet; the secret mechanism employed to per-

mit the form to be substituted for the girl on the table as the girl

passed through the elastic trap in the table top into the table; the

camouflage principle that makes a thing look thinner than it is by

constructing bevels that taper to the sides from the center, decor-

ating and making the table appear much thinner than it really is;

the secret arrangement of the threads that permitted a solid hoop

to be passed unmistakably and completely over the suspended form.

A glass jug is seen to be full of milk. A large portion of the milk

is poured into a cone made from a sheet of paper. The jug is seen

three parts empty after the act of pouring is discontinued. The

paper is unrolled and tossed away. It is empty; the milk seemed to

vanish. The principles that permitted this to be accomplished were

false partition and manipulation. The jug has a transparent cellu-

loid partition which is cemented inside the jug to within a space

of a quarter of an inch of its sides, and secured firmly to the bottom

by cement. When the jug is tilted to imitate the act of pouring the

milk into the paper cone, the milk runs into the celluloid container

from between the space outside the container on the inside of the

jug, satisfying the appearance of the milk being poured. The prin-

ciples embraced by this effect are therefore imitation, false parti-

tion and manipulation.



A glass jug full of water, together with several empty glasses,

s tands on a t ray . From the jug th e m agician pours the w ater , but

as i t reaches the glass i t changes to a different colored l iquid which

the magician designates as wine. The pr inciple is manipulat ion i f

the magician manipulated the chemicals in pellet form into the

glasses, or preparation if he prepared the glasses with the chemicals

beforehand. In presenting the chemical change as an i l lusion of

turning water to wine, he would be depending on them being

uninformed on the subject of chemical reactions. If they were so

enl ightened they could not concede anything unusual . There would

be no phenomenon.

The principles of chemistry, l ike those of mechanics, optics,

electronics, acoustics or other sciences, are often used in magic

to advantage. They cannot , however , be considered pr inciples of

magic any more than a pot of paint used to camouflage some piece

of app ara tus , for in such an instance the p aint play s a parallel role.

T he princ iples of m agic, as I wil l show, a re : 1) M anip ula tion ,

2) Su bsti t ut io n, 3) D up licatio n, 4) Camouflage, 5) Im itat io n,

6) Pa r t i t ion , 7) Concealed mechanism , 8) A rrang em ent , 9)

Pre par at ion and 10) Fals i f icat ion . W ith these ten formidable de-

vices I believe that all magic is accomplished.

The magic itself the i l lus ion, i s : 1) Tra nsfere nce , 2) T ran s-

posi t ion, 3) Disapp earance, 4) A ppearan ce, 5) Pe ne tra t ion , 6)

R esto ratio n, 7) Ch ange, 8) Le vita t ion , 9) Susp ension, 10) Elo n-

gat ion, Contract ion, or Dis tor t ion.

They are the psychological effects the magician aims to create

in the minds of his audience, and should not be confused with the

aforesaid prin cip les, w hich are the fund am entals , the tools as i t

were, to create the illusion of the latter.

A knowledge of the laws of Magnet ism, Electr ic i ty , Electronics ,

Opt ics , Hydros ta t ics , Pneumat ics , Hydrau l ics , Chemis t ry , Mathe-

mat ics , Mechanics and Accoust ics serves the magician in br inging

about a state of illusion.

1) M isdirect ion, 2) Susta ined A tten t ion , 3) Dive r ted Atte n-

t ion, 4) R estr ict io n, 5) R ep eti t io n, 6) Co nclusion, 7) Climax, 8)

An ti -Cl imax, 9) M annerism, 10) Su rpr ise , 11) Ex pec tancy , 12)

M emory, 13) M nem onics , 14) Re con struct ive Im agina t ion, 15)

D ram atics and 16) H um or are the abstra ct or psyc holog ical fac-

tors that aid in i ts accomplishment.

Al l our senses are subject to i l lus ion—Seeing, Hear ing, Touch-

ing, T as tin g and Sm elling. E ve ry m ental concep t is formed from

the sensations received through these organs, and i t is not given

ei ther to reason or innate unders tanding that sensat ions are received

by other means, or that concepts can be formulated otherwise.

Whenever phenomena seem apparent , i t i s wel l to reason that

a l l th ings are explainable by natural laws, though the explanat ion

may not a lways be w ithin the l im ited com prehension or imm ediate

u n d e r s t a n d i n g .



For example, let us suppose that ten magicians, thoroughly pro-

ficient in their art, were to witness the performance of a mentalist

(as we regard this term), after being thoroughly searched and

locked in a room with the magicians, read a page from any book

previously selected by the said magicians and handed to his sponsor,

stationed in another room apart from the mentalist. If the mentalist

read or wrote down the words from the page of the book selected

and also described all things accurately shown to the sponsor,

would that be Telepathy, thought projection, or just a good illu-

sion? When something is performed that cannot be immediately

explained, it is no criterion for supposing it to be contrary to

natural law. This illusion could be performed by the sponsor be-

ing in cahoots, and an expert telegraphist, using apparatus for

sending out a wave of high amplitude of a frequency above the hear-

ing ability of the average person, or more specifically, the said

magicians. The only ability the pseudo mentalist would require is

a knowledge of the Morse code and a hearing of unusual pitch,

enabling him to hear about eighteen thousand cycles per second.

I have met such men, but not among magicians.

The pitch or frequency audible to normal hearing cuts off

sharply at about eight thousand cycles per second, so another

baffling phenomenon is explained by the principles of concealed

mechanism.

M NIPUL TION

Manipulation is the manner in which an object is handled to

create an illusion in the mind of a spectator, or aid in its crea-

tion; i. e., to cause belief that something really occurred that did

not, due in the main to the manner in which the object was handled

or manipulated. There are many examples that may be cited: (1)

unsuspectedly loading a glass from a secret well in the table into

a hat as the hat is taken from the table; (2) cutting and restoring

a turban; and of course the multitude of card, coin, ball, thimble,

handkerchief, watches and cigarette routines, etc., etc.

SU STITUTION

Substitution, the second principle of magic, is sometimes de-

pendent to an extent on manipulation, such as when connected with

small objects as in the card and cigarette illusion when the pre-

pared cigarette is secretly exchanged or substituted for the bor-

rowed cigarette. But substitution also applies to substituting one

assistant for another, exemplified by an assistant garbed in suit-

able costume as the performer, and under the pretense of remov-

ing a screen, or substituting a wire frame for a female assistant

stretched out on the table as in Asra, or making the top change

with cards, etc.

DUPLIC TION

Duplication, the third principle of magic, is exemplified in

all illusions in which doubles are essential to the effect, and like-

wise in the smaller illusions such as the quarter stack or passing



a fan of cards through the knees where a fan of cards is really

in each hand. Th ere is an almost en dless stream of e xam ples th at

may be related here.

CAMOUFLAGE

Camouflage, the fourth principle of magic, is the art of dis-

guise, of m akin g som ethin g appear different from w hat i t really

is—a table that is six inches deep to appear to have a depth of per-

haps only three inches, or a box to be empty when it has a flap, or

a shelf usually at an angle, with a gold or silver bar to conceal

i ts edge, or a cabinet w ith a m irro r w hich mak es you believe you

see the whole inside when in fact you see only half and again the

same half reflected, or a sheet of glass at an angle and the lights

arranged to let you see through i t one moment and to see reflected

l ight the next . Op t ics play an imp ortant par t in cam ouflaging. Lo t s

wife,

the pillar of salt, is an example. Or a half shell to represent

a billiard ball. Or black art.

IMITATION

Imitation, the fif th principle of magic, may be exemplified by

the imitation of sounds created by another source than that from

which they appear to emanate, as in the bell under the glass i l lusion,

an imitation hand that holds the blind or curtain while the real hand

rings the tambourine behind i t , etc. , etc.

FALSE PARTITION

False parti t ion is the sixth principle of magic. All cabinets,

boxes ,

platforms, cages, glasses and other things that have a parti-

t ion secretly arranged to conceal for the purpose of effecting an

exchange appearance or disappearance or t ransformation, or per-

haps to hide some secret mechanism or contrivance that plays a use-

ful part in an i l lusion. False parti t ion and camouflage often go to-

gether, but not necessari ly.

CONCEALED MECHANISM

Concealed mechanism, the seventh principle, is exemplified by

the clockwork pack in the rising cards, or the thread which l ike-

wise causes the sp ectato r s c ards t imely a ppearanc e, or the mech-

anism that causes the lady to f loat through space, or that which

permits the coin to appear at the end of your wand, or the

cigarette to appear in your cigarette holder, etc.

FALSIFICATION

Falsification, the eighth principle of magic, is exemplified by

thin gs that are som ething else qui te dif ferent f rom the t hin gs

they appear to be, such as a bowl of goldfish with black silk around

the bowl placed inside of another bowl with a hollow stem so

th at it looks like a bowl of ink , bu t app ea rs as w ha t it really is wh en

the si lk is suddenly pulled down the table leg. Or the pigeons

6



caught in the air, really being only feathers on springs pushed

out and pulled back into the rod supporting the net as a pigeon

is released to synchronize with the disappearance of the feathers.

RR NG M NT

Arrangement is the ninth principle of magic, and is exempli-

fied in Paul Curry's card illusion, Out of This World, wherein

the red and black cards are separated from each other, or the

Cards from Four Pockets, or the Howard Thurston arrangement

so often credited to Si Stebbins. Other illusions besides those with

cards depend on the principle of arrangement. Arrangement must

not be conflicted with preparation, for we may prepare a single

thing, but to arrange there must be more than one, and it must be

arranged with relation to others. Therefore, I have concluded that

the tenth principle of magic is preparation.

PR P R TION

Preparation is exemplified in the Card Found in the Cigar-

ette,

Long and Short Cards, Dollar Bill and Lemon, Rabbit

from a Hat, or a thousand and one such items.

Without these fundamental principles, the pillars of illusion,

there would be no magic. This may be perhaps less obvious to

some magicians than others. Many may prefer to enumerate other

things and consider them principles. Others may ask, What about

mental magic, mindreaders, etc. To this the answer is—all mental

magic is dependent on those things that I have already defined

as principles, or that is my contention and experience. You must

really think, and think very deeply, to get a clear and proper under-

standing of these concepts, and not confuse them with the things

of lesser import. For example, misdirection or concealment is a

consequence, perhaps of certain types of manipulation such as

palming, or it may be dependent on the principle of camouflage

or the principle of false partition. It is a desirable result, a conse-

quence of a principle, but not in itself a principle.

MIS IRE TION

In The Secrets of Conjuring Robert Houdin tells about mis-

direction, and most authors who have written about magic since

Houdin's day have more or less been content to pass on his teach-

ings on this subject.

In the hope of clarifying the existing confusion on this im-

portant subject, I have searched the magic literature and diction-

aries without avail or agreement with those matters taught as mis-

direction. It does seem, to my way of thinking, to have been dis-

turbingly misapplied to magic. Mis—meaning as a prefix, wrong.

Therefore, misdirection—meaning wrongly directed. If you agree

on this definition, then let us further consider in magic termin-

ology directed attention and misdirected attention Whether it be

one person's thoughts or many is of no consequence for the moment.



If a performer by some means has directed the thoughts of his

audience to the conclusion that he has done something which he

has not done, he has wrongly directed them into this belief, hence,

misdirection. It may be construed that all magic is misdirection;

however, I disagree with this contention.

We are not at this moment concerned with the technique or

methods employed in misdirection, for they may be many and

varied to suit the occasion, but I do propose to show that the term

misdirection is wrongly applied when it embraces what is definable

as diverted attention. For example, a disturbance of some kind takes

place on one side of the stage so that the audience will not be

cognizant of the fact that the performer left the stage for a moment.

That, to my mind, is stretching misdirection beyond its normal dic-

tionary confines without occasion or gain, for this is an example

of diverting attention.

Diverting attention is sufficiently important in itself not to

be embraced by the term misdirection. Pickpockets and their con-

federates often start a fight so that they divert attention from

the act of picking the pockets of the spectators, which is then

more apt to succeed. Magicians have many subtle means at their

command for diverting attention at a crucial moment from the pro-

cedure under observation.

Surprise is one method that is sure to succeed in diverting

attention, whether it be occasioned by the sudden appearance of

a ball, card, thimble or rabbit. This newly found interest on the

part of his audience provides the performer with the needed second

or two of diverted attention while he secures the next load. Woe

betide the performer who attempts to secure the required load

without having first diverted attention from the place of procure-

ment. The only person that will be fooled is in all probability the

performer if he should attempt it, unless, of course, there is some

other suitable means of coverage provided.

There is one other word that is equal in importance to mis-

direction and diverted attention. That is sustained attention. It is

useful when you have something in one hand which the audience

believes is in the other, and by some simple act you are thus en-

abled to dispose of it under cover of picking up an object from the

table, or taking something to be used from your pocket. You center

the attention of your audience on your closed empty hand while

you casually dispose of the object in the other. This is really

sustained attention, and has nothing in common with misdirection

or diverted attention, except that they are all important abstract

things in the magician s art. Some writers of magic literature con-

sider misdirection as a fundamental principle of the magician s art;

with this I do not agree. Important as misdirection is, I can only

consider it as a consequence, a necessary result.

ON E LMENT

By this I mean to hold in your hand an object in such a man-

ner that its presence passes unsuspected. There are two ways in



which this may be accomplished. One is by the very naturalness

of the position of your hand, at ease, while concealing a ball, a coin

or a card. The second is by the sheer impossibil i ty of the posit ion

of the hand to retain the object , while you actually do retain i t .

To clarify this I am compelled to disagree with my contempor-

ar ies .

In bil l iard ball manipulative practices i t has always been

most forcibly brought to bear that the hand should always be nat-

ural . But practice has taught me the error of this, even more

forcibly. I do not believe that these writers always intend to teach

what their printed words convey, for I have observed many do

the things qui te contrary to their teachings.

The subject of naturalness is often over-emphasized. For ex-

am ple, you have a ball concealed and are show ing first yo ur em pty

lef t hand, and then your empty r ight hand, af ter t ransferr ing the

ball from one hand to the othe r. I do n t care how a dro it ly you do

th is , i t is no t a na tur al move, nor is i t inten ded or expe cted to be.

There is a certain l icense that you may take. You are a person

creating i l lusion by the practice of ball manipulating, and are not

expected to conform to or thodox procedure or do things natural ly .

Your success or failure will depend on the art ist ic manner in

which you produce the i l lusion and the degree the i l lusion you are

presenting baffles your audience. However, there is a great deal to

be said in favor of the deceptiveness of any move that is natural

over one that is not natural , or should I say unorthodox, for with

pract ice any move becomes natural .

I admit audiences are more easily led into believing or accept-

ing something that they are accustomed to rather than something

contrary to it . For example, a ball is placed in the left hand by

the right hand. The simplicity of this act seems to offer no room

for deception, unless the act is marred by the clumsy retraction

of the ball on the part of the performer. Let us suppose the per-

former has expertly palmed the ball in the right hand while ap-

pearing to place the ball into the left hand, and the right hand has

assumed an at ease posture that has all the elements of natural-

ness . T h e effect th en pro duc ed is that th e ball was placed in to th e

left hand and is being concealed there. However, if the ball had

rested on the fourth finger and thumb of the partly closed hand,

the left hand also held p art ly closed and inve rted so the fou rth

fingers of each hand are touching one another, the right hand when

partly opened so the ball drops into the right hand, and the left

hand closes as if it caught the ball when actually the ball was

palmed in the right hand, an equally start l ing i l lusion may be

thus created, and perhaps even more convincingly, that the ball was

trans ferred to the lef t hand while actual ly retained in the r igh t

hand. However, the moves had no semblance to natural ones at

all.

Do you see my point? The move I last described is taught herein.

I believe i t to be the most convincing transfer given.

Then is i t clear that naturalness has an important place, but

should be accep ted as a f lexible rule rath er tha n one to d om inate

any and every s i tuat ion.

29



I recommend that you practice all the moves you wish to em-

brace in your performances unti l they can be done with as equal ease

and facil i ty as you perform those which you consider as natural

moves.

There are si tuations in great numbers where the moves and

m ethods are qui te un natu ral if by natu ral we mean tha t which we

are taught through our l ives to accept as orthodox.

Ju st keep in mind that you are an i l lusion ist and the effect

sought is i l lusion. The manner in which you create the i l lusion

is secondary to i ts sustained intensity.

Yo ur abil i ty as a perform er and art ist will assu red ly be judg ed

in the main on the s t ream lined ar t is t r y w ith which you give you r

performance and the m agn i tude and the intensi ty w ith wh ich the

il lusion is sustained in the minds of your audience and not on how

natural or unnatural you are or do things.

THE ENTERT INME NT V LUE

In the pre sen tation of ma gic on a stage platform in a dra w ing

room or on the floor of a night club there is one thing common to

each and all of which when it is summed up the result may be

expressed as en terta inm en t value. In itself this is a very com plex

thi ng and i t cann ot be jud ge d as m any often do on laug hs a lone.

There is quite a difference between being amused and being en-

terta ine d. You may l isten to a wo nde rful singer and no t be amused

though thoroughly enter ta ined. Let us imagine for a moment

th at the act is tha t of a m agician . T he m usic comm ences— the stage

lights are on—the curtain rises on a pleasing stage sett ing. The per-

former confident and sm art ly dressed enters a t the r igh t mom ent

and he receives a round of applause. Why? Has he done anything

more than enter? I think so—he has al ready enter ta ined. The music

set t ing approach his a t t i re and confident thou gh perhap s mo dest

manner have immensely pleased his audience. They are made ready

to receive what he has to offer. They already feel that here is a

performer that will not disappoint them. He has secured

favorable

attention

That is the basis of every good act that has ever ap-

peared pub licly. Rem em ber I said

favorable

a t ten t ion for he may

have done man y thin gs to secure atte ntio n but i t could have been

unfavorable

and not to the ir l iking .

In the case at hand the perfo rm er is a m agician . T he refo re

it behooves him to prove the point not by a long mon ologu e but

by some piece of business that will change the favorable atten-

tion to one of interest . This may be done in many ways but

pref-

erably by a vehicle that has nove lty is ne ither too long nor too

brief

has a very sim ple plot and a sur pris e climax . You m ay

find a hu nd red such effects at hand — the han dke rchief and the

water bot t les ; the gloves to a dove; the vanishing and reappear-

ing ca ne ; or the cards to pock et. Th ese are a few th at meet th e

necessary requirements while the thumb t ie the passe bot t les

the die box and such effects may be tremendous in their place



but entirely unsuitable as openers for the reasons heretofore given.

The plot is too long, and the favorable attention secured at the

beginning is l ikely to sag rather than change to interest .

Let us consider that the right effect for our audience has been

performed in a correct , streamlined fashion, and the interest of

our aud ience is now assured if we do na ug ht to change i t . W e

can now take a l i t t le levity and present some effect that we know

to be good but would not have been as successful as an opener

as i t will now because of the inte res t that is now app are nt. W e

can feel i t . T he hu shed si lence, tha t expecta ncy , prope ls i tself

towards us from the audience. They are will ing to l isten and be

at tent ive to what we have to say and show them. We must not

disappoint them. Our tr icks have all been selected with the taste

of a con noisseu r, and in tha t m ann er we m ust serve them. T he

whole show must not be too long, nor too short , but just r ight,

and with the proper c l imax.

H ow long a perfo rm ance shou ld be is ano ther problem . Some

magicians can give a two hour show that is too short for al l his

aud ienc e. A no the r may be on stage only eigh t m inu tes and it is

too long, but his act might have been excellent if cut to six min-

utes .

Some people have the natu ral a t t r ib ute s for publ ic p erform-

ance, but most of us have to work, and work really hard for years

to acqu ire even a small deg ree of real success. E xp erie nc e is es-

sential, however, to each and every one of us, so when you have

organized and arranged the show as you think i t should be, and

given to i t the practice to be reasonably assured of the results ,

put it on, and if it is not the success you expected, try to find

out wh at was w rong , and cont inue to t ry and t ry again. Th at is

what a lmost every performer that got any place worth ment ioning

had to do. A few item s for the start, and you can add , cha nge or

sub tract as you gain m ore exp erien ce. If you have the qu ali t ies

essential to a performer in your system, experience is the only

thi ng to develop them . Ex perie nce develops assurance, both in

yourself and in your audience.

Confidence is seldom lacking in the am ateur. He is usu ally

overconfident and given to very much overrat ing his own l imited

abil i ty . T hi s is really a pa rt ic ula r brand of ign oran ce, a lack of

knowledge of the real technique and a proper understanding of

the req uirem en ts of the art . You have heard the sayin g, Fo ols

rush in w here ang els fear to trea d. N ervo usne ss is som ethin g

qu ite ap art from confide nce. M any of the gre ates t ar t ist s of the

day in all f ields of theatrical performances are nervous just be-

fore goin g on stage . T hi s is proba bly bro ug ht about by anx iety,

the true art ist being fully aware of what is expected of him, and

as he is always anxious to do his very best , the sl ightest imper-

fection while doing so is tremendously magnified in his mind.

Things that are so small the audience seldom notices them can

tear his sensit ive soul almost ap art . W he n you begin to take y ou r

performances that seriously, you are entering, if you have not

already arr ived, a t the shr ine.

The one thing that seems more important than any other s ingle

thin g to a perform er pre sen t ing m agic is good posture. Th e finest



clothes mad e cann ot cover up i ts absence. A ny man or wom an

with good posture can often wear clothes well which on others

would create un sou ght amusem ent . Good postu re can be cul t ivated

by all of us, w he th er big or sm all, tall or th in , fat or sh or t. It is

the way we stand, the gestures we make with our hands and arms,

and how we shift our bodies. Believe me, this is really som ething

to take note of. I t is wh at ins tan tly tel ls the audienc e as you w alk

out if you are really a performer or just aspiring to become one.

Not all performers with professional experience have good pos-

t u r e ; seldom do we see an amateur of short stage experience abun-

dant with i t .

Dress is som ething else apar t f rom pos ture. T he perform er

shou ld be well tai lored . U nless the re is some special reason for

dev iating from this rule, he should alw ays look well to his at t i re

throughout, and see to i t that he is well and perfectly groomed

in the smallest detail .

T he stage sett i ng is som ethin g else, and is not alway s w ith in

or ful ly und er the perform er s co ntrol . Ho wever , when pract icable ,

i t should be in keeping with his dress and of the best materials he

can afford.

I would s t rongly recommend that every amateur aspir ing to

stage performances secure some pract ice with a m icroph one . Du r-

ing my own stage career we did not have these desirable devices.

However, I do know that i t is a great mistake to continually handle

this instrument as a convience for your hands to rest . Leave the

microphone alone. The talking part of your act should be done

through the microphone, and you must judge the pi tch of your

voice according to the distance your performance compels you to

move away from it , so tha t the vocal sou nds em itted from the

spe ake rs will be as ne arly as possible of similar v olum e. Do n t leave

this to chance. I t should be practiced.

There is one thing more of importance which I wish to say to

every magician. Go to see the performances of the top dramatic

actors and ask yourself why they do this and do that . Note their

posture , how they turn and walk and s i t , where they s tand while

talking. Note all these details and how they pitch their voices, and

ask yourself why? Why? There is a real and thoroughly logical

reason. This is their art, and you can get free lessons from an

audien ce seat if you are obse rvant and really wan t to know . I re-

member many years ago I went to see the performances of Fred

Niblo, the American actor, many t imes just to see him enter and

hand his hat, cane and gloves to the butler, walk into the room and

acknowledge first the company and then the audience. I was posi-

t ively thri l led. I fel t the blood t ingle in my head and veins, and

by the reception accorded his entrance I knew I was not alone in

my feel ing.

I sincerely trust that you may benefit somewhat from these few

crumbs of theatrical wisdom, and remember, i t al l sums up to en-

ter ta inment value, and there are more ways of enter ta ining an audi-

ence besides amusing them and making them laugh.



SHOWM NSHIP

Webster defines the term: skil lful display by or as by a show-

m an ; also, gift for such disp lay.

In the final analysis, perhaps this definit ion is adequate, but

somehow it seems too meager, fai l ing to convey the importance

the term deserves. I t does not seem to dist inguish between the

different degrees of presentation, for i t says skil lful display as

by a showman. Showman is defined as one who exhibits , so we may

reason from this premise and rightly say that showmanship is de-

fined by W eb ste r as a skil lful display by an exh ibitor. I have wit-

nessed many skil lful exhibit ions of magic that I would not call

showmansh ip .

W he ne ve r I refer to a m agician as a showm an I have in m ind

a person ski l led in s tagecraf t who clear ly understands and prac-

t ices how to weigh, judge and sway an audience and play on their

emotions to advantage, being at al l t imes equal to any incident of

the occasion. A thoroughly efficient master of the stage.

I have seen great showmen who were not very capable magi-

cians,

and I have seen great art ists who were weak on showmanship.

These art ists possessed so much real talent and skil l in their art

that any showmanship, as heretofore s ta ted, seemed unnecessary.

They were prof icient in their presentat ion to the "nth" degree,

and that sufficed. There was no need of any bluff or fanfare, so

dear to the heart of showmen and so necessary to the art of show-

m ans hip, w hen he takes six rabbits from a m echanical box and sells

you a mirac le

SLEIGHT OF H ND

Everyone interested in sleight of hand should own a copy of

"Magic Without Apparatus" by Camil le Gaul t ier . This book of

G aultie r 's offers th e stu de nt a pricele ss fund of know ledge, mean s

and ways of successful men of magic with cards, coins, billiard

balls,

cigarettes and thimbles. In my humble opinion i t is the most

complete work of i ts kind thus far published.

Fr om exp erienc e I have found th at i t is be tter at the be gin nin g

to become proficient in the sleight that one intends to use rather

than divide the pract ice t ime on numerous s le ights that wil l seldom,

if ever, be used when mastered. This I f ind particularly so with

coin sleights. Coins are more difficult to master than cards or any

other small objects are to the same degree of proficiency. I shall

be content to offer only such ways of handling coins as I have

found the most desirable. The credit for several of these moves

in the main belongs to T. Nelson Downs, and though some of the

moves have been previously described by others, I trust that the

descr ipt ions and photo engravings herein wil l serve in a measure

as an aid to prof iciency rathe r th an a mere rei tera t ion.

Remember that in present ing an act with coins you desire to

create i l lusion, not show how dexterously you can juggle the coins .



I must say that with some performers this is not always so. Where

I have found that four or five coins suffice to produce the desired

effect, I use only that number, and will not be misled into using

a dozen to i l lustrate to you how dexterous I am, for then you may

be more apt to fall into the same error.

Believe me, i t is really more difficult to master the sleights

wi th a sing le coin than it is to do so w ith severa l, the reaso n often

being that the hand is more likely to be suspected if it is poised

at al l unnaturally when one coin only has disappeared than i t would

be if several had similarly vanished together. Therefore, I recom-

mend that you master the passes with one coin unti l you are thor-

oughly prof icient . To i l lust rate what can be accomplished with

practice, I no longer f ind i t difficult to back palm ten American

dollars with either the right or the left hand, or front palm the

same numb er , secret ing them, all ten Do wn s palm ed und er the

thumb with the palm facing the audience, and produce them one

by one at the fingertips, with the palm facing the audience. I men-

tion this, not as a palming feat to be duplicated, but to show what

can be done. I t ' s prac tical value in the m ain is to str en gt he n th e

hand muscles and develop speed and ease of transfer from fingers

to palm, and vice versa.

SOM THIN N W

Magicians are cont inual ly hankering af ter something new and

easy to do. In the first place, almost any effect may be revamped

and dressed in your own personali ty and served to the customers

as a dec ided ly new effect . P op ul ar i ty often ages a new effect soon

after i t is born, part icularly when i t can be readily imitated with

l i t t le pract ice and no great expense. Effects that can be produced

by s imple methods are usual ly dangerous to bui ld your reputat ion

on, because every Tom, Dick and Harry who can shuffle a pack

of brid ge cards can add i t to his rep ert oir e with very l i t t le effort .

Therefore, I say perform the effects that require some study and

practice and are not necessari ly easy to acquire and perform. Your

reputa t ion as a m agician then rests on firmer soil .

So-called cri t ics, who often do not know the rudiments of stage-

craft, condemn the methods of this or that effect because it is diffi-

cu lt to do and tak es pra ctic e, and the y all too often a cclaim effects

because of the ease with which they may be acquired, without re-

flecting at al l on what a difficult effect , once mastered, really

does for a performer. Having read a few books or magazines, and

acqu ired a me ager kno w ledge , some wa nt to be cons idered ex pe rts

without pract ice, s tudy and hard work. Let us review any other

profession, for instance music , paint ing, engineer ing, medicine,

chem istry, de nt is t r y. Reflect for a m omen t—w hy can anyone join

a magical society and call himself a m agician sim ply because he

does a few tricks? Is a man a musician because he plays a few airs

or tunes on the piano or mouth organ or player piano? The latter

in most instances is a far bette r com parison. I believe that any one

should have to earn the right to be called a magician by the per-

formances he gives, and w hat he really know s abou t the pra ctice

of magic.



Some writers of today pirate anything they think will serve

their pamphlets or books, sometimes changing an effect that takes

their fancy by using Kings instead of Aces or using a red deck in-

stead of a blue, or some other less obvious change in the method

to produce the same, already well-planned effect. They usually have

little knowledge of existing methods and they often ignorantly be-

lieve a simple change here or there entitles them to steal some

masterly principle or effect of another magician and then often

publish it as their own. This sort of thing is so apparent in so many

of these current cheaply produced books by irresponsible authors.

Magic is an art, and requires an intellectual approach to its

principles; but like music, it has that which attracts all kinds of

dabblers who wish to run before they learn to walk. Magic most

certainly does offer a reward almost instantly for the merest

tyro.

This I think is unfortunate for magic. There is little, if any-

thing, that can be done about it because it puts dollars in the deal-

ers' pockets and helps swell the lists of club members of the magic

societies. To the professional magician or author of magic books

it provides a clientele for his wares, and these things have their

advantages. If they are not the kind of advantage to be taken by

choice, they do have their compensations.

Magic as an art is all right as a statement, but defining it as

such is quite a different story. We say that this book or that dis-

closes certain fundamental principles of magic. Exactly what do

we mean, and do authors really mean what they say— fundamental

principles?

NV NT ON

It would be nice if all magicians could and would invent the

tricks they use, but, being human, this is not likely to ever be the

case. It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flat-

tery, but it is an expensive flattery for the magician who has spent

many months, or even years, working to complete a routine or

an act, only to have it copied and performed publicly for profit

by some usurper.

Many magicians would invent some, if not all, of their effects

if they knew how. Now I do not know if inventing is something

that can be taught or acquired, but in those to whom there is a dor-

mant faculty, perhaps a way may be shown how to bring this

sleeping talent to life. With this thought in mind, I shall proceed

to outline what seems to me important and essential.

To begin with, there are only twelve effects possible that I

know of which are useful in accomplishing a magical result, and

these areas follows: (1) production, (2) disappearance, (3) suspen-

sion, (4) levitation, (5) change without disappearance, (6) secret

communication, (7) escape, (8) restoration, (9) penetration, (10)

transference, (11) elongation, (12) contraction. Before we con-

tinue, let us analyze these things in their enumerated order.

35



Pro duc t ion is any thing produced in a m yster iou s m anner , such

as mysterious raps or sounds on a table, or the more material ap-

pearance of a silk, ball or girl from nowhere, or a rabbit from an

empty hat, etc., etc.

D isappe arance — a card or a ball or a gir l su dd enly vanishes,

etc.

Transposit ion is the combined results of appearance and dis-

appearance. These two amply expla in most t ransposi t ions . However ,

I bel ieve there are t ransposi t ions made wi th manipula t ion wherein

there is no disappearance or appearance as an effect is accom-

plished, so for the sake of completeness let us add transference

as in the classic card effects Ca rds to Po ck et , Te n and T en ,

Thir ty Cards and Commit tee .

Suspension is when some object is suspended ei ther in the air

or on the points of swords. I t differs from levitat ion because the

lat ter conveys to mind that the object is in motion and while in

motion it is levitated, and when the motion is stopped it is sus-

pended, perhaps wi thout any apparent suppor t , such as the levi ta-

t ion of Princess Karnac, or the suspension of a gir l on the points

of swords, or the zombie glasses, performed by Jack Gwynne.

Change wi thout d isappearance—the ink to water or the wine

and water changes .

Secret communication is the act of conveying or obtaining

knowledge by secret methods, such as code, in which the quest ion

conveys the information for the answer, or by prearranged signals

expressed in silence, or by wireless or other mechanical or elec-

tr ical means, or other secret ly employed mechanisms.

Escape—as from a box or handcuffs or cell , etc.

Re stora t ion — as wh en a rope is cut or a card is torn or a hand-

kerchief is burnt in part or whole, etc. I t may be argued that this

is s imply appearance and disappearance, but the effect is restora-

t ion.

Pen etra t ion— as the card or c igare t te thro ug h the handkerchief ,

etc .

Transference, as in the cards to pocket , or a woman shot from

a cannon to a box in the dome of the theater .

Elo ng at ion — stre tch ing a wom an, a coin or your f inger .

Contract ion—the diminishing cards , e tc .

The effects that may be produced, while numerous, are l imited

much more so than may be at f i rs t suspected. I shall give you a

list of effects with cards. It is not intended to be complete, but

to serve only as a helpful guid e for you r future inform ation and

help you in the process of inventing new and useful t r icks.



T LKING CTS VERSUS SILENT CTS

ND P NTOMIME

Each of the three types has cer ta in advantages . The ta lk ing

acts are usually l imited to the countries speaking the same langu-

age as the performer does, while silent acts are not. It is quite

apparent that many more effects are possible when not l imited

by si lence. When the voice is cultured and pleasing much is added

to a perfo rm ance , but when the op posite is t rue the gene ral effect

is less pleasing than if performed in complete silence.

If you have a pleasing voice or care to pay the price and time

necessary to cult ivate i t , then I would recommend that you by al l

means do so. If you have not this vocal faculty of a good delivery

and l ikewise do not care much about i ts cult ivat ion, then you wil l

most probably succeed more readily if your performances are given

in silence. If you should find that you have the faculty for pan-

tomime, then by al l means develop this desirable talent , for i t is

truly rare, and the present number of pantomime acts on magic

are few indeed.

T he re is a very g reat d ifference between a si lent act of m agic

and a magic act in pantomime. Of the latter I can recall at this

moment only four such acts—Dick Cardini , the immacula te Eng-

l ishman; Sammy Berman, the t ramp; Dr . Clut terhouse , the crazy

doctor ; and Johnny Pla t t , the Indian fakir .

There are t imes when i t is good showmanship for a performer

doing a talking act to do some of his bag of tricks in silence, and

I venture to say that during the manipulat ion of bi l l iard balls

is one of these t imes. Whenever you work in si lence, let the music

speak for you. The soft s trains of a catchy waltz tune is always

good for such acts, I thin k th at a m agic act should n ever be given

by choice wi thout musical accompaniment .

THE PR CTICE OF LE VING THE ST GE UN TTENDED

Now this is where I really stick my neck out, for I am going

to say it is bad showmanship for a performer to leave his stage

unattended, and poor showmanship for him to leave i t at al l to

enter the audience. Yet I have seen the topnotchers l ike Thurs-

ton , D ante, B lack stone , Jac k G wy nne and a host of othe rs do this

very thing. I do not expect them to agree with me. If they did,

they would not leave their s tage. Doing so is a disturbing period

for many of their audience. I t is an uninterest ing interval , a de-

l iberate distract ion. Seldom, if ever, do the majori ty know what is

go ing on, and m any care less. So I say, the pe rfo rm er s place is

on the stage. However, in some instances where the performer has

a bevy of beautiful gir l assistants who stand at at tention during

the p erfo rm er s absence in the aud ience, this does prov ide a spec-

tacle of interest .

I bel ieve in most instances the performance would suffer less

if the assistants, in place of the performer, could be sent into

the audience to accomplish what purpose the performer des i red,

wh i le th e performance cont inue s unde r the performe r s d i rect ion.



SSIST NTS FROM THE UDIENCE

Getting people to come from the audience onto the stage is

something that has drawbacks. In the f i rs t place your digni ty as a

performer will often suffer to an extent if you are compelled to

beg or plead and i t does not enhance the si tuation any to wait

more than a few seconds for such response. On a fast-moving vaude-

ville bill any delay of this character is fatal to your future book-

ings .

It is therefore best to arrange with someone already in the

show to oblige you by coming promptly from the audience to the

stage when asked or arrange for seats and put someone in the

show. U sua lly one person will suffice. W he n one comes up oth ers

will follow.

These assistants are better if left to their own devices and are

not prom pted beforehand or their act ions may look pr earra ng ed .

F or this reason I specify m agician s exce pted or place the m agician

in the least important posit ion when on stage. Not that you have

an yt hin g to gua rd against excep t tha t he is mo st certain to for-

get the card you ask him to remember or act as if afraid to tie your

thumbs or overact the part of an uninformed person on magical

matters but i t is a fact that an audience will quickly detect these

things and your performance will suffer from it .

F KES ND CCESSORIES

One

or even two half shells are indispensable adjuncts to the

ball act of most manipulators but you will not f ind their use men-

tione d her ein ; f irst because I do not have an yth ing to add to tha t

which has al ready been publ ished by my contemporar ies and sec-

ond I consid er this very w or thy ac cessory has alread y been g reat-

ly overw orked and unless its use is uns usp ected even by tho se

familiar with the practice the reputation of the magician for using

such aids is in danger of diminishing. I therefore recommend you

the following manipulative practices without the use of shells .

Bal l m anip ulat ion s require considerable pract ice to do wel l and

a portion of the time of each day should be given to practice if

you aspire to the competence of an exper t . In these pages I will

reveal to you only the tr ied and tested methods and the moves that

I have personally found to appeal to audiences whether they were

comprised of magicians or persons less informed about these things.

I recommend that you be not content to deal only with the practices

set forth herein but search careful ly through the magical l i tera-

ture of the past years where you will find much that is good about

this art of manipulating balls that has been neglected or forgotten.

The true value of this book lies in what you learn from its

pages that I may profit by your satisfaction derived from the

things herein. I suggest that a t the very beginning of your s tudies

you form ulate a rou tine set a pu rpo se in m ind that you desire to

accomplish and with this thought pract ice the things appl icable

to i ts a t ta inment rather than t ry this and that without reason.



GIM S

There are some excellent effects made possible through coins

that have been gimaced and secret accessories, and an excellent

opportuni ty l ies ahead for someone competent to wri te about

such things, for I am sure there are a lot of magicians to whom

the subject would be of interest . Personally I have steered clear

of these things with few exceptions, not because the i l lusion cre-

ated is less effective or less entertaining (in fact, these effects

when wel l performed are of ten incomprehensible) . However I have

seen so many bungle them. I shall always admire them in good

hands ,

especial ly the "quarter s tack and sales tax"—the twenty-one

cents ,

a dime, two nickels and one cent, the English penny

and the florin to two English pennies, the cent and the dime

and the half d ollar and bott le . T h e shell coins and the foldin g

half dollars are excellent when properly used, and a hooked coin

is almost indispensable. Another beautiful gadget is a coin fas-

tened to a length of elastic and down the sleeve.

After this talk you may wonder why I am describing to you

a coin clip to use in "The Miser 's Dream," so I had better explain.

"The Miser 's Dream" is an act of repeating the production of coins

from the air T he m anipu lat ion should be very convincing on two

counts; f irst , that the coin produced is really thrown into the hat ,

and second, the hand is def ini te ly empty preceding the product ion

of the coin. That 's if you would create the maximum il lusion pos-

sible for the great majority, if not al l , of your audience without

these things being true in fact . So I have created a small gimack

to aid you in bringing this about and will now divulge i t to you

for the first time.

T he gim ac consists of a m etal cl ip painte d to blend w ith

your finger and made to fasten half way around the finger be-

tween the first and second joints of the first finger, from the palm

s ide .

On this metal cl ip is a wire which passes through holes in

the c lip, and to the wire is carefully soldered a si lver dollar . T he

dollar is fastened so that it may be held up as pictured in the

ph oto, Fig . 1, by the thum b, and also as pictu red by F ig . 2

when released. I think you begin to see the true value of this

gimac. If not, put it on your finger and stand in front of a mir-

ror and produce the coin by pressing on the dollar , then bringing

your hand over the hat. Open the hand so the coin may fall

over and be caught in posit ion as pictured. Like all good things, i t

should be used sparingly. About six coins caught in this manner

is su ffic ien t. I find it an ad va nta ge to use a shell do llar for th is

because of i ts relative l ightness.

ILLUSION

It has always been confusing what name to give the things

magicians perform. "Tricks" sounds to me more l ike juggl ing feats

or acrobatics. "Effects" is another word that fails to convey the

proper meaning. From careful ly reviewing the s i tuat ion, I have

concluded that the proper word is " i l lusion."



An il lusion is perform ed w ith any o bject , coins, balls , m atch-

heads ,

wom en or t ig er s. I t makes no difference in the final analy-

sis.

It still remains an illusion if it is a feat of magic. Though we

have become accustomed to associate the word i l lusion with some-

th in g big, the sense of this breaks dow n when analyze d. W h y

should we not refer to the pen ny and dim e il lusion as w ha t i t r igh t-

fully is, an illus ion ? Y ou hold a glass hor izo nta l and lay a dime

inside, near the edge, and en the dime, half covering it, you lay a

penny. Then you turn the glass near ly perpendicular so the coins

slide to the bottom , and lo T he dime is seen to pass clean th ro ug h

the solid bottom of the glass, and falls on the table, leaving only

the p enn y in the glass, wh ich can be insp ected . I thin k yo u w ill

agree that is an i l lusion, for the dime fi t ted neatly into the penny,

which was of course hollowed out to receive it , and the dime was

half a dime and faced with half a penny.

W e m ay have said, w ha t is the effect? B ut illusio n and effect

are not synonomous terms any more than tr ick and i l lusion are.

I would say the tr ick l ies in the manufacture, and the i l lusion in

the performance of seemingly passing the dime through the tum-

bler. Trick, when used synonomously with i l lusion, is to me de-

basing magic, and effect is lacking in description.

Perhaps magicians of yesteryear considered " i l lusion" as too

descriptive. I t perhaps told too much when they wished to have

their audiences bel ieve they possessed supernatural power and

their feats were above the art of mere i l lusion. However, today

magicians have no such purpose. We practice the art of i l lusion,

for (as heretofore s ta ted) without i l lusion there can be no magic

Il lusion is magic and magic is i l lusion, and i t would be perfectly

proper to say when we want to describe an i l lusion, what is

the m agic Some wit or cry pto gra ph is t interch ang ed the le t ters of

the word "magic" and said, what 's the gimac?

THE PLOT

T he plot is differe nt from the i llusion, and alth ou gh m any

illusions are presented without any plot , i t is usually better to have

a plot when such is possible. Suppose you place a coin in the left

hand, close i t and open i t , showing that the coin has vanished.

The i l lusion was perhaps in the coin being placed into the hand

when the coin did not go into the hand at all, or after it was placed

in the hand i t may have been secretly manipulated up the sleeve.

Perhaps the i l lusion was very complete in this manner, and i t may

not be improved had i t formed or played a part in the plot; that

depends on your abil i ty to conceive a suitable plot for such an

il lusion. The plot may be comedy, drama or a simple, apparently

natural resul t .

TIMING RHYTHM AND PACE

Timing is one of the most important things in ar t is t ic magic,

and is also an indispensable aid to the creation of perfect manipu-

lative i l lusions with small objects. The fundamentals of good t im-



ing should be thoroughly understood by all real magicians, for

without i t only mediocrity can exist .

What is meant by t iming pace and rhythm I shal l t ry to make

clear by examples.

Suppose the purpose is to count out ten cards. Timing is the

pace at which the cards are counted, while rhythm is the regular-

i ty with which the pace is maintained, the beat, so to speak.

The pace with which any magical effect is presented is very

important indeed, and having found by practical presentation to be

correct , the pace should be maintained. This is more difficult to

do tha n to say, I assure you, and i t takes an exp erience d perform -

er to maintain his own set pace under all circumstances. Some may

contend that dif ferent audiences require different speeds. How-

ever, I believe this to be the fault of the presentation; something

therein is lacking; otherwise the pace would not need to be al-

tered, once i t is determined by practical experience.

I do not advocate that each and all the effects in an act should

be set at the same pace. A change of tempo is very desirable at

t imes , and what is right for one effect is not so for another. Like-

wise,

one performer may find a quick medium or slow pace best

suited to his methods, while that of another quite the opposite.

But having set the pace for any one effect, it should remain un-

changed throughout, and not be altered at places where i t is neces-

sary to make some moves to execute a "top change" or a pass or

"load" a hat or get hold of a pull—everything you do should be

done with the same pace to accomplish the effect sought, and don' t

forget the rhythm, the beat .

Now I have heard i t explained, mistakenly I believe, that t im-

ing is executing the things you intend to be done secretly, such as

ge tt i ng a ball from its hold er u nd er the coat with one hand as you

are holding at tent ion by some move with the other . However ,

though I qui te recognize the importance of synchronizing these

moves, I prefer to say that their success magically is dependent

on other things besides t iming, in some instances misdirection, in

others sustained at tent ion, and others surpr ise .

Timing is an important factor in that the pace with which these

things are carried out must not be changed, slowed up or quickened,

for any alteration of the pace will at tract at tention to i tself and

help defeat the purpose sought .

I understand that some performers so well recognize the im-

portance of t iming that they do the same things at each and every

performance at exactly the same posit ion on the stage while they

say the self same words or give the same smile, and have the same

bar of music repeated. Each detail is synchronized. You think this

is too m echa nical? O h, n o Re hearsal and prac tice cures this fault .

Th e performer m ust be sure and confident of everything th at plays

a part and fully recognize its importance and the effect it will have

on the spectators .

41



I have always admired the East Indian magicians for their

superb t iming and I think we may learn much in this respect

from their performances.

OOTWOR

The manner in which he moves about the stage is to any per-

former highly im po rta nt; so im po rtant in fact tha t it canno t be

ignored or lef t to chance without dire consequences. For some of

us it is a relatively easy accomplishment to walk and move grace-

fully bu t for othe rs it is qu ite difficu lt to do at all cor rec tly.

Th ere are specific rules wh ich when learned and fol lowed help

make the going more simple.

Some who read this wil l probably be rat t led or a l i t t le taken

aback to be told of th in gs the y have been doin g and in th eir own

est imat ion ge t t ing away w ith— things that are incorrect aw kw ard

and clumsy.

Believe me it is no simp le m atte r to be lig ht ly dispo sed of.

R ath er it is a th in g to be pra ctice d over and over as you w ou ld

a difficult sleight until you can walk on stage and about your

stage and off your stage with grace easy balance and surety.

Try these simple things f irs t as exercises. Stand up straight

with your hands by your sides and your heels together. Now make

a comp lete r ig ht turn and then a com plete left tur n. W ell how

did you fare? Now try i t this way. You are standing facing the

audience with your heels together and hands at your sides. Turn

your left foot in so the toe is pointing to the right. Place the

weight of your body on your left foot. Then lift your right foot

and place the toe against the heel of the left foot. The heel of the

rig ht foot is off the floor and you are now facing abo ut t h ir ty

degrees to the right. Raise up on the balls of your feet and turn

abou t face. T he n draw the rig ht foot back to the left heels tou ch -

ing.

Pla ce the left foot forw ard of the rig h t foot heel of th e left

jus t beyond the r igh t toe and po intin g about forty-f ive deg rees

tow ards the r ig ht . T his is a diff icult posi t ion to sustain but n ot

at all difficu lt wh en you shift y ou r w eig ht and tu rn on the balls of

you r feet br ing ing your rig ht foot back to the left heels again

touching. Try this over and over unti l you can do i t with grace

and not at all in military fashion. The moves should blend into a

rhythmic whole wi thout any jerkiness .

T ry sim ilar moves for m aking a com plete left tu rn . You have

m astered these. Th en try th is on e: A table is at you r lef t s ide and

on the table is a book. Pic k up th e book ca rry it five paces t o

your right and place it on a chair. How did you fare? Did you do

it gracefully w itho ut excess m ovem ents? Did you on reac hing th e

chair f ind you had an awk ward ung raceful mov ement of yo ur

feet to complete the movement of placing the book on the chair?

If not you are do ing w ell. Now place an oth er table ten feet back

of the first table. S tan din g at the rig ht of the front table ca rry



an object to the rear table and place i t there, and take another

object from that table and carry it to the chair. How did you fare?

Did you follow ou t the idea th at a perform er shou ld not tu rn his

back on his audienc e? W hoe ver tho ug ht that crazy one up I don t

know, but I do know there is no such rule in good stagecraft . Try

picking up the object from the front table, holding it clear of your

body so i t does not pass from the aud ience s view. T he n tu rn you r

back deliberately and walk up stage to your rear table, and place

the object on the table. Turn around and face the audience again.

Of course, if there is any talking to be done, be sure that when

you make your address you are facing the audience.

There are many ways of moving about your stage from table

to table, but the correct one is always the least awkward, the most

graceful method. Each move should be carefully studied and prac-

ticed with adequate care unti l you can do i t without thinking about

it at all.

When you finish your act , try to arrange i t so you are not

more than five feet from the exit so you may bow to acknowledge

the applause and then make a graceful exit . If you finish the act

at the center of the stage, be sure your act warrants sufficient ap-

plause for you to take the t ime to walk to the exit wing and bow

before you exit while the audience is st i l l applauding. That is

why it is always best to finish near the exit; if you do this you

may take an extra bow for the t ime lost in walking from center

s tage .

T h er e is no detail too small or sufficien tly un im po rtan t to be

neglected. If I have made you self conscious of your movements on

the stage, then I have accomplished in part my purpose, for I know

you will work to correct any of the details that are at fault .

PRESENTING THE CT IN PUBLIC

Before an act is ready to present in front of an audience, it is

advisable, if not actually essential , that the intended performer

should already have given some public appearances. One way in

which this may be done is to f irst thoroughly rehearse one, or at

m ost tw o, thi ng s unti l you are perfe ctly familiar with th eir rou-

tines and every word you will say and the tempo at which you

wil l del iver your words. Note the t ime and properly regulate your

speed. This will require a great deal of practice. Also, make the

condi t ions under which you rehearse s imilar to those under which

you will present the routine before your public. When you feel

that you are really quite ready, then and only then arrange for

you r p erform ance to be shown , possibly at yo ur club. D on t ask

your magician friends to cri t icize and tell you about your show at

this stage. Seldom are magicians capable of giving a fair , un-

biased opinion of another magic act, for few indeed really know

the important things that permit an agent to sell an act . Wait un-

ti l you have had some experience in the presentation before you

seek the opinions of others.



There will be many things to improve, unless you are the one

and only exception. You will be far from perfect, and the nearer

you think you are to being a great performer in all probabil i ty

w ill be a fair in dic atio n of how far you rea lly fall sh or t of th e

mark. Whatever the results , continue to practice and make as many

public appearances as you can. Ad d som ething to you r rou tine

when you feel the occasion warrants it if you are equal to doing

so,

bu t don t crowd yourself Go slowly at first, and always work

tow ards a routine w hich you should aim to perfe ct . D on t be satis-

fied with mediocrity. Remember, one or two things done well are

far b etter than m any done poo rly. Do n t be always c han ging , look-

ing for something new. Start off with tr ied and tested material that

you know others have performed successfully. You can always add

the untried things, one by one, at a later date when you have become

accustomed to working before an audience and remember that an

audience that has paid admission is much more difficult to satisfy

than one that has not. Working on a fast moving vaudevil le bil l

with other acts is the real test of your ability.

Whenever you are given a choice, get on the program early,

for as the show progresse s audienc es get more c ri t ical than the y

are earl ier in the even ing. Do n t bleed yo ur aud ience . By tha t I

mean do an act in which each thing you do warrants more applause

than the preceding one. Do not wait unduly long for the ap-

plause to subside, and only wait when i t is warranted. You will

succeed better by this method.



Principles and Deceptions

C H P T E R T W O

gic

W ith oins





SLEEVING

T hi s is som ethin g tha t can very easily be overd one. A li t t le

is qu ite sufficient, even w hen w ell done . It is bad, ve ry bad ma gic

when the execution is poor. Now I propose to tel l you a few things

about s leeving wh ich you may already know. In that case, perha ps

the effect will be of interest.

When about to perform any effects in which you use the meth-

ods of sleeving, have your shirt sleeves folded back to the forearm

or else use a ti g h tl y b ut to ne d sh irt cuff and a full coat cuff so

that there is no l ikelihood of the coins being impeded or stopped

at the entrance of the coat

cuff

Next, the coin is not thrown up the sleeve, but is carried there

by the momentum of the preceding act , such as a coin on the back

of the left hand moving smartly in the direction of the right hand

is suddenly stopped, and the momentum carries the coin off the

hand as the right hand is timed to cover it , and if the sleeve is

here to receive the coin, up the sleeve i t travels.

The next method is the act of closing the hand with a coin

on the fingers, at the same time turning the hand over. The coin is

propelled up the sleeve of the hand which held the coin, without

doing anything more than turning over the hand and closing i t ,

but of course closing the fingers with the required rapidity to

propel the coin up the sleeve.

A no th er meth od is the pin ch . T he coin is held on the second

finger of the right hand, and the first finger helps support the coin

The left hand approaches to take the coin, and at the moment the

left hand covers the coin, the thumb of the right hand is pressed

firmly a gain st the edge of th e coin. T he applied pre ssu re shoo ts

the coin up the left sleeve.

Another method is to drop the coin out of the hand, let t ing i t

sl ide dow n the arm and the sleeve, of cou rse. T h e back of the

hand is turned towards the audience, while the coin sl ides out of

the almost closed fist down the forearm and sleeve. Jarrow devel-

oped the art of sleeving to a high degree of perfection. He would

take the m ake up of a cig are tte (pap er and tobacco ) in one han d,

vanish the m up the sleeve, and extr ac t a m ade cigar ette from the

closed hand . H e would also cause a small qua nti ty of salt to leave

one hand and appear in anothe r . Ross B ertra m and Jo hn Mul-

holland are past masters of sleeving.

Short Routine In Wh ich Sleeving Plays The

Ma or

Part

Hold half a dollar in the right hand between the first and

fou rth fingers. O n th e back of the left han d place a qu ar ter . Move

the left hand from a one-foot distanc e qu ickly tow ards the righ t

han d held at w aist level. Stop the m ovem ent of the left hand sud-

denly. The quarter will shoot up the sleeve if this is done correct-

ly, and the onlookers will simply think you have covered up the

quar ter wi th your r ight hand.

47



SLEEVING {Continued

The half dollar held in the right hand takes the place of the

quarter . The r ight hand is lowered to secret ly regain possession

of the quarter from the sleeve. By gravity it falls into the half

closed hand. You palm the quarter or hold it as you did the half

dollar. Pick up the half dollar off the back of the left hand with

th e thu m b and first finger. D rop it int o th e palm of th e le ft

han d. Close the han d. O pen the hand, pick up the half and th ro w

the quarter into the hand as you palm the half Close the hand.

Sleeve the half by the act of partly closing the fingers. Let the

righ t hand be seen empty. Op en the left , take out the qu arter ,

and if borrowed, return it to the lender.

Or you may prefer the second method of changing the half

dollar back to the quarter .

Having changed the quarter to the half dollar on the back of

the left hand, as heretofore described, you pick up the half dollar

off the back of the left hand and lay it on the palm of the left hand,

closing the left hand on the coin as if you intended something to

happen. This gives you the necessary interval to lower the r ight

hand wi thout a t t rac t ing any a t tent ion. The quar ter drops out of

the sleeve into the right hand, and the left hand is opened. As the

righ t hand is bro ug ht up to the lef t h and again, a quick m otion

and a sudden stop of the lef t hand towards the r ight hand, impels

the half dollar into the right sleeve.

The hands are brought together and the quarter lef t on the lef t

palm. The hands are separated to reveal the quarter where the half

was a second ago.

T

MUSC LE PASS W ITH ONE SILVER DOLLAR

The success of this coin pass depends on your ability to palm

a coin and then exert pressure by the thumb muscle to cause the

coin to spring several inches from the palm without any visible

movement of the hands that would cause the coin to spring and

bridge the distance between the two hands several inches apart .

A coin, seemingly placed in the left hand but palmed in the

rig ht see any of the m ethod s described he rei n) , is vanished , and

the left hand shown empty , back and front . T he r igh t hand is

moved up in fron t of th e left. A s th e left h an d is closed an d

turn ed over, the coin palmed in the r ig ht hand is sp ru ng and

cau gh t by the left han d as it closes and tu rn s over. A m om ent late r

the lef t hand is opened and the coin shown therein.

A very deceptive pass when properly carr ied out .

48



HINESE OIN MYSTERY

On pages 81 through 88 of Volume 3 of the Tarbell Course

of Magic is an effect, Ring, Rope and Pin , which you are advised

to read and digest, for the effect I shall describe is an adaptation

of that effect.

The Effect: Performer has a piece of string approximately

three feet in length, and fairly soft, threaded, on a Chinese coin.

The two ends of the string are already tied, and are shown to the

spectators.

The spectators are told that a Chinese magician in the Orient

gave the coin to the performer as a lucky piece for saving his life,

or any other harmless build-up the performer cares to concoct. He

continues to explain that the coin has proven unusually fortunate

for him. He says, The Chinese prophesied with considerable

truth that while you retained this in your possession you could

never be so unfortunate as to be destitute because, though the

coin itself was perhaps not worth more than one-twenty-fifth of

a cent, you really were not entirely without money. So by this

very sound Chinese logic the boy wearing this coin bestowed it

around my neck. The coin can be put on the string without un-

tying the knot, but it cannot be removed unless the string is cut,

the knot undone or the coin defaced. Let me show you how the

coin is put on the string.

When the performer receives the coin from the spectators, he

proceeds to untie the string and remove the coin. He then reties

the knot in the ends of the string and lays the coin on a plate

on the table. The knot is tied in the string, and someone is asked

to hold the knot. The performer picks up the coin and proceeds to

place it on the string. A moment later he asks the spectator if

he can remove it under the aforesaid conditions. He has given

the spectator an impossible task.

The Working: You never actually take the coin off the string.

You have two coins alike, and here is the manner in which the sec-

ond coin is used.

The Chinese Kash is about the same size as an American

quarter or an English shilling, and the duplicate is secreted in

the right hand at the base of the third finger. The knot in the string

is untied.

The two ends of the string are then held between the first

finger and thumb of the right hand while the first finger and thumb

of the left hand takes hold of the coin on the string. The left

hand is held above the right hand.

The right hand lets go the ends which now hang down, and

the right hand is placed around the string, back of hand towards

49



hinese oin Mystery

spe ctators . T his brin gs the thu m b and f irst finger into po si t ion

as the y w ould be if tak in g hold of the coin in the left h and and

the s t r ing is drawn throu gh the r ight hand and the dup l ica te

coin in the r ight hand is dropped on the plate. This act alone con-

vinces everybody that the coin came off the str in g. Ho wev er the

first finger and thumb of the right hand take hold of the center

of the string and pull it up and over the first finger of the left hand

unti l only six inches of the two ends hang down. The r ight hand

takes hold of both ends and passes them under the fourth finger of

the right hand and over the third finger. Then the ends are passed

over and through the thus formed loop pull ing the loop off the

thir d and fourth f ingers and pull ing on the ends the str in g is

thus t ied in a knot three inches from the end of the str ing.

All this t ime the coin on the str ing was held under the lef t

thumb against the second finger.

The knot ted end of the s t r ing is now drawn towards you unt i l

only about four inches of the loop end hang over the first finger

of the left hand.

The right hand takes hold of this loop and passes it over the

first finger and under the second finger of the left hand and thus

ties a loose knot.

T he dup licate coin is take n from the pla te and after it is show n

it is held on th e fingers of the rig ht ha nd w hich catch es hold of

the loop and draws the str ing through the coin to the other knot .

The r ight hand at the completion of this move should be over the

hand kerch ief pocket of the coat . T h e dup licate coin is released

and secret ly fal ls into the pocket .

The str ing is drawn back again and then concealing what

you are real ly doing the two hands untie the loose knot at the

loop end the coin is moved dow n to the mid dle and the kno t ret ied .



A COIN RING AND

HANDKERCHIEF

By Harry ing

of

in

and Ionia

This simple, but excellent effect, Harry King performed at

the I.B.M. meeting in Chicago on February 13th, 1948, complete-

ly mystifying all those present. Several discovered the secret after

they had had time to think it over.

The effect: Two of the audience are invited to hold a fine

linen or silk handkerchief, which the performer provides, by the

four corners. The performer either borrows or removes from his

finger a ring, which he allows to be examined. Then he offers

a silver dollar for close inspection.

The dollar he places in the middle of the outstretched hand-

kerchief which is held at the corners by the two assistants. The

ring is then handed to one assistant, who is told to pass the two

corners of the handkerchief through the ring. Then the other

assistant is told to pass the two corners he is holding also through

the ring. Thus the silver dollar is held securely at the middle of

the handkerchief. The handkerchief is held at the four corners

with the dollar held by the ring at its center.

The performer then places an opaque handkerchief or cloth

over the handkerchief securing the dollar, saying, I will attempt

to remove the dollar and the ring without the assistants letting

go of the corners of the handkerchief.

The effect is performed as follows: The coin and ring are

worked to the rear edge of the handkerchief where the coin can

be easily slipped out, and then the ring falls off, or the edge of

the handkerchief nearest the performer is rolled or gathered and

pushed through the ring. This allows the dollar to come out. Silly,

isn't it; but if you do it well it will baffle any audience.

It is the very old principle of the coin on the string, but Harry

King found it could be done with a handkerchief without letting

go of the corners.

An effect somewhat similar, with a different presentation, was

described by Hoffman in More Magic, with a watch.

51



THE BOUNCE V NISH

Fro m one to five coins may be dropp ed into th e left h and from

the righ t, and a mo me nt later the left han d open ed and show n

empty.

T h e illusion is qu ite good. T ry one coin first . H old yo ur

left hand six inches in front of your body, palm up and stretched

flat at waist level. In your right hand hold a coin; any size coin

will do, from one cent to a dollar.

With the right hand, bounce the coin, flat, from the right hand

onto the palm of the left hand . A t the same ins tan t the coin

strikes the palm of the left hand, raise it slightly towards the right,

and the coin w ill bou nce off th e left ha nd . N ow if you close th e

left hand as if the coin were retained there, and catch the coin on

the rebound with your partly closed fingers of the right hand, you

will deceive the onlooker because he hears the coin str ike the hand,

and the rebound is so instantaneous that the eye does not follow it .

Here is one place where the hand is real ly quicker than the eye.

My good friend, Harry Solomon does this sleight very well.

After you master this method of bouncing the coin, and you

can do i t creditably as an i l lusion so the spectators wil l be convinced

that the coin thrown into the left hand is really retained there,

it becomes a simple matter to strengthen this belief by sleeving the

coin. This is best accomplished by holding the r ight hand back

upwards with the coin rest ing on the middle f ingers momentari ly,

and then propelling the coin up the right sleeve by an almost

imperceptable closing motion of the fingers. This move is taught

on pages 47 and 48 herein.

The sleight is completed by showing the r ight hand empty, in

a careless rather than a pointed fashion, by indicating towards the

closed lef t hand with the r ight hand palm open and facing up. Then

before the left hand is opened the coin is recovered by dropping

the r ight hand to the side and al lowing the coin to pass from the

sleeve to the curled fingers. T h e rig ht hand with the coin finger

palm ed is passed over the open left hand and the coin is dro pp ed

therein, where a moment later i t is revealed.



THE RE R O THUMB P LM

In No. 1, Vol. 1 of Ellis Stanyon's Magic, dated October, 1900

(that's forty-seven years ago), on Page 3 appears A New Reverse

Palm for Vanishing a Coin. The coin is held between the tips ot

the forefinger and thumb. The hand is then apparently closed on

the coin, and a moment later on opening the hand the coin has

disappeared.

In the act of closing the hand, the forefinger carries the coin

to the right of the thumb, which grips it as shown in Fig. 4. This

is Stanyon's description, just in case some aspiring wizard should

happen to reinvent it in 1948.

However, I do think a more detailed description of the move

will prove helpful to many of my readers. With the coin held by

the tip of the first finger and thumb, bend the finger and thumb

back to the position shown in Fig. 2. Then withdraw the thumb,

and pinch the coin under the first finger (See Fig. 3). Then bend

the thumb down until it touches the root of the fourth finger.

Now straighten the thumb, pushing back the coin with it to the

position shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 shows the move completed.

When you have mastered the palming as described, try this for

beauty. With your right side towards the audience, hold the right

hand about chest level, with a dollar front palmed. Now transfer

the coin to the back thumb palm position as you turn over your

right hand, bringing the palm towards the audience and then back

again to the first position. It is a very valuable and important

detail that you no doubt will appreciate when you try it.



THE PENCIL ND THE SILVER DOLL R

By Paul Rosini

Most every magician has at one time or another vanished a

coin up his sleeve, but here is a totally different use for the sleeve,

as subtle as it is excellent. My friend, the originator, Paul Rosini,

has kindly given me permission to publish it here.

The illusion:—

The left hand is closed on a silver dollar, taken from the right

hand. The back of the closed left hand is then tapped by a pencil,

held in the right hand, and used as a wand, and lo the coin vanishes.

The left hand is empty.

Suspicion is then subtly drawn to the right hand, but it is also

seen unmistakably empty except for the pencil. The coin has truly

disappeared. The left hand is again closed, and the pencil is used

by the right hand to tap lightly on the back of the closed left hand,

which, upon being opened, reveals therein the same silver dollar

which, for effect, may have been marked beforehand or the date

noted by a spectator.

The working of this beautiful coin illusion performed in the

Paul Rosini fashion will be explained, but first the secret, which

lies in unsuspectedly retaining the coin in the right hand while

seemingly placing it in the left, holding the attention on the left

hand while the right hand takes a pencil from the left inside

pocket, this act affording an opportunity of secretly dropping the

coin from the right hand, while removing the pencil, into the left

sleeve, where it remains because of the outstretched left hand. The

pencil is drawn from the pocket and held in the right hand in such

a manner that this act of removing a pencil from the pocket will

leave no suspicion that the coin was being disposed of.

Magicians who may suspect that the coin was retained by

the right hand instead of being placed in the left hand should be

encouraged momentarily to believe it is still concealed there. The

pencil is held horizontally between the second finger and thumb,

very delicately. After the left hand has been shown empty, the

left hand is closed and the right hand attracts the attention as

a possible hiding place for the coin, and in this interim of distrac-

tion the left hand is lowered, allowing the coin to slide down the

sleeve to the fingers and be palmed. Again the left hand is raised

as the right is proved empty. The back of the fingers are lightly

tapped with the pencil. With proper dramatic poise, the coin is

revealed in the left hand as the hand is opened.

Paul Rosini pours his personality into this splendid illusion

with such effect that it becomes a truly great piece of magic. Thank

you, Paul Rosini.

54



THE

TURNOV R

P SS WITH ONE COIN

The hands are held in front of the body with the coin rest-

ing on the fingers of the right hand as in Fig. 1. By lowering

and raising the fingers of the right hand suddenly without any

other movement of the hands the coin is tossed up off the fingers

to drop onto the fingers of the left hand as in Fig. 2. The left

hand with the coin moves out to the tips of the fingers of the

right hand as seen in Fig. 3. The hands turn towards the left

bringing the backs of the hands to the spectators. The left hand

turns over as it closes but the coin falls unseen onto the fingers

of the right hand and is held by the bent second and third fingers.

An added subtle touch is to bring the right hand towards the

audience the bent down second and third fingers concealing the

coin while the left hand is supposedly holding the coin. The left

hand is shown empty and the coin produced as desired.

This is a good place to tell you about the way of opening

your hand to reveal a coin therein or closing the hand on a coin

before it disappears. This simple act may be greatly enhanced from

a point of commonplace to something artistic to watch by graceful-

ly and without haste opening the hand one finger at a time com-

mencing with the little finger and following it with the others not

too quickly nor too slowly. It requires practice to get the full effect

out of it. It is such little things as these that reveal the artist.

55



THE

PINCH P SS W ITH SINGLE COIN

really top sleight if you will do it as follows:

Hold the coin by i ts edge between the f irs t f inger and thumb

of the r ight hand. The third and fourth f ingers are touching the

fou rth finger of th e left hand and the coin is a full two inche s

in front and away from the left palm. Suddenly pinch the coin

causing i t to assume the posit ion as shown in Fig . 2 between the

first f inger and the thum b of the r ig ht hand and at the same in-

stant close and turn over the left hand as if the coin sprang into

i t . Th en let the coin fall onto the second th ird and fou rth f ingers

of the right hand as you lower the hand.

VERY PRETTY DIS PPE R NCE

Ho ld a si lver dollar between the lef t thum b and forefinger and

place your handkerchief over the coin. Do this by drawing the hand-

kerchief from front to rear and draw it the first t ime far enough

to expose the coin. The second t ime as the r ight hand with the

handkerchief passes over the coin the third f inger and thumb se-

cretly steal the coin.

T he move is com pletely concealed by the han dke rchief being

drawn toward the top pocket of your coat where the coin is secret ly

dropped. A few mysterious passes are made over the handkerchief

supposedly cover ing the coin then upon taking the handkerchief

away the coin has vanished.



ALLAN SHAW S VANISH OF

COIN

If I had to take only one method of a vanish of a single coin,

I would unhesitatingly choose this one because when it is per-

formed correctly the illusion is perfect in every detail. It was a

regular interlude in Mr. Shaw s coin act. Please try to do it as I

will explain it or the true beauty of the sleight may be lost.

Standing facing the audience, the performer holds a coin in

his right hand on the second and third fingers, supported by its

edge between the first and fourth finger, hand at a slight angle

with the floor (see Fig. 1). The left hand is held below the right

hand, the fourth finger of the left hand an inch in front of, and

at right angles to, the second and third fingers of the right hand.

The performer s body is bent over from the waist, with the

hands in the position described and depicted in Fig 1. Now from

the wrists, and without moving the arms, bring the hands up to

the position shown in Fig. 2 and then down as in Fig. 1 again,

(but keep the coin held as in Fig. 1) and then up as in Fig. 2.

Now as the hand is brought down the third time, the coin in the

right hand is back palmed as shown in Fig. 2, and the fingers of the

left hand close as if the coin were tossed into that hand from the

right hand. As I have already stated, if your timing is correct, the

sleight is a perfect illusion. The coin seen rotating behind the fin-

gers looks as if it were being tossed to the other hand (see Fig. 4).

The left hand is slowly opened and the coin slowly produced from

behind the right leg. As a matter of record, Mr. Shaw used a hooked

dollar for this sleight, and the first time he placed his right hand

behind the right leg, he left the coin, and brought away the hand

without it, seemingly squeezed it away in his hand, showed the

hand empty, and then returned the hand to the leg to really produce

the coin.

57





THREE METHODS OF PROD U ING OIN

There are three original ways that I find very effective for

causing the instant appearance of a coin secreted in the position at

the back of the hand by the first and second fingers as previously

shown. The first of these methods is very difficult and requires

considerable practice but it is really worth it.

With an imperceptible short upward jerk the coin is released

and rotates over the first finger to be caught and held by the

thumb and first fingertip. Figs. 1 2 and 3 clearly show the course

of the coin.

Second Method

In the second method the coin is produced at the extreme fin-

gertips as shown in Figs. 1 2 3 and 4. The third finger first assumes

a position on the edge of the coin and then the back of the second

finger causes the coin to rotate the first and third fingers acting

as a fulcrum for it to pivot as shown in Fig. 2. The third finger

releases the coin as the second finger flips it around to be held

as shown in Fig. 3 by the first and second fingers. The first second

and third fingers straighten and the coin is thus caused to assume

the position as shown in Fig. 4



Third Method

The third method differs considerably from both of the former

methods, and is done as follows. Perform the sleight just described

of placing th e th ird finger on the edg e of the co in as in Fi g . 1

while held between the first and second fingers at the back of the

ha nd . R ota te the coin w ith th e second finger as show n in F ig . 2,

and the coin assum es the po sit ion of F ig. 3. T h e thu m b nail is placed

against the lower side of the coin and tips it up to the first finger.

ourth Method

T he next move is prod ucin g a coin from the D ow ns ' f ront

palm. The coin is held by i ts edge in the palm, concealed by the

thumb. The fingers are then closed over the coin, the second finger

passing above the coin, and the third finger passing below the coin.

The fingers shoot out, carrying the coin held between them, st i l l

hidde n by the thum b. Th e thum b passes und er the coin and the

coin is shot up and held by th e thum b and first finger. T h is is a

very practical move and is indispensable to me in the performance

of the M iser's D ream . T he move is effective w ith eith er the palm

or back of the hand towards the audience.



OWNS

P LM

First Method

The next two moves look very much alike, but on closer study

they will be found to have important practical differences. The first

is the transfer of several coins (five are shown in the illustrations)

to the lower Downs' thumb palm. This method of palming allows

the thumb of my hand, which is normal in size, to secrete eight

American dollars without difficulty. These pictures are taken at

an angle so the coins can be easily followed throughout the moves.

Fig. 1 depicts the coins held between the second finger and thumb

of the right hand. They are rotated on their sides into position

between the second and third fingers (see Fig. 2). The thumb is

then withdrawn, and the fingers curl towards the palm (see Fig. 3),

pressing the coins into position. The thumb is lowered over the

edge (see Fig. 4). Fig. 5 depicts the manner in which the bottom

coin of the stack is brought away by the second and third fingers,

and Fig. 6 shows how the coin is then brought up by the thumb to



make i ts appearance. The remaining coins are brought out in a s im-

ilar method, one by one. They are thus produced at the thumb and

fingertip, to be released as they appear and allowed to fall into a

wait ing receptacle.

OWNS P LM

Second Method

T he next move has these differences, and is cal led th e D ow ns'

up pe r palm. Th e coins are held as show n in F ig . 1, fanned out

between the first finger and thumb, reclining on the side of the

second finger which facilitates the fan of coins being readily closed

tog eth er as in Fig . 2. T he coins are held betw een th e first and

second fingers, and then the thumb swings down out of the way as

seen in Fig. 3.



The five coins are thus pressed into the fork of the thumb

(see Fig. 4), and the fingers may now be straightened. Fig. 5 de-

picts the manner in which the coins are carried, one by one, from

under the stack and make their reappearance as in Fig. 6 between

the thumb and first finger. Both this and the former method should

be carefully practiced. They form the basis of all expert coin acts.

THE

V NISH OF

COIN FROM THE FOLD OF THE

P NTS LEG

Take a silver dollar between the tips of the first, second and

third fingers. Place it against the left leg, and with the fingers of

your left hand fold the leg of your pants down over the coin.

(See Fig. 1.) As soon as the coin is hidden from view, grip the

coin with the second finger and thumb of the left hand, holding

the pants with your first finger and thumb.

Then grip the coin between the third and fourth fingers of your

right hand and bend them in towards your palm with the coin

thus concealed. Don t palm the coin. Hold it between the third and

fourth fingers as shown in Fig. 3. Now with the finger and thumb

of the right hand, pinch the pants below the fold, and with the fin-

ger and thumb of the left hand pinch the pants above the fold, and

pull out the fold to show the coin has disappeared. Produce the

coin from the back of the right leg.



ON THE LEG P SS WITH

SILVER DOLL R

Second Method

With the coin resting on the middle fingers of the right hand,

the first finger and thumb of each hand each seize a piece of

the pants material about midway between the hip and the knee in

front of the left leg. The right hand is separated from the left hand

by about two inches. The hands fold the cloth of the pants thus

held so that the fingers of the left hand can enter upwards into the

fold. The right hand lays the silver dollar on the cloth that is over

the fingers, and the coin is then held by the thumb and first and

second fingers of the left hand. See Fig. 1.)

The left thumb slides the coin up into the palm as the first

finger points to the fold in the cloth. The right hand is lowered

to pinch the cloth about four inches below the fold, and in this

manner the fold is pulled out and the coin has seemingly disap-

peared, to be reproduced from behind the left leg by the left hand.

ON THE LEG P SS WITH SILVER DOLL R

Third Method

The coin is held in the right hand on the fingers. With the

first finger and thumb, make a fold in the pants as described in

the second method, and place the coin into position. Turn up the

fold on the coin, but hold the coin with the right thumb and first

finger, while the third and fourth fingers steal into the fold and

secretly carry the coin away between them. The coin is not palmed,

but held by the bent third and fourth fingers, while the other fin-

gers of the left hand and the right hand pull out the fold to show

the coin is gone. The coin is reproduced from behind the left leg.



T PASS FOUR COINS FROM HAND T HAND

THROUGH YOUR HEAD ONE AT A TIME

T hi s effect is based on an un usu al sleight I thin k pub lished

for the first time, though it is somewhat similar to a sleight in

G aul t ier 's book, M agic W ith ou t A pp aratu s , Page 104, Invis ible

Transfer of a Coin from Hand to Hand when the Spectators have

been Forewarned.

The sleight I am about to describe is made in reverse, and that

is why the hand must be raised to the head, as you will better under-

s tand as the descr ipt ion cont inues.

The four coins are unmistakably placed into the r ight hand,

and both hands are closed and placed on the table, separated by

several inches, with the backs of the fingers on the table. Sudden-

ly both hands are raised, and while st i l l closed are placed against

the ears, one hand on either side of the head. The hands are low-

ered, and on being opened one coin is seen in the left hand and only

three remaining in the r ight . The same moves are repeated three

more times, and each time one coin is seen to have passed from

the right hand into the left hand.

The method by which this sleight is accomplished is as follows:

The coins in the right hand rest on the t ips of the closed fingers

when the hands are on the table, and i t is a simple matter for the

second and third f inger t ips to work the coin into a protruding

posit ion against the palm near the wrist . Then as the hands are

turned inwards, the protruding coin is shot rapidly across to the

left hand. The move and action are made so fast that the eye does

not follow the passage of the coin through the short distance i t

t rave ls .

THE FRENCH DROP AND THE EYE GLASS

The performer shows two silver dollars. One he uses for a

monocle , the other he vanishes by the Fre nc h d rop , keeping

the left hand closed to simulate that the first dollar rests therein,

while actually i t is palmed in the right hand.

The right hand catches the dollar as it falls from the eye, care

being exercised to not allow one coin to fall on the other. The left

hand makes a short throw towards the right hand, and the palmed

dollar is allowed to fall on the one reclining on the two bent mid-

dle f ingers. The audible click tends to heighten the i l lusion.



THE ROLL DOWN PRODUCTION FOR FOUR COINS

Buckley s M ethod

T his is a spectac ular, thou gh q uite diff icult , s leigh t to per-

form. I t requires considerable practice, perhaps one hundred hours

to do at all well.

A stack of four coins is produced from the Downs' palm, to-

gether as one, and placed in position in the left hand, as seen in

F ig . 1. Th e left hand gives an im perce ptible u pw ard an d dow nw ard

movement, and four coins are seen between the fingers as in Fig.

5. T he sleig ht is clearly show n in F ig s. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 as the se

photographs were taken with the s le ight in progress .

I have seen a similar sleight performed in steps of roll ing down

two and then roll ing each two to make the four. I do not think

the lat ter method compares with the excellence of this method.

The pictures tel l the whole story far better than words. I t

is acquired by feeling and balance as the coins unfold themselves

as the pho tograph s d epic t . Fig . 6 shows the r ig ht hand pro duc ing

th fifth coin and adding it to the four displayed in the left hand.

W he n i t is perform ed as described, i t is no longe r a ju gg lin g feat,

but a beau tiful illusion of four coins created from o ne.

FIVE COINS ARE SEEN AND HEARD TO FALL INTO A

GLASS AND A MOMENT LATER VANISH

This is an effect originated by me some thirty-five years ago

and first show n before the A.S.M . in Sy dne y, A us tra lia . It baffled

those present. No one could explain where the coins had gone.

The fingers of the left hand are curled around an empty drink-

ing glass. Resting across the fingers of the right hand are six half

dollars. The right hand is brought up nearly level with the chin,

and the coins tossed into the glass. Several mysterious passes are

made over the glass, w hich is finally inver ted and show n em pty .

Th e descr ipt ion is t rue with one except ion. Th e coins are throw n

over the glass, which is held in the left hand, into a small glass

concealed at the top of the V in your vest. The small glass, with

the coins, is removed at the f irst opportunity.

A very decept ive s tu nt



THE ROLL DO W N

PRODUCTION

(Buckley's Method

67



THE DOW NS' CLICK PASS VIEWED FROM A

NEW ANG LE [Improved)

This beautiful move has been greatly enhanced by a simple

change I will now describe.

F ig . 1 show s the five coins in the first pos ition as seen by t he

spectators . The hand gives the coins an imperceptible upward

toss, and the y r ota te, as show n in F ig . 2, to fall on the th ird finger,

as seen in Fig. 3.

As the coins are thus caught on the bent third finger, they

mak e a loud click, hen ce the name Click P ass , and the left han d

is bro ug ht up as if to actually catch the coins. B ut the m om ent

the left hand passes in front of the right hand, the second and third

fingers of the rig ht hand press the coins into the low er Do w ns '

palm , wh ere they are secreted, wh ile the left hand con tinues i ts

upw ard journ ey as if it had the coins. T he i l lusion is perfec t . T he

spectators not only hear the coins fall into the left hand, but seem-

ingly see them as well , which greatly enhances the i l lusion.



AN ILLUSIVE PASS

O riginal)

Another excellent pass with a single coin is as follows:

Rest the coin on the side of the second finger against the first

finger of the right hand, the thumb supporting it exactly as de-

picted in Fig. 1, photographed from the rear. The hands are in

front of the body, and you are standing erect. Now as you turn

left, the right hand turns slightly as the thumb is removed, and the

coin falls over, resting on its side against the second finger of

the right hand. The left hand partly closes as if it had received

the coin. However, that does not happen because the coin is

pinched on its sides by the first and second fingers. (See Fig. 2.)

The coin is reproduced by placing the right thumb against the

edge of the coin, and then supporting the coin on the edge opposite

the right thumb by the first finger. The hand is turned to bring

the face of the coin into view.

THE CLICK PASS ND THE TABLE

Five coins are arranged in the right hand, and seemingly trans-

ferred by the Downs' click pass (explained herein under that head-

ing) to the left hand. The left hand is on top the table, while the

right hand is passed beneath the table. The sound of the coins can

be heard as the left hand taps the table top; a moment later the

left hand is pressed flat on the table top, and the coins are heard

to fall into the right hand beneath the table.

The illusion of the tapping is created by tapping the coins

on the underside of the table with the right hand while the left

hand makes the motions.



THE

SPREAD VANISH

( A L L A N S H A W )

This is r ightly credited to one of the world 's great coin manip-

ulators, Mr. Allan Shaw, a performer at the height cf fame from

1906 to 1912. T he first time I saw M r. Sha w perf orm wa s in A uc k-

land, New Zealan d in 1908, and he used t his m ove at tha t tim e as

a single coin van ish. I confess I have used it ever sinc e. T h er e

are other equally effective moves of Mr. Shaw's that I shall describe

herein. M r. Shaw has ret ired from the stage and is l iving in

A ustra l ia. H is act was som ething to enth use over— perfect in every

detail—I am sure that others who recall his act wil l agree.

Re ferrin g to the f ive i l lustr at io ns , No. 1 shows th e thu m b and

first finger of the right hand supporting the five coins. Fig. 2 shows

the fingers of the left hand closed loosely around the coins as they

are closed tog eth er by the closing action of the left hand . F ig .

3 shows both hand s about to make a half tu rn . T h e five coins are

still held between the fingers and thumb of the right hand, and

w ithd raw n as both hand s mak e the tur n (see Fi g. 4) . T he coins are

shifted from the first finger to the second finger and thumb as

the turn is completed, and the first finger points to the left hand as

in Fig. 5. The photos were made from the side to show the action.

The right hand holding the coins is lowered to the side, and under

cover of this action the coins are palmed, usin g the D ow ns' lower

palm . Th e rig ht hand, w ith the coins th us concealed by the thu m b,

is facing palm towards the audience. At the proper moment the

left hand is slowly turn ed and open ed— fourth f inger, third f inger,

second and first. Try this with one coin, and later work up to five.

THE ONE HAND COLOR CHANGING DISCS

{Original

Take four discs of plastic, preferably each the size of a silver

dollar. On e is gold in color, one silver, one red an d one blue.

Procure these secretly from a dropper, a cl ip or the vest pocket,

and hold them in the up per D ow ns' palm . T he order of th e stack

from the bottom to the top is silver, red, gold and blue.

Produce the s i lver one (method a l ready explained) , palm

facing audience. Turn the disc about so both sides are freely seen.

Then let i t drop si lently onto the blue disc. Produce the red disc

and show it the same way as you did the silver disc. Then slip the

red disc on the silver disc, and produce the gold disc. Display the

gold disc, bo th sides, and slip it on the blue disc. A fter du ly d is-

playing the blue disc, s l ip i t onto the red disc, and produce the

silver disc.



THE SPRE D V NISH

llan Shaw

F IG 3

7



FIVE COIN TR NSFER P SS

By Downs

Five coins are held between the f irst two fingers and thumb in

the r ight hand in a fanned-out manner, as depicted in Fig. 1. These

are held about chin height in front of the body, while you stand

erect facing your audience. The left hand is then brought up to

waist level, and the

five coin s, still fann ed,

are brought smart ly

down on the left

hand, as shown in

Fig. 2. The instant

that the coins touch

the left hand, the

thumb and finger of

the r ight hand loosen

their hold so that

the coins stack up as

show n in F ig . 3. As

the fingers of the left

hand apparent ly c lose

on the coins, the first

and second fingers of

the r ight hand, al-

ready in position to

grip the coins, trans-

fer the coins to the

upper Downs pa lm.

(See Fig. 4, 5 and 6.)

The right hand is

then lowered and

held with the thumb

concealing the coin,

palm facing audience,

while the r ight hand

simulates the act of

squeezing the coins

away to nothing, a

moment later to be

slowly opened and

seen empty. The coins

are then produced

f r o m t h e u p p e r

Downs palm, one a t

a time, and tossed in-

to the left hand.



THE THROW AWA Y VANISH OF FIVE COINS

O riginal}

This is a continuation of the last move, and blends to form

a beaut i ful ro ut in e.

A coin is held between the first finger and thumb of the right

hand, and four coins are displayed between the fingers of the left

hand. Th e performer, s tand ing w ith his r igh t s ide towa rds the

audience, brings his r ight hand with the coin smartly down to his

side and up to waist height to simulate the act of throwing the

coin into space. During the upward flight of the hand the coin is

D ow ns palm ed. A no the r coin is then taken from the th ird and

fourth fingers of the left hand, and the right hand simulates

the tossing of the coin into space while the coin is palmed be-

ne ath the first one. It is easy to palm the coin by le ttin g it fall

back on the first coin Downs palmed. However, i t is better , though

more difficult, to place it underneath the first coin, placing it there

with the two middle fingers. The palming is completed during the

toss ing action . I recomm end it as being m ore si lent than stack-

ing the coins one on ano the r. (S how n in Fig . 1 and 2.)

When four coins have apparently been tossed away and palmed

in the right hand, the right hand approaches the left hand to take

the fifth coin, and the two middle fingers of the left hand secretly

secure the coins from the righ t palm as show n. T hi s is my change

over move. Before the hands are separated, the body commences

a rig ht turn to brin g the left side tow ards the aud ience. See the

re pr od uc tio n of coins at fingertips.

The coin is vanished, back palmed by the right hand, trans-

ferred to the front palm as a left turn is made, and the right hand

points to the left hand, seemingly empty though actually conceal-

ing four coins Downs palmed. The right hand reaches out, and

the palmed coins are produced, one by one, to appear at the thumb

and fingertip. The right hand simulates the act of throwing the

coin into the left han d. T he coin is palmed in the rig ht han d,



and the four coins palmed there are revealed as only one

coin. Th ese are rolled w ith cau tion up to the thu m b and first

finger. It is be tter if the rig ht han d does not aid in th is m ove.

Now both hands move down four inches and back up, and the left

hand holds the four coins spread between the fingers, and the right

holds the fifth as seen in F ig . 6 of the B uck ley Ro ll Dow n pro du c-

tion explained and depicted heretofore.

THE APPEARANCE OF FIVE COINS ONE AFTER

ANOTH ER AT THE FINGER TIPS

By Allan Shaw

I believe this to be the most difficult of all coin sleights to

do with silver dollar coins because of their weight. However, I still

maintain i t to be worthy of the necessary practice to do with dol-

lars .

Five coins are held in the lower Do w ns' palm pos it ion. T h e

hand is held abou t eig hte en inch es in front of the face, th e fingers

poin t ing up .

The fingers momentari ly dip into the palm, the second finger

pressing down on four of the five coins, while the third finger slides

the bottom coin of the stack of five off the stack. (See Fig. 1.)

T he fingers are stra igh ten ed . T he bottom coin is th us carried

up between the two middle fingers. (See Fig. 2.)

Th e coin is then tran sferr ed from posit ion 2 to the t hu m b

and first finger. (See Fig. 3.)

The other fingers dip into the palm and remove a second coin

from the bottom of the stack as before and sho wn in Fi g . 3.

This coin is carried up between the middle fingers and placed

aga inst th e nail of the first finger. F ig . 4 show s the coin b ein g

brought up from the palm. I t is transferred to the nail of the

first finger as in Fi g . 5, and t he se con d finger p res ses on th e coin ,

causing it to slip off the nail of the first finger with an audible

click onto the first coin.

Fi g. 6 shows the move being repe ated w ith th e third coin. F ig .

7 show s the first finger and thu m b ho ldi ng th e first two c oins, and

the middle f inger carrying up the third coin, and the palm re-

taining the other two coins.

F ig . 8 gives a view of th e th ird coin being p laced on the nail

of the first finger. F ig . 9 shows the com pletion of the m oves, w ith

all five coins held by the first finger and thumb. The moves are

made smartly and at a continuous, unbroken pace.

The real beauty of this move l ies in smartly bringing the coins

up at the same short , regular intervals, and snapping them into

place. An excellent de scrip tion of these moves app ears on Pa ges

324 and 325 of M agic W ith o u t A pp ar atu s by Ga ult ier , and the

move is credited to T. Nelson Downs. I saw Allan Shaw success-

fully perform it as described in Sydney, Austral ia at the Tivoli

Theatre in 1909.



THE APPEARAN CE OF FIVE COINS ONE AFTER

ANOTHER AT THE FINGERTIPS

Allan Shaw



THE SURPRISE PPE R NCE OF COIN

By Ron Leonard Can ada)

T he app eara nce of a coin on the back of the left h and after

covering the lat ter with the palm of the empty right hand is a

very surpr is ing move indeed.

A coin is placed on the open left hand, and the left hand is

closed on the coin and the back of the han d turn ed up w ard s. T he

right hand is then slapped palm down on the back of the left

hand, and without apparent ly opening the lef t hand, there on

the back of the closed left hand is the coin, when the right hand

is raised.

This effect may be produced with any size coin from one cent

to a dollar . T he secret lies in w ork ing th e coin unobserved pa rt

way out of the closed left hand between the fork of the first finger

and the thumb, and then suddenly raising both the hands a few

inches. This action causes the coin to gain momentum, and when

the direction of the motion of the hands is suddenly changed to

a descent from an ascent, the coin is thrown against the right

palm and br ou gh t in to place on the left ha nd . F ig s. 1, 2 and 3

clearly depict the moves.

THE M GNETIC P SS WITH ONE OR SEVER L COINS

The t i t le is intentionally descriptive. On the back of the

leg above the right knee inside the pants is strapped a four ounce

A lnico mag net. I t shou ld be shaped as a horsesh oe so tha t th e

magnetic strength of both poles are addit ive. Have a steel disk

turn ed by a m achinis t , preferably Brown and Sh arpe one-sixteenth

inch ground flat stock, and have it heat treated and hardened, then

flash chrom ed. T he edg e m ay be kn ur led if it is possible for y ou

to have this done.

You are then ready to perform some very interesting and

mysterious passes. When you touch this coin to the back of your

leg,

the magnet will hold i t there. You may remove your hand



and show it to be empty, reach out as if to grab the coin from

the air , supposedly transfer i t to your left hand, vanish i t and

find i t behind the right leg, this t ime actually taking i t and draw-

ing it out from the cloth.

You may perform with several coins if you desire, and if

your magnet is s t ron g enough . A good Alnico horseshoe m agnet

when magnet ica l ly sa tura ted wi l l suspend, through the th ickness

of the usual suit ing material , about twice the weight of the mag-

ne t. T h is w ill con vey some idea of the poss ibilitie s of such a

contrapt ion as an aid to your manipulat ive ski l l .

For pocket effects, the steel one-cent pieces are made to order.

The device has many advantages over the hooked coin, and you

wil l undoubtedly f ind many useful purposes to which the gadget

can be put to work for building up some new effects.

SILK N SILV R

by Frank Cruse

T he i l lus ion : T he left han d takes a si lver dollar from the

rig ht han d. A m om ent later the left hand is opened, and the si lver

dollar is seen to have changed to a fifteen inch silk.

P re p ar at io n : Carefully pleat a f if teen inch si lk into a com pact

bu nd le, and fasten i t secu rely with a piece of thre ad . Fo rm a loop

above the kn ot. Su spen d the bun dle from the left thum b so i t

hangs in the center of the left palm.

Th e W o rk in g : Hold a s ilver dolla r be tween the thum b and

forefinger of the right hand in front and above the left hand.

T u rn th e left han d over so tha t the bun dled si lk remains hid den

from the spectators view by the r ight hand.

The left hand seemingly takes the dollar , but actually the

right hand palms i t . The left hand turns over and recovers the

silk.

The lef t hand moves away with the s i lk . The r ight thumb and

forefinger tug at one corner and pull it slowly out of the half closed

left hand, moving towards the top pocket of the coat. At the right

moment the si lver dollar is secretly dropped into the pocket, and

the s i lk displayed, with the hands otherwise qui te empty.

(I thank my fr iend, Frank Cruse, for grant ing me permission

to include the working of this excellent effect .)



ORROWE

MON Y

This is an effect with several borrowed one dollar bills where-

in the bills are caused to disappear from one envelope and pass into

three envelopes which the spectator sealed up, one inside the

other.

Take a red envelope and place a bill inside, one from which

you have copied the serial num ber. Seal the env elope and place

it in a larger size envelope, a blue one, and seal it . T h e n place

it in the false pocket of a small silver tray, and place this on your

plast ic top table. On the tray place thre e envelopes, one to m atch

the red one, the blue one and a white one larger than the blue

one. Take out your billfold and ask if anyone has two one-dollar

bills for a two -dollar bill . Go down and get it , give the tw o-d ollar

bill and take the two one-dollar bills. You have your wallet open

from which you take the two-dollar bi l l . Put the two one-dollar

bills into your wallet and take out a one-dollar bill of your own.

You should be moving back towards the stage when you do this .

Any suspicion that may be created is later entirely dispersed.

You stop near or at the front row of seats and say to one of

the onlook ers, "You look like a perso n I can tru st . Plea se cop y

the number of this bi l l ." Hand a card and pencil to the spectator

for this purpose, and leave the one-dollar bi l l with the spectator .

Return to the stage and pick up the tray, or have your assistant

bring it to you.

Say, "Now I am going to ask you to put the card on which

you wrote the number of the bill in your pocket, and I am going

to request you to not let the bill out of your hand or sight for

a single m om ent. T ha t 's fair enoug h, don 't you thi nk so ?"

Addressing a second spectator , "Sir , you look l ike a cautious

person. Will you take that red envelope from the tray and see

i-hat it is qu ite un pre pa red and is em pty . Now , w ill you please

take the blue envelope and see that it is also empty and unpre-

pared. Place the red envelope in the blue envelope and seal it .

Now place both sealed envelope s in the w hite en velop e. Now , be-

fore you let i t out of your hands for one single moment, write

your name across the face of the envelope. Now drop it on the

t ray . Th ank you "

The performer returns to the stage. A pair of cl ips suspended

by a ribbon or cord from above are attac he d to the envelop e, but w hen

taking the envelope from the tray, the two sealed envelopes con-

taining the extra bi l l are secret ly withdrawn from the secret

compartment and kept behind the signed envelope. Both sealed en-

velopes are thus suspended.



T he perform er says to the audie nce, So far, so good. Now

there is an adage I would like to tell you about, which is that a

magician should never tel l his audience what he is going to do

before he does it . Well, I am going to do just that, tell you all

ju st w ha t I prop ose to do. I shall dis int eg rate the bi l l the g entle-

man has and cause i t to af terwards material ize inside that sealed

envelope. Of course, some of you will leave here tonight and

say, 'H e did not do it . It 's im pos sible. ' W el l, be tha t as it m ay,

you are about to w itnes s that very thin g. Sir , wil l you stand u p,

hold up the bi l l and come up here. Oh no, I am not going to

w he ed le th e bill from you . D on 't even allow me to so m uch as

touc h i t for a s ingle m om ent. W ill you please read off the num -

ber again . Th e perfo rm er w rites i t on the slate and places th e

slate on a chair in full view.

H ave you a m atch. H ere is one. Please burn just a t in y piece

off one co rner of the bill . As th e sp ec tato r tou ch es the ma tch

to the bill, it goes up in flames because it is a flash bill (explana-

t ion to fol low).

Sir , you should not have done tha t . Please be m ore careful

next t ime. I t 's a good thing we kept the serial number or we would

not be able to get our bi l l back. Pe rform er unc lips the envelopes

and tears the end off, seems to remove the blue one from the

white one, but takes the blue one from behind the white one,

drops the white one on the table, moves over towards the assist-

ing spectator and tears the top off the blue envelope. He takes

out the red one and hands i t to the assist ing spectator and says,

Plea se be careful th is t im e. W ill you tear open the envelope

and tell me what you find. You don't say—a one-dollar bill . Now

wh o wo uld have th ou gh t i t? Do you thin k i t could be the same

bill? You do n't eh? W el l, please read the num ber alou d. 2,789,621

— well , th at 's the num ber he re. W h at does you r card say? I t says

the same? Th an k you kin dly . Please hand the bi l l to the gen tle-

man wh o sealed the env elope to rech eck . You may keep it as a

souv enir , but I w arn you, don 't put a m atch near i t .

The essential points of the tr ick that have not been com-

pletely clarif ied at the beginning are as fol lows:

The exchange of b i l l : The performer puts the two dol lar

bills he obtains from the spectator for his one two-dollar bill into

his wallet as he walks away, and takes a prepared one-dollar bi l l

from his wallet . This passes unchallenged because the number of

the bi l l is wri t ten down after he hands i t to a spectator , and no

two bil ls have the same number, but you may obtain ten new bil ls

from a bank for a ten -do llar bill , and it is not d ifficult to over-

come the obstacle of a three and an eight in the last place when

all the other numbers are the same.

The red envelope with the other bi l l sealed inside the blue

envelope is a sliding fit in the false bottom of the small tray, and

when the spectator seals the three envelopes, one inside the other ,



they are dropped with the name side up on the tray. The en-

velopes inside the false bottom are secret ly removed when taking

the envelopes off the tray. When they are held by the suspend-

ed clips, the front sealed env elope hides the oth ers from view .

By simply tearing off the end and removing the blue en-

velope containing the red one from the back instead of from the

white envelope, the i l lusion is quite sound.

The way to make flash paper is to soak the paper first in acid,

wash the acid out in distil led water and allow to dry. I realize

this is a lot of t rouble, and am therefore describing an al ternative

method that may be preferred because of i ts relat ive simplici ty

and economy.

The dupl ica te b i l l , o therwise unprepared, i s unmis takably

placed under a handkerchief and given to the spectator to hold

onto. The performer withdraws his hand after covering the bi l l

so his hand s are seen clearly to be em pty. In othe r wo rds, th e

spectator is convinced he holds the bi l l , which in truth he does.

W ha t he is not aware of is tha t a double hand kerch ief is used,

and the bi l l is inside the handkerchief , s t i tched around three of

its sides.

Another method, for which I am indebted to Terry Lynn,

is to have a corner of the bill that is sealed inside the envelope

and loaded into the false bottom of the tray, l ightly stuck on the

back of a packet of matches, so that it can be easily removed

with one hand holding the matches. This is laid on your table

till w an ted . T he ma n w ith th e bill is asked to tea r off the to p

left corner so i t may be thus identif ied again. The performer

picks up the matches and, taking the corner torn from the corner

of the bi l l by the spectator , t ransfers the corner to his r ight hand

holding the matches, and transfers the matches to his lef t hand.

Bu t in doing so, the corn ers are exch ange d, and the co rner from

the spectator 's bi l l rests unsuspected, concealed under the match

packet . The performer asks the spectator which part of the bi l l

he shall use. The quest ion is made in an ambiguous manner, be-

cause wh atever the answ er, the perform er says, You hold the

corner then and give me the bi l l . T hi s he ei the r openly bu rns

or, using the sl i t envelope, s teals i t through the sl i t and burns the

piece of paper, folded and placed inside to represent the bill .

If you prefer to use a regular handkerchief in place of the

dou ble one, you may do so by havin g a bill or piece of p ape r fold-

ed and sewn into the hem. This cal ls for palming the bi l l when

you put i t under the handkerchief and giving the sewn-in bi l l

to the spectator to hold. This is essentially an illusion for a club

or drawing room and do not recommend i t for the theatres as i t

is a li t t le slow and breaks the rule as set forth in Chapter One,

D on 't leave you r sta ge.



O N

MULHO LLAND S SLIDE PASS

WITH A SINGLE COIN

This is an excellent piece of deception. The coin lies on the

palm of the right hand as in Fig. 1. The hand is t i l ted downward

and the coin sl ides down to the posit ion shown in Fig. 2 where

it is held by pressure brought to bear on the edge of the coin by

the first and fo ur th fingers.

The left hand closes as if the coin had gone down the right

hand and off the fingers into the left hand. The body then makes

a part left tu rn and the han ds are bro ug ht to the pos it ion show n

in Fig. 3.

The i l lusion is complete when the t iming is r ight.

The left hand is shown empty and the coin is produced at

th e th um b and first fingertip.

T he move will also wo rk with several coins at one t im e. T he

sound of the coins gathering on the curved right f ingers enhances

the i l lusion considerably.

This move with several coins is a part icular favorite of J . B.

Cook. H e excels in the app lica tion of th is move to several ex-

cellent coin effects. T he move was prev ious ly pub lished w itho ut

credi t to the or iginato r Jo hn Mu lhol land in whose ski ll ful h ands

it is a perfect and th oro ug hly con vincin g i l lusion. T hi s is to be

expected from one who is as skillful as J. H.



ANOTH ER VERY EFFECTIVE PROD UCTION OF FIVE

COINS, ONE B Y ONE, IN THE LEFT HAND

Original)

The right hand has produced five coins at the fingertips, and

during this production the left hand has secretly procured from

a ho lder on the left side five coins and tran sfe rred them to the

Downs ' palm posi t ion.

The coins in the right hand are now held displayed spread out

between the fingers and thumb, and in this manner they are lowered

into the left hand tha t already has five coins secr etly palm ed. As

the right hand coins are hidden by the left hand fingers, they are

secretly palmed, and the five coins in the left hand are exposed to

view, thus convincing the spectators that the coins displayed a

moment previously were transferred to the left hand. The five

coins are allowed to slide off the left hand fingers into some re-

ceptacle ( I use a h at ) . T he left hand is now brou gh t to sho ulde r

level; your r ight side is facing the audience.

The right hand is brought up in front of the left hand, and

the botto m coin of the stack of five D ow ns ' palm ed is remo ved from

the stack by the second and thi rd fingers of th e rig h t han d. See

Fig. 1. This picture was taken so that the coin was exposed as

it was removed from the palm posit ion.

The right hand now moves in front of the left wrist, past the

left hand and back again, and the left hand is closed and turned over.

However, during these actions the coin secretly held in between

the two m iddle fingers of the righ t hand was secre tly drop ped into

the left hand just before it closed and was turned over. This is

not difficult , but must be properly synchronized or the i l lusion to

follow will be marred.



The left hand is opened and the coin revealed there. The coin

slides off the hand and is caught between the thumb and first

f inger of the rig ht h and , as show n in F ig . 2. T hi s po sit ion w as

photographed to show the other coins held in the hand.

u

now make a r ight turn to bring the left side towards the

audience, and the coin held between the finger and thumb of the

right hand is dropped into the hat .

You then t ur n left and repea t the moves, but this t ime in-

stead of turning right again, the left hand is held about eighteen

inches above the hat on the table and turned around and slowly

opened, revealing the coin in the hand. It is allowed to slide down

the hand and fall into the hat.

T h e moves are repe ated for the rem ainin g four coins. T he last

coin I transfer from the right to the left hand by the muscle pass

descr ibed herein.

THE LYNN PENNIES

y Terry Lynn

From the table, one by one, seven pennies are taken with the

right hand and placed into your empty left hand. A spectator

is requested to extend his r ight hand, and you again transfer the

pen nies, one by one, w ith your r ig ht han d into his hand . T ur n-

ing his hand over after he closes it on the pennies, ask him how

m any coins he has. On hea ring him state, Seve n , you cause

one coin to leave his, and count the six coins back into your hand.

Repeat the i l lusion with six, and then with five.

The moves that permit this i l lusion to be performed are as

follows.

The coins are each picked up between your first finger-

t ip and thumb and transferred from your left hand and laid, most

precisely, into the spectator ' s extended hand. On t ransferr ing the

second to the last coin in the exact manner you did the coins pre-

ceding i t , you only touch this coin on the other coins without

releasing it, and immediately tip the last coin from your left hand

over into his right hand as you close the fingers of his hand on

the coins, w ith you r r igh t hand st i l l secre tly retain ing th e second

to the last coin. There is no haste about this. It is all done at an

even pace. The i l lusion is perfect .

You may say, H ow many coins did I coun t into you r han d,

please? Now I shall take one away . T ap the back of the spec-

ta to r's han d ligh tly with you r left fingertips and show th e coin

in you r r ig ht han d. Cou nt the coins very de liberately, one by

one, back into you r left hand , and repe at.



THE STEAL I My Method

Having produced five si lver dollars with your r ight hand from

the lower Do wn s ' palm posi t ion and throw n them into your open

left hand, proceed as follows:

Close the left hand on the five coins and turn it over so that

the back of the left hand and the right side of the body are towards

the audience. See Fig. 1.

The second and third fingertips of your left hand work out

the dollar immediately under them, so that i t protrudes well out of

the hand at the wrist .

Place the pad of the second finger of the right hand on the

knuckle joint of the first f inger of the left hand, and, keeping the

right hand still , rotate the left hand so that the backs of the closed

fingers of the left hand are brought up against the side of the

palm of the right hand. The protruding coin should then be at the

fork of the right thumb. See Fig. 2.

The coin is palmed by the right thumb, and the right hand

moves down, the hand remaining open. See Fig. 3.

You turn, facing the audience, as the right hand is brought

across in front of your body. The right hand is closed, and the coin

that is thumb palmed is f irst dropped on the fingers, and from

there it is back palmed, as the palm of the hand is brought to face

the audience. These moves are synchronized with the turn so that

the coin is not seen during its passage from the front thumb palm

to the back palm posit ion. The coin is then produced at the fingers,

flipped several feet into the air, caught in the right hand and placed

on a display stand.

All of the aforesaid moves are repeated, and the second coin is

placed on the stand. The third coin is taken to the thumb palm and

then produced at the left elbow, and l ikewise placed on the stand.



The fourth coin is taken to the thumb palm, and then as the

hand is turned palm to audience i t is back thumb palmed, and the

hand carr ied over to the r ight s ide, palm facing the audience. The

coin is produced and placed on the stand.

The f if th coin is then shown in the lef t hand. The hand is

closed and turned over, and the coin is stolen as was the first coin

by the fork of the r ight thumb. The r ight hand is turned over, and

the coin passes to the back thumb palm posit ion. The lef t hand

is opened to show the coin is gone, and then turned to bring the

back of the thumb against the coin in the r ight hand. The coin is

t ransfe rred to the lef t hand. T he r ig ht hand is then bro ugh t und er

the lef t hand and the coin released. Fall ing behind the lef t hand,

the coin is caught on the f ingers of the r ight hand and produced

at the f ing er t ips .

T he pho tos clearly show how a coin in the left han d is f irs t

worked into posi t ion between the f ingert ips and the palm, and then

by turning over the lef t hand under the cover of the r ight hand,

the coin is brought to the r ight hand, thumb palm posit ion, just as

the r ight hand is moving away.

P SSING

SEVER L

COINS THROUGH

T BLE

T WHICH YOU RE

SE TED

This is an effect that should be performed while seated at a

table. In the r ight hand take three si lver dollars and one half

dollar, and in the left hand three silver dollars. Show the coins on

the palms of the open hands. Close the left hand on the three

si lver dollars therein, and lower i t under the table. As you do

so, leave the three dollars in a stack on your left leg, and bring

the closed left hand up on top of the table again.

The r ight hand spil ls out the three dollars and the half dollar

on th e table as you say, T hr ee d ollars and a half dollar in th e

r igh t hand . Th e r igh t hand gath ers up the four coins and thum b

palms the half dollar . You hold the three dollars secret ly between

the knuckles and the palm so they can be released to fall on the

table wi thout any movement being apparent of opening the

r igh t hand .

Now you open the lef t hand and drop the three dollars from

the r igh t hand as you say, A nd three dollars in the lef t han d.

The left hand picks up the three dollars and passes under the

table. The right hand is slapped on the table on the half dollar

as th e left hand b ring s the three dollars forcibly ag ainst the un-

derside of the table. As the lef t hand is brought up, the other

three dollars are reclaimed from off the knee. The right hand is

raised as you say, T he half dollar always gives trou ble . D rop

the six dollars from the left hand on the table.



THE FRENCH DROP Improved)

Th e Fren ch dro p has served wel l the m asters of years gone

by, and is stil l recogn ized as a basic coin sleig ht. H ow ever, I have

found the following variation of the basic method to be more adapt-

able to my usage, so I pass it on to you.

The coin on display, held at right angle to the floor, rests on

edge between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, thumb

and top finger tog eth er and at a slig ht ang le w ith th e floor. T h e

fingers of the left hand move in front of the coin, the thumb be-

hind the coin. T he thum b is an inch and a half aw ay from th e coin

in the posi t ion shown in Fig . 2, wh ich was ph otog raph ed from

above. F ig . 3 is the same view as Fig . 2, also taken from above.

In this position the thumb releases the coin, and the coin falls

onto the second, th ird and fourth fingers. No m ovem ent of th e

right hand should be apparent to the spectators .

The left hand seemingly takes the coin, and as it moves away

to the lef t , both hands turn to bring the backs of the hands towards

the audience. A further effective addition to these moves is to

hold the coin as exp laine d and show n in F ig . 1, and tou ch in g it

on its rim with the tips of the second and third fingers of the left

hand, cause i t to rotate thro ug h 180 deg rees, and the n con tinue

the move as aforesaid. T he rot at in g act ion adds treme ndo usly to

the effect, as a trial w ill pro ve. If you learn to do thi s co rre ctly

you will never use the older method again.

ANOTHER ORIGINAL FIVE COIN PASS

Fo ur coins are concealed by the D ow ns' palm in the lef t ha nd,

and one coin is back palmed in the right hand. You are standing

with your lef t s ide towards the audience, r ight hand outstretched

palm facing aud ienc e. On yo ur left side is a table and a stand for

su pp ort ing f ive coins. Th e back palmed coin is prod uced at th e

fingert ips of the outstretched r ight hand. The lef t hand is brought

up to the r ight hand for the apparent reason of taking away the



coin, but instead the coin is back palmed, and one of the coins in

the D ow ns ' pa lm po sition is pro du ced at the left fingertips.

These moves of the right and the left hand must be synchronized

so the effect will be that the coin was actually taken from the right

hand f inger t ips .

The left hand, with a coin displayed between the thumb and

first finger and th re e coins in the D ow ns ' pa lm po sition , is

brought across in front of the body, and places the coin in the dis-

play stand. The right hand reaches out, and again a coin appears

at the fingertips. The left hand is brought up, and the aforesaid

moves are repeated. These moves are gone through unti l al l f ive

coins are in the stand.

THE MISER S DREAM

Catching coins in succession from the air dates back to Robert

Houdin. However , I feel cer ta in that T. Nelson Downs who pre-

sented the mon ey catch ing act under the t i t le , Th e Miser 's D ream,

had developed this effect into an act that was a far call from the

simp le, tho ug h effective, feat of R ob ert H ou din 's day. O nly th e

most simple coin palms were known then, by comparison with the

methods known today. Downs l i f ted the ar t of coin manipulat ion

in his day to heights undreamed of in the days of Robert Houdin.

Therefore, when I think of coins I think of Downs the inventor, the

master , whose performances were a feature in the leading theatres

of London, and on the continent, and in New York.

I am going to say right now that i t needs an art ist of consid-

erable skil l or a grea t showm an to perform T he M iser 's Dre am

as Downs and Allan Shaw performed it. It is not sufficient to sim-

ply know how—it takes real talent to get anything l ike the maxi-

mum enter tainment value f rom such an act .

I have seen T he M iser 's D ream perform ed w ith all sorts of

hats—some with t in plates in the crown, others with saucers, buck-

ets,

glasses and bowls—all sorts of fakes and contraptions used by

a large number of performers, some comedy, others dramatic. I

never did see Downs. The performance by Allan Shaw, however,

stands out from all others I have seen beyond any comparison. This

art iste had great charm, poise, deliberation, dramatic talent and

an unusual degree of manipulative skil l . He made use of about

sixteen coins. Every coin he produced at his f ingertips was a real

magical effect in

itself

In a cult ivated and well-modulated voice

he en terta ine d you w ith his subtle w iticism s, such as, I tau gh t th is

to a fr iend of mine. He died, poor fellow. Sheer exhaustion.

In these pages I will describe to you the details and improve-

ments in the manipulative art for performing this act , and set forth

a number of gags, some of which you may find to have desirable pos-



sibilit ies. I performed the coin act for two years, and was featured in

the opp osition th ea tre s to Allen Shaw in 1909 in A us tra lia. I wa i,

however, a poor imitation of Allen Shaw, and these doings were

those of the theatre management rather than by any choice of

mine. But Shaw took i t very philosophically, and there never was

any friction between us because of it . I admired Shaw's work. To

me he was the pinnacle of perfect ion. His work was something to

be aimed at and to try to attain. Because of this, I know of no

better way of gett ing over to you the importance of the detai ls

that may otherw ise be overlooked th an to sketch a verbal pic ture

of Shaw's act.

Shaw's mu sic was eight bars of intro du ction , then into H ea rts

and Flow ers ( too shopw orn for furthe r use, but as a talk ing accom-

paniment i t then had no equal) . The stage was carpeted to the foot-

l ights . Blue velvet drops hung in number two. One small occasional

table was at r ight of center . There was one traveling spot each side,

off stage, about ten feet up, and spot from front, with all other

lights out. On the table was a silk hat, mouth down. Shaw, in fault-

less evening clothes, entered center .

Ladies and gentlemen, my original presentat ion of 'A Miser 's

Dream '—m oney, and how to get i t . Shaw casually picked up th e

silk hat and observed it empty, loaded coins from the rear rim

and proceeded to catch one coin after another, hesi tat ing again and

again to display each coin and to get gag after gag across, keeping

his audience amused with the wit ty dialogue and amazed and en-

terta ined at his ski l l , f inishing the drea m by pro du cin g six coins

from the air as he made a grab, interject ing a l i t t le amusement by

apparently tossing a coin into the air and catching i t in the hat at

the termination of its flight, taking a coin from his shoe as he

said, Fa nc y money for boot pro tec tors , and pu shin g a coin thro ug h

the side of the hat.

Shaw then perform ed a num ber of passes w ith one coin tha t

were the very poetry of motion and most baff l ing to watch. Later

he used five coins, his optical i l lusion as he called it , with one

coin and a hat. He finished his act with a brilliant roll of a coin

across the finger s, saying, T h is you can do, but it does tak e prac-

t ice. I found the firs t f i fteen years the harde st . To ssin g the coin

into the air, he caught it as he walked off to great applause. Curtain.

Time, s ix minutes .

This somewhat vague descript ion wil l perhaps help you to

better visualize this successful act . Shaw used Austral ian half

crowns when I saw him perform . How ever, I recomm end th at you

use the American dollars . These are the coins that I always used,

even in Au stral ia . T he y may seem, and perh aps are, more diff icult

at the beginning, but they pay you well for the addit ional t ime

spent in practice to become proficient in their use.

I venture the opinion that the coin act as presented by Allen

Shaw would be a top act in our leading night clubs today.



FINALE T THE MISER'S DREAM

By W J Alkinson

This is something I read in July Magic, by Ellis Stanyon,

19 2

and after successfully trying it for my wife and sister I rec-

ommend you try it. I think it very good.

At the completion of The Miser's Dream, empty the coins

from the hat and place the hat on the seat of a chair behind which

is suitably arranged a secret pocket to receive the coins.

Take as many coins as you can do the Downs' click pass with

in your right hand, and after seemingly tossing the coins into your

left hand, approach the hat and simulate the act of letting the

coins fall from the left hand into the hat, while your right hand

with the coins is on the back of the chair and the coins are re-

leased to fall into the pocket.

I can speak from experience—even at eight feet the illusion was

quite mystifying.

T W O PLAYING CARDS, FOUR HALF DOLLARS

AND

HANDKERCHIEF

This excellent trick is simply a modification of an effect pub-

lished in Stanyon's Magic Dec, 1904.

In place of the paper squares suggested by John N. Hilliard, I

recommend that two playing cards be used, that the coins be half

dollars and that the manipulation of the cards to conceal the coins

be as explained herein. Otherwise the trick is essentially Hilliard's.

Place a felt pad or several napkins under the tablecloth to elim-

inate revealing sounds during the working of the trick.

Place a handkerchief on the table over the padded cloth, or

else place it on the carpeted floor; on the handkerchief place the

four half dollars in a square. They should be about six inches apart.

Take the two cards, preferably an Ace and a King, and while

pattering away place the Ace held in the left hand, on the coin

at the left rear corner and the King on the coin at the right

rear corner. Say, Here I place the Ace and here the King. Now

I place the King here and the Ace here. Cross the hands and place

the Ace on the coin at the right front corner and the King on the

coin at the left front corner. Without a change of pace, pick up

the coin with the left hand at the right front corner between the

second finger under the coin and the thumb on the card. Before

you take the card, the Ace, away with the coin thus held, the right

hand with the King is carried over the place where the coin was to

take the place of the Ace as it is removed, and the left hand lays



the Ace and the coin down at the left front corner without let t ing

the coins touch each other.

The left hand picks up the left rear corner and the right hand

picks up the coin that is there and moves with the coin showing

un der the hand kerc hief. As soon as it is out of sight the coin is

dropped on the table and the hand moves under the handkerchief

t i l l i t reaches the two coins under the Ace. At that moment the

left hand holding the corner of the handkerchief recovers the coin

from the table. T he rig ht hand j in gles the two coins un de r the Ace

and is w ithd raw n from un der the hand kerchief clearly shown emp-

ty. Th e Ace is lifted and imm edia tely passed to the left han d w hich

drops the corner of the handkerchief to take the Ace from the

right hand and in this manner the coin is secretly transferred to

the underside of the Ace and laid si lently on the other two coins

from which it was just removed.

The left hand picks up the left corner of the handkerchief

again and the right hand takes up the coin from the right front cor-

ner and passes und er the handk erchief si lently dro pp ing the coin

when out of sight. Jingle the coins under the Ace and withdraw

the right hand and show it empty. The right hand picks up the

Ace

and three coins are seen lying there. The Ace is transferred

straight away to the left hand that has recovered the dropped coin

from the table as before and card and coin are sile ntly replac ed

with the other three coins . Th e K ing is tapped and then turne d

over and the coin has vanishe d. T he Ace is duly raised and the

four coins are seen together.

The success of this effect depends on not let t ing the coins talk

when they should not and on a fairly fast unb roke n wor kin g pace

from beginning to end.

O IN THROUGH

HANDKERCHIEF

Original)

T he coin prefera bly a si lver dollar is secreted in the rig ht

hand finger palmed. A handk erchief prefera bly w hite si lk is

taken from the pocket and displayed by two corners. The coin is

held in front of the corner covered by the fingers holding the

silk. The left hand corner is placed on the right hand corner

over the coin. The front bottom corner is folded up on the pre-

viously folded corner and the remaining corner is folded behind

und er the righ t thu m b. In this m anne r the left hand holds the

silk by its four corners. The right hand is now closed and opened.

It then seem ingly pluck s a coin from the air . As the perfo rm er

makes a thro w ing mo tion in the direc tion of the si lk the coin

secretly held between the corners is let fall to the middle of the

silk.

The right hand takes hold of the coin through the si lk at

the middle and without the left hand lett ing go of the four cor-

ners

the cen ter of the silk is br ou gh t up above the left h and and

the coin is released secretly falling into the left hand.



The left hand carries the coin up to the right hand, behind

the silk, and the procedure of pulling the coin through the center

of the silk is successfully undertaken. The coin is removed and

the silk shown. This is an excellent piece of business.

Try pulling the handkerchief down with the right hand and

retain the coin displayed between the finger and thumb of the

left hand. The effect is even more startling as the act of slowly

pulling down on the handkerchief the coin held between the finger

and thumb of the left hand come into view.

A COIN VANISH AND

RE PPE R NCE

By That Clever Artiste Carlyle)

Hold a silver dollar between the thumb and fingers of your

right hand, thumb on top, and place the coin in your left hand,

which is outstretched at arm's length and shoulder height. Close

your left hand fingers on the coin. Turn the left hand over so the

back of the hand is towards the audience, and tilt the thumb and

first finger so they are pointing directly away from the audience.

The audience is unable to see them in this position. The left hand

has the coin in it, so the move is really a fair one so far.

Then say, "Watch, no up-the-sleeve business." With the right

hand, push back the coat sleeve. This action pulls the shirt sleeve

up also, and the buttoned cuff of the shirt is tight around your arm

about six inches up the arm from your wrist. Say, "Everything is

fair and above board. No deception really." While making this

statement, the left hand is opened, and the coin is openly dropped

into the right hand. The coin is again held between the thumb and

first finger and placed in the left hand, which closes on the coin

and turns over as was done the first time. But this time the coin

is retained by the finger and thumb of the right hand, which tilts

as before to conceal it.

The right hand, with the coin thus held, is placed behind the

left wrist, and the coin is pressed against the front part of the left

arm, which is then furthest from the audience. The second finger

of the right hand and the right thumb are pressed against the wrist.

You say, "Hold my wrist," to one of the spectators, and at the same

time the fingers of the right hand press the coin half way under

the shirt cuff between the cuff and the arm. This allows you to re-

move your hand and let the hand be seen empty. With the proper

dramatics, your left hand is slowly (very slowly) opened—the coin

is gone Then you say to the spectator, "Hold the wrist more tight-

ly," and as you illustrate your words by actions rotate the hand,

bringing the coin still under the shirt cuff to the front and directly

under the hand. The coin is easily taken by the thumb and fingers,

and as the hand moves past the left hand you open your left hand

and show the coin in your right hand, held between the finger and

thumb by its milled edge. The illusion is that the coin was in your

left hand and you took it with your right.



THE

STE L

By Cardini

This is an effective piece of coin manipulation, by Cardini .

With his permission I pass i t on to you.

Five si lver dollars are dropped into the left hand. The hand is

closed and turned to bring the back of the hand towards the audi-

ence.

The fingers of the r ight hand are shown empty, and then

tap the back of the closed left hand. The left hand turns over as

the r ight hand is drawn away. The right hand is closed, and a coin

emerges from between the thumb and first f inger without opening,

as if the coin were being disgorged. It is very effective and quite

myster ious to watch.

The left hand is opened, and only four coins remain. The afore-

said moves are al l repeated, and then three coins only remain. This

is repe ated th re e m ore tim es unt il all the coins have passed from

the left to the r ight hand.

The moves by which this transit of coins is accomplished are

as follows:

The five silver coins are held in the left hand (see Fig. 1).

The left hand closes on the five coins and turns over (see Fig. 2).

The second and third f ingers of the left hand press l ightly on the

face of one coin, and rapidly but silently work it out until i t pro-

trud es as in Fi g. 3. T he rig ht h and is shown em pty and br ou gh t to

posit ion as in F ig . 3. T he left h and is then tur ne d over. T hi s act

brings the coin into a posit ion so i t may be secretly secured by

the two middle f ingers of the r ight hand, as depicted in Fig. 4. For

a mom ent don t follow the pho tograp hs fur ther than Fig . 4 . T he

right hand closes on the coin, and the hand is withdrawn about

twelve inches away from the left hand and commences a light

crushing action which causes the coin therein to slowly emerge

from the hand between the thumb and finger base.

The moves are repeated until no coins are in the left hand. I can

say from watching Cardini perform this from a distance of four

feet, the illusion was perfect and left nothing to be desired.

Cardini does not steal the first two coins by the described

method, preferring to thumb palm them one by one as they are

turned back from the r ight to the left hand.

For those who wish to add a different touch to the effect, let

us go back to F ig . 4 and pass on to F ig . 5. T he coin is placed be-

hin d th e closed left han d as show n in F ig . 6 and F ig . 7, and a tilt

backwards of the left hand causes the coin to be secretly secured

by the flesh of the back of the hand and the wrist (see Fig. 8).

The right hand is shown empty, and the f ingers and thumb are

placed on the left wrist as if taking the pulse, and the coin is al-

lowed to sl ide secretly into the hand to be produced as aforesaid.



THE STE L

By Cardini



TWENTY-ONE CENTS

By

oss

Bertram

{Toronto

Canada

While the original version of this tr ick necessitated the use of

shell coins, thi s m ethod is acco m plished w ith bo rrow ed coins if de-

sired, and therefor e places the effect in the im pro m ptu class . You

will find here a few subtleties which elevate the trick to a new

standard. One or two tr ials wil l please you and at the same t ime

astonish the specta tors .

EFFE T

Performer places two nickles, a dime and a cent in his left

hand and closes same. All of the coins except one of the nickles

vanish. The remaining nickle is ordinary and may be examined.

METHOD

Fig 1

The coins are laid on the table in the following order:

from left to r ight: Nickle, Cent, Dime and Nickle.

Fig 2

The left hand is held with the palm upward, f ingers

close together. The left-hand nickle is picked up by the r ight hand,

held at t ips of index fingers and thumb, the coin being gripped

at its edge and extending out from the side of the f inger and thumb.

Right hand then approaches left , the hands being turned so that

their fingers are parallel, and the nickle is placed on the left palm,

at the base of the third finger. The cent is picked up in the same

way and placed on the nickle; then the dime is placed on the cent,

making a stack of three coins. As each coin is placed in the left

hand, the total amount of money in the left hand at that point is

counted aloud by the performer.

Fig 3 The last coin (nickle) is picked in the same way as the

others, and the r ight hand is brought down over the stack so that

inner side of second finger-tip presses down on the left edge of

the stack, thus t i l t ing the stack.

Fig 4

Third f inger closes in and the stack is nipped between

the second and third f ingers. The nickle is deposited on the palm

in the same instant that the stack is nipped away, the left hand

closing immediately. The act of gripping the stack causes the

coins to cl ick together, s imulating the sound of the nickle being

placed on top of the stack.

Fig

5. W ith the r igh t hand reach to a spec tator at you r r igh t ,

grasp his left arm at the wrist or elbow, and request him to hold

out his left hand. Ask him how much money you have in your

left han d, then open the hand , drop pin g th e nickle onto spe ctato r s

outstretched palm. He invariably examines the coin. While he is

doing so, drop yo ur loaded righ t hand to you r sid e; then hold out

em pty left hand to receive the coin. T he rig ht h and, w ith f ingers

curled, is brought up, and nickle is taken between extended thumb

and index finger. I t is placed in the r ight hand trouser pocket, the

stack being left there at the same t ime.



TWENTY ONE CENTS

By

oss

Bertram

A M aster of Close Up Coin Magic



COINS PASS ONE BY ONE FROM THE LEFT HAND

TO THE RIGHT HAND

The performer takes four dollars from his vest pocket and

places the m in a squa re abou t six inch es ap art on the table see

Fig. 1). He picks up the four coins, one by one, and drops each

coin onto the palm of his left han d see Fig . 2).

He t ips the coins from the left hand to the right hand, spread-

ing them in the palm of his r ight hand with his left f ingertips so

everyone can plainly see the four coins. He once more tips the coins

back to the left hand and sprea ds them again with his r ig ht f inger-

t ips so that everyone may see the four coins. He then t ips the four

coins onto the table.

These moves were all made to convince the onlookers that only

four coins are used throughout this t r ick.

With his r ight hand the performer picks up the f i rs t coin

and places it on the palm of his outstretched left hand, and likewise

places the remaining three coins, one by one, alongside the first . He

then closes both hand s and tu rn s them face dow n. Fr om th e closed

rig ht fist the perfo rm er w orks a coin out, as show n in F ig . 6. T he

coin drops on the table, and the empty right palm is turned up.

The left hand drops three coins on the right hand, and the right

hand turns them back into the left hand. The left hand drops them

onto the table. The right hand picks them up, one at a t ime, and

drops them into the palm of the left hand. Both hands close, and

the second coin is squeezed out of the right hand and let fall on

the table. T he rig ht hand is opened and turn ed palm up.

The left hand drops two coins on the right palm. The right

hand drops them back into the left hand. Both hands are closed

and turned down, and the third coin is squeezed from the right

fist.

The right hand is opened, and the left hand drops one coin

into the right hand, and the right hand turns i t back to the left

hand . T he perfo rm er tak es a pencil from his pock et and, dro pp ing

the coin from his left hand onto the table, asks a spectator if he

w ould care to m ark th is coin. No one offers to do so. T h e coin is

taken in the right hand and turned over to the left hand. Both hands

are closed, and the coin is squeezed out of the right fist, and both

hands are seen empty.

This f ine effect depends on the following secret moves, and

good t iming.



When you reach into your vest pocket to procure the four

coins for the trick, you secretly palm a fifth coin in the right hand

from the vest right side pocket. Take the four coins openly from

the left side vest pocket, place them on the table, using both hands

to arrange the four coins into a square.

With the right hand secreting the fifth coin, pick up the four

coins,

one by one, and drop them openly, for all to see, into the left

palm, opening and shutting the left hand as each coin is dropped

into it see Fig. 2). Now bring the hands together. The left hand



t ips three of the four coins into the right hand. The coin in the

center of the palm of the left hand is secretly palmed. The right

hand is opened, and four coins are seen. That is the crux of the

illusion, and it is a ver y good one indee d. You sh ould pra ctic e th is

move until you can do it as effectively and naturally as if you were

transferr ing al l the coins from one hand to the other .

The remaining moves to learn are as fol lows: When you have

two coins in your left hand after squeezing out the third coin from

the rig ht fist , these two coins m ust not be allowed to talk , for the

spectators believe there is only one coin, and one coin does not

rat t le . With one coin palmed in the lef t and one on the f ingers,

drop the one that is held on the left hand fingers on the out-

stretched palm of the r ight hand, and immediately pretend to turn

it back to the left hand, the left hand opening to reveal the coin

already there. With the coin in the left hand now in full view, the

right hand with the other coin palmed reaches to the top left side

pocket for a pencil (have one ready). The coin is disposed of with-

out arousing the least suspicion.

The method of palming is not very important . Use the one

you are most proficient in. Many wil l prefer the thumb palm, while

others wil l prefer ei ther the straight palm or holding the coin in

the crook of the fingers. I personally think for this effect that the

thumb palm offers advantages not presented by the other methods.

However, use the one you find best.

T h e last coin is disp ose d of by use of a mo ve des crib ed in

Ga ult ier 's book, M agic W ith o u t A pp ara tus , Pa ge 314. I t is cred-

ited to Mr. Trewey, and is perfect for this effect. The coin is held

in the left hand, both hands palm up separated a space of six inches.

As the hands are closed they are turned smart ly over, the thumbs

momentari ly being brought together. At this moment the lef t hand

part ly opens to al low the momentum caused by the move to carry

the coin unsuspected to the r ight hand. A tr ial wil l tel l you more

than a volume of words, so try it out right now. You will l ike it , I

feel sure.



TH

TR NSFER

OF

SILVER DOLL R FROM O NE

H ND T THE OTHER

For those with a preference for artistic movement of the hands

to prove them, by conjuror s logic, to be empty, the following moves

are presented.

Stand with your right side facing the audience, or a mirror for

practice. Both hands are at shoulder height, the left hand palm

facing extended beyond the right hand back of right hand facing.

In the right hand, front thumb palmed, is a silver dollar.

The right hand is slowly turned over to show the palm, but

when is has been rotated through about forty-five degrees, the first

finger is closed around the thumb palmed coin, which holds it firm-

ly, while the thumb releases its hold and reaches clear across the

coin to the root of the fourth finger, thus bringing the thumb into

position to back thumb palm the coin as the hand is opened at

the completion of the turn, which should be less than half a revolu-

tion, and made at one continuous pace.

The left hand is then turned over to bring the back of the

hand facing out in the same slow manner. The last move is made

so the left hand is now lower than the right hand and directly un-

der it.

The backs of the two index fingers of the open hands are now

brought momentarily together, and the coin is readily transferred

from the back thumb palm of the right hand to the back thumb

palm of the left hand. At the completion of the transfer, both

palms are facing the floor.

The right hand is rotated to bring its back to the audience. To

do this properly, the sides of the tip of the fingers should remain

touching during the last move.

The left hand, with the coin back thumb palmed, is rotated to

bring the palms facing. The right hand acts as a cover to keep the

coin from being seen.

The right hand is lowered in front of the left palm, passing

downwards until the left little fingertip touches the right thumb

t p With the finger and thumb tips still engaged, the right hand is

turned over to show its palm, and then turned down again. Bring-

ing the fingers of the right hand partly under the side of the left

hand, the coin is released from the back left thumb palm, and falls

secretly into the partly closed fingers of the right hand.

The left hand then partly closes on the right thumb; the hands

move away from one another. The left hand is slowly opened, and

the right hand produces the coin at the tip of the finger and thumb

by the simple act of sliding it up the fingers with the thumb.

I feel I should warn you to practice these moves very carefully

from the instructions I have given if you would retain all of their

beauty and illusion



O N PLATT S CHINESE COIN ON PENCIL ILLUSION

IWITH PERMISSION)

Th is i llusion has al ready appeared in the Sp hin x magazine

w ith perm ission of Jo hn Pla tt . Ho wev er, the chan ges here in sug-

gested lie only in the use of a pencil and a Chinese coin in place

of using a r ing and a wand.

Taking a Chinese brass coin from your pocket (one with a hole

thro ug h i ts ce nte r) , you say, T his coin recalls a story tha t may

possibly intere st you. If you don 't m ind, I w ould like to tell you

abou t it . I was pla yin g in a tow n called Pe kin , now called Pe ep -

ing. Th e inciden t I am about to relate occu rred in the m arke t

place there about nine o'clock in the morning of July seventh. I

have very good reason to remember both the day, which was

Thursday, and the date , July the seventh. They had brought some

twenty coolie prisoners from the jai l house to the market place,

and they were kne eling while a gua rd stretch ed o ut their necks

by their queues as another proceeded to quickly lop off their

heads,

one after the other, w ith a heavy two-h anded swo rd. I asked

an En glishm an stan din g nearby wh at it was all about. H e said,

'They are river pirates and they chop off their heads if it does

not rain. ' Well, I sood there fascinated, and not a little nause-

ated, by this spectacle, and as the third head rolled to the flag-

stones, this Chinese cash (Cash is the Chinese name for this coin)

rolled over to my feet and stood on edge . Fa scin ate d, I watc he d

it intently, for the coin had fallen from the decapitated coolie's

hand . Daze dly I stooped to pick i t up, but to my amazem ent i t

was no longer there . Later a very s t rang e thin g happ ened. I

hastened away from the place, feeling quite troubled about the

whole affair. Im agine my bew ilderm ent wh en, on reac hing the

ho tel, I found the coin in my po cke t. You may say it was a lapse

of memory, that I picked up the coin and myself placed it in my

pock et. Ho wev er, to this day I am su pe rsti t io us about this coin,

and believe i t has eerie pro pe rties. On three sepa rate occasions

I have th ou gh t it best to dispos e of it . On ce I th re w it in the sea,

but on go ing to my cabin later, the coin wa s on my pillow . I

assure you, gentlemen, that on more than one occasion I have had

cause to be quite distu rbed . T his l i t t le dem ons tration w ill , per-

haps , help you to understand what I mean.

Lo ok, I will place the coin in m y left h and and place th is

handkerchief aroun d my hand. W ou ld you mind s l ipping tha t

rubber band over my hand to hold the handkerchief securely on

my wrist to completely encircle the hand holding the coin? Thank

you.

See this lead pencil . Examine i t , please. I t ' s just an ordinary

pencil as you see.

While you show the pencil , your r ight hand can also be plain-

ly seen empty without your saying so. Then, holding the pencil

with your hand around i ts middle, you ask a spectator to clasp one

hand around each end of the pencil . You then place your hand

100 '



with the handkerchief around the penci l remove the rubber band

and on pul l ing the handkerchief away the penci l is through the

hole in the Chinese coin although the spectator did not let go of

i ts ends.

The secret of this very fine illusion is fairly simple when ex-

plain ed becau se each of the mo ves has been carefu lly tim ed ar-

ranged and planned with forethou ght . Th e s tory puts the audi-

ence in a receptive mood for the mystery.

T h e left han d is held palm u p ; the coin is placed in it and

the hand plain for all to see is closed on the coin and then turned

over. A han dk erch ief is taken from the pocke t w ith the rig ht h and

and held by one s ide midway between two corners thumb upper-

m ost and the four f ingers bent un de r the hand kerch ief. T he rig ht

han d is held abou t six inch es above the left h and w hich is hold -

ing the coin. The handkerchief is hanging down on the left side

of the right hand. In this manner the handkerchief is laid over

the back of the left hand and drawn down by the right hand to

cente r the left hand w ith the hand kerch ief. If the rig ht hand

is ho ldin g the han dk erch ief as described the coin can be droppe d

from the left hand and caught by the fingers of the right hand

with complete secrecy. The right hand fl ips the coin up the

right sleeve and then gathers the handkerchief over the left

han d. A rubbe r band previo usly given to a spec tator is passed

over the hand by him to secure the handkerchief around the left

wr is t .

You reach for the pencil lying on the table and let the coin

in your r ight sleeve drop secretly into your hand. Take up the

pencil so that one end passes into the hole through the coin. Press

the othe r end of the penc il aga inst the left h and so tha t yo ur r ig ht

hand is brought to the middle of the pencil now concealing the

coin w hic h is on the pen cil. Ask som eone to hold the penc il by

its ends and bring your left hand over to take the place of the

rig ht . R emove the rubbe r band then the hand kerchief and the

coin is seen on the pencil.

101



FIVE SILV R DOLL RS ND H NDKERCH IEF ROUTINE

T his is a beautiful i l lusion tha t I worked out about two years

ago with f ive dollars and a hand kerch ief . I t is som ethin g quite new

and different and should appeal to the coin manipulator who wants

something apart from the ordinary run of coin passes. I t wil l no

doubt lead the way to many different versions and variat ions.

Five dollars are held, not palmed, in the r ight hand. The r ight

hand removes by a corner a f ine, but not t ransparent , cambric hand-

kerchief from the handkerchief pocket of the coat and shakes it

out . T he left han d seizes the oppo site corne r of the hand kerchief ,

and the han dkerc hief is displayed for a m om ent. T he lef t hand re-

leases i ts corner with a s l ight upward toss and is passed under the

hand kerchief so tha t the han dke rchief falls and lies spread over the

open left hand.

The f ive si lver dollars are then dropped, one at a t ime, onto

the handkerchief , and then openly turned back into the r ight hand

again. A Dow ns cl ick pass is execu ted, as described p reviou sly.

The left hand closes on the handkerchief as if the coins were held

therein, while actually they are secret ly Downs palmed in the r ight

hand. Performer should be standing with his lef t s ide facing the

audience while executing the move, so that the palm of the r ight

hand facing the audience wil l disperse any suspicion of the decep-

t ion.

The left hand turns over with the handkerchief so the four cor-

ners fa l l downward together , the middle held supposedly wi th the

coins.

The four f ingers of the r ight hand pass around the handker-

chief about four inches down from the lef t hand, the thumb pass-

ing behind the hand kerch ief . T he coins are al l this t im e D owns

palmed in the r ight hand.

The r ight hand moves down the handkerchief to the four cor-

ners, and holds them bunched together. The lef t hand now lowers

the middle of the handkerchief , supposedly with the coins therein.

The both hands are holding the handkerchief . The corners in the

right hand conceal the coins, which are allowed to lie loosely on

the f ingers .

Both hands jog up and down three or four t imes, and the coins

clink together. The audience thinks the coins are in the middle of

the hand kerchief . T he i l lusion is he igh ten ed th at the y are st i l l ther e

by the clink of the coins as the hankerchief is shaken.

The f irs t f inger and thumb of the r ight hand seize a corner

of the handkerchief and suddenly pull i t out of the left hand and

shake i t out . The i l lusion is very start l ing, for the coins seem to

vanish .

102



Because of the moves to follow the five coins should be Downs

palmed just prior to shaking out the handkerchief.

With the handkerchief held by a corner between the thumb and

first fingertip of the right hand the performer turns right to bring

the left side of his body towards the audience. The careless man-

ner in which the hankerchief is held and shaken seems to make it

impractical to hold the coins without their being seen but such is

actually the case.

Now follow these moves very carefully. The right hand is hold-

ing the handkerchief by a corner and has five coins Downs palmed

the palm of the right hand facing the audience.

Show the left palm to the audience by holding it about six

inches from the right hand. Then take hold of the handkerchief at

the corner held by the right hand and draw it along the hem until

the adjacent corner is reached.

Then turn the body facing the audience with the hankerchief

held by the two corners one corner in each hand. Now turn left to

bring the right side towards the audience. Release the right hand

from the corner and hold the handkerchief up by the left hand cor-

ner only. Pass the second third and fourth fingers of the left

hand in front of the handkerchief. This leaves the handkerchief

held between the second and third fingers. The thumb and second

and third fingers are spread open to reveal the hand empty.

The right hand with the coins Downs palmed passes the two

middle fingers and thumb in opposite directions completely around

the handkerchief until the fingertips and thumb tip meet. This is

done about four inches from the right hand. Now with the hands

handkerchief and coins held thus you make a right turn to bring

the left side to the audience. Now draw the right hand slowly down

and off the end of the handkerchief and again pass the fingers

and thumb around the handkerchief four inches from the left hand

and draw the right hand off the end again.

Pass the right hand around the middle of the handkerchief and

turn left to bring the right side towards the audience. The left hand

releases the handkerchief and the hand is shown back and front

with the fingers apart while the right hand holds the handkerchief.

The left hand fingers and thumb take the handkerchief by the cor-

ner again and the right hand is drawn off the end. The second and

third fingers of the right hand extract the underneath coin and the

hand passes as before around the handkerchief but this time as it

passes off the end a dollar is seen to emerge from the folds of the

handkerchief the coin between the tips of the thumb and first

finger. The coin is laid aside or dropped into the right side pocket.

103



The moves are repeated and a second coin appears as before.

Now the right hand passes around the handkerchief for a third time

but this time the performer makes a right turn to bring the left

side to the audience and the right hand is drawn off the handker-

chief without a coin appearing.

The right hand is now brought up level with and behind the left

hand and the two middle fingers of the left hand are placed one

above and one below the three coins held Downs palmed in the

right hand. The right hand moves down the handkerchief leaving

the coins held by the fingers of the left hand. The right hand seizes

the bottom corner of the handkerchief and the left hand lets go of

the handkerchief and then presses the three coins into the Downs

palm position. The left hand is then passed around the handker-

chief until the thumb and middle fingertips meet. You now make

a left turn and draw the handkerchief and the left hand apart keep-

ing the thumb tip and middle fingertip together to conceal the coins.

The handkerchief corner is now transferred from the first fin-

ger and thumb tip of the right hand to the first finger and thumb

tip of the left hand. This is done very precisely to give the im-

pression that there is no possibility of any deception. The perform-

er then turns face on to the audience.

The right hand passes as before around the handkerchief about

two inches from the left hand. The middle fingers of the left hand

move out the bottom coin of the three and hold it behind the hand-

ker hief The coin is allowed to fall and is caught by the right

hand. As the hand moves down the handkerchief this coin is moved

by the fingers to be held by its milled edge. As the hand passes

off the handkerchief the coin is seen displayed a truly beautiful

effect if the handkerchief is drawn off the coin sideways.

The third coin is laid aside and the moves of seizing the hand-

kerchief with the right hand two inches below the left hand and

droppng a coin into the right hand from the left hand are repeated

but this time a coin is not produced. The handkerchief is pulled

through the right hand to the corner where it is held by the right

thumb and first finger. Then the performer turns right and places

the left hand around the middle section of the handkerchief and

draws it down the handkerchief revealing the coin therein dis-

played between the thumb and second fingertip.

You now have the last coin finger palmed in your right hand

which holds the handkerchief by one corner and you are face on to

your audience.

Place the fingertip and thumb tip of the left hand on the seam

of the handkerchief next to the right hand and draw it along the

hem to the adjacent corner. Place the left hand corner in front of

the right hand corner and hold them together by the right thumb

and first finger.

104



The left hand is drawn along the folded hem, and then it reaches

down to the two loose corners which l ie close together because of

the aforesaid s t ra ightening act ion. The two corners are picked up

together by the r ight hand thumb and first f inger, which hold them

about one inch from the extreme edge. They are brought up behind

the r ight hand held corners, and as the thumb and first f inger take

hold of the third corner, leaving the back corner for a moment,

the coin held f inger palmed by the second, th ird and fou rth f ingers

of the r igh t hand, is moved to ge the r with these f ingers behind the

three folds of the handkerchief, and the first finger and thumb of

the left hand holding the remaining corner of the handkerchief

seize it and place the coin and the four corners of the handkerchief

toge the r .

The right hand is then removed to be shown empty, and the

handkerchief is held by the extreme edge with the thumb and first

f inger. Turn left and hold the handkerchief at arm's length from

the body. Reach into the air with your r ight hand, and appear to

catch a coin. Throw it towards the handkerchief, and at the same

time release the coin, allowing it to drop to the center of the hand-

ker hief When the coin fal ls into the handkerchief, the r ight hand

secretly procures a coin, tied in a small piece of cambric to match

the handkerchief, from under the side of the coat where it is held

by a cl ip. W it h this small bun dle concealed, the r igh t hand seizes

the handkerchief near i ts middle, with the coin inside of i t , and,

twist ing the coin and the handkerchief together, holds the piece

of cambric with the same hand as if the coin, with its shape now

seen, was actually inside the handkerchief. Pick up from the table

a pair of sharp scissors, and cut the hand kerchief, let t in g the coin

out. Place the handkerchief with the original coin in your handker-

chief pocket, and perform a few passes with the second coin. Finally

cause i t to vanish. Pull the handkerchief from the pocket, let t ing

the coin fal l to the floor. Show the handk erchief resto red.

The piece of cambric may be disposed of by the act of placing

the scissors in the side pocket.

T hi s is a very effective and p re tty rou tine , and will repay you

well for the t ime and practice necessary to perform it .

105



AN INVISIBLE JOURNEY

Improved)

Two silver dollars are held in the left hand, and two silver dol-

lars and one half dollar in the right hand. Place the four dollars in

a square on the table, and the half dollar in the center. See Fig. 1.

Stack two of the dollars, and pick them up with the fingertips and

thumb of the left hand. Stack the two remaining dollars on the half

dollar on the table with the thumb

and fingertips of the right hand,

(see F ig . 2) and as you tu rn over

the r ight hand, t ransfer the three

coins on the second and third fin-

gers to the palm, pressing the two

dollars into the palm posit ion. The

half dollar, being smaller, cannot

be held thus. Then turn the hand

over, letting the two dollars fall

into the left hand as you close the

han d. See Fi g. 3.

Now with both hands held closed,

fingernails on th e tab le, open t he

left hand and let the two dollars

fall on the table, say ing, Tw o sil-

ver dollars in the left hand . Re-

cover the two coins unassisted by

the r igh hand, and, while appar-

ently simply closing the two coins

in the hand, secret ly maneuver

them to be held on the backs of the

two middle fingers (see left hand,

Fig. 3) and supported on their

edges by the first and second fin-

gers so that they may be instantly

released and left on the table with-

out any apparent motion of the left

hand releasing the coins ( that 's im-

p o r t a n t ) .

The half dollar held on the fingers of the right hand (see Fig.

3) is dropped on the two dollars which the left hand releases as the

left hand is moved to the left , and the right hand partly opens as

you say, T he righ t hand hold s two silver do llars and a half do llar.

Immediately stack the two dollars , and the half dollar on top, and

pick up the stack with the f ingers and thumb of the r ight hand.

Make a short movement with the lef t hand towards the r ight

hand, and release the palmed coins in the r ight hand. They should

fall with a clink, to indicate their arrival.

106



THE

EUREK

V NISH

USEFUL SLEIGHT FOR V NISHING FIVE COINS

N

SUCCESSION T THE FINGERTIPS

Nelson Downs

This is not an entirely new sleight, being one of T. Nelson

Downs. However, it plays an important role as part of the routine

of my coin act, described at length under the heading, A Phantasy

in Silver.

Five coins are on display on some suitable stand made of metal,

bakelite or wood. The performer, with his left side towards the

audience, picks up the coin nearest him with his first finger and

thumb of his left hand, and transfers the coin quite openly to the

first finger and thumb of his right hand, which is held palm facing

audience, as shown in Fig. 1.

The coin is vanished by the back palm, and is held between

the first and second fingers so that the hand is relaxed. The left

hand takes the second coin from the stand and places it between

the first finger and thumb of the right hand, exactly as the first

coin was placed. Fig. 2 is a side view, and Fig. 3 is a rear view

showing how the coin already on the back of the hand is trans-

ferred to the second and third fingers of the left hand. The coin

pinched between the first and second fingers of the left hand is

transferred by the middle fingers to the Downs palm while the

right hand causes the second coin to disappear exactly as it did

the first coin.

The left hand, holding the first coin concealed by the Downs

palm, takes from the display stand the third coin, transfers it to

the thumb and first finger of the right hand, and in so doing the

coin on the back of the right hand is secretly transferred to the

two middle fingers of the left hand, which has the first coin in

the Downs palm.

107



Again as the right hand back palms the coin i t holds between

the first f inger and thumb, the coin held between the two middle

fingers of th e left hand is tran sfe rre d to the D ow ns pa lm alon g

with the first coin already there. These moves as described are re-

peated until four coins are in the left han d, D ow ns palm , and the

fifth coin has been vanished by the right hand.

These moves should be practiced well to eliminate any fum-

bling and until you can do it with complete silence. Yes, it is fairly

difficult, but it will repay you for the time spent.

During the entire performance of these sleights the left side

of your body is towards the audience.

Watch your angles and be certain the people seated in your

left front can see what you want them to see and that the people

on your right don't see too much.

REPROD UCTION OF FIVE COINS ONE BY ONE AT THE

FINGERTIPS AND AN ORIGINAL CHANG E O VER

This is a continuation of the last move commencing from the

vanishing of the fifth coin by the right hand and the secret palm-

ing of the first four in the left hand.

The right hand reproduces the coin, which i t held back palmed,

at the first finger and thumb tips, and rests it on the thumb nail.

A flip of the thumb sends the coin several feet straight up, spinning

into the air. The coin, on its descent, is caught by the right hand.

This proves without words that the hand is otherwise empty.

The coin is now transferred to the thumb and first finger of

the left hand, and you turn left to bring the right side of your body

towards the audience and the right hand is shown back and front.

T he coin is taken and the Fre nc h dro p pass is perform ed. T he coin

is produced by the right hand and placed in the left hand as in

Figs . 1, 2 and 3. T he four coins palmed th er e are se cure d by th e

two m iddle fingers of the righ t han d (see F ig . 3.) As the rig ht

hand moves away, the four coins are transferred noiselessly to the

Do wn s palm , and three of the coins are the n prod uced , one

by one, and placed betwe en the fingers of the left h and or th ro w n

one by one as the y are pro du ced into the left h and . T he fifth coin

is then produced.

8



THE THUMB P SS WITH SILVER DOLL R

This is quite different from any other method, and wil l , un-

doubtedly, have a certain appeal to many of my readers.

The si lver dollar is held between the f irs t f inger and the thumb

of the left hand. The middle of the left thumb and the second joint

of the first finger support the coin by its milled edge. The back

of the lef t hand is towards the audience, with the coin held as

aforesaid, at an angle. The position in which the coin is held is

very important to the beauty of the i l lusion to fol low.

The r ight hand approaches from the side as if to take the coin

between the t ip of the f irs t f inger and thumb. The r ight thumb

passes back of the dollar, and the finger slides in front of the dol-

lar as the act of pushing the coin into the left hand is imitated.

This act ion has brought the fork of the r ight thumb and f is t against

the edge of the coin, where it is readily palmed or held. The left

hand closes as if i t received the coin and moves away to be shown

later empty.

RO T THUMB P LM

Another useful palm is the thumb palm which also f inds prac-

t ical usage in the M iser 's Dream . T he coin is held between the

thumb and first fingertip, and under the pretext of tossing it into

the hat held in the left hand, the coin is secretly conveyed by the

first finger and thu m b to the po sition as show n in F ig . 1. T he

thumb is withdrawn and the coin held by the folded first finger

as in Fig. 2. The thumb is then brought down on the coin, and

th en the first finger is str aig ht en ed and the coin is thu m b palm ed

as seen in F ig . 3. Th ese action s are m ade und er cover of se em ing-

ly toss ing the coin into the hat . T h e coin is produ ced from the

thumb palm by simply reversing the described order of the act ions

as given.

109



SPLIT FANS AND COIN PRO DUCTIONS

I Original

While the left hand engages the at tention of the audience by

a production of cards, the r ight hand secretly secures a stack of

four coins from the coin dropper at tached to the r ight leg, con-

cealed by the coat . T he rig ht hand, w ith the four coins D ow ns

thum b palm ed, is raised to shou lder heig ht, left s ide tow ards aud i-

ence. The right hand is turned to show the back and front. The left

hand, with about twelve cards held concealed between the thumb

and fourth f inger (see Fig. 1) , is brought smartly up to the left

hand, and the twelve cards are back palmed in the r ight hand. Fig.

2 shows how the twelve cards are placed into posit ion behind the

rig ht h and. Fig . 3 shows how the coins and the card s are concealed.

The photos are taken from an angle to deliberately expose the

cards and coins to view for explanatory reasons only.

The right hand reaches out, the f ingers bend forward and the

thu m b fans the card s as seen in F ig . 4. T he coins are show n h eld in

again st the thu m b. T he first f inger p ushes between the K ing of

Clubs and the Ace of Hearts to separate the cards at that place (see

F ig. 5) , and the six front cards are fanned out by the thum b, while

the rear six cards are held betwe en the fing ers as in F ig . 3. F ig . 6

depicts the audience's view of the move completed. Note the coins

and their posit ion in the hand.

The six cards are allowed to fall as the hand opens out to carry

the other six cards to the backhand posit ion. The thumb conceals

the four coins. The remaining six cards are then produced by bend-

ing forward the f ingers as in Fig . 3, and the thu m b fans the six

card s as in F ig . 7. T he six cards are allowe d to fall, and t he th um b

fans out the coins as in Fig. 8, or they may be produced, one by one.

It is assumed the read er is proficient in pe rfo rm ing th e sp lit

fans

or that he will become accomplished in that sleight before

ser iously a t tempting to perform this one.

On ce proficient in the sp lit fan s (see Card C on trol, page

147-8),

you should have l i t t le diff iculty in mastering this other move.





THE PRODUCTION OF TWEN TY-FOUR COINS

IN

SERIES

OF

FAN S. I An Original Routine

By John Brown Cook

Whose outs tanding Coin Magic makes

him unique amongst

the

present

day

coin manipulators . The following de-

scr ipt ion and the nine accompanying

pho tographs

are his.

J o h n

is

w ithout doubt the ou ts tand ing

close

up

performer with coins

in the

U.S.A.

I

have watched

his

steady prog-

ress

for the

past five ye ars.

John Brown Cook

In preparat ion

for

the produ ct ion

of

fans

of

coins the performe r

is loaded with

the

lef t hand han ging natu ral ly

at the

side

and

and holding

a

stack

of

fifteen

or

tw en ty si lver dollars

on the

t ips

of

the

two m idd le fingers. T hi s hand

can

look surpr is ing ly natu ral

while holding such

a

load.

(See

F i g .

3) The

righ t han d holds four

silver dollars

in a

back palm, sup po rt ing them between

the

sides

of the first and lit tle fingers near the t ips .

W i t h

an

outw ard reach, palm tow ard

the

audience,

the

back

palmed stack

of

coins

is

produced

in a fan. In

detail this m ove

is as fol lows: Firs t , the hand curls half-way into a fist. Even if

only

the

outsid e coin

is

securely cl ipped

by the

first

and

middle

fingers, no coins will drop because

of the

pressure

of the

middle

and fourth fingers against

the

inside coin

of the

stack. Nex t ,

the

first and little fingers

are on

the ir own,

so

they pinch very t ig ht l y

to

be

sure

to

hold

all the

coins w hile

the

middle

and

fo ur th fingers

draw back till

the

nails have ju st passed

the

m iddle

of the

coin.

Now

the

thumb

is

placed close

to the

lit tle fingertip, w he re

it as-

sists these fingers

in

pivot ing

the

coins unti l they are f irmly gripped

between

the

ball

of the

thumb

at the

front edge

and the

middle

and fourth fingers at the back. La st , the thumb tip moves the first

coin upward

a

littl e more tha n half

its

width . Th en

the

ball

of

the thumb rests

on the

ne xt coin and slides bo th

up

about

the

same

distance and engages the third coin, holding them

in a

group agains t

the first finger, while

the

oth er fingers slide dow n s lig htl y

to

space

the other coin.

A

reversal

of

thes e same m oves will back p alm

the

coins.

112



T he perfor m er has prod uce d the gro up of coins, F ig . 1. H e

looks w ith in tere st at them , and then makes a m otion of dro pp ing

them into the left hand. This means that the left hand is brought

from its natural hanging posit ion at the side to waist height at the

front, with the palm turned inward, as the right hand sweeps toward

it . The right hand squares and back palms the four coins while

making this sweep, pausing for a moment with palm out just as

the coins are ap pa ren tly dropp ed into the left hand, F ig . 2. T he

left thumb has lifted the top five or six coins by the edge, and at

that moment allows the coins to r iff le quickly back onto the stack.

This series of moves is repeated three or four t imes, and the

last t ime, with the same apparent motion of the right hand, the

coins are not back palmed, but actually tossed onto the stack in the

left hand.

Now the left hand is moved forward, palm up, to show the

coins.

By dropping the hand quickly a few inches, the coins are

made to clink noisi ly against each other and spread themselves

on the palm so they can be showered in plain view from the left

han d to a hat, bow l, pla te or oth er c on tain er. T h e loud solid sil-

ver cl inking impresses the audience that real money is being used,

and not magicians t in discs. Actually, if the performer uses thin

palming coins for his back palming, they finish on the top of the

stack and their t inny sound is hardly noticeable in the shower of

heavy coins .

While the coins are being showered from the left hand, as de-

scribed in the fan productions, the right drops to the side and

takes a load of seven silver dollars, on top of which a nickel or a

pen ny is wa xed. As the shower is com pleted, the perform er looks

over his left shoulder and apparently sees another coin. He reaches

across his body with the right hand, turning sufficiently to take

another load of six silver dollars in a finger palm of the left hand,

w hich is ha ng ing at the side. A t the end of the rig ht arm reach,

the performer pushes the nickel or penny into view at the finger-

t ips , turns to face the audience, looks at the coin and tosses it

away . Now he reaches tow ard the aud ience and shows the seven

coins in the r ig ht hand as one, ho ldin g them in posit ion for the

rol l -out . Three are thrown away, yet the remaining one spreads

into four. T hi s is repe ated twice m ore.

113



he Multiple Roll Out

By John Brown Cook

First the stack of coins is posit ioned between the thumb

and th e nex t two fingers, and the fou rth finger tak es its place

beside the thum b, Fig . 4. T he thu m b releases the ou ter tw o

coins and allows them to slide against the fourth finger, which,

because of its angle, stops the inside coin slightly before it stops

the outer one. This leaves the outer coin securely cl ipped between

the fourth and little finger, and the next one clipped between the

fourth and middle fingers. Now the thumb and first finger move

the other coins s t ra ight back unt i l the thumb is against the middle

finger. (Fig. 5) In this position, coins are held with the ball of

the thumb and back of middle finger at one side, and the ball of

the index finger at the other side. Now the thumb grips al l but

one of the coins in that group. As the hand straightens, al l the

fingers and the four coins roll into view, Fig. 6.

Th ree coins are dropp ed onto the table, and the roll-out

moves are repeated. This t ime the left hand comes up and, with

thu m b and forefinger, rem oves the coin w hich is betw een th e in-

dex and middle f inger in the spread. This move brings the left hand

in exact position to add six finger palmed coins to the face of the

one between the thumb and first finger, and to push the group back

into proper posit ion for addit ional roll-outs.

F ig . 8 shows th e perfo rm er s view of this as the load is ap-

proaching and the thumb is reaching for the coin to be taken

awa y. Fi g. 7 shows the aud ience view as the load is in p osit ion

to be added and the coin is being gripped to be taken away. Natural-

ly, to al lay suspicion, the other two coins must be removed with

a similar action. F ig . 9 shows the next coin being removed from a

side angle so that the added load may be seen. Now the roll-out

may be repeated twice more.

114



A PHANTASY IN SILVER

MY COMPLETE ACT WITH

COINS WITH EVERY DETAIL

FOR A SCINTILLATING

PRESENTATION FULLY AND

CAREFULLY EXPLAINED

AND ILLUSTRATED



PH NT SY IN SILVER

(A complete coin act as it was last presented by me at the I.B.M.

Show in Chicago, on January 17, 1948)

With Many Original Features

P ro pe rt ie s: One table w ith a heavy base to give i t stabil i ty .

On the table is a trough made from a piece of brass tube, one and

a half inches inside diameter, cut in half lengthwise, with a piece

of brass soldered at each end. To the underside of this half tube

or trou gh is soldered a 6/32 screw. A hole is dri l led thr ou gh the

eighteen inch diameter, half inch thick table top, through which

the screw hold ing the trou gh passes. A nu t then holds the tro ug h

securely in place. Into this trough are placed twenty si lver dol-

lars . A black paper flap conceals them from t h e view of any p ry-

ing eyes. (See F ig . 4 of pla te C , page 120.)

The table top is bakeli te, and has a three-quarter inch band of

forty thousandths thick brass around i ts edge. The band is made

to come flush with the bottom edge of the bakelite table top, and

protrudes above the top one-quarter inch. This prevents the coins

from falling off the table when they are turned out of the hat, as

w ill be described later on. (See pla te A and B .)

In the front of the top of the table, fixed by two screws, is a

piece of bakeli te that has a one-eighth inch wide slot , one-eighth

inch deep and seven inches long, for standing up four coins as de-

picted.

T he coin harn ess show n in Fi g. 1 and 2 of plate C com prises

five separate coin holders. The one at the front right side holds five

coins.

The one at the rear r ight holds ten coins.

The front left one holds five coins. The middle one holds five,

and the rear one holds eight. All the coins used throughout the act

are silver dollars, and are buffed to make them shine.

On the table is a W al sh cane, ready to sp rin g open wh en the

clip is released. Also on the table or the left side pocket of your

coat is a clean fine linen or cam bric han dk erch ief, ne atly folded.

116



Phantasy

n

Silver

The performer holds in his right hand, pressed against his body,

silk opera hat, and concealed in his right hand is one silver dollar.

(See Fig. 1 plate A , page 130.)

The lighting that I prefer is three spotlights, one each side

n one from the front—no other lights. My musical arrangement

is The Storm from William Tell for an introduction, followed

immediately by The Barcarole from the Tales of Hoffman.

Enter after musical introduction, carrying hat in right hand,

pressed against body. Standing two feet behind the microphone,

announce with deliberation, Ladies and gentlemen—a phantasy in

silver. Take a step back, turn right and spring the hat open (See

Fig. 2 plate A .) Place hat mouth downwards on the table, secret-

ly and simultaneously pick up the twenty dollars with the left fore-

finger and thumb and drop them onto the rim of the hat. This

must be done without watching. (See Fig. 3 plate A .) Leave the

h t thusly loaded on the table.

Turn to face the audience, then right, bringing your left side

towards the audience, and back palm the coin held secretly in

the right hand. Extend the hand and produce the coin at the finger-

tips.

Turn left, bringing the right side towards the audience, and

shift the coin to finger and thumb position, and say, The root of all

evil. Then perform the improved French drop, reproduce the coin

and say, Money. Step back to the table, pick up the hat with the

left hand as shown in Fig. 4 plate A the coins are held between

the first finger and thumb on the rim of the hat and the second

finger in front of the hat.

The right hand tosses the coin into the hat and is then turned

palm out, thumb down, facing the audience.

The right hand takes hold of the hat by the far side rim.

You then turn right, bringing the left side towards the audi-

ence (see Fig 5 plate A ). Note how the left hand holding the rim

conceals the dollars. The hat is turned over and momentarily held

in the right hand, coins in the left.



Phantasy in Silver

T he h at is placed on the left hand over the coins. (See F ig . 6

plate A , page 130.)

The right hand secretly removes the five coins from the right

front holder as you momentari ly look into the hat . The right hand

is raised, then exte nde d to the rig ht, with the coins palm ed. A coin

is produced at the fingertips from the Downs palm as you remark,

Ea sy m oney. You say this jus t before dro pp in g this coin into

the hat . Then reach out (r ight) and produce the next coin. As

you pose w ith the coin at th e fingertips, say, T he kind of mon ey

tha t m agicians like to m ake. Dro p the coin into the hat , reach out

(ri gh t) again and prod uce ano ther coin sayin g Coin of the Realm .

D rop the coin into the hat . Reach out (r i gh t) pro du ce anoth er

coin and say, M oney from my anc esto rs. Dro p the coin into the

hat and produce the last of the five palmed coins from behind

the cloth of the rig ht leg. (See F ig . 9 plate A .) Say, I 'm

ashamed at t imes to take the m oney . Inste ad of dro pp ing

this coin into the hat , you turn left , bringing the right side

towards the audience, and make ready with the left hand to

drop one coin of the twenty coins held by the left hand as the right

hand is brought over the mouth of the hat . The displayed coin is

thumb palmed, as the coin is dropped from the left hand. If the

han ds are held as show n in F ig . 10 plate A and the moves p ro pe rly

synchronized, the illusion is perfect because the coin can be seen

falling and looks as if it fell from the right hand, especially when

there is no reason for suspecting the left hand of doing anything

more than holding the hat .

Produce the thumb palmed coin between the finger and thumb

(see F ig . 8 plate A ) , and as before im itate dro pp ing i t into th e

hat , actual ly thumb palming the coin. Produce i t again, holding

it as before between the thumb and first finger as in Fig. 8 plate

A .

Turn r ight with the coin thus displayed, br inging the lef t s ide

towards the audience. You back palm the coin in the right hand

as you pretend to throw it into the hat , let t ing a coin fall from the

left hand to sychronize with this act as the coin is back palmed.

You reach out (right) and produce the coin at the fingertips, saying,

I once tau gh t this to a fr iend of m ine. Sim ulate the act of throw -

118



Phantasy

n

Silver

ing the coin into the hat as just explained. Produce the coin at the

fingertips and say, "Poor fellow—he died." Simulate the act of drop-

ping the coin into the hat, produce the coin again and say, "From

sheer exhaustion." Simulate the act of dropping the coin into the

hat after you turn left.

Produce the coin between the thumb and finger from the thumb

palm. Simulate the act of dropping the coin into the hat, produce

the coin again, and as you press the coin against the side of the

hat (see Fig. 11 plate "A"), say, "I wouldn't believe this if I were

you." Press the coin against the hat, letting it slide behind the

fingers as a coin is allowed to fall from the left hand.

Thumb palm the coin and reproduce it, and as you press it

against the side of the hat a second time, say, "Just make believe."

Let the coin fall into the hat from the left hand. Produce the coin

again, press it against the crown of the hat (see Fig. 1 plate "B",

page 132 and say, "Merely an optical illusion." Let a coin fall from

the left hand.

Turn right, bringing the left side towards the audience and

with your right hand still held as it pushed the coin against the

crown of the hat, back palm the coin under the protection offered

by the hat. Reach out (right) and produce the coin. Simulate the

act of dropping the coin into the hat from the right hand. Repro-

duce the coin at the fingertips and say, "I only do this because

there's money in it "

Simulate the act of dropping the coin into the hat and reproduce

the coin. Repeat the act of dropping the coin into the hat. Repro-

duce the coin and say, "Fancy doing this for real money " In the

act of dropping the coin into the hat, reproduce the coin and say,

"Just fancy."

Produce the coin at the fingertips from the back palm, and

turn facing the audience. Then lower the hat to the side of the

left knee and say, "A painful experiment." Swing the right hand

down towards the other side of the left knee as if you were throw-

ing the coin through the knee. The knee is bent slightly. The coin

is back palmed and one coin dropped from the left hand.



Phantasy in Silver

Produce the coin again at the fingertips of the right hand, and

standing with both knees close together, the hat at the left side, say,

"T w ice as painful." Th e coin is back palmed as the righ t hand

swings down, and a coin is dropped from the left hand again.

T h e coin is pro du ced at the fingertips of the rig h t han d from

the back palm, and you turn left and then seemingly drop the coin

into the hat as you thumb palm it .

R ep rod uc e the coin from the th um b palm , look at it for a mo -

m ent and say in a disp arag ing to ne, "A half a dollar ." Sim ulate

the act of thr ow ing i t carelessly away to the left . A ctu ally thu m b

palm it. Reach out left and produce the coin, but raise the hat very

slightly without looking in the directon of the hat , and let a coin

fall from th e fingers into the hat. (T he idea you are tr y in g to con-

vey is that the half dollar fell into the hat even though you threw

it away.)

Simulate the act of throwing the coin displayed in the right

hand into the hat , and produce i t . This t ime, because you are out of

coins in the left hand, drop it into the hat.

Turn right, reach into the hat and gather up about sixteen coins

and let them slide off your fingers back into the hat, say, "I could

do this all nig ht if I only had the t im e " Brin g y our ha nd from

the hat with as many coins as you can Downs palm. (I do this move

w ith ten dollars.) Reach up in the air about three -qu arte rs arm 's

leng th high , and say, "A nd the money ." Pr od uc e the coins, one by

one, rapidly , let t in g the m fall into the hat as you do so. (See F ig . 2

plate "B " , page 133.)

When the last coin is in the hat, reach in the hat and again

shower the coins. (See Fig . 3 plate "B".) Say, "T he k ind of m oney

th at I love to touch ." Back palm six coins, reach up , and as you

grab,

produce them in the closed right hand, saying, "Spending

money." Let the six coins fall back into the hat and move back to

yo ur table to place the hat on it. B ut as you are doin g so, qu ick ly

grab up and Downs palm about eight coins in the right hand, hold-

2



Phantasy in Silver

ing them against the inside of the hat. This will leave the left hand

free, which sl ips down and secretly procures the eight coins from

the left side holder.

The hat is placed on the table, and the r ight hand produces

three coins, one after another, in rapid succession, let t ing them fall

into the hat . The left hand joins in and produces three coins, al ter-

nat ing with the r ight hand.

The r ight hand then produces the remaining coins one by one.

The left hand is turned to the left and lowered to the side, palm

facing audience, with the five coins concealed in the Downs palm

po sit ion. T he left han d is not removed from view of the aud ience.

W alk to the m icrophon e and say, Ladies and gent lemen , a

trav esty with five si lver do llars. T he n prod uce, one at a t ime, the

five silver dollars D ow ns palm ed in the left han d, tra ns fe rri ng each

coin as i t is produced into the r ight hand. Perform the Allen Shaw

fan pass, palming the five coins in the r ight hand in the Downs palm

posit ion. Then produce them, one by one, and as you do so, place

the first four coins betw een the fingers of the rig ht han d. St an din g

with your r ight side towards the audience, bring the r ight hand up

quickly with the coin displayed between the finger and thumb, and

Downs palm it . This act and those to follow simulate the throwing

away of the coins. You take the second coin from the third and

fourth finger position of the left hand, and while seemingly tossing

it away, palm it under the second coin.

Then turn r ight to br ing your lef t s ide towards the audience.

With the front of the r ight hand facing the audience, the third coin

is Downs palmed under the throwing motion.

The fourth coin is taken by the first finger and thumb of the

right hand from the first and second fingers of the left hand, and

while you display it , say, Im agine thro w ing your money away.

Perform the act of apparently throwing i t away, actually palm-

ing i t beneath the other three coins.

Take the fifth coin from the left hand between the first finger

and thumb of the r ight hand, but as you do this, the second and



Phantasy in Silver

third fingers of the right hand carry the four coins from the Downs

palm posit ion in the right hand to the Downs palm in the left hand.

Say, You r m one y as you do this . T he n back palm the coin und er

cover of the thro w ing mo tion. Pa use a m om ent with the palm

exposed.

Produce the coin at the fingertips, and as you turn left to bring

the right side of your body towards the audience, place the coin

held in the right hand in between the first finger and thumb of your

left hand. T his gives a natu ral reason for ho ldin g the left hand

with the finger and thumb together, which also conceals the four

coins in the Downs palm posit ion.

Show the right hand, back and front, slowly turning i t over.

Then take the exposed coin and hold it on edge between the first

finger and thumb.

Perfo rm the new Fren ch d rop. Move the left fingers and thum b

quickly, touching them together to indicate the coin has gone. Pro-

duce it betw een the first finger and thu m b of the righ t han d. Pla ce it

in the left hand between the first finger and thumb; as you do this,

the four coins in the Downs palm posit ion are seized by the middle

fingers of the right hand and carried to the right palm. This is my

Change over , and is described in detail herein under the heading

R ep ro du ctio n of five coins one by one at the fiingertips and an

original change over.

Turn right to face the audience, and produce the bottom coin

of the four palmed between the first finger and thumb, and throw

it into the left hand. At the same time let the coin held between

the first finger and thumb of the left hand fall also into the hand,

so that the coins click loudly together.

The remaining three coins are produced in similar fashion and

thrown, one by one, into the left hand.

The fingers of the left hand close on the coins, and the hand

is turned over. Turn left to bring the right side of your body facing

the audience.

Perform the s le ight descr ibed herein as Th e Steal , us ing my

method. As you steal the first coin, turn right to bring your left



Phantasy in Silver

side towards the audience, and in doing so, back palm the coin in

your r ight hand.

P ro d uc e th e coin at th e first and second fingertips. Pla ce it on

disp lay in th e groove of the bak eli te piece on you r table. T u rn

left and repe at the mov es for the second coin. Give it a flip w ith

your thumb and send i t spinning into the air . Catch i t as i t descends.

Place i t on display in the groove. Repeat the steal for the third coin,

but this time produce it at the left elbow. Place it in the groove.

Repeat the first moves for the fourth coin. Place it in the groove.

Then walk across in front of your table so you are standing with

your left side nearest to it .

Show the coin in your lef t hand, and with your r ight hand

ge stu re tow ards the coins in the groove and say, A vulg ar d isplay

of wealth.

W ith th e coin that is in your hand, perform the Fre nc h drop,

the Shaw pass and the take-away pass .

As you vanish the coin the last t im e, say, It 's an illusive lit t le

th in g. Step over to the table to brin g you r r ig ht s ide closest to i t .

Take the coins, one by one, from the groove, performing the

Do wn s E ur ek a van ish. All these passes and moves are described

here in .

W h en th e last of the five coins have been thu sly vanished, thi s

move leaves one coin back palmed in the right hand and four coins

D ow ns palm ed in the lef t hand. T he coin is repro du ced from the

back pa lm at th e fingertips. T h e left han d tak es it betw een th e first

finger and thumb, palm of the left hand facing the audience, with

the other four coins Downs palmed therein.

The r ight hand is now shown back and front , and the coin is

once mo re tak en betw een th e f irst f inger and the th um b of the r ig ht

han d, and you perfo rm th e leg vanish. Pro du ce the coin from be-

hind the lef t leg.

Perfo rm the dro p over , the n the rol l down, both descr ibed

herein . The coins are dropped in to the r ight hand and turned back

into th e lef t hand, and the n placed into posi t ion for the imp roved

3



Phantasy in Silver

Dow ns cl ick pass. Th e coins are thu s vanished . T u rn left to br ing

your r ight s ide towards the audience and produce the coins, one

by one, at the fingertips of yo ur rig ht ha nd . (See the move t itl ed

The Appearance of Five Coins One After Another at the Finger-

t i p s

by Allan Shaw.)

While you are producing the coins, the lef t hand secret ly

extracts from the left side front holder the five coins, and Downs

palms them; then the f ive coins in the r ight hand are seemingly

placed in the left hand.

Actually these coins are palmed, and the five coins already

secret ly held ther e are then displayed. (T he i l lusion is a per-

fect one.) Th ese coins are casually dro ppe d into the ha t. T h e

right s ide of your body is brought towards the audience, and

your left hand held up, palm towards audience, and the five coins

are sec retly tran sfe rre d, one by one, to the left hand . T h e left

hand is opened each time the right hand has passed in front of

it and a coin is revealed.

T his move is very deceptive, and is described he rein. Eac h

coin as it is produced is let slide off the left hand into the hat

un ti l only one coin remains in the r igh t hand. W it h the last

coin you perform the Allan Shaw vanish.

This gives you the r ight cover and opportunity for the lef t

hand to secretly steal the second five coins from the holder as you

produce the coin with the r ight hand from behind the r ight leg.

Now this is very important . The coin just produced is placed

between the thumb and first finger of the left hand, and the five

coins, palmed in the lef t hand, are secret ly transferred to the r ight

hand .

T he coin in the left ha nd is dro ppe d into the ha t. T he five coins

now Downs palmed in the r ight hand are produced, one by one,

and transferred to the left hand to be displayed between the fingers

as in Fi g. 9 plate B , page 132.

The four coins thus held are released from the fingers of the

left hand and are caught in the r ight hand. They are then tossed

back to the left and again into the right hand, and held on the palm

wh ile the left hand takes a han dk erch ief from the left side co at

pocket . You are facing the audience while this is being done.

124



Phantasy in Silver

The handkerchief is spread over the empty left hand so i ts

center lies on the palm, and the five coins are first pressed by the

middle f ingers of the r ight hand into the r ight palm as the r ight

hand is brought over the covered left hand as if to drop the coins

there. But the coins are dropped only onto the curled right fingers,

(see F ig . 1 pla te D ) and as the y fall from th e palm the y clink

together , which heightens the i l lus ion. The r ight hand is wi thdrawn

as the left hand is closed on the center of the empty handkerchief

and tur ne d over. (See F ig . 2 plate D .) T he righ t hand, w ith the

coins bunched together, takes hold of the hankerchief midway be-

tween i ts center and the four corners and is drawn towards the

corners. As the left hand, st i l l supporting the middle of the hand-

kerchief, is lowered, both hands move up and down to cause the

coins in the r ight hand to cl ink, cl ink together. (See Fig. 3 plate

D .) The illusion is that the coins are in the center of the hand-

kerchef. A corne r of the handke rchief is seized by the r igh t ha nd,

(see Fi g . 5, pla te D) and th e ha nd ke rch ief is pu lled clear of th e

left. T h e co rne r is tra ns fer red to the first finger and thu m b of th e

left hand after this hand is displayed , back and front. As the r igh t

hand moves away, the coins are transferred to the palm of the r ight

hand from the curled f ingers of the r ight hand, where they have

been held till now, and the fingers of the right hand are passed

arou nd the handk erchief . Th e handke rchief is pul led throu gh the

fingers and thumb of the right hand.

The move of pul l ing the handkerchief through the r ight hand

is repeated a second t ime as you turn left to bring the r ight side

tow ard s the aud ienc e. (See Fi g. 7 and 8 plate D , page 136.)

As the r ight hand approaches the handkerchief to stroke i t for

the third t ime, the two middle f ingers of the r ight hand extract one

of the five coins, and as the hand leaves the end of the handker-

chief after completing the down stroke, this coin is displayed be-

tween the f inger and thumb tips, and is then thrown into the hat .

(See r ig ht han d, F ig . 7 plate D .)

The handkerchief is again stroked, and as the stroke is repeated

a second coin appears and is thrown into the hat .

125



Phantasy in Silver

Now make a r ig ht t ur n to bring the left side towa rds the audi-

ence,

and as you do so, th e two m idd le fingers of t he rig ht hand

secretly transfer the three coins from the palm of the right hand

to th e palm of the left han d. T h is is do ne as th e first finger and

thum b of the righ t hand take the corner of the han dke rchief from

th e first finger and thu m b of the left ha nd . (See F ig s. 9 and 10 pla te

D

page 136.)

The right hand now holds the three coins in the Downs' palm

posit ion, and the handkerchief is held by a corner between the first

f inger and thumb. The left hand is turned back and front to the

audience to be shown empty, and i t then strokes the handkerchief

as you turn left to bring the right side towards the audience.

You then take the corner of the handkerchief from the right

hand between the first finger and the thumb of the left hand, and

the r ight hand s t rokes the handk erchief . Th e s t rokin g move is re-

peated, but as the right hand approaches to make the second stroke,

the two mid dle fingers of the left hand e xtr ac t a coin from th e left

palm and drop i t . The coin should fall a distance of about three

inches. T he righ t hand is arou nd the han dke rchief w hen the coin

is dropped. The handkerchief hides i ts fal l from the audience. (See

Fi g. 1 plate D . )

The coin is caught at the fork of the thumb and first finger of

the closed right hand. It then slides into the palm, and at the com-

ple tio n of the strok e is revealed at th e thu m b and fingertips.

The moves of s t roking the handkerchief and le t t ing the fourth

coin fall from the fingers of the left hand are repeated, as the right

hand reaches the end of the handkerchief, the left hand closes

around i ts end of the handkerchief, and the handkerchief is pulled

from the left hand. The hand is opened and the coin revealed there-

in. (See F ig . 11, 12 pla te D .)

The right hand now has the remaining coin and one corner of

the han dkerc hief. T he left hand takes an adjacent corne r, and the

handkerche f is thus d isplayed.

T h e coin is held con cealed u nd er th e fingers ag ain st and in

front of the han dke rchief. T he left hand transf ers i ts corner to

6



Phantasy in Silver

the right hand passing it in front of the coin. The coin now lies

between the two corners of the handkerchief.

The two corners and the coin thus held by the right hand are

taken by the left hand and the right hand slides down the border

to gather up another corner and transfers it to the left hand. The

last corner is picked up by the right hand and transferred to the left

hand; as simple as this is it must be done with care and correctly

or the move to follow will fail you.

Holding the handkerchief up by four corners in the left hand

the right hand seems to pick a coin out of the air and tosses it

towards the handkerchief. At the same instant the thumb and finger

of the left hand releases the coin which appears in the handkerchief

in the middle revealing itself by the sag.

The right hand takes hold of the coin with the handkerchief

and the handkerchief is held up by its middle. The left hand has

not as yet released its hold of the four corners. The finger and

thumb release their hold of the coin but still retain their hold

on the handkerchief.

The coin falls to be secretly caught on the fingers of the left

hand. The left hand releases the corners and is brought up be-

hind the handkerchief with the coin which is transferred to the

fingers and thumb of the right hand to be held behind the hand-

kerchief.

The left hand is shown empty and the middle of the handker-

chief with the coin hidden behind it is placed carefully into the

crotch of the left thumb and first finger. The right hand pulls

down on the four corners very slowly and the handkerchef being

pulled away gradually brings the coin into view as though it

penetrates the handkerchief. The coin is displayed and the hand-

kerchief held by two corners one in each hand is shown for a

moment and then folded carefully but quickly and placed on the

7



Phantasy in Silver

table by the left hand, which has first placed the coin on the back

of the right hand in position for the finger roll. As the handker-

chief is laid on the table, the Walsh cane is secretly picked up,

and as th e ro ll is exe cuted the release is w ork ed off the cane

and made ready for opening. The coin is spun into the air and

caught in the r ight hand, and then t ransferred to

th

finger and

thumb of the left hand. The right hand then takes hold of the

rim of the hat and turns i t upside down, spil l ing all the coins out

onto the table. The brass band around i ts edge keeps the coins

from spilling off the table.

The hat is placed on your head and the coin fixed in your right

eye.

The left hand reaches in the air, and the cane appears, held by

its m idd le, and is placed un de r the left arm . U nd er cover of the

surprise the appearance of the cane creates, the right hand descends

to the coin holder, and the ten coins are extracted and Downs

palme d. T he hand reaches into the air , (See. F ig . 11 plate B , page

119) and the band str ike s up the chorus of Old La ng S yne . As

>ou walk in step to the music, produce the ten coins, one by one,

thr ow ing them into the left hand . At the w ing you stop and tu rn ,

pour the coins from the left hand to the right, take the cane in

your left hand, pass it to the right hand, remove your hat with

your left hand, let the coin fall from your eye into the hat, pass

the cane to your left hand holding the hat, and let the coins slide

off the fingers of your right hand into the hat. (See Fig. 12 plate

B ,

pag e 132.) E x it .

Hurry the music for bows. Perfect al l the details of this act

before presenting i t and you will have an Act worth many, many

times the price paid for it .

Before closing this chapter on Coins I wish to say to every

magician aspiring to present an act of coin manipulating not to fail

to read and stu dy very carefully th at l i t t le jewel of a book Mod -

ern Coin M anip ulat io n by T. Nelson Dow ns and heed the advice

he gives in his concluding remark.

128



PH NT SY IN SILVER

Pla te A show s a series of po sit ions take n at different inter-

vals du r ing the pres enta t ion of the Ph an tas y of Si lver . No. 1

shows the crushed hat held against the body as the entrance is

made and you addre ss your opening rem arks to the audience. Note

that the table is a few feet to the rear and at the left side.

Ph oto No. 2 shows the hat spru ng open as you turn tow ards

the table. No . 3 shows th e hat being placed on the tab le; the left

hand hidden by the hat secretly l if ts the twenty coins from the

receptacle onto the rim of the hat. This takes only a fleeting mo-

ment .

Be twe en ph otos No s. 3 and 4, the coin held concealed in

the r ight hand dur ing the execut ion of the moves in photos Nos.

1, 2 and 3, is pro du ced at th e fingertips, van ished and rep ro du ce d.

T he n the ha t is pick ed u p, as show n in pho to 4, by the left han d,

and the coin in the r ight hand thrown into the hat .

Ph oto 5 shows the left han d hold ing the coins concealed as a

left tu rn is m ade, and pho to 6 shows how th e hat is placed over th e

left hand concealing the coins.

P ho to 7 show s the absence of the r ig ht han d, w hich is tak-

ing advantage of this moment to secure f ive coins from the r ight

side ho lde r. F ig . 8 show s the first of thes e five coins being p ro-

duced. The other four are in the Downs' palm posit ion in the hand.

There is a gap of considerable length between photos 8 and 9.

T he pos it ion 9 de picts th e last of the five coins being pro du ced

from th e cloth of the pa nts at the r ig ht k nee. Ph oto 10 show s the

posit ion of the r ight hand and hat as the coin is thumb palmed,

and the first coin of the stack of coins held in the left hand falls

into the ha t . (If these moves are pro pe rly syn chro nize d, the coin

can be seen fal l ing behind the r ight hand, and the desired i l lusion

is perfect .)

Ph oto s 11 and 12 show th e pos it ion of th e coin ag ainst the side

of the hat as i t is seem ingly push ed th ro ug h. T he coin falls from

the left hand to complete the i l lusion.

Ph oto 1 of P la te B shows the coin being pushe d th rou gh the

bottom of the h a t; p ho to 2 shows how the ha t is held by the left

hand while the r ight hand is inserted into the hat and gathers a

129



Phantasy in Silver

P L A T E A

13 0



Phantasy in Silver

handful of coins, let t ing them fall back into the hat . Then, repeat-

ing the first part of the move, eight or ten coins are quickly Downs

palmed to be reproduced one by one. I t is the gag that helps out

here. The hand is placed in the hat , and the coins run through the

fingers, six or seven coins are back palmed, performer reaches into

the air and catches them in the palm, letting them fall off the hand

into the hat, as in ph oto 3. P lat e B , page 119.

The hat is then placed on the table, but in taking the necessary

step to the table, the r ight hand again quickly palms eight or ten

coins from the hat. The hat is placed on the table, and these coins

are produced, one by one, and thrown into the hat . As the second

coin is thus produced, the left hand steals the load of eight coins

from its holder, and both hands produce coins, as in photo 4. How-

ever, only three of the eight coins are produced from the left hand,

w hich make s a total of eight or ten w ith the r ig ht hand and thr ee

with the left .

There is qui te a gap again in the cont inui ty between photos 4

and 5; dur ing this in terval you have walked forward to the micro-

pho ne to say, A trav es ty w ith f ive si lver do llars. Pro ceed to pro -

duce the f ive coins with the left hand placing them in the r ight

hand. Vanish them by the Allen Shaw vanish, described herein, and

the n prod uce them as shown in p hotos 5, 6, 7 and 8 placing each

coin betw een th e fingers as you pr od uc e it . See P late B, page 119.

T he re is a gap in the rou tine betw een p hotos 8 and 9. Ph oto 9

show s the coins in pos it ion after the roll dow n. Ph oto 11 dep icts

the cl imax. The hat was placed on the head, the last dollar was

placed into the eye socket to represent a monocle, the Walsh cane

then produced and placed under the arm, at the same instant the

rig ht han d stole the load of ten coins from th e holder. Th e music

struck a popular air, and you walked off with your left side facing

towards the audience, producing the coins one by one and throwing

them into the left hand. At the exit wing you stop, face the audi-

ence, transfer the coins in the left hand to the r ight hand, seize

the cane in the left hand and place i t into the r ight hand, and with

yo ur left hand remove you r hat . H old ing the hat in front of you

at waist level, you let the coin fall from your eye into the hat as you

bow, and then shower the coins in the r ight hand into the hat .

E x i t .



Phantasy in Silver

PLATE B

132



Phantasy in Silver

THE COIN HOLDERS

ND LO DING TROUGH

Original

PLATE

C

F i g . 1 shows the two ho lders at the left side for 5 and 10

coins . Fig. 2 shows three holders for 5, 5 and 8 coins . Fig. 3

shows the coins being removed from one of the r ig ht s ide hold

ers . Fig. 4 shows the twenty coins being l if ted by the left hand

from the t r ough on to the rim of the hat.

133



Phantasy in Silver

THE COIN HOLDER FOR

THE PH NT SY IN SILVER

Pla te C F ig . 1 shows two of my coin holder s and the conv enient

m anne r of sus pe nd ing them from a belt . T he front r ig ht side hold er

carries five silver dollars and the rear one of the two carries ten sil-

ver dollars. Fi g. 2 shows the three coin ho lders on the left s ide. T he

front two each carry five and the rear holder on the left side carries

eight si lver dollars.

F ig. 3 dep icts the r igh t hand rem oving th e f ive dollars from the

holder by insert ing the thumb into the space above the coins and

pressing down the spring in the bronze wire from which the holders

are made allows the holder to spread apart al lowing the coins to

come away.

I have exper imented with many types of holders and coin drop-

pers but these holders as depicted and the method of suspension

from the waist on a belt I have found to be the most practical of

them all . They fulfi l l the requirements and hold the coins f irmly

without fear of their becoming disengaged prematurely . They are

quickly and noiselessly released by the hand from the holder when

requ ired. I believe this idea to be a valuable co ntrib utio n to th e

art of coin m agic. F ig. 4 shows how the hand l if ts th e tw en ty si lver

dollars from the trough to place them on the r im of the opera hat .

Referring to Plate D page 136.

Fi gs . 1 2 3 4 5 and 6 are beh ind th e scene view s. F ig . 1 de pic ts

the f ive coins being apparently dropped from the r ight hand into

the center of the han dke rchief cove ring the left hand . A ctu ally

the coins were first palmed and then allowed to fall on to the

curve d fingers the sound of them falling th us ad di ng to the illusio n.

Fi g. 2 shows the lef t hand turned over hold ing the hand kerchief

in a m anne r that encou rages the belief the coins are the rein bu t th e

view is taken so as to really show the coins Downs palmed in the

right hand in the act of being placed around the handkerchief.

13 4



Phantasy in Silver

F ig . 3 shows how th e coins l ie on the r igh t han d behin d the

han dke rchief. Sh akin g both hand s w ith the handk erchief, the coins

jingle and enhance the i l lusion that the coins are in the middle of

the handke rchief. F ig 4 is the next mov e; raisin g the center of the

handkerchief above the r ight hand. See the coins palmed therein.

F ig . 5 de pic ts the coins now res tin g on the fingers of the rig ht

hand as a corne r of the handk erchie f is taken betw een the forefinger

and thu m b. Fi g. 6 show s the po sit ion of the h ands and the coins are

on the fingers of the rig h t hand as th e ha nd kerc hief is pulled away

from the left ha nd . Fig s. 7 to 12 inclu sive are aud ience views of th e

moves that follow, ex cept F ig . 9 wh ich dep icts how the coins are held

between the second and third f ingers of the r ight hand and trans-

ferred to the D ow ns palm posit ion of the left hand. Fi g. 7 depicts

the handkerchief held in the left hand after i t is s troked by the r ight

hand, which extracts a coin from the palm, creating the i l lusion i t

was draw n from th e folds of the han dke rchief. Fi g. 8 shows the h and

rep eatin g the stro kin g move again to prod uce a second coin. A fter

two coins are produced in this fashion, a turn is made from left to

righ t , and as show n in Fi g. 9, the coins are tran sfer red from the

right palm to the left palm, and the handkerchief taken in the r ight

hand by the corner between the first finger and thumb, as is shown

in Fig. 10.

In F ig . 11, if y ou look closely, the coins may be seen in the left

palm. The two middle fingers of the left hand are shown in the act

of extricating the bottom coin, while the empty right hand strokes

the han dke rchief. On the second stroke the coin is dropp ed into

the r ight hand. The moves as depicted are repeated, and Fig. 12

shows the handkerchief being pulled by the r ight hand out of the

left hand. The coin therein is later revealed by opening the left

hand. The coin held in the r ight hand is produced by the method

of folding the han dke rchief described here inafte r . (See T he Silver

Do llar and Ha ndk erchief rout ine . )

135



Phantasy in Silver

PL T D'

136



PRIN IPLES and DE EPTIONS

CH PTER THREE

M GIC

WITH

C RDS

7





FOREWORD

T

THE CH PTER THREE—C RD M GIC

It has been stated by one author magician (and I think mis-

takenly) that "A card trick is either good or it is bad—just like

eggs ." I cannot stretch my imagination far enough to agree with

this .

Experience has taught me that card magic is no different

in the basic interpretation than any other class of magic. To be

m ag ic, it m us t, first of all th in g s, be an illusio n. If it is not an

illusio n it is no t m ag ic A nd if it is an illusion, the n it is good

because card tr icks that are i l lusions must be good to be i l lusions.

They are of ten presented in a dreary, long and t i r ing manner .

W h at I consider a m ajor fault is this me diocre, poor or very bad

presentat ion of card magic.

A ll the elem ents for a w on de rful effect m ay be laid before

a dozen magicians, but each will interpret and present i t in a

different way, though each may go through exactly similar mo-

tions and app ly the same m etho ds. T h er e will be a considerable

difference in the re su lts . E ach w ill em brace his own different

personality, and the effect will suffer from or be elevated by the

different deg rees of skil l , s tyle and exp erienc e.

What will be good entertainment in the hands of one per-

former will border on sheer boredom when presented by another.

T he re is no thi ng unusu al about tha t . I t is the same w ith m ost

things, be i t music , paint ing, s inging, dancing or magic

Another matter of some importance is "card magic" that is

easy to learn, th at which re qu ires l i t t le if any man ipulativ e sk il l ;

self-working i l lusions. These things I admire only for the crea-

t ive thought necessary to give them birth, and also the art in-

volved in th eir pre sen tatio n to m ainta in their secret . Ho wev er, I

repeat myself in expressing that they are weak things on which

to build the re pu tatio n of a m agician because the ir stren gt h l ies

w ho lly in the ir secret , wh ich is mu ch too easily disclosed. On ce

the secret is revealed, often someone will remark, "Why, that 's

no thi ng . I can do i t "

Nor do I consider that the best way to approach the problem

of producing an illusion is only by difficult methods. That is

farthest from the truth of my reasoning. What I advocate is

that any card magician that ever hopes to keep his reputation

as such should acquire the requisite degree of skil l to perform

mo st any card i l lusion. A fter al l , how ma ny of these major sleig hts

9



Foreword to the hapter on ards

are there ? Pe rha ps ten. Oh, I kno w the re is an endless sup ply

of methods, but I am not advocating that i t is essential to be pro-

ficient in a dozen w ays of do ing th is or th at sleig ht. Pe rfec t

yourself in one method and do that one deceptively, and you do

not need to look for new and devious ways to attain the self-same

purp ose. Fin d the one tha t offers th e mo st perfec t i l lusion, bu t don t

take something you will not practice sufficiently to attain the skil l

essential to perform it indetectably and convincingly, for then

you will not be a magician but only a bungler.

U nless a person has a na tura l talen t for pre sen tation , (seldom,

however, the fortunate experience of the amateur magician,) he

will f ind that presentation means a great deal more than simply

doing the illusion before an audience, and if he is content to just

stumble along, wishing and hoping that sheer repeti t ion will suf-

fice in m akin g his perform ance art is t ic, he w ill assu redly m eet

only severe disa pp oin tm ent. Fi rst , he m ust carefully analyz e each

and every detail and eliminate all the unessentials, both in his

speech and actions. In other words, he must streamline the whole

procedure and then rehearse unti l i t seems the most natural thing

in the world for him to do. This only comes from long experience

in present ing your performance in publ ic .

The fellow that gets ahead in magic is he that really attends

to all the details first and then pra ctices and prac tices inde fatigab ly.

This requires much discipl ine of mind. When his reasoning te l ls

him he is ready, rather than his impatience, he should try the per-

formance publicly. He should not expect too much at first, for

audiences are unkind and cri t ical , but that is the acid test .

Though you may never intend to perform in a theatre , but

aim only to show your wares at your magic club to other magicians,

i t will do you credit and help elevate your art to pay attention to

this fr iendly advice, and there is no better t ime for you to start

than now.

If I intended to arrange an act for the public consumption,

I would first select a num ber of illusio ns tha t dem and ed sk ill and

art is t ry in presentat ion and were thoroughly adaptable to the audi-

tor ium in which the performances were intended to be given. These

things would have to either meet my present capabil i t ies or I

should at least be will ing to raise the standard of my limited abil-

i t ies to embrace them . T he n I wo uld decide, at least tem po rarily ,

140




on the order of arranging them, making sure the first i l lusion was

bright and snappy, and would secure and hold their a t tent ion

thr ou gh ou t. No r w ould I make i t so good or impossible tha t the

other things that I had to show looked foolish by comparison, such

as do ing a m iracle w ith the Jo e Be rg deck and then following

it up with an effect that necessitated my having to look carefully

thr ou gh the pack of cards to f ind the card selected. Do m agicians

who do such things ever stop to think that the audience can only

conclude you used a mechanical pack and are not so good when

left to your own resources?

Having selected the i l lusions for the program, I would make

certain of the climax, aiming at making i t spontaneous, start l ing

and a sure cu rtain raiser.

W he n all these thing s were at tend ed to, then I would exer-

cise all the care, judgment and patience I could muster to see that

this intended act was really streamlined before I even commenced

to pract ice.

Or do you thin k all this is too m uch troub le? If you do, the n

you had better sell this book to reclaim what you can, for you

have not what it takes to make a real magician, but in all likeli-

hood you will simply graze along with the herd. Now, please do

not ration alize . If you really w ant to do M A G IC , you m ust prac-

t ice and practice and practice.

There are many i l lusions that have the same principles for

their basis, but differ so entirely in their modus operandi as to

have l i t t le or no similari ty to each other when considered from the

audience's point of view. This is part icularly well exemplified in

the passing of the cards to the pocket as described herein (the

ten cards to pocket) , and in the thirty cards and the two specta-

tors wherein five cards pass from one spectator 's pocket to that

of another, and in the ten and ten card i l lusion wherein three cards

pass from the performer 's packet of ten to the spectator 's packet

of ten held un de r a hand kerch ief. Th ese are three totally differ-

ent i l lusions in their presentation and modus operandi, but al l are

founded on the same prin cip le, tran sfere nce . In fact, they are so

unlike in every respect that they may be, and in fact often are,

successfully presented on the same program by the same per-

form er. I t wou ld be foolish to say tha t al l i l lusions dep end ing on

the same principles are alike. In truth, often magicians are baffled

141




by the working of an i l lusion depending on the self-same principles

with which they are fully acquainted, so do not disparage using

the principle over again. But it is an advantage to offer variety

and use different prin ciple s. A disapp earanc e followed by an

appearance is difficult to always dist inguish between a transfer-

ence,

but restoratio n, penetr ation , and suspensio n do offer varie ty,

and the wise performer will take full and proper advantage of al l

his tools.

Very often the simplest of i l lusions, ei ther with cards, coins

or balls, are even m ore effective tha n tho se wh ich tak e m on ths to

m aster pro per ly. T hi s is not always the advanta ge they first seem

to offer, for I have found that illusions that are easy to do have

certain drawbacks. For instance, they are immensely popular at

first, often because of their deceptiveness and convincing effect,

but because they are easy they have many adherents and because

of this their populari ty wanes and they are discarded by any who

values his magical reputation as a skil lful art ist to any degree.

Sometimes for this very reason many good things in magic pop

up again years after being buried, and have another popular short

l ived revival. Fo r this reason I sug ges t you acquire the thi ng s i t

takes practice to do well, and they will seldom die from over popu-

lari ty of the doing among the mag ical frate rnity .

Often some il lusion presents the appearance of being most

difficult to do, w hile in tr u th it is sim ply the kno w ho w th at is

difficult, and when once learned it is more and more easy to do

each and every time you perform it, and there is some real basis

for your magical pride to sleep on when you have acquired a de-

gree of talen t from your own person al effort . T hi s point canno t

be ov erstres sed , for it does mea n so m uch to any mag ician . You

mus t realize thi s if you w ill only pause and thin k abou t it . A ll

the magicians that have stood out in the past were accomplished

at sleigh t of han d. By this I do not mean to im ply tha t the y had

to do cigarette, card, coin or ball productions, but they did have

to be skilled at the sleights that formed the basis

or

most card,

coin and ball illusions.

142



OPENING FOR C RD CT

A cce ssor ies : W alsh cane to s i lk handke rchief . Dove w i th

stream ers— red w hite and blue thre e feet in leng th fastened to

i ts legs. A glove pull the barrel spring type of pull that is re-

leased by pull ing the l ine out . Two packs of cards prepared for

back palming. One paper cl ip to hold securely thir ty cards. A

pair of loose fitt ing white chamois leather or cotton gloves.

A rra ng em en t : Th e dove and the coiled r ibbons are p laced

in the lef t s leeve of your coat dove facing outwards. Thir ty cards

are placed in the clip and the clip fastened to the right leg of

your pants far enough back and high enough to be amply protect-

ed from view but easy enough to get at when wanted. The gloves

are put on and the cards concealed as fol lows:

About twenty-six cards are held by the bent fingers of the

left hand ou tside the glove. Ab out the same num ber are tuck ed

in under the palm of the left glove. The cards in the left hand

face the palm.

Thir ty-s ix cards are back palmed in the r ight hand which

holds the cane in the fork of the thumb.

Enter from left wing. Place the cane under the lef t arm.

Produce six fans in succession in the r ight hand.

Take the cane in your r ight hand and change cane to hand-

ker hief Place the han dke rchief in you r lef t hand and secret ly

place cards into posi t ion for back palm ing in the r igh t hand tha t

is seize the cards behind the bent r ight f ingers and straighten the

fingers to back palm them. Place the handkerchief over the r ight

hand so that you may readily take it by one corner in the left

ha nd . As you do so t u rn the r ig ht hand over reverse palm ing

the cards in the r igh t hand . Place a corner of the hand kerch ief

between the backs of the two middle fingers and reverse the

right hand and l ikewise the cards. Pull the handkerchief half

way thro ug h the m iddle f ingers and prod uce a fan of cards then

let t ing the cards fal l . Then produce another fan and let i t fal l .

Now pull the handkerchief through and out from between the

fingers and produce the remainder of the cards in fans.

Plac e the last fan of cards produ ced into the lef t han d. Ta ke

the handkerchief and place i t in your r ight s ide pocket of your

pants . Take the fan of cards from your lef t hand with your r ight

hand and under cover of this move back palm the cards cl ipped

by the left fingers. D rop the visible card s and prod uc e the back

palmed cards in a series of fans.

143



Opening

for a ard

ct

T ak e off th e left glove, but first place yo ur rig ht th um b u nd er

the cards in the left hand, and as you pull the glove free, back

palm the cards in the righ t hand . Pro du ce a fan of cards, spli t

the fan and back palm. Re peat the mov es un ti l you have only six

cards back palmed. As the left hand approaches the right to re-

move the right glove, transfer the cards to the palm of the left

hand. Remove the right glove and place it in the left hand. Re-

gain the cards from the left hand to the back of the right hand.

Produce a fan of cards. Roll up the gloves and attach to the

pull. The gloves change to a dove, the dove coming out of your

left sleeve by force of throw.

Under cover of surprise, obtain the load of thirty cards from

the rig ht side holder w ith your r ig ht hand . Back palm the cards

and produce them in series of fans. When there are only twelve

to sixteen cards remaining in the last fan, split the fan, back palm-

ing half the cards. With the left hand take the fan of cards show-

ing, and back palm them in the left hand, producing the ones

from the back of the right hand. Repeat the moves of seemingly

passing the cards from right to left and left to r ight, through

the knees, and finally vanish (back palm) the fan in the left hand.

Turn the body to bring the right side to the audience, at the same

time bri ng ing the cards in the rig ht hand to the front palm .

Press the ends of the cards between the right palm and left arm

to perm it the fingers to be exten ded m om enta ri ly. Pro du ce a fan

at the left fingertips, and then vanish it and produce the fan at

the right elbow.

With the fan of cards in the right hand, get rid of the cards

held in the left hand between the third and fourth fingers of the

rig ht hand, behind the fan held in the righ t han d. Squa re up

the cards into one pack et. Place i t into the left hand . As you

turn the left hand over, steal the cards between the second and

third fingers. Turning to bring your left side to the audience,

transfer the cards to the left fingers. Press the ends against the

body, and open your f ingers wide momentari ly. The right hand

procures the cards from this posit ion and back palms them.

As you turn left to bring your r ight side to the audience,

the cards are secretly transferred behind the left hand (cards well

back) . T his is done as the palms are bro ug ht toge ther . T he hand s

are held palms facing audience. You are face on, arms bent at

elbows, fingers straight up. Bend the fingers of both hands to

palms. (The cards are back past the middle joints to allow this.)

T he rig ht hand is bro ug ht aroun d beh ind the left to conceal the

cards on the back of the left hand as they are quickly brought

to the mouth and pushed half way into your mouth and rapidly

pulled out by working the fingers and the thumbs of both hands

w hile the packet is su pp orte d by the sides in the m ou th. T hi s

makes a br i l l iant c l imax to the m anipu lat ion.

144



FINISH FOR N CT

This finish is preferable for an act that has used the Walsh

cane and gloves to a dove opening.

A cces sor ies : An app ear in g W alsh cane from handkerchief ,

an opera hat and a pair of white cotton gloves.

Pre pa rat io n of the glov es: Th e r igh t glove is turne d inside

out. Then carefully sewn to the inside of the glove is a piece of

white cloth, to which has been sewn feathers and a dove's head.

This is made to look as lifelife as possible when held by the

assistant, who hands i t to you with the left glove tucked inside

the right glove, prepared with the head and feathers of a dove.

The Walsh cane, with an eighteen inch white s i lk handker-

chief attached, is in the top left handkerchief pocket of your

dinner jacket .

The opera hat is closed and is hung behind a chair or table

so i t may be readily reached by the left hand at the surprise

moment of the cane appear ing. When the r ight hand le ts the

cane open, the left hand procures the hat and then causes the

hat to spr ing open. The assis tant meets the performer and hands

him the dove, or what looks l ike a dove. He takes i t with proper

care, turns the gloves right side out and puts the left glove on.

Carrying the right glove, he t ips his hat and exits.

If you are a st ickler for detail , you may care to arrange a

piece of cardbo ard w ith a po rtion of a han dke rchief fastened to

it in the hand kerc hief pock et, and a thre ad atta che d to the low

end of the cardboard and brought through the coat and down

to a button or st i tched to the pants so that when you pull on the

thread the handkerchief wil l appear in the pocket to supplement

the one you used to change to the cane.

Since th e pub lication of Card Co ntrol , I have had a feel-

ing that several i tems, e.g. cards to pocket, card and cigarette, ten

and ten, etc. , shou ld have appe ared th ere in. Because of the v ast

changes and improvements that I have made in these effects since

the ir previous publ icat ion in T hi r ty Card Problem s , I have de-

cided to descr ibe them again with the improved addi t ions for

the ir pres entat io n, toge ther with a few othe rs that I u ninten t ion-

al ly om it ted from Card C ontrol .

5



T B U C K L E Y F L S E S H U F F L E

Creating and developing false shuffle methods is a fad of

mine.

I have already given to the fraternity excellent methods

of false shuffling, several of which are published in my book,

Card Control . However, I do believe that the method that I am

about to reveal is the one that will rate first place with many

magicians. It has the advantage of being executed in the hands,

and maintains the original order of all the cards. It is a riffle

shuffle which can be repeated without fear of detection. It ful-

fills all the requirements that the most fastidious magician could

desire. Follow the details closely.

The cards should be fairly new for the best results. The pack

is held in the left hand, face down, thumb at the index corner,

first finger bent and resting on the back of the top card, the sec-

ond, third and fourth fingers curled around the bottom of the

pack.

With the thumb, riffle about half the pack so they are released

and fall onto the second, third and fourth fingers of the right

hand, as in Fig. 1. The second, third and fourth fingers of the

left hand then raise the bottom packet up to the right thumb,

as in Fig. 2.

Each hand then assumes the position with half the cards in

each hand, ready for riffling the right hand packet into the left

hand packet. This is done by the left thumb first releasing sev-

eral cards of the left hand packet, and then both the thumbs

riffle their packet together, the left hand finishing last, so that

several cards of the left hand packet are above and several cards

are below the interwoven right hand packet. See Fig. 3, which

illustrates the position of the hands when the cards are thus

riffled.

Now follow all these moves very carefully. The right

thumb is extended to the inside end of the left hand packet as

the first, second and third fingers move over the outside end

of the right hand packet. The fourth finger of the right hand sup-

ports the right hand packet at the side. This position is clearly

shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 shows the position as seen from under-

neath the pack.

The fingers of the right hand then extend across under the

pack to the side of the right hand packet (see Fig. 6), and as the

two packets are squeezed together by the fingers and fork of the

thumb of the left hand, the fourth finger of the right hand presses

on the end of the right hand packet, forcing the right hand packet

to protrude from the inside end of the right hand packet about

half an inch (see Fig 7). The right hand completely conceals the

protruding end from view. (See Fig. 8.) Figs. 5, 6 and 7 were

photographed from under the pack so the moves could be more

easily followed.

146



The cards that were previously designated the left hand

packet are held by their sides between the thumb on one side

and the first finger of the left hand on the other side. The sec-

ond, third and fourth fingers of the left hand support all the

cards at the low side, as in Fi g. 9. Th e righ t hand the n changes

its po sition to th at show n in F ig . 10. T h is chang e of p osition

of the r igh t hand is made w ithou t exposing the pr otru din g ends

of the cards to view.

The right hand packet is then held firmly between the sec-

ond and third fingers on one side, and the thumb on the other

side,

and moved diago nally as dep icted in Fig . 11.

The right hand pack is then withdrawn and placed on top

of the left hand pack, but the fourth finger of the left hand is

placed on the left hand packet before the right hand packet

arrive s, so tha t a break between the packets is m aintaine d. See

Fig. 12.) The pack is then double cut below the break, and all

the cards are then in their original order.

I repe at, this is a tru ly great m aster sleigh t and wo rthy of

your patience to perfect i ts execution in every detail . Sleights

l ike these raise card conju ring to a high er stan dar d.

147



CARDS T POCKET, WITH TEN CARDS

IWith Improvements

This classic of all card effects is undoubtedly one of the finest

ope ning card i llusions ever inven ted. T o my know ledge i t was first

descr ibed in Lan g Nei l 's book, M odern Card M anipu lat ion .

Since then i t has undergone many minor changes, but the basic

idea of a number of cards passing from the hand to the pocket

is the same.

A rra ng em en t: Te n cards are cou nted off a pack and bent

together so that when they are replaced on the bottom of the pack

they will have a good sized bridge at both ends, separating their

end s from th e pack. T he pack is placed in the case and on a

small table, which should be a little to the left of center of where

you intend to stand to perform . A no the r detail is to arra ng e th e

ten cards so they are dist inctive, one from another—a black king,

a red five, a black ten, a red two , etc . T h e rig ht han d p ock et of

your pants should be unsoiled, and quite empty.

You enter, make a brief a nno unc em ent, such as, A few classics

w ith a pack of pla yin g card s . Pic k up the pack from the ta ble

on your left and remove the cards from the case. Do this in silence

and be very sure of each of these moves of this very simple act.

Place the card case on the table and insert your little finger into

the pack above the ten cards on the bottom. This is easy because

of the end bridge. You can feel the place without looking at your

hands or the pack ( that ' s im po rtan t) . Riff le or perform the w ater-

fall shuffle only a sho rt distance to carelessly d isperse any th ou gh t

of a po ssib ility of a sep ara tion . Do this w ith yo ur li ttle finger in

the break. T he n say, Fo r my first dece ption I use ten card s. You

cut off the cards above th e break and lay the m on the tab le. Do

this with nonchalance, and don' t look at what you are doing.

Look towards or at your audience. Transfer the packet of ten

cards to your r ight hand and count them over into the left hand.

A completely i l lustrated description of this count, and also the

false cou nts are included herein for your convenience. As the

fifth card is counted and placed into the left hand, your little

finger is placed on the back of this card. The count is continued

until all ten cards now lie in the left hand, the little finger secret-

ly separat ing them into two packets . The r ight hand is brought

to the left to square the packet, but actually moves the top packet

of five cards forward about half way on the bottom packet of five

cards ,

and the left thum b moves onto the edge. T he pack et of ten

cards is pointing i ts end directly at the audience. No one can see

that the packet is not square.

You now say, N otice my hand and pock et are quite e m pty.

T u rn the rig ht pa nts pocket inside out, look dow n and say, N oth -

ing unusual, I assure you.

8



Yo ur r igh t hand is held up , ar t is t ic al ly poised, palm tow ard

the audience for a moment that i t may be observed empty with-

out inte ntio na lly ap pe arin g to do so. You say, M y object is

to cause these ten cards to pass along my arm, across ray body

and in to my pock et . Now here is a very excel lent opp or tun i ty

to explain something to you about proper t iming. As you say,

My object is to cause these— , your r ight hand reaches the pack

in your lef t hand, so that the r ight thumb passes behind the cards

and the bottom packet of five cards is pressed firmly into the fork

of the right thumb. The four fingers rest on the middle of the

back of the top card of the top packet, and you continue to say,

cards .

You tu rn lef t. T he backs of the top packet may now

be seen by the audience without their suspecting you have already

more than half way accomplished the palm. Never once have you

so m uch as glanced at you r hand s or the cards. Co ntinue w ith

you r rem arks , up the arm . As you say this , your r ight h and,

with the ten cards, moves away from the lef t hand, and you move

the cards up the arm to i l lus trate you r w ords, across my body

and into m y po cke t . T ap the cards near th e pocket and con-

t inu e, w itho ut seem ing to let them go. As you say this , you

place the cards in the left hand, with the backs of the cards to-

ward s the audience. Grip the s ide edges of the pro t rud ing top

packet with your two middle f ingers and thumb. The r ight hand

moves away with the bottom five cards, and when clear of the

left hand, the cards are bent by closing the hand unti l the second

finger rests un de r th e ri g h t th um b. T h e first finger of the ri gh t

hand is po int ing up, and you say, only one at a t im e. T he

right hand is moved across in front of your body to the r ight

side pocket of your pants , and just as i t reaches the pocket , the

cards held therein are al lowed to straighten, and the hand is held

flat w ith the card s palme d. I t is the n inserted into the pock et ,

and you look towards your left hand and give the edges of the

left han d pa cke t a sha rp, au dible click, and with y ou r eyes seem-

ing ly follow the passin g of the card to you r pock et . Remove

your r ight hand from your pocket with the card displayed be-

tween the sides of the first and second fingers, and hold it momen-

tar i ly in this fashion a gain st the leg of you r pa nts . Re peat the

audible cl ick and reach the empty hand into the pocket again,

and produce the second card. The same moves are repeated for

the third card. The fourth card has seemingly not arr ived after

the audible cl ick, so you cl ick again and look wo rried. T he n you

palm the fourth card from your pocket and produce i t from be-

hin d you r left kn ee, say ing , in a relieved to ne of voice, I some-

t imes have t rouble wi th that one.

You now count the f ive cards remaining in your lef t hand as

six. T he m ethod of this false coun t is i l lustra ted and exp lained .

The audible cl ick is again made with the packet of f ive cards

in the left hand, and the fifth card is taken out of the pocket

with your r ight hand, as explained. The packet of f ive cards is

149



taken from the left hand into the right hand and counted over

into the hand in the same manner as the ten cards were counted.

The fourth finger of the left hand is placed on the second card

counted. In this way the two bottom cards are held separated

from the three top cards. At the finish of the count cf the five

cards,

the right hand moves forward the packet of three top cards

on the packet of two bottom cards, and the whole packet is held

in the left hand with one of the ends towards the audience so

the separation point is not seen. To give a reason for the move

to follow, which allows the right hand to be seen empty, you say,

Som etimes when I try to pass two cards to ge the r those w ith

u ltr a violet or even infra red vision do see a flicker. As you say,

' 'two c ards , you hold up the righ t han d a rt ist ic ally w ith the

palm towards the audience and two fingers held up. Then you

take hold of the cards, pressing the bottom packet of two into

the fork of the right thumb. Straighten the left hand out and

turn it over, back and front, and replace the top three cards in

the left hand, palm ing away the packet cf two . As you r hand

moves away with the cards, bend them to the right thumb and

stra igh ten two fingers as you say, tw o , w ith a certain em phas is.

Then thrust the hand slowly into the pants pocket and audibly

click the packet of three in your left hand with your left thumb.

Remove the two cards from your pocket.

Then count the three cards so that i t is quite apparent that

the re are only three. Say, I ' l l give you one m ore chance to de-

tect the illusion . W at ch closely, please . I shall pass all th re e

cards tog eth er. Sayin g this, you hold the cards squared to ge the r

in your left hand by their side edges, and tap them gently into

the left hand w ith several l igh t taps w ith your r igh t f ingers. W h en

they are almost hidden behind the left hand fingers, the right

fingers press the end they were tapping, causing the card to ro-

tate endwise and come into the right palm. The left hand moves

away as if it held the cards. The right hand reaches into the

pants pocket. The left hand seems to gently squeeze away the

cards as you watch the process inten tly. T he righ t hand d raws

forth the three cards, and you bow to receive the applause this

fine effect will most assuredly bring forth.

If I have seemed to be at all lengthy with this description, I

have done so w ith the pu rpose of em phasizin g the need for exact

t iming and carefully covering any false moves with those natural

moves tha t were introd uce d to allay suspicio n. I t is w orth th e

time and trouble to perfect the working to suit your own person-

ali ty. I t has served me well for nigh onto forty years , and w ill

live as long as magic with cards is enjoyed.

Six card effects as good as this go far to make a high-class

card act.

5



THE OUNT

lOriginal

The Sleight

The cards are held level with

ycur chin and from twelve to

fifteen inches in front of you.

The packet of ten cards is

facing you. The bottom end at

one corner rests on the fourth

finger. T h e first, secon d and

third fingers are on the side

and thus press the cards into

the fork of the thu m b. T he t ip

of the thumb rests on the bot-

tcm end of the card, about half

way between the two corners .

This is the first position for

the co un t. See F ig . 1.)

T he second posi t ion Fi g. 2)

is arrived at by pushing up the

Jack of Clubs with the thumb

until the ball of the first finger,

not seen in the figure, and the

ball of thumb hold the card at

the bot tom midway between the

corners. The second finger

stretches out and presses the

corner and bends i t around the

tip of th e first finger F ig . 3).

The first and second fingers

stretch out with the card thus

gripped at the corner. The card,

released by the thumb, swings

around and makes a sudden ap-

pearance at the fingertips of

the first and second fingers

F ig . 4) . I t is im po rtan t that

the card be kept square with

the pack or the sleight loses a

great deal of i ts art is try.

The card is removed by the

left hand, and the sleight is re-

peated with the remaining nine

cards, one at a time.

151



T

FALSE COUNT FOR MORE

The Sleight

A packet of five cards is placed in the left hand, face down.

The four fingers on one side press the other side into the left

thu m b fork. T he thum b can push the top card well out over the

tips of the fingers, and can readily draw it back again square with

the other cards .

The first card is pushed out in this manner, and the r ight hand

is bro ug ht up to receive i t in th e following m ann er. T he thu m b

of the right hand reaches over the back of the extended top card

of the pack et till it tou ch es th e far corne r of th is card . (See F ig .

1.) T ha t pu ts th e index corner into the fork of the r igh t thum b,

and in this manner this card is drawn off the packet into the right

hand. Then another card is pushed off the top of the packet in the

left hand exactly as before, and the right hand holding the first

card app roach es to take th e second one. T he posit ion assum ed

wh en the two han ds come tog eth er is as follows. T he four f ingers

of the right hand with the card pass under the back of the left

han d. T he thum b reaches the far corner of the exte nd ed to p

card of the packet into the left hand and simulate the act of taking

the card, but the left thumb draws it back, and the move is falsi-

f ied. (See Fig. 2.) Showing the left thumb drawing back the card.

T FALSE COUNT FOR MORE

The i l lusion is indist inguishable to the eye from the actual

tak in g of the card, but w ai t T he i l lusion can be furth er heig ht-

ened or completely destroyed because in taking a card in this man-

ner the re is a sound pecu liar to the mo ve. Th ere fore i t becomes

an essential part of the illusion to make the noise of the false

move and the real move exactly al ike. This is accomplished by

the amount of pressure of the r ight thumb squeezing down on the

cards as the hands are draw n apar t . Close you r eyes and l is ten.

I t won't take you long to make the move indetectably.

152



T CARD IN CIGARETTE ILLUSION

IWith Improvements

T he i l lu sio n: A chosen card is tor n into small pieces, and

one piece is retain ed by a spe ctator. T he o thers are placed into

an envelope and retain ed by the spe ctato r. T he performer borrow s

a cigarette, l ights and smokes i t . Noticing that the spectator as-

sist ing him is not smoking, he takes a cigarette from the spec-

tat or s ear and lig hts it for him , and bo th puff away for a m om ent

or tw o. T he perform er s ud den ly asks the name of the card. On

being told, he f l icks the l ighted ash from his cigarette and peels

away the covering paper, revealing the card named, with a piece

m issing . T he sp ecta tor is told to fit the piece to the card. T he

performer takes back the envelope and opens i t , emptying out

the tobacco, crushing the envelope and leaving i t with the spec-

tator for later examination if he wishes.

Accessor ies : Three pla in le t ter-s ize envelopes; two cigar-

e t t e s ; a pack of cards, and one card to match it from another pack,

pre fera bly a black 9, 10 or jac k ; a pac ket of ma tche s and a pair

of scissors.

A rra ng em en t : Place one of the envelopes ins ide the other .

This is easy to do if you are careful.

Roll the cigarette between your f ingers, s tart ing near one end

and working up towards the other end unt i l you have extracted

three-fourth of the tobacco from the cigarette paper onto a plain

sheet of pape r. T he n lay i t aside for a m om ent while you roll th e

card.

First tear off one of the index corners about three-quarters

of an inch through the corner index spot. Place the piece inside

the envelope behind the inside envelope. Place the tobacco from

the cigarette inside the inside envelope and seal the f lap l ightly

at one spot only onto the outside envelope. Fold over the outside

flap and cre ase it dow n. Pla ce the enve lope into the in side po cke t

of your dinner jacket , ready for the performance.

Roll the end of the untorn edge of the card over with your

fingers very sharply so that you can roll the rest of the card over

i t into a tub e th at w il l f i t inside the cig are tte from w hich you

took most of the tobacco. Do it very carefully, and be sure you

have rolled the card t ight enough to insert into the cigarette with-

out tea rin g the cigare tte pap er. Pre ss i t carefully home up to

the white border of the card. This wil l al low a considerable por-

t ion of the tobacco to remain in the cigarette. Then take the

scissors and tr im the excess tobacco off . Place the cigarette into

yo ur coat po cke t on th e low er left side, the tobacco end of t he

cig are tte poi nti ng rearw ard . Pla ce a few grain s of tobacco into

the remaining envelope and seal i t . When the seal is dry, tear

it open , crus h it into a ball and place it in th e left pa nts poc ket,

up near the wais t l ine .

153



Place the other cigarette and the packet of matches into

your r ight side coat pocket.

Take the duplicate card to the one inside the cigarette and

crimp it on the corner so that you may use the cards for other

card effects and yet at any time easily find this card when it

i s wanted.

When the t ime arrives to perform this effect , you hold the

pack in your hands and find the crimped card, cut it to the center

and force it on the spectator you have requested to assist you.

(If you are w ary of the force, the n look at th e Ho ffsing er's force

in Card Co ntrol . T his cann ot miss.) Say, Te ar i t in

half

please.

Put the halves together and tear them again. My, but you're strong.

Try once more. Fine. Will you put al l the pieces together and

try once more. Say, you wouldn't believe it , but you are the first

person th at I have seen do th at. Pla ce the pieces here .

You have taken the envelope from your pocket while you

w atched the spectato r tear the card as instru cted , and you r f ingers

opened up the inside and secured the torn corner, which you are

now holding under the two middle f ingers against the front side

of the envelope. You extend your hands with the envelope held

th us as you say, D ro p the pieces in her e, plea se. As soon as th e

spe ctato r has done so, you say, D id you keep a piece. T h en please

do so. You w ithd raw the corner und er your fingers and hand i t

to him.

You seal the flap down and place the envelope in the opening

of the spe cta tor 's vest, say ing , Do you m ind if we leave th is he re

for a m om ent. T u rn to the audien ce and say, W ill someone oblige

me w ith a cig ar ett e? As you say this , you tap both the side

pockets of your coat as if you were unconsciously feeling for one.

The left hand enters the pocket and secretly procures the prepared

cigarette, holding it in the cup of the bent fingers, tobacco end

resting near the fourth f inger. The hand and concealed cigarette

are brought forth as you reach to receive the cigarette handed to

you. As soon as you take it , the right hand moves towards the left

hand with the cigare tte reclinin g on the f ingers. As the hand s are

brought together, the left hand brings i ts cigarette to view, and the

right hand is thrust into the r ight side pocket, with the secreted

borrowed cigarette, to get the matches, leaving the cigarette be-

hind and bringing forth the matches. The left hand places the

faked cig arette in you r m outh, and you casually l igh t it . R etu rn -

ing the matches to your pocket, you procure a cigarette and with-

draw your hand w ith the cig aret te concealed. Pau se a m om ent to

draw on the cigare tte you are sm oking , and then say, Do you

smoke? I tho ug ht as m uch , and you pluck the cig are tte from

his ear and place it in his mouth. You reach into your pocket, bring

out the matches and l ight his cigarette, return the matches to your

pocket and procure another cigarette if you have two assistants,

repeating the performance of f inding the cigarette.

15 4



After a short pause, ask the name of the selected card, flick off

the l ighted ash and produce the card. Hand the card to the assist-

ant to m atch the corner. W hi le he does so, take away the envelope

from h is vest, open it and shak e the tobacco into his ha nd . Cru sh

the envelope, place it in your left hand (your right side is toward

the audience), reach out to shake the assistant 's hand, and exchange

the env elop es. Pla ce it in his han d and say, H er e, take all of the

materials with you. You may be able to work i t out for

yourself.

This is one of the f inest i l lusions with cards ( in my opinion).

I w ork ed it out and fir st used it in 1908, and hav e, du rin g the yea rs,

adde d to th e de tails of pr es en tati on . If you make it a pa rt of yo ur

performance, I am sure you will profit by same.

THE THIRTY CAR DS AND TW O ASSISTANTS

I With Improvem ents

To the best of my knowledge, this effect f irst appeared in the

M odern C onjuro r by La ng Nei l . I t has a lways ra ted w ith me,

and still does, as one of the ten best card effects ever invented.

It lends i tself admirably to any audience at any t ime or place.

I am publishing i t again here because I have a few original twists

that I discovered while performing i t as a regular i tem in my card

act for more years than I care to remember.

Having obtained the helpful assistance of two members of

your audience, you stat ion one at your left s ide and the other at

yo ur r ig ht . You are facing th e aud ience, w ith a table in front

of you . On the table rest a pack of cards . T he botto m four card s

of the pack are the four fives.

Taking up the pack, you address the man on your left , saying,

I w ant y ou to take th e cards out and cou nt off t h ir t y onto the

table. Co unt them one by one to yourself l ike th is . You i l lus trate

by counting one, two, three, and dropping the cards one by one

on the table, face down. You gather up the three cards, square

the pack and hand i t to the spe ctato r w ith the request , W ill you

do that , p lease?

You palm off the top of the pack about a dozen cards, and as

soon as he takes the cards to carry out your instructions, you

reach into his coat and prod uc e th e fan of cards, say ing , I only

asked you to cou nt them . Re place these cards on the pack and

let him proceed with the count, but you count aloud each t ime

he places a card on the table, regulating the pace of the count.

W h en th ir ty cards have been coun ted, you say, Plea se place the

rem ainder of the pack here , po int ing to the fur therm ost corner

from you.

155



Now wil l you gathe r the th i r t y cards in to one heap . W he n

he has done so, say, Pl ac e th e heap on the table and cu t it to

make two heaps. Now choose ei ther heap. Place i t in the inside

pock et of you r coat . A s he take s away the hea p he chose, you

pick up the remaining heap and immediately push off the top of

the pack five cards, one by one. Do this without looking at your

hands. Square the cards up with the pack after you have inserted

you r fourth f inger of the left hand to sep arate them . Rem ove your

rig ht hand and say, Ple ase bu tton you r coat . A s you say this ,

you i l lustrate with your r ight hand, doing so expressly so i t may

be seen emp ty w ithou t otherwise referr in g to th is fact. Ju s t as

the last button of the coat is fastened, (you are intently watching

the procedure) your r ight hand takes the packet , palming the f ive

cards off the top. You hand the packet to the spectator, saying,

Pleas e coun t these also l ike you did th e oth ers . (You kn ow he

did not count the others, i f by the others you mean the packet he

placed in his pocket, but actually he did count thirty cards at first,

so this exceedingly clever inference that he counted the cards he

pu t into his pock et is m ost certain to cl ick if yo ur t im ing is r igh t .)

As the second packet of cards, minus the five you palmed, is be-

ing counted out onto the table, you do the call ing out as the cards

fall onto the table. When the last card is down, suppose the num-

ber is nine, you slowly and deliberately place your hand with the

five palmed cards on top of the n ine, and, look ing st rai gh t u p into

the spe ctato r 's face, say, A nd nine from th ir ty leaves how ma ny ?

This is a complete distraction, and comes suddenly as a surprise

and if he hesitates you help him out of this simple dilemma by

sm il ingly saying in an un der to ne, Tw enty -on e. Square the f ive

up with the nine, and hand the packet to the man on the r ight ,

bu t ju st as you do so, say, H av e you an insid e breas t poc ket in

the coat you are w ea rin g? You know that he has, but at this mo-

ment you wish to diver t h is thoughts because when you hand him

fourteen cards instead of nine he could easily notice this discrep-

ancy, but not if you give him a sim ple qu estio n to an sw er. You

hand him the cards and say Pla ce them in you r inside po cket,

please. You do not refer to the num ber as you say th is . W h en

the cards are in his pock et, say, Ple ase butto n yo ur coat on th e

nine cards, and turn in g to the man on you r left again, you say,

A nd th at leaves you w ith how m an y? If he is s low, you repe at

in an und er ton e, Tw enty -one , con t inuing , An d our m utual f r iend

here has how m any? Nine? Qu i te so .

Now the object is to cause the cards to leave your pocket,

one by one, and pass across into the po cket of our m utu al fr iend .

You tu rn to the spec ta tor on you r r ig ht and say, You d on ' t

mind me cal l ing you our mutual f r iend, do you?

Take up the cards from the corner of the table with the four

fives on the bo ttom of the pack . Cu t the pa ck et to br ing the four

fives to the approximate center and spread them so only the four

fives are spre ad. Say, T ak e one card, plea se. You do n't look at

your hands as the card is selected, for you know he can only take

one of the four, and they are all fives.

156



Call the num ber please. Five? Th an k you. Th en five cards

I shall take from your pocket. Watch closely, for the closer you

watch (pause) , the c loser you watch.

You reach over with the packet of cards to his pocket and draw

a l ine with the packet of cards to the other man's pocket, and

give the packet a cl ick with your thumb, saying as you look him in

the eye, D id you feel th at on e? If he says, Y es, you say, Splen -

did. I t 's nice to know you are feeling okay. L et 's try again. Re-

peat unti l the f ive cards have been duly passed. Then you say to

the man on you r left, H ow many cards did you place in your

po cke t? He answe rs , Tw enty -one , and you say, Tw enty-one

is correct, and if I have taken away five you will now have only

sixteen . Is tha t corre ct? T he n sixteen is all you have. Please

count them.

Again you do the counting, dropping off to a slower pace as

you say thir tee n, fourteen, fif teen, sixteen . You look at him and

smile w ith tha t expression — Yo u didn 't thin k I could do i t . You

tu rn to th e man on you r r ight and say, Ho w many cards did you

place in yo ur po ck et? A nd if I really passed five m ore into it , you

should now have fourte en. Is tha t corre ct? Fo urt een is the num -

ber. P lease cou nt them . As the cards are coun ted, you raise you r

voice on the last three cards counted, and take a bow.

TEN ND TEN

This is another of the classic card i l lusions that has helped

to make the name of more than one performer. The really good

things do not die, especially when a touch to the presentation is

added every so often. I have added one or two to the following de-

scription which I found from practical experience to be welcomed

and apprecia ted by my audience.

The i l lus ion: The performer , s tanding with an ass is tant f rom

his audience on his left and another on his right, hands a pack of

pla yin g card s to the assistan t on his left , as he says, Ta ke th e

pack and count ten cards off the pack, face down, on my left hand.

(There is no waste of words here. Your instructions are simple and

clear. You have a reason for the cards being counted face down.

An observing spectator may note and remember detai ls that you

do not want remembered. If you have the cards dealt face down

from the beginning, the procedure will not be considered as an

unusual one when they are counted that same way later . I think

these l i t t le th ings are important . )

With your left hand held palm upwards, the assist ing spectator

counts ten cards, one by one, from the top of the pack, faces down,

on you r ou tstre tch ed h and . As each card is dealt , you count, O ne,

two,

thre e, etc. up to ten. T he n you say, I wil l count them ag ain

over into the r ig ht hand , and you r proceed to do so. P ull off the

top card into your r ight hand with your r ight thumb, and the others

one by one at a fair ly rapid pace. However, when you have counted

seven cards, you count the last three without any change of pace

so that these three cards extend over the end nearest the thumb

and first f ing er by about a thi rd of their len gth .

157



At the completion of the count of ten, you press on the back

of the top card with your r ight thumb to hold the cards in place.

O uts tre tch yo ur hand and say to the spec tator on you r r ight , You

watch them, please.

This barefaced procedure disarms the spectator. He does not

know what to think of the protruding cards, and will probably

watch your hand and cards with no l i t t le curiosity, which you want

him to do.

You turn again to the person on your left, hold out your left

han d and say, W ill you deal ten m ore card s please on m y left

h a n d ?

You are now standing with your feet facing center, with your

body turned left , your r ight hand outstretched to the r ight and

your left hand held before the spectator on your left. You swing

towards the r ight and bring the left hand holding ten cards to your

rig ht elbow, and say to the ass istan t on you r righ t, H ave you a

pocket ha nd ke rch ief? He wil l imm ediate ly look tow ards the pocket

where he keeps i t , and without wait ing you swing left , and in do-

ing so the right hand is brought to the left elbow, and in this act

i t naturally passes the left hand. When this happens the left thumb

is placed on the protruding ends of the three top cards of the

right hand packet, and they pass to the left hand packet.

Th ere is no hu rry . Ev ery thin g is carr ied out a t a wel l regulated ,

even pace, w itho ut stops or hes itat ion . T he r igh t hand c ontin ues i ts

journey up the left arm to your handkerchief pocket, where you

m ust have a han dke rchief in readin ess. T he thum b and first f inger

seize it by a corn er, and you pu ll it from yo ur p ock et, ha nd in g it

to the assistan t on you r left with the w ords, Ta ke this one, please.

Oh, lay the cards on the table. Place the handkerchief over the ten

cards in my left han d. Now hold the cards thr ou gh the han dke rchief.

Careful , please. Those queens may object if you squeeze too t ightly.

I will cou nt thes e once m ore . So say ing , you false coun t the seven

cards as ten, as described herein.

Place the cards in your left hand, the face of the cards towards

the aud ienc e, read y for the color cha ng e, and say, I w ill pass thes e

cards, one by one, from my hand into the handkerchief. Watch close-

ly, pleas e. As you m ake the last rem ark you palm the card from the

back of the pack et in yo ur left hand . Pa ssi ng you r han d w ith

the palmed card, leave it on the face of the pack, but appear to

carry the face card away, w atch ing int en tly . You mak e a pass

in the direction of the handkerchief as a chord is struck on the

piano, or drum and cymbals pro duc e the sound effect. Tw o m ore

tim es a card is passed . Ea ch time you procee d as before, first

palming off a card from the back of the pack and placing it on the

front, and using the sound effects to simulate its passage to the

handkerchief. A great deal of interest can be created here. In fact,

the color change, if well done, is no small part of the illusion.

When the three cards have been thus dealt with, you say as you

coun t the cards onto the table, A nd tha t leaves only one, two, thre e,

four, five, six, seven cards; and in the handkerchief you have thir-

teen in place of ten. Please count them onto the table.

As he uncovers the cards , take your handkerch ief and re t ur n

it to your pocket, and as the thir teen cards are dealt , count aloud.

158



VANISH THE LAST TWO CARDS IN PRESENTING

THE TEN CARDS TO POCKET

Place two cards the King of Clubs on the bottom in the lef t

han d as in F ig . 1. You will observe from the ph oto th at the cards

are supported on s ide edges at one end between the lef t thumb and

second finger. The first finger is on the face of the cards while the

lef t hand is at the other end across the edge. The r ight hand pushes

the cards causing them to s l ide towards the lef t hand but the

outward pressure on the cards on the r ight hand causes the cards

to rotate between the thumb and second finger of the left hand

and come into the r ight hand where they are palmed while seem-

ingly pushed into the lef t hand.

T he i l lusion is he igh ten ed by a half left tu rn as the palm ing

m ove is ex ecu ted and the left ha nd in a half closed po sition is raised

to shoulder height wi th the back of the hand towards the audience.

T he r igh t hand is lowered and thru s t into the pants pocket . Th e

left hand is opened and turned around as the r ight hand produces

the cards from the pocket .

159



METHOD OF DOUBLE CUTTING CARDS

This sleight is one of the most useful sleights in card con-

juring, and unless one is fully aware of what is happening it is

impossible to follow, though

r id iculously s imple to perform.

It should be practiced thor-

oughly before being used in

publ ic .

h Sleight

Place the pack in your left

hand face up and cut off about

half the pack with the r ight

hand. Note the card cut to

(say it is the three of clubs),

and that is the card it is de-

sired to bring to the bottom of

the pack. Remember, the pack

is held face up.

When the cards lifted off

above the three of clubs are re-

placed, the tip of the fourth

finger of the left hand is in-

serted above the three of clubs

to retain a break. (See Fig. 1.)

The thumb of the r ight

hand retains this break while

the left hand is shifted to form

a second break about halfway

between the three of clubs and

the top of the pack. (See Fig.

2.) Th e i l lustra t ion dep icts

this latter break to be at the

nine of spades.

The r ight hand t ransfers

the packet with the nine of

spades at the bottom of it to

the bottom of the pack. Th e

act is a simple cut.

The r ight hand re turns to

its former position, obtains the

packet with the three of clubs

and tra ns fer s this pac ket to the bottom , and th at s all th ere is to it .

Of course, you hold the pack face down while performing this

sleight for the effect described herein.

160



THE TRIPLE CLIMAX

I Original

This is another effect that has served me well for many years.

It was originated by me around 1910 or 1911 in the early days of

my career as a professional card magician.

T he i l lu sio n: T hr ee card s tha t are seen in the pack by the

spectators are discovered in a novel manner.

T he w or ki ng : An assis tant from the audience s tands at the

perfo rm er 's r ig ht side, w hich, for ex plan ator y reaso ns, shall hence-

forth be referre d to as A ssistan t No. 1. O n the perform er 's r ig ht

stand s As sistan t No . 2. A ssista nt No. 1 is requested to look at a

card in the pack. T he perform er exten ds his left hand , ho lding the

pack, and raises the corners with the fingers of his right hand,

being careful not to expose any of the cards to the assistant, say-

ing, I w an t you to ju st open the pack at the inde x corn er, like

th is , and look at one card, only one. Is tha t qu ite cle ar ? (See T he

Peek , herein. )

The performer raises his hand with the pack, and Assistant

No. 1 peek s at one card.

Plea se remem ber i t . Th e perform er has, by means of the

sleight described at the end of this explanation, retained a break

w ith th e tip of the fou rth finger. H e proc eed s to casua lly cut the

cards several times, doing so by means of the double cut (ex-

plained herein), which secretly brings the spectator 's card to the

Bottom of the pack, where the performer secretly glimpses and

rem em bers it . By m eans of the riffle shuffle, mad e very casua lly

and ever so fairly, the card thus glimpsed remains on the bottom.

T he performer turn s to As sis tant No. 2, saying, W ou ld you mind

lifting the cards at the corner of the pack, just open the cards

like this . (I l lu str ate w itho ut let t ing the faces of the cards be

seen.) Ju st one card you are to look at. T ha nk you. You w ill

of course remember i t? T ha t ' s splendid. W hile you were saying

th i s , you secre tly insert ed the tip of you r fourth finger in to th e

pack below this card, and now you cut off this card with the cards

above it in your right hand, and fairly riffle the two packets to-

gether. Take care to riffle the card lying on the bottom of the

161



Triple limax

right hand packet first. Then riffle several cards from the left hand

pack et and comp lete the riff le. T hi s brin gs the No . 2 A ssis tan t 's

card to the bottom of th e pack, and the N o. 1 A ssis tan t 's card

second card from the bottom of the pack. Give the pack a no the r

casual riffle shuffle. K eep several of the botto m cards inta ct,

but riffle an indifferent card to the bottom and crimp it at the

index corner.

Th en, looking at A ssista nt N o. 1, say, You rem em ber the card

you saw? W ill you poin t to any card in the pack. Sprea d the

cards out fanways before him, sayin g, W it h you r f irst f inger po int

to any one card. I w ant you to be sure you have a free ch oice .

Th at one? Splend id.

Cut the cards , t ransferr ing the bot tom card which you cr imped

the corner of from the left hand packet to the right hand packet.

Th is is called the Ho fzinser force (see descr ipt ion here in) . Ha nd

him thi s pac ket and say, N ote the card you chose, and shuffle

the card s. T ak e the pack et from him at the com pletion of the

shuffle, and say, N ow if I shuffle the se into these , th at w ill be

fair and square.

While you are talking and shuffl ing the cards, you locate the

crimped card and insert your fourth finger of the left hand above

it. T he n cut off the card s above th e crim ped c ard. You sho uld

now have on the bottom of the pack in your left hand the second

assistant 's card next, and above it the first assistant 's card, and

on the top of this packet the crimped card. Riffle the two packets

together, r iff l ing the right hand packet into the left hand packet.

H old ing the pack of cards in you r left han d. W it h your r ig ht

hand take the lower half and place it on the other half first put-

t ing down your fourth finger on the crimped card to keep the

locat ion. Then, pushing the two assis tants ' cards with the t ips of

the fingers of your left hand, you withdraw your fourth finger and

reinsert i t above the assistants ' cards, and perform the double

cut (described her ein ). T he cards now lie : A ssista nt No. O ne's first

card on to p ; A ssis tant N o. Tw o's card second ; and As sis tant No .

On e's second card third from the top. You say to No . O ne A s-

sista nt, T ak e the pack and deal th e card s, one by one, face down

on my left han d. H and him the pack and repe at Fa ce dow n,

so I can't see when you deal your card.

As the cards are dealt , say aloud, O ne, two, thr ee . At th re e

stop him , and as if y ou ju st th ou gh t of it , say, to No . Tw o

A ssista nt, Do you thin k you could tel l him to stop when

he reaches his card? H e will probab ly reply, I do n' t know

his card. T he n ju st say 's to p' any old t ime before he reaches

thir tee n, because thir te en is unlu cky . (T his is to prevent the

162



Triple limax

count being drawn out to the point of boredom.) As each card is

placed on your hand, you bring the right hand down onto the

packet of cards and promptly raise it to receive the next card

deal t. W he n A ssis tant No. Tw o cal ls "S to p " you br ing down the

right hand on the packet of cards in the left hand and raise it a

few inches and bring it down on the packet of cards again. (This

is to enable you to execute the "Slap Shift", described herein.)

As you turn your head to look in his direction, say, "You

meant him to stop now?" Not waiting for an answer, you say to

A ssistan t No. On e, "W ill you l ift off the top card? Please name

your card first. The first card you thought of, please. The two

of sp ad es? L ift it off th e pac k, plea se, and hold it up so tha t

everyone may see it ."

At this moment, shift the bottom card of the packet in your

left hand to the top of the packet. Take the card from him, and

as you turn to the N o. Tw o Ass istan t on your r igh t, make the

top ch an ge . H old th e card s, face down, abou t a foot below his

eyes, and say, "Your card was not by chance also the two of spades?

No? W h at is you r card, ple ase ?" W he n he names it , say, "Plea se

blow on the two of spades. Now it 's the seven of hearts, your

ca rd?"

Palm the bottom card of the packet ( this is the crimped card),

and drop the rest of the cards on a chair or a table. Say to Assist-

ant No. One, "I believe you have forgotten the second card you

th ou g ht of." H e w ill nam e it if he has not for go tten . In most

cases you nam e it for him . Reach into his inside coat poc ket and

take the card out.

Before explaining the sleights employed in the method of

the "T rip le Clim ax", I wish to say to you tha t I have found from

professional experience this to be one of the very finest of stage

an d /o r draw ing room effects . I t mu st be performed br iskly— no

un du e stall in g or fum bling. T he re is not a move in the w hole

effect th at is not com plete ly pro tec ted by a na tur al actio n, and

I am confident that those who take the t ime and care to incorporate

it into th eir ro ut in e will use it ever after. Of cou rse, it is m ore

difficult than a thou san d oth ers tha t you can do ove rnigh t, but

th is is a saleable pro fes sion al effect. Ask yourself "Is i t not worth

whi l e?"

And another thing, the sleights embraced by this effect

are ready to serve you henc eforth . T he y are you rs forever, once

mastered. They are not too difficult if you will give a little of your

t ime to correc t ly un dersta nd them . H ere they are— The s lap

shift, the top chan ge, the double cut, th e palm, the peak, the Hof-

zinser force.

163



AN AMAZING CAR D ILLUSION Original)

JUST THINK OF

CARD

This is one of the finest of intimate card illusions that I

have had the pleasure of working. The effect and the sleight of

peeking at the card I claim to be entirely original. It is one of

the thirty uncompleted card effects I left with Zado Goldenberg

to do with as he saw fit at the time I left for Australia in 1923.

These were later published by Dariel Fitzkee. During the last

twenty-five years I have worked this illusion many times and add-

ed to its splendid effect, so I feel that in justice to it, it should

appear here with my present presentation. So here it is.

While you stand and efficiently riffle shuffle the pack of cards,

you address the gathering: I am going to have several of you

people select a card, not by removing it from the pack, but just

by thinking of it. Having completed the riffle shuffle while talk-

in

you square the pack and approach a spectator with the pack

held by both hands, face down. The cards are run from left to

right until about ten cards at the center of the pack are spread

in a semi-circle and the other cards below and above the fanned-

out ten are not spread. All this must be done in a very casual

way, not at all appearing as too planned. As you reach the first

spectator, you raise the cards and hold them centered before

his eyes and watch his eyes to see that his gaze does not wander

from the fanned-out cards.

You say as you raise the cards for him to see, Please think

of one card, only one, and having made up your mind please don't

change it. You allow only sufficient time for him to make up his

mind, moving the cards in a small arc back and forth to keep the

fanned-out cards before his gaze. Close the pack together, secret-

ly inserting your fourth finger of the left hand below the bottom

card of the fan as you close it, and say, Did you see one? Thank

you. (Now it would be more than likely that the spectators near

the person making the selection may have seen the fanned-out

cards, so you must pick your victims at sufficiently remote points

of the group to avoid this happening.)

Double cut the cards below the left fourth finger to bring the

ten fanned-out cards to the bottom of the pack, and riffle the pack

in a manner to insure the group of ten remaining undisturbed, and

holding the pack in the left hand in position for the Hindu shuffle

(see Card Control ), undercut about forty cards of the pack and

Hindu shuffle about twenty cards of this packet on the packet in

164



n mazing

a rd

Illusion

the left han d, and drop the fou rth left finger on them . T he n place

the remaining twenty cards which you have in the r ight hand on

the left hand packet. The ten now directly above the left hand

fourth finger are the ten cards from which the first spectator

made his selection. You spread the ten cards as before, ho ldin g

the pack face down so no one sees them prematurely, and you ap-

proach your second victim. Holding the fan directly before his

eyes and w atc hin g his eyes, you repea t , Plea se thin k of one.

Now here is an important point that i t may take you some

time to discover for yourself As you hold the cards before the

spectator and you watch his eyes, you can usually tel l where

and when he makes his choice, and you try to have the choice made

so th at different card s of the fanned -out cards are selected by

different spectators.

The same procedure of shuffl ing, cutt ing and fanning the

cards before the third spectator is gone through, unti l you have

five cards remembered by five of the spectators.

Then you shuffle the pack as heretofore explained to keep

the ten card s on the bo ttom of the pack. H old the pack in your

right hand, face down, in position for an overhand shuffle, that

is,

so the thumb of the left hand can pull off the cards from the

pack into the left hand, one by one. Pu ll off four c ards in this

manner, and then as you pull the next card with the left thumb

take the bottom card of the r ight hand packet with i t . That wil l

make a packet of six cards in your left hand, and the second top

card m ay be one of the cards the sp ec tato rs chose to th in k of.

Lay this packet on the table and continue to once more shuffle

off four cards, one by one, and then one from the bottom, with

the sixth card taken from the top, and lay this packet alongside

the first pack et . Re peat this un ti l you have about eight p acke ts,

each containing six cards.

You have kep t talk ing while you shuffled, say ing, Le t me

see.

I had five of you select cards, not take them out of the pack,

but you just thought of any of the cards as I spread the pack

before you. At no time did I look at the faces of any cards of

the pack, nor will I do so now, so I could not know what cards

you are th in k in g of. Yet I w ill tr y to tell you those very car ds.

You pick up the third heap of six and spread it face down

w ith care, fanned out in both ha nd s. T he fingers of yo ur h an ds

are un de rne ath the faces, and you r thum bs are on the backs. As

you raise th e fan of card s th us , the left thu m b push es up th e in-

dex corner far enough for you to glimpse the index of this card,

w hich m ay or may not be a chosen one. T he six cards are held

165



n mazing Card Illusion

fanned in the right hand only, before the first spectator, and you

ask, Look carefully. Is your card th er e? You go from one to

another , making the same s ta tement . (We wil l assume that the card

you glimpsed the index of, is the six of spades, and that the

fourth spe ctator you approach says, Yes, my card is the re. )

Then you know the six of spades is the fourth spectator 's card.

You continue to ask the fifth spectator, and lay the cards squared

in a pack et on the table, and pick up the second set of six. W h ile

you fan them and glimpse the index of the second top card, you

retain in your memory the six of spades the first card you glimpsed,

the fourth sp ecta tor 's card, and say to the f irst spectato r , Is y our

card the re? , and the second, thi rd and fou rth spe ctato rs , but the

fourth spec tator will say, No , my card was in the other pac ket ,

and you say, O h, yes. You did tell me th at. Ple ase th in k of it

and see if I can read your mind. The six of spades, I believe.

Th en add ress the f if th spe ctator , You say you r card is th e re ?

Close the fan and lay it on th e first disc ard ed pa ck et. Say to th e

fif th spe ctator , Plea se thin k of i t . A l i t t le har der , please. T he

two of club s. I see you like the de uces w ild.

You take up the fifth packet, and the first and second specta-

tors both ackn ow ledge that their cards are in the packe t . You

lay the packet of cards aside on the other discarded cards and

say, W ill you think of your cards, and I wil l see w hat imp ression

I receive the stro ng est . You say, You are both th in ki ng of the

same card, the Jack of hearts .

Now assuming you go through al l the packets except the last

packet , and the third spectator has not acknowledged that his card

is in any one of the packets so far shown, then you rightly assume,

barring errors on his part , that the card must be the second top

card of the last packet, so you glimpse it and palm it from the

pack to your pocket as you gather up the cards and shuffle them,

saying , I wo uld l ike to show you ano ther on e.

At this point you wil l probably be interrupted by the person

whose card you have not declared, and you say, T ha t is r ig ht .

I did not tell you yo ur card, did I? H er e, shuffle t he cards please .

And you hand the pack over, being careless about i t , but making

sure that they see your hands are not withholding any of the

cards .

W hi le the shuffle is being m ade, say, Plea se tel l me—

w ha t is the name of yo ur ca rd ? H e says it , and you tak e it from

you r pock et , saying , T ha t 's funny how you tho ug ht of tha t one.

If you will practice this card illusion until you can do it

with all the frills i t embraces, you will have the finest intimate

group card effect I know about.

166



THE

RIMP

On e Hand)

To c r imp card so that i t may be readily located anywhere

in the pack while the pack of cards is held squared in the hands

is one of the oldest methods of location but it stil l remains one

of the ve ry best of all . F ir st becau se all you need to do to locate

the card is tu rn the pack on its s ide. T he re are m any good and

simple methods a l ready publ ished f rom which you may exerc ise

your choice of placing a crimp.

A favorite of mine is to place the crimp after the card has been

returned by holding the pack fanned in both hands and bending

the corner with the second finger of the right hand over the sec-

ond f inger of the lef t hand. However this method i l lustrated is

excellent for cr imping the bottom card and only using one hand

to accom plish the proce ss. Fi g. 1 shows the fourth f inger crim p-

ing the card. F ig . 2 shows how the specta tors see the pack wh ile

the finger sec retly does the w ork . It should nev er be so cru de

as to be noticeable by the spectator .

167



EXCH NGING C RD IN P SSING

Top Change

H old the cards in your left hand in posit ion for dea ling. Ta ke

a card in your right hand and hold it between the first finger and

thu m b at the inside end at one index corner. D isplay the card

to an imaginary assistant supposedly standing on your left side.

T ur n to a second im aginary assis tant s tand ing on your r igh t s ide

and as you do so lower the right hand holding the cards at a slow

even pace and up again the card still held between the first finger

and thumb held back up face of the card parallel with the floor

the card about fifteen inches from the chin of the imaginary as-

sistan t. T his move is made so tha t the right hand hold ing th e

card passes just in front of the left hand holding the pack with-

out any change of pace and you turn your head from the assist-

ant at your left to the one at your r ight. The exchange is made

in passing the pack as follow s: As the rig ht hand app roach es

the pack from th e left the left th um b mo ves the top card a th ir d

of its w idt h over the left finger w he re it is reta ine d in th at pos-

i t ion by the l ight pressure of the thumb not the ball of the thumb

for that part is not actually resting on the card.

As the right hand with the card to be exchanged comes level

with the pack the card in the right hand is brought under the

left thumb and the card over the pack passes between the second

and third fingers of the right hand. The left thumb draws the

card wedged under i t onto and square with the pack as the right

hand continues on i ts journey with the card between the second

and thir d fingers. U nde r cover of this con tinuo us mo vem ent the

thu m b replaces the first finger and the second finger is the n re-

placed by the first finger as the travel m otion c eases. No ha ste

or hu rry just a s teady easy-going natu ral pace. Now one more

thi ng before I close this exp lana tion. T he re are thre e m ore travel

mo ves ex ec utin g thi s slei gh t. If the card is first show n to a

person at the righ t and you then tu rn left the righ t hand is

brought to the pack held as explained in the first method and the

card exchanged as explained but the r ight hand now holding

the exchan ged card between the two m iddle fingers stops and the

left han d is moved away to dire ct or ges tur e to the ass istan t on

yo ur left side. T he rig ht hand appr oac hin g and the left hand

moving away should be made one cont inuous move.

Th e third me tho d: Ha ving taken a card from someone you

are addressing the right hand with the card is moved in the

dire ction of your body. A t the same time the left hand m oves

in the dire ction of the spectator you are add ress ing and as the

two han ds come abreast of each other the exch ang e is m ade as

explained in passing.

The fourth method is made the same way but the hands move

in the opposite dire ctio ns a m ethod th at I do not care for.

8



T PEEK LOCATION Original)

F ig . 1 dep icts th e spec tator s han d r aisin g the co rners of the

cards to look at a card, which is the six of clubs in the illustra-

t ion.

T he pack is held in the perfo rm er s rig ht h and , the four fingers

rest ing up one side of the pack, and the thumb lying across the

corne r exa ctly as dep icted in F ig . 2. If you will tr y this p osition

as shown you will observe that the cards open bookwise, and on

closing whe n released th ey will pinch a lit t l e of the fou rth finger

between the opening.

This is a t ruly great improvement on the older method of

pinching the first finger as taught by others.

I t s these l i t t le touch es that real ly m ean so mu ch to bette r

card magic.

THE HOFZINSER FAN FORCE

The pack of cards is spread in a fan, faces down, before the

spe ctato r . T he perform er s r i gh t hand assists in the final spread-

ing . T he rig ht th um b is on th e backs of the card s, the fingers

un de rne ath . In this m anner the r ig ht hand, unob served, easily

moves the bottom card of the pack across to the r ight under the

fingers of the left ha nd . W he n the sp ec tato r poin ts to the back

of any card, the r ight hand carefully draws the cards at this point

to the r ig ht to form a sepa rat ion. Square these cards carefully

with the bottom card, and offer them to the spectator to observe

the bottom card. Pe rform er tel ls him to shuffle the cards a fter

he reme mb ers the card he pointed to. Because of the very l ig htly

bent corner, this card is easily located after the shuffle.

169



THE SLAP

SHIFT

(See THE TRIPLE CLIMAX)

The Sleight:

As the first card from the top is dealt into your left hand

(that 's the first selected card), you partly close and again open the

fingers of your left hand on the card, and on each card dealt by

the spectator .

As each card is dealt, the right hand slaps down on the card

firmly, but not too heavily, covering the cards. Each time this cov-

ering move is made, the cards slide over the edge of the first card,

and the inside edge of the selected card is uncovered. (See Fig.

1.) I t is the n very l igh tly grip pe d by the base of the rig ht thu m b

and first joint of the first finger. (See Fig. 2.)

You call , "O ne T w o Th ree " , e tc. , very del iberately as the

cards are dealt , pausing no longer than is necessary with the hands

together, the dealt cards between them, sufficient to give the

dealer tim e to say, "S to p, " if he is go ing to do so. If " S to p " is

called you lift the bottom card six inches above the packet dealt.

Fi g. 3 is a camera view from the rear s how ing han d w ith card

slig htly t i l ted , and i t is thu s placed on the top of the o ther cards

already dealt . The photos are intended to show how card is brought

up from the bottom of the packet in the left hand and unsuspect-

ingly placed on top of them. You have the spectator name his

card, and then let him lift it off the packet. During the distraction

that ensues palm the bottom card and place it on the top ready

for the top change.

170



In my m anu scr ipt of T hi r ty Card T r ic ks I descr ibe an effect

that cal ls for a dexterous handling of this s leight because i t must

be perform ed rep eti t io us ly. T he re is no dan ger of detect ion if

the s le ight i s proper ly executed.

A packet of six cards, the faces of which are unknown to you,

are face down on the table. What you do secret ly know is that the

second top card is a card which has been selected, and you desire

to secret ly learn the name of this card.

h Sleight

The cards are picked up with the r ight hand and placed, face

to palm, held spread out, in the left hand, as shown in Fig. 1, hold-

ing them at a 30° angle with the floor.

The cards held in the hands in this position are raised to face

the sp ec tato r. You ask him if he sees his card . As the ca rds are

beng raised, the lef t thumb t i l ts up the index corner of the sec-

ond card sufficiently to glimpse it . A split second does it , and

you secret ly look at the index of the spectator 's card under the

cover afforded by other cards, as shown in Fig. 2.

171





PRINCIPLES ND DECEPTIONS

CHAPTER FOUR

M GIC WITH BILLI RD B LLS

73



SIGHTING WHILE F NNING THE C RDS

MY ORIGIN L BILLI RD B LL ND C RD H RNESS

Similar In Many Respects o My Coin Harness

Showing the manner in wh ich B ill iard Balls or Cards are held

by a belt to be suspended from the wa ist . T hi s al lows the balls

to

be

readily concealed

by the

coat

and

easily procured when want

ed.

The

Cards

are in a

paper clip

as

shown

but

found that

a

screw and nut th rough the extension on the clip to prevent its

two halves from completely closing is desirable to el iminate the

noise

of

closing.

7




CHAPTER FOUR

Magic With B illiard Balls

Pointers

The type of bal l that I find best suited for man ipu la t ing ,

and sold

by

many

of our

ma gical dealers,

is the

spray

gun

lacquered

hardw ood va riety . Th ese balls sel l at from two to four dollars

each, according

to

the i r qual i ty ,

and may be

obtained

in

several

sizes, ranging from

one and a

half inche s

to two and

one-eighth

inches . The two inch ball I believe to be the most suitable for

the average hand.

An advantage that the solid wood ball has over the hollow

plastic ball lies

in its

so l id i ty .

It may be

knocked against anoth er

ball to indicate it s solid, or d ropped intent ion al ly for the same

purpose .

A t the beg inning , the larg er size balls are somew hat more

difficult

to

hand le than

the

sm aller balls,

but use, and

p ract ice

mean every th ing . The appearance of a two inch ball instead of a

ball that

is one and

three-q uar ters inches

is

much greater than

can be imagined w i thout a t r ia l .

Cardini uses solid wood polished balls ,

two and

one-quar ter

inches , and his hand is, if any th ing , a trifle sm aller than ave rage .

Bil l Baird

has a

norm al size han d,

and he

also uses

the two and

one-quarter inch ball . So unless you have some sen sible reason

for using

the

sm aller ball, let s sett le

for the two

inch

or

larger

ball

of

sol id spray

gun

l acquered hardw ood.

The colors are red or wh i t e . W hi t e is used because the ball

looks

a

trifle la rge r tha n

red. But of the two, red is

easier

to

see under average stage condit ions, so in the m ain, red is the color

we recommend

for the

g reater numb er

of

ba l l s ;

for our

color

changes , whi te ; and wh en a no ther different color is to be used,

then green

or

b lue

is a

su i table con tras t .

175



T PRODUCTION OF B LL FROM BEHIND THE LEFT

H ND FO LLOW ED BY THE T KE W Y V NISH

The ball is palm-

ed in the right

hand back of hand

towards audience.

The left hand is

held palm towards

audience as in

Fig. 1.

The right hand

is turned palm to-

wards audience as

it is brought up be-

hind the left hand.

The moves must be

timed so that the

ball remains con-

cealed. See Figs. 2

and 3.

The second fin-

ger of the right

hand rests on the

ball and the hand

is drawn down-

wards causing the

ball to be rolled on

the back of the left

hand and the sec-

ond finger to the

position shown in

Fig. 4.

The vanish: The

left hand is rotated

against the ball to

bring the thumb

pointing down-

wards and the back

of the left hand

towards the audi-

ence. The second

finger of the right

hand supports the

ball against the left

hand during the

move. See Fig. 5.

The right hand

moves up so that

the fork of the

thumb is pressed

against the first

finger of the left

hand. The ball is

176



not moved up but allowed to slide down the fingers to the right

palm. The palming of the ball in the r ight hand is assisted by th

third f inger of the r ight hand. The r ight hand is rotated to bring

the back of the hand towa rds the aud ience. See Fi g. 6. T he r igh t

hand is moved away with the ball palmed the left hand partly closes

as if i t had retained the ball .

B LL HELD IN THE FINGER P LM POSITION BY THE

LEFT H ND IS SECRETLY REMOVED BY

THE RIGHT H ND IN P SS ING

The three photos are al l taken from the rear to expose the

mo ves. In F ig . 1 the left ha nd r eta ins the ball in the finger palm

po sitio n. T h e palm of the righ t han d moves across the back of

the left han d. See F ig . 1. T he second finger and thu m b pres s

lightly on the ball see Fig. 2 and carry it beyond the left hand.

The fingers of the left hand curl to their former position before

the r igh t hand expo ses them . See F ig . 3. As the r igh t hand is

moved away after leaving the left hand the ball is palmed and the

left hand is turned palm towards the audience. The move may be

revers ed and the ball recovered by the left hand and perha ps pro -

duced by the l i t t le f inger as exp lained. See the De B iere prod uc-

t ion.

177



T WR ST ROLL

The right hand is brought up to the left hand and the ball

placed ag ains t the left wri st. See F ig . 1.

The right hand is then closed so the backs of the fingers are

aga inst it . See F ig . 2.

The right hand is then opened as i t is rotated to bring the

palm of the hand facing th e au die nce . See F ig . 3.

The left hand is then rotated to bring the back of this hand

tow ards the aud ience . See Fig . 4.

The right hand is then rotated as the ball is rolled onto the

back of the left ha nd as in F ig . 5. T h e ball is the n palm ed in

the r igh t hand and the left hand tur ne d over as in Fig . 6.

178



THE PRODU CTION OF B LL ON THE FIST

The ball is palmed as in Fig. 1. The second finger wraps it-

self arou nd the ball see Fi g . 2 and on retr ac t ing rol ls the ball

to the posi t ion shown in Fig. 3. The fourth f inger is then brought

up against the underside of the bal l and the thumb reaches over

and rests ag ain st th e secon d join t of th e fou rth finger as in F ig . 4.

The f ingers of the hand are then closed as the thumb carr ies

the bal l upwards see Fig. 5 and on complet ion of the move the

ball rests as shown in Fig. 6.

179



MOVING THE B LL DOW N FROM THE FIST

POSITION T THE FIRST ND SECOND FINGERS

This move is designed to follow the move just described nd

if it is carried out as it will now be ex plain ed you w ill find it

very effective piece of manipulation.

T h e ball res ts on th e closed fist as in Fi g . 6 of th e last mov e

described.

The fingers and thumb of the hand open in one continuous

move the ball rolling down from the closed fist to the first and

second fingers as de picte d in F ig . 4. Ho we ver for the purp os e

of exp lan ation the move is show n in ste ps . F ig . 2 shows the sec-

ond finger lagging behind as the fingers are opened and the ball

is checked on its forward roll. The first finger moves over the

top of the ball as in F ig . 3. T he fingers s tra ig ht en as in Fig . 4

w ith th e ball betw een the thu m b and first finger po sition . T he

thumb is bent down to the second finger as in Fig. 5 and then the

thumb rolls the ball ever the first finger to the position shown in

Fi g. 6. W he n this move is m ade skil lfully w ith the back of the

hand tow ards the audienc e the ball seems to be on w ires. Fo llow

each move carefully.

180



M O V I N G T H B LL TO TH FIRST ND

SECOND FINGER FROM THE FIST



THE PRODUCTION OF B LL BETWEEN THE TWO

MIDDLE FINGERS FROM THE P LM WITHOUT

ID FROM THE THUMB

T h is is a som ew hat difficult move to mas ter, so please pa y

attention to the details that at first may not appear to you as

significant. Th ey rea lly are, as you w ill find from pr ac tic in g th e

mov e. Th ese pho tos, l ike most of the others , we re made from the

rear, and in posing I have tr ied to do so by going through the

completed move and freezing at the crucial movents so that the

photos would convey the correct and important points of the

move. Pa r t icu lar ly not ice photo On e. Stud y the seemingly re-

laxed posit ion of the r ight hand, with the ball palmed, and yet

the ball is held quite firmly as it had to be, for the heat of the

pho togra phe r s l ights was qui te in tense .

F ig . 2 show s the second fingertip re stin g on the palm ed b all.

In this position it can move the ball up and back into the posi-

tion of Fi g. 3. T he n the th ird finger passes un de r the ball as

shown in Fig. 4, and the fingers then move out with the ball, as

in Fig. 5, to the position as shown in Fig. 6.

8



PRODUCTION OF

B LL BETWEEN

THE

TW

MIDDLE

FINGERS FROM THE P LM W ITHOUT

ID FROM THE THUMB

8



TH DE IERE PRODU CTION OF B LL FROM THE

P LM TO THE THIRD ND FOURTH FINGER

De Biere is the performer to whom credit for this splendid move

must be given. De Bier was one of the greatest performers of his

day and he excelled with Billiard Balls. It is thirty-five years since

I saw him use the move, and I have not seen it used sinc e. It

seems a great pity, for it is definitely outstanding to see the ball

pop up between the third and fourth fingers, with almost no move-

ment of the hand or at most a very slight one.

T he six views are take n from th e rear. T he ball is palm ed

as in F ig . 1. T he th ird finger reach es across the ball as far as

it can, w rap pi ng itself over and aroun d the ball, as in F ig . 2. T h e

finger then retracts, rolling the ball with it to the position as in

Fig. 3. The top of the thumb is then placed against the ball as in

F ig . 4, and the fou rth finger is the n b rou gh t over the ball to re st

aga inst the thum b, as in F ig . 5. T he fingers sudd enly stra igh ten

out, and th e ball pops up as in F ig . 6. T hi s is easy enoug h w hen

you follow each move carefully , isn t it? Of co urse the moves

blend more nearly into one with practice.

These separate moves blend more nearly into a single move

w ith pr ac tice , but take it slowly at first. Speed w ill come lat er.

I have found that a sl ight , almost imperceptible l i t t le toss of the

hand considerably aids in gett ing the ball into posit ion shown

in Fig. 3.

8



T

DE BIERE PRODUC TION OF A BALL FROM THE

PALM TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH FINGER

8



TH BALL ROLL FROM FINGER TO FINGER

This is not only a very pretty and dexterous move to watch

but it serves a double purpose of very great value to the ball

m anipu lator . Fir s t i t perm its the performer to susta in a t tent ion

on the hand while he procures another ball with the hand that is

seem ingly dise ng age d. A lso it is one of the best exe rcises for de-

veloping dexteri ty in the f ingers and stabilzing the palm muscles.

W hil e the six photos are self e xp lana tory for the sake of

clearness I am describing each move.

The ball is held between the first finger and thumb of your

rig ht hand. Th e second finger is then ca rried und er the ball to

rest again st the side of the thu m b as show n in F ig . 1.

T he thum b releases the ball and the fingers on strai gh ten -

ing carry the ball to the posit ion shown in Fig. 2.

The third f inger then moves under the ball and rests against

the side of the first finger. See Fig. 3. The fingers again straighten

and the ball is carried to the positon shown in Fig. 4.

The fourth finger is then carried under the ball until i t rests

ag ain st the second finger as in F ig . 5. A ga in the fingers st ra ig ht -

en and the ball is carried to the position shown in Fig. 6. The

thu m b reach es across the ball to rest ag ain st the fou rth fingertip

and th e first finger is placed ag ain st the th ir d fingertip. T h e

thumb and first finger return the ball to the first position described

not shown.

T h e forego ing moves are repe ated. Pr actic e slowly at f irst

and later as you acquire speed the return action from the last to

the first position is so fast that you cannot tell the ball is not

rolled back finger to finger and tho ug h this latte r move ma y be

8



accomplished I do not recommend it as the other act ion expla ined

is quicker and I bel ieve it is the be t te r one It is used today by

all

the top

ranking bal l manipula tors .

It had a

place

in my

ball

rout ine more than 27 years ago

THE BALL

ROLL FROM

FINGER TO FINGER

187



T

BALL ROLL WITH ANOTHER BALL

CONC EALED IN YOUR PALM

T h is is like th e first ball ro ll de scr ibe d, bu t it has a differ-

ent purpo se. I t app arent ly convinces the wa tcher that your hand

is empty, other than of the ball being manipulated, because of the

seeming impossibil i ty of holding a ball palmed while you so dex-

tero us ly roll a ball betw een y our fingers. If you can palm a ball,

which I assume you can, and you can roll a ball which you are

advised to learn from the foregoing explanation, then you are

going to have very l i t t le trouble indeed to do both of these things

at the same time, as you will find for yourself after a little prac-

t ice . Remember, knowing what your f ingers are supposed to do

pu ts an end to m ore tha n four-fifths of the trou ble . Ob serve th e

illustrations and note the way each finger lies in respect to the

oth ers . I repeat, this move will repay any ball m an ipu lator far

more for the t ime spent in i ts perfection than any other that I

know, so be pat ien t and pract ice with determ inat ion . Th e moves

are exactly similar to those described for the Ba ll R oll from

finger to finger so I will not repeat the description but refer you

to the descr ipt ion already given under that heading.



THE BALL ROLL WITH ANOTHER B LL IN THE PALM

9



THE KNEE ROLL VANISH

The photos were taken from the left s ide to expose the moves

to your view.

The right hand, with back of hand towards audience, holds

the ball between the extended second and third f ingers, and the

left hand takes the ball between the first finger and the thumb.

See Fig. 1.

The fingers of the left hand close but not around the ball.

They press the ball against the left leg just above the knee (see

Fig. 2) , and the left hand is rotated on the ball , palm outwards

(see Fig. 3) . At the same t ime the r ight hand, also palm outwards,

is brought part ly behind the left hand so that the third and fourth

fingers of the right hand pass each side of the ball and support

it . See F ig . 4.

Turning par t ly towards the lef t , both hands carry the bal l

th us concealed to sho ulde r level. See F ig . 4.

The r ight hand supports the bal l between the thi rd and four th

fingers, wh ile th e left han d con cea ls it.

The left hand is then rotated to bring i ts palm towards the

ball, as in Fig. 5.

The ball is palmed by the left hand, and the r ight hand moves

away. The left hand produces the ball between the third and

fourth f ingers, as here tofore exp lained . See De B iere s p rod uc -

t ion.

9



IG I

FIG 2



THE STRIKE V NISH

The extreme s implici ty of this move may discourage i ts use

but permit me to assure you it is quite as effective as others re-

qu irin g a grea t deal m ore skil l . T he views are take n from the

rear .

The left f ist supports the ball . The palm of the right hand

is brought smartly down on the ball as though to str ike i t into

th e closed rig ht han d. See F ig . 1.

The left hand is immediately turned over and raised to a posi-

t ion above the righ t hand . See F ig . 2.

The left hand then appears to squeeze the ball away and is

tur ne d palm tow ard the aud ience as i t is open ed. T he rig ht ha nd

prod uce s the ball as fancy dicta tes. Do not pass this w itho ut try -

ing it.

9



THE WRIST ROLL ND P LM OFF V NISH

The ball is pro-

duced, as hereto-

fore explained, at

the th i rd and four th

fingers see F ig . 1),

and then allowed to

fall into the r ight

hand, as in Fig. 2.

The ball is then

thrown from the

r i g h t h a n d a n d

cau gh t by the left

hand. See Fig. 3.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are

as seen by the audi-

ence.

Figs. 4, 5 and

6 are rear views.

The ball is rolled

from the palm by

the tips of the sec-

ond and third fin-

gers of the left

hand to the left

wrist . See Fig. 4.

The left hand is

then tu rned . The

right hand conceals

the ball. See Fig. 5.

The left hand re-

mains closed as if

i t retained the ball .

T h e r i g h t h a n d ,

with the ball palm-

ed, moves away, and

the left hand is

opened, the ball be-

ing produced as de-

s i red.

193



ON E LING

B LL BEHIND THE H ND

WHILE BOTH P LMS RE SHOWN

T his six views are al l self-ex plan atory . T he y are take n from the

rear.

T he ball is palme d in the left hand . T he fingers of both h an ds

are interlocked the f irst f inger of the r ight hand being uppermost

in the interloc ked posit ion . See Fi g. 1. Th at is im po rtan t .

The thumb and first finger of the right hand seize the ball as

in Fi g. 2 and the han ds rotate to brin g the palms outw ard but

the ball is alway s hidd en by the left ha nd . See Fig . 3.

As the palms of both hands are brought towards the audience

the fingers are sep ara ted the ball bein g held in po sition by th e

rig ht thum b tip . See Fi g. 4.

T he rig ht hand then moves over behind th e left as in Fi g. 5

and palms the ball .

The right hand remains in this posit ion and you turn left

to brin g the r ight side of your body tow ard s the aud ience and

likewise the backs of the han ds. T he rig ht hand with the ball

palmed is then moved away and the ball produced as your fancy

dic tate s. T his is not a new move but there are im po rtan t po ints

in the description not previously given such as the interlocked

posit ion of the hands and the method of recovery.

194



ON E LING

B LL BEHIND THE H ND

WHILE BOTH P LMS RE SHOWN

9



COLOR CHANGES

I Original Methods

Color changes when well performed and good are always ex-

trem ely pop ular. I have given several different m etho ds as I find

it desirable to have a repertoire in this branch of ball manipula-

t ion.

Method 7

Th is explana t ion includes a plate with four ph otog raph ic

views

all taken from the rear. The right hand holds a red ball

concealed in the palm and a w hite ball opened displa yed betw een

th e first finger and th um b. T he left hand palm ou t is held at

shoulder level with your r ight s ide towards the audience.

Pla ce the w hit e ball in the left han d close it and tu rn it over.

Low er the righ t hand a l i t t le for a m om ent and finger palm the

red ball . See Fi g. 2. Th en raise the rig ht h and sm artly to the left

and just as i t reaches the left h and pro du ce the red ball betwee n

the fingers and thumb of the left hand where it is partly inserted

by the r igh t hand. Th is when correc t ly done appe ars that th e

white ball changed to red and is now emerging from the left hand.

See Fig. 3 which shows the red ball being pushed into place be-

fore it emerges.

The ball is squeezed out of the left hand and is caught on the

closed right f ist. Th e left han d w ith the w hite ball palm ed is

imm ediately above the lef t hand with thumb s tou chin g. Th e lef t

hand is rotated w ithou t sepa rat ing the two thum bs. T his br in gs

the w hite ball co ncealed pe rfec tly by the closed rig ht hand dur-

ing the rotatio n of the hand to the righ t palm. T he w hite ball is

the n palmed in the rig ht h and and you are back to th e first posi-

t ion and may repeat the moves or follow on to the next.

96



Co or Ch anges

197



Co or Changes

Method

Following on from the last posit ion of the two balls , the white

one palmed in the r ight hand, the red one on the closed right

fist , the left hand behind the r ight hand, having first t ransferred

the w hite ball to the left palm . T hi s m etho d is i l lu stra ted in six

photographic v iews .

The left hand takes the ball from the top of the closed right

fist and holds it by the pad s of the fingers ag ain st th e palm . See

Fig. 1.

The left hand is then lowered behind the r ight hand, as shown

in Fig . 2. W he n the left ha nd is concealed from th e a ud ienc e s

view, the wh ite ball is palmed, and the left hand fingers str ai gh te n

at the same t ime. The palmed red ball in the r ight hand is rolled

under the pressure of the right hand fingers to the finger palm

pos it ion of the r ig ht h an d. F ig . 3 is a view of F ig . 2 take n from

above, look ing down into the han ds, and shows the ex act pos it ion

of the two balls.

The r ight hand is drawn towards the lef t wris t , carrying the

white ball now palmed, and the left fingers curl around the red

ball to keep up with the move so as to give the appearance the

fingers around the ball never al tered during the change, simply

that the left hand was drawn over the white ball and i t changed

to red.

F ig . 4 is a view also take n from above to show the m ove in

action. Fig . 5 dep icts the red ball com ing into view. T he left h and

places the red ball on the closed right f ist to complete the change.

19 8



FIG



Co or Changes

Method

The red ball is rolled to the first and second finger position,

and then rolled down to the fourth f inger. The manner in which

this is accomplished has a l ready been explained and i l lus t ru ated .

See the Ro ll dow n .

The balls are now held in the r ight hand in the posit ion as

shown in Fig. 1.

Fig s. 1, 4, 5 and 6 of these i l lu stra t io ns w ere ph oto gra ph ed

from behin d, and F ig s. 2 and 3 were m ade at an ang le for th e best

explanatory reasons .

Standing with your r ight s ide towards the audience, the lef t

hand is held at shou lder level , palm facing the aud ienc e. T he rig ht

hand is brought up to the left hand so that the white ball is pressing

into the left palm. See F ig . 2. T h e left hand palm s the w hi te ball,

and the two han ds rota te on the red ball . T h is bring s the h and s

into the posit ion shown in Fig. 4.

The first finger of the left hand presses into the fork of the

rig ht thum b, and the r ig ht hand palms the red ball . T h e left han d

closes on the w hite ball, as in F ig . 5. T h e left ha nd is raised and

the r ight hand lowered, and the white ball is produced at the third

and four th fingers, as de pic ted in F ig . 6. T h e left hand is tu rn ed

around and the white ball placed on the closed right hand.



Co or Changes

2



Color Changes

Method 4

The four views depict ing the moves of the fourth method are

all taken from the rear.

A red ball rests on the closed rig ht fist back of the ri g ht ha nd

tow ard s the aud ience and on the palm is a w hite b all .

T he lef t palm is bro ug ht palm to palm w ith the r ig ht hand

and the white ball palmed into the lef t hand.

T he left hand is the n rotate d pro tecte d by the cover afford-

ed by the r ight hand and placed di rect ly u nd er the r ight hand

as in Fig. 2.

The r ight thumb opens and the red ball seems to pass into

the lef t hand but wh at takes place is tha t the r igh t hand sto ps th e

desc ent of the red ball and palms it th er ein w hile the left ha nd

sim ulates the act of catc hin g i t. A ctua lly i t s im ply closes aroun d

th e w hite ball alread y in the palm. See F ig . 3.

T he lef t hand is raised and the w hite ball is pro du ced at the

th ir d and fou rth fingers as show n in F ig . 4.

THE T R O W VANISH

This move though not accompanied by any i l lustrat ions is far

too important to be left out and it can be learned from the text.

A ball is held between the first finger and thumb of the right

hand. You are s tanding wi th your r ight s ide towards the audience.

T he back of the lef t hand is also tow ards them . T he ball is thr ow n

up to the lef t hand and caught and a moment later released and

caug ht by the r igh t hand. T he move is repeated. Th e th i rd t ime

the ball is palmed the lef t han d closin g as tho ug h i t actu ally

caug ht the bal l . A tho rou gh ly conv incing s le ight .





THE B LL ND THE H NDKERCHIEF

This makes a n ice in ter lude to any bal l rout ine . The i l lus ion

is th at a ball placed in the cen ter of a silk han dk erc hie f pas ses

through i t s center wi thout leaving a hole .

A two-inch colored ball is held in the r ight hand. The two

m iddle f ingers press the ball aga inst the palm to reta in i t , no t

conceal it) , w hile the first fingertip and thu m b of the r ig h t h an d

seize a corner of a pock et han dk erch ief and pu ll it from the poc ket

of yo ur coat. T h e first finger and thu m b of the left han d tak e

hold of the adjacent corner, and in this manner the handkerchief

is held up, display ed before your aud ienc e. W it h a sho rt , up -

ward toss, the lef t hand releases i ts corner and im m edia tely places

the left hand palm up w ard s un der the cen ter of the han dk erch ief .

The ball is dropped from the r ight hand onto the center of

the han dke rchief res t in g on the left han d. T he first , second and

third fingers and the thumb of the left hand balance the ball on

the f ingers and thumb t ip, so that i t is plainly brought to view.

The f ingers and thumb of the lef t hand then move the handker-

chief up around the ball in a rolling motion until the ball is com-

pletely concealed by the folds of the han dke rchief . T he r ig h t

hand then takes hold of the corn er of the handk erch ief nea rest

the body, wi th the palm of the r igh t hand upp erm ost .

Th e ball is al lowed to rol l down the han dk erch ief un de r cover

of the folds of the han dke rchie f to the r ig ht hand. I t is palm ed,

and both ha nd s are tu rn ed over. T h e left han d is stil l half closed

as if i t contained the ball inside the handkerchief , hanging corners

downward by i ts center from the lef t hand. The r ight hand, with

the ball palmed, is moved up to the lef t hand behind the handker-

hief

bringing the ball to the fingers of the left hand, where it

is held between the r ight hand palm and the two middle f ingers

of the left hand. The fingers of the right hand pass around in

front of the handkerchief , the thumb around the back of i t .

The left thumb and fingers release their hold when the first

f inger and thumb of the r ight hand pass around the handkerchief

near the ball .

The second f inger and thumb of the lef t hand pass around

the handkerchief from behind and between the r ight hand and ball ,

and the r igh t hand is w i thdra w n. Th e r igh t hand then takes hold

of the corners and tugs gent ly down wa rd several t imes . As th e

4



h all and The Handkerchief

ball comes into view as if it were penetrating the handkerchief

the handkerchief is finally pulled away and the ball remains on

the left hand.

Or you may prefer to seemingly cause the ball to vanish after

dropping it into the middle of the handkerchief; in that case after

the ball is palmed in the right hand and the handkerchief is held

corners down from the middle in the left hand the right hand

holds one corner as the left hand lets the center of the handker-

chief fall presenting an appearance of a very pretty vanish.

5



THE PRODU CTION OF EIGHT SOLID B LLS T THE

FINGERTIPS WITHOUT SHELL

T h i s , my friends, is really something that has required a lot

of ing en uity . F irs t of al l , the re was the problem of arra ng em en t,

and then the difficulty of concealment. However, l ike most things,

i t is relatively simple when these and the manipulative problems

are all solved for you, as is the case he re. Fo llow th e in str uc -

t ions im plici t ly and you will f ind fairly smo oth sai l ing . So let s

go to work.

T he eigh t balls are concealed as follo w s: one and two at arm s

length behind the right leg in the ball holder hanging from your

belt ; three and four in the same posit ion behind the left leg; f ive

and six at the vest line on the right side; and seven and eight

at the vest l ine on the left s ide, suspended from shoulder straps.

These are the places in which the balls may be most suitably con-

cealed and yet be readily procured secretly, as required.

My ball holders are made of hard drawn copper or bronze wire,

about one-s ixteenth inch in diam eter . T he y are fas tened tog eth er

in pairs so that they will rema in in th eir pro per places. Ea ch of

the holders retains two two-inch balls securely in place, but re-

leases them readily when a l ight downward pressure is applied

to the ball . As a pre ca utio na ry me asure agains t the balls being

seen as you are moving about, a loose fitting cloth cover of a dark

or similar material to your clothes is fastened, mouth downward,

over the holders.

I have found evening dress clothes the most suitable for this

ball production act , mainly because the dress coat terminates at

the vest line, forward of the hips. This is very desirable for ob-

taining the last four balls from the vest level which I have found

to be the most practicable.

Assuming you are dressed in evening clothes and the balls

have been arranged as explained, you obtain ball One from the

hold er at your r ig ht leg. T h is is done w hile you stan d facing

your audience, or wi th your left s ide par t ly tow ards them . W it h

you r left hand seize you r hand kerc hief by one of i ts pr o tru di ng

corners between your left thumb and first finger, while you care-

fully and inte ntly watch this action , draw the han dk erch ief from

your hand kerchief pocket . At the same t ime syn chro nize the act

of secretly pr oc uri ng Nu m ber On e ball , and, palm ing i t in you r

right hand, turn left as you hold the handkerchief up by the cor-

ner so the left hand is seen othe rw ise qu ite emp ty. T he rig ht

hand, with the ball palmed, l ightly takes hold of the handkerchief

around the middle and s t rokes i t ; as you s t roke the handkerchief

w ith the rig ht hand , you face the au dien ce. T hi s act gives the

impress ion that the r igh t hand must a lso be em pty. As the r ig ht

han d passes off th e end of the hand kerc hief, you close th e fingers

of yo ur hand arou nd the ball, and , finger palm ing t he ball, pa ss

you r thu m b and fingers around op po site sides of the handkerchief, .

6



Production

of

ight Solid alls

t the

Fingertips

and then move your hand downwards to again stroke it. As you

do so, your thumb rolls the ball into position between the thumb

and second fingertip, and the handkerchief is drawn away, reveal-

ing the ball held at the thumb and second fingertip. Hold the hand-

kerchief by the two adjacent corners. The ball is held in the right

hand. Let go the left corner and place the left hand under the

middle of the handkerchief. Lay the ball in the middle and grip the

ball through the handkerchief with the thumb and second finger of

the left hand. Turn the hand over so that the four corners of the

handkerchief fall downwards, the handkerchief concealing the

ball. The first fingertip moves over the ball and pinches a small

piece of the handkerchief against the left thumb. The right hand,

palm up, takes a hold of a corner of the handkerchief, and the

second finger of the left hand releases the ball, which falls into

the right hand, where it is palmed as the right hand pulls the hand-

kerchief away from the left hand.

The handkerchief corner held by the right hand is then trans-

ferred to the first finger and thumb of the left hand, and the right

hand again strokes the handkerchief twice, as before explained,

the second time producing the ball. (If you prefer it, this ball

may be a different color to the eight balls. In that case it is re-

turned to the holder, a special one like those at the vest, and the

first of the eight balls secured. Procurement of this ball is ac-

complished when the handkerchief is transferred to the thumb

and finger of the left hand and the ball is vanished. You bring

your left side towards the audience and smartly but unhurriedly

press the ball back into its holder, from the finger palm position,

and procure the ball of another color. You simply repeat the

moves as described. This is a very pretty move, as you will realize

when you try it.)

The ball, having been produced, is transferred to the left hand.

As you drop your right hand to secure the second ball, the left

hand tucks the handkerchief back in your pocket. You watch the

action intently. With the ball procured in the right hand, you

turn slightly left as you bring up the right hand and take the

ball from the left hand, which completes the replacement of the

handkerchief in the pocket. The right hand now has one ball

showing and one secreted in the palm.

Execute the roll down (described herein). While doing so,

you secretly procure two balls with your left hand from their

207



Production of Eight Solid alls at the Fingertips

holders on the left leg. Your right side is towards the audience

w hile you are do ing this . Now bring up the left hand with the

back of the han d tow ard s the aud ienc e. Plac e the ball you have

rolled to th e th ird and fou rth fingers of yo ur rig h t han d in betw een

the third and fourth fingers of your left hand. At the same time

secretly transfer the finger palmed ball in the left hand to the

finger palm posi t ion in the r igh t hand. E xt en di ng y our r ight arm,

produce the ball at the thumb and first fingertips, immediately

rolling it back and forth between the fingers, (see roll with ball

palm ed) ter m in atin g the roll at the th ird and fo urth finger posi-

t ion . B rin g the rig ht hand up to the left and tran sfe r th is ball

to th e second and th ird fingers of the left ha nd . A s the tra ns fe r

is completed, rotate the left hand and secretly transfer the ball

in the palm of the left hand to the finger palm position of the

r igh t hand. W ith the r igh t hand, prod uce the finger palmed bal l

at th e th u m b and first fingertip.

Ex ecu te the Rol l dow n several t imes, and then t ransfe r i t

from the third and fourth fingers to the first and second fingers of

the left ha nd. (See F ig . 6, plate K ). A gain exten d the rig ht arm and

produce the ball from the right palm, roll it back and forth and

transfer it to the thumb and first finger of the left hand. (See Fig.

3, Pl ate K ). D isplay the four balls as tho ug h you had reached th e

cl imax. You do this by looking towa rds the audience and sm il ing,

but as you do so, the rig ht hand is br ou gh t in front of yo ur ri g h t

side,

and secre tly pro cur es the two balls from the ho lder. You

reach out as before and produce the ball that is finger palmed,

and repea t the roll . W hi le you do this, the two balls from the

left ho lde r are press ed in to the left palm . T h is is not as difficult

as i t may seem. T he fact th at you have four balls betw een yo ur

fingers aids the proc ed ure and helps conceal the extra balls . T he

roll ing action holds the attention so you do not have to hurry.

You finish th e roll w ith th e ball be tw een th e first and secon d finger,

and then roll the ball from the palm with the second and third

finger, and then to the thumb and second finger. The third finger

sm artly moves i t into place betw een th e th ird an d second fingers.

8




Plate

2 9




The hand is shown back and front and brought to the left hand

palm, facing palm. Four balls are between the fingers and two

lyin g on the palm of the left hand, palm upw ard s. T he rig ht h and

has two balls betw een the first, second and th ir d fingers. T h e palm

of the right hand is placed on the ball in the palm of the left

hand neare st the fork of th e m idd le fingers. T h e ri g h t han d is

then

drawn toward s the left w ris t . T his action br ing s the bal l

that is in the palm of the left hand into the palm of the right

hand, and at the same time rolls the ball at the fork of the mid-

dle fingers of the left hand into the left palm proper.

The left hand is then turned over to bring the back of the

hand towards the audience, and the right hand clicks the balls

against the balls in the left hand and moves away to produce the

secre tly palmed ball . T hi s is done by be nd ing the th ird and fou rth

fingers aroun d the palmed ball. B en din g the hand open and hold-

ing the ball under the third and fourth fingers, the thumb moves

the ball up to be held between the thumb and third fingers, while

the fourth finger moves i t into place between the third and fourth

fingers. Bo th han ds are bro ug ht palm to palm again to click the

balls together, and the ball in the left palm is secretly transferred

to the rig ht palm, w hich moves away from the left han d. T h is

ball is produced from the palm by first t i l t ing the right hand down

at a sl igh t ang le and lett i ng the ball roll down to the cen ter posi-

t ion of the other three balls . The right thumb is moved over to

res t its tip betw een the fork of the thir d an d fou rth fingers and

touch the s ide of the eighth bal l . Straightening the thumb, the bal l

is rolled up sm artl y into place betw een th e first finger and th u m b.

You turn facing the audien ce. Both hands are bro ug ht up to head

level, one hand at each side, backs of hands towards audience. The

han ds are then lowered , palm s to aud ience , as you bow. Allow

the balls to fall on something so that their solidity is self evident.

Cur ta in .

The moves wil l be clear ly understood from the i l lust rat ions.

In order not to confuse you, I did not tie in the i l lus t ra t ions wi th

the descr ipt ion , but explained them s epa rately. Do n t le t t his

frig ht en you . It is not ne arly as difficult as it so un ds, th ou gh it

is assumed that you are a fairly capable exponent of the art of

manipulat ion before you at tempt this act , for you would hardly

be l ikely to attempt exercises in mathematics before you learned

the rudiments of a r i thmet ic .

This is an al ternat ive method that may prove more pract ical

21



Production

of

Eight Solid alls

t the

Fingertips

for the production of the last four balls between the fingers on

display. This gives the performer a moment when the audience

is not likely to be watching over-critically mainly because this

climax seems to them to indicate the production is finished. The

two balls on the right side vest holder are secretly secured in the

right hand and held one ball finger palmed and the other ball in

the palm muscles of the right hand.

The right hand reaches out to the left and the finger palmed

ball is produced between the first and second finger. The produc-

tion of the second ball follows being produced by first closing

the second and third fingers around the palmed ball and by straight-

ening the palm of the hand rolling the ball to the finger palm

position. The thumb is then placed under the ball and rolls it up

slightly where it is supported between the thumb and second

finger. The third finger is then laid against the thumb. The hand

is straightened with a ball between the first and second fingers and

a ball between the second and third fingers.

The hand is then turned palm out and back again. The two

hands are brought palm to palm and the balls in each hand clicked

together. The left hand presses the ball held between the thumb

and first finger into the right palm and the left thumb is held

against the left first finger and the left hand turned over so the

back of the left hand is towards the audience. This action prevents

the spectators from observing the ball is not between the left

thumb and first finger.

The right hand produces the third ball from the right palm

by closing the third and fourth fingers over the ball in the palm

and then straightening the palm. The ball is held under the

third and fourth fingers. The tip of the right thumb is placed

against the ball and the ball is rolled up slightly to be supported

between the thumb and third fingers. The fourth finger is placed

against the side of the thumb. The thumb removes its support

and the ball is produced and held between the third and fourth

fingers as the hand is straightened out. At this moment the thumb

and first finger of the left hand secretly procure a ball from the

vest holder. The hands are brought palm to palm and the balls

clicked together.

The first finger and thumb press the ball into the palm and

as before the left hand is turned over. The right hand now has

211




a ball between the first and second fingers, the second and third

fingers and the thir d an d fo ur th fingers, and a ball on th e palm .

The r ight hand reaches out and s l ight ly downwards a t an

angle so the ball in the palm will roll when released against the

ball between the second and third f ingers and between the other

two bal ls . In th is posi t ion the thumb is brought under and against

the ball , and the ball is easi ly rolled to posit ion between the thumb

and first finger.

Immediate ly the bal ls are c l icked together , the hands then are

raised, one at each side of the head, backs of the hands towards the

audience, and then both hands are lowered to waist level , palms

out .

F ig s. 1, 2 and 3 of P late K l are audien ce view s of th e han ds,

w hile F ig s. 4, 5 and 6 are th e same po sitio ns as 1, 2 and 3, bu t

taken from the rear.

Fig s . 1 and 4 show the tw o hand s ex tended to the perfo rm er s

left, w ith two balls held in each. T he po sit ion is m ain tain ed only

m om entar i ly so the audience is not a l lowed any length y op po rtu ni ty

to pon der the wh ys and w herefores . Th e r igh t hand is extende d

beyond the left, and a ball appears between the first and second

fingers. T he ball is ra pi dl y rolled dow n to the second and th ird

fingers, and then to the third and fourth fingers, and is immedi-

ately tran sfe rred to the thi rd and fou rth f ingers of the left h and ,

as de pic ted in F ig s. 2 and 5, pla te K l . T h e finger pa lm ed ball in

the left hand is sim ultan eou sly tr an sfe rred to the f inger palm posi-

t ion of the r ight hand. The r ight hand is extended beyond the

left hand, and the finger palmed ball is produced between the

first and second fingers as was pre vio usl y ex pla ine d. T h e ball is

rapidly rolled to the third and fourth f inger posit ion, and then

the ball is tra ns fe rre d to the secon d and th ir d fingers of the left

han d. T hi s move is dep icted in Fig s. 1 and 4 of P lat e K 2.

The left hand is turned over, and the ball in the palm of the

left hand is secretly brought to the finger palm position of the

r igh t hand, and t rans ferred as shown in F ig s . 2 and 5 , Pla te K l .

The right hand is extended beyond the left hand, and the f inger

palmed ball appears between the first and second fingers, rolled

to the third and fourth f ingers and transferred to the f irst and

212




Plate l

3




second fingers of the left hand , as sho w n in Fi g 3, P la te K l .

F ig . 6 is not a rear view of F ig . 3. T h e left hand is rot ate d to

br ing i ts empty palm towards the audience. The r ight hand pro-

duces the ball from its palm, and rolls i t down to the third and

fourth fingers as heretofore described, and transfers the ball to

the thumb and first f inger. Or you have an alternative method

of producing the first ball from the right hand finger palm posi-

t ion . T he second ball is tran sfe rre d from the finger palm pos it ion

of the left hand to the finger palm position of the right hand, and

produced.

The third ball is produced from the right hand palm, and as

it is placed into position in the left hand, the left hand is rotated

and the ball in the left palm secretly transferred to the right hand.

This move is shown in Fig. 6, Plate Kl.

T he ball is then pro duc ed and placed into pos it ion betw een

the thumb and first finger of the left hand, and the four balls dis-

played, while the right hand secretly procures the two balls from

the vest holder.

T h e rig h t hand now has a som ew hat difficult job to do to pro-

duce four more solid balls, so let us carefully examine Plate K3

These are all rear views of the moves.

F ig. 1 shows the posit ion followin g the pos it ion as dep icted

for the rig ht h and in F ig . 1, P late K l, w her e the two balls are k ep t

one in the palm and one in the finger palm po sit ion . W e proce ed

as follows to produce the finger palmed ball.

The right thumb moves over the finger palmed ball and rolls

it up with the right thumb against the first finger, and the second

finger closes un de r the ball, as show n in Fi g . 1, P la te K 3. T h e

hand opens, and the ball is displayed between the first and second

fingers. T he ball is rolled dow n to the four th finger and tra ns -

ferred back to its first and second finger position.

The two middle fingers then close over the palmed ball and

retr ac t the ball to the finger palm pos it ion. T he rig ht thum b then

moves into posit ion against the ball as depicted in Fig. 2, Plate K2.

The third finger of the right hand then closes under the ball as

shown in Fig . 3 , Plate K2. Th e hand is s t ra ig hte ne d, and the

tw o balls are display ed , one betw een th e first and sec ond fingers

and one betw een the secon d and thir d fingers.

At this point the right hand is brought to the left hand, palm

facing palm, and the balls in the right hand are struck twice sharp-

ly aga inst the two balls held by the second an d thi rd and fou rth

fingers of the left hand, and then against the other two balls held

by the thu m b and first finger and th e first finger and sec on d finger.

This detail is important, because as the hands are moved apart , the

ball held by the thumb and first finger of the left hand is pressed

into the palm of the right hand, and the thumb of the left hand

closed against the first finger of the left hand. This is done as

the left hand is turned over to bring the back of the hand towards

the audience.

. 2 1 4



Production of

Eight Solid alls at the Fingertips

Plate K

2 5




The right hand extends out, and the ball is produced from the

right palm by first wrapping the third finger over the ball and

then retra ct in g i t. Th en place the thum b against the ball and pass

the fourth finger un de rne ath i t, as show n in Fig . 4, Pl ate K 2.

T he hand is then stra igh ten ed , and the ball disp laye d. A ball is

now between the first and second, second and third and third and

fourth fingers.

During this t ime the left hand conveniently recovered a ball

between the thumb and first finger from the left vest holder, and

the two hands are brought palm to palm and the balls struck to-

geth er sharply . As the han ds separate , the ball betw een the first

finger and thumb of the left hand is pressed into the right palm

as heretofore explained. Th e hands are moved apa r t . T he lef t

hand turns over. The right hand produces the ball from the palm

as the left hand steals to the left vest holder for a ball to replace

the one secretly transferred to the right palm.

The eighth ball is moved from the palm to the finger and

thum b po sit ion, as dep icted in Fi gs . 6, 7 and 8, Pl ate K2. F ig . 6,

Pl ate K2, shows the ball released from the palm, rolled aga inst

the ball between the two middle f ingers. The thumb is instantly

moved over the ball, as depicted in Fig. 7, Plate K2, and rolled

up to be displayed, as shown in Fig. 8, Plate K2. Fig. 9, Plate

K2,

shows the eighth ball being transferred from the thumb and

first finger of th e left hand to th e palm of th e ri g h t ha nd . B oth

hand s click the eight balls tog eth er. T he han ds are raised to each

side of the head as the perf orm er faces the au die nc e. T h en as che

performer bows, the hands are lowered to waist level, and the balls

are released to fall on a tray so the ir so lidity is ins tan tly ap pa ren t.

The applause you will receive from any audience will repay

you for the t ime you spend to produce this masterly i l lusion with

solid balls.

Re ferr ing to Plate K 3, this shows a var ia t ion in the m ethod

for producing the last four balls . I t may appeal to some more

than others, so I offer it only for completeness.

As the right hand displays the first four balls produced and

the r ight hand takes advantage of the moment to secret ly procure

two balls from the right vest holder, the left hand gets into posi-

tion to press the balls from the left vest holder into the left hand.

The right hand is extended towards the left to produce the finger

palm ea bail , and then the palmed ball . T he hands are bro ug ht to-

gether, and the ball in the palm of the left hand is transferred to

the palm of the right hand. The ball in the finger palm position

of the left han d is rolled to th e palm of th e left ha nd . T h e s ev en th

bal l is produced, and the hands, on being brought together again

to str ike their balls together, transfer the eighth ball to the right

palm, from w here it is prod uced as here tofo re exp lained . T he

additional balls are not noticed because of the four balls the left

han d is ho ldin g. Th ese moves are clearly dep icted in F ig s. 1 to 6

of P late K 3. If you have good hand s, and wan t to do it , you w ill

21 6




Plate K

7




oncluding Remarks

The very pleasant task

of

wr i t ing

Principles nd Deceptions

is completed,

and I

await

the

j u d g m e n t

of my.

fr iends

and

cr i t ics

to learn

how

w ell th is effort w ill

be

received.

To wr i t e and publish a book of th is magni tude , conta in ing

three hundred and f i f ty-eight separate i l lust rat ion s, is no mean

task, especially when

you are the

model

for the

i l lus t ra t ions

and

the author

as

well

as the

pub l isher

of the

book.

It has

been

a

very

enjoyable task indeed.

I have given

my

best, spa r ing nei the r expense

or

t rouble wher-

ever

I

t h o u g h t

the

effort

or

mater ial would

be of

benefit

to the

reader . It is my hope and desire that I shall not only keep the

many fr iends that I have now, but tha t this book w ill en cou rage

many more,

for I

believe

in the

a d a g e :

The man may be

judged

by

the

friends

he

keeps.

Magic is a w onderfu l art. T h e r e is no such th ing as a master

of magic , for magic as a subject canno t be mastered . Th ere is

always something that e ludes

you for the

present ,

a

di f ferent

new

thought tha t c reeps

in on us or

str ikes sudd enly from remote p laces ,

and thoughts f rom many that tangle

to

give birth

to new

ideas

in

magic. Magic

may be

traced

as far

back

as the

Bible ,

and I be-

lieve will live on to e te rn i ty .

T h e r e are very few people who do not relish an i l lusion when

it

is

ski l l ful ly performed, w heth er

it be

wi th

a

deck

of

cards ,

a

billiard ball

or a

coin,

or a

t ransformat ion

on the

stage

of a

woman

to a cherry t ree. The interest centers aroun d the mystif ication

which magic affords us because with ou t this one ingred ien t it is

not magic,

no

mat ter

how

well

it is

presented

or how

much

the

performer succeeds

in

en te r t a in ing

us. He

must succeed

in

mys t i -

fying

us if he be a

true magician.

I say

this

to you

here because

the t ru th is readi ly apparent if you will reflect for jus t a moment .

W h e n you are thoro ugh ly aw are of this , remember it a lways , for

your s t rength l ies herein.

218



oncluding Remarks

Make up your mind to protect the secrets of what you do in

magic,

and aim to mystify. Always try to present the mystery

in a subtle, entertaining manner. Select those things to combine

harmoniously with the surroundings, things that are appropriate

to the occasion, those things that suit you and your mannerisms

and personality, or otherwise be prepared to adapt your person-

ality to suit these mysteries of your selection. Don t be afraid

to practice, for nothing was ever attained without the required

effort. And above all things, don t lose your temper; if you do,

then smile on the incident, no matter how provoking. Then later

you shall laugh.

If misfortune should befall you while presenting some magi-

cal effect, don t speak about it to your audience, apologizing for

this and that, but carry on. Then the chances are no one will re-

member, or if they do, their memory will fail them all the sooner.

Billy Robinson (Chung Ling Soo) said he never really knew his

act until everything had gone wrong that could possibly go wrong

with it. And other great artists have said the real test of a per-

former is his ability to keep his audience in ignorance of the hap-

pening when something unpredicted happens during a perform-

ance.

It is a great mistake to present ah effect before the public

without due and proper rehearsal, and it is often fatal to do so

without being completely conversant with each and every detail,

including just what to say and how to say it.

The only reason that the late John Barrymore could deviate

from his part in a play was because he had so thoroughly mastered

the part first.

That is the real essential—know the part before you try to

ad lib. If you try it otherwise, you are heading into dangerous

territory.

9



oncluding Remarks

I think that herein l ies the difference between the amateur

and the profession al. T he former seldom know s his pa rt , or in

fact often has no part at all. He is not experienced in the knowl-

edge of just what his part should be, so he blunders on; while

the professional knows exactly what he must do and when to do

it, and wha t to say and wh en to say it, and how to say it. T ha t,

I think , is the t rue dividing l ine between a perform ance presen ted

by most amateurs and professional magicians. I do know of sev-

eral amateurs that present their acts as commendably as many

professionals, but these all have had some professional experience.

D on t make your perform ance un duly long. Rem ember, i t is

far better to send an audience away hungry for more than com-

plete ly satiated. Select the th ing s you do w ith care, and exerc ise

good judgment in the order of their arrangement, for several effects

may be each in themselves excellent, but they may not combine

into a rou tine as well as if they were interpo sed w ith o the rs. T h is

I think you may wel l understand, and the rout ine that you propose

to do must necessari ly have a climax, for this is exactly what you

should have been building up to in your routine.

Because you do something bet ter than you do something else

in m agic, do n t persist in contin ually infl ict ing th is on you r friend s,

even though it may appeal to one or two of them, or you will

probab ly be tho ug ht a bore, even tho ug h th ey may refrain from

tel l ing you so. A pproa ch your magic intel l igen t ly, and keep it

on that basis.

And remember that a professional magician who makes his

l ivelihood from magic should, and in all probabil i ty does, know

a great deal more about this subject than those who do i t as a part

t ime job and practice i t as a hobby.

Before I close, let me say there are a great many things in

m agic tha t you can app ly to you r proposed r ou tin e. Some of the se

things you may f ind herein.



oncluding Remarks

h t

is the main purpose of this book, that you shall glean

so m eth ing useful from its page s. I have often been ask ed : W h at

are the essential quali t ies for developing a successful magician?

I have pon dere d this que stion, and here is my answ er. Fi rst ,

a love of magic; second, an apt i tude for i ts performance; third,

a pleasing personali ty; fourth, self control; f if th, a sense of humor;

and sixth, persistence or an overwhelming desire to succeed as a

m agician . Be sides these six essential quali t ies, you will requ ire op-

portuni ty and salesmanship, besides an agent who has the abi l i ty

and the desire to sell you, which often entails the right kind of

pu blic ity and the kno w-h ow . You m ust not si t or stand aro un d

hoping and wishing for the opportuni ty, but make i t , prepar ing

you rself for the adv ent whe n it is he re. M any of us do not alway s

recognize opportunity as such when we see i t , and so few of us

are pre par ed to pay the price dem anded for success. Seldom in-

deed is th is my thic al th in g, success, a bed of rose s, and wh en it

is there are so many thorns and so l i t t le room on the top rung of

th e ladd er. B ut really try in g to get the re often show s in itself a

strength of character and a determination that is so commendable,

and you will be a better man and a magician for the effort.

I wish to thank once again all my friends who have contributed

so m uch to Pr inc ipl es and D ece ption s, and to offer my tha nk s and

grati tude to Harold Ripley. I have said my piece.

Yours s incerely,

Ar thur Buck ley .

221



PR TI E



Reprinted

From The C on/urors M agazine

Feb.

7947

CARD CONTROL BY

See

Cord Control

ARTHUR BUCKLEY

P o g e 8 3

The long heralded "post graduate

course on pract ical meth ods" , CA RD

CONTROL by Ar thu r Buck ley l i ves up

to every bit of i ts advance publici ty.

Buckley is well qualif ied to compile this

textbook on card pr inciples which is un-

doubtedly a contr ibut ion to magical l i t -

era ture which wil l l ive through the ages .

As long as playing cards are made (and

magicians use them) just so long will

Buckley's book l ive.

We are taking the space which or-

dinari ly would be devoted to a review

of this book to let Dr. Harlan E. Tarbell

te l l you the s tory of Arthur Buckley.

You have the word of

Conjurors

staff

that the book is the finest tome of this

type ever publ ished.

The s le ights are pract ical , beaut i ful ly

descr ibed, rem arkably wel l ph otograp hed

and in general give both professional

and amateur a deeper insight into card

magic regardless of their exper ience,

abi l i ty or background.

Some choice gambling principles are

revealed, easy-to-do card magic of all

descriptions as well as close-up enter-

tainment ideas are al l given in this book

wh ich is beau tifully bound in gen uine

buckram with gold s tamping on back-

bone and cover.

The composit ion is of large, well

chosen legible type and the paper is an

80 lb. Coated which made this reviewer

envious because such good stock has not

been available in the New York market

for some t ime.

The $10.00 asked for the book is far

too l i t t le . Get a copy toda y from your

favori te dealer or write direct to the

author-publ isher , Arthur Buckley, 639

No. Hom an Ave. , Chicago 24, I l l ino is.

Congra tu l a t ions , Ar thu r Buck ley

—Jul ien J . Proskauer , Pres ident , The

Conjurors ' Magazine, February, 1947.



A R E A L C L A S S IC

G MS OF MENT L M GIC

By JOH N BROW N COOK and AR TH UR BUCKL EY

A splendid collection of new and baffl ing miracles; Close-up

rout ines for press publ ici ty Complete Acts and Stage rout ines .

How to An swer quest ion s. A reference w ork en the subject of

mental magic that will always be a standard guide for the discrim-

inating amateur and also for professionals.

GEMS of Mental Magic consis ts of thir ty careful ly tes ted pre-

sentat ions any one of which wil l repay you handsomely.

As k you r dealer for a copy. Pr ice Six Dolla rs.





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