30 minute read
A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others EDWIN SACHS Dover Publications, Inc. New York Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario. This Dover edition, first published in 1980, is an unabridged republication of the second, greatly enlarged, edition of the work as published by L. Upcott Gill, London, 1885. International Standard Book Number: 0-486-23911-X Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-54184 Manufactured in the United States of America Dover Publications, Inc. 180 Varick Street New York, N. Y. 10014...
41 minute read
It is always a matter for self-congratulation on the part of an author to be called upon to furnish a Preface to a second or subsequent edition of some "bantling of his brain." In the present instance the task is more satisfactory than usual, the author not coming before the reader empty-handed. Since the publication of the first edition, conjurors have not been idle, and numerous new methods for producing magical surprises have been invented. Such of these as are suitable or worthy—for, in their haste to be novel, many have failed to be satisfactory—the author has incorporated; and, by a thorough revision of the work, he has placed before the aspiring conjuror, written up to date, all that it is possible for him to know in the region of Sleight of Hand . E. S. London , April , 1885. SLEIGHT OF HAND...
4 minute read
"It is as pleasant to be cheated as to cheat," is a maxim that must have been framed expressly for conjuring, for the more completely one is deceived by its medium (and, be it said, by its medium alone) the better one is pleased. The date of the origin of conjuring, as we now understand the art, is not known, but there must have been proficients in the practice of it as early as the time of Chaucer; for that ancient writer speaks of one Coll Tregetour (Tregetour signifying a juggler) producing a windmill from beneath a walnut shell. There is doubtless some slight exaggeration in this statement, or else modern wizards are far behind those of early days—an hypothesis I cannot accept. In the superstitious lands of the East, jugglery was doubtless at the bottom of the many manifestations that were mixed up with religion, and the wily priests...
1 minute read
This derives its chief beauty from the fact that it is almost entirely dependent on pure sleight of hand, a fact which audiences are never slow to appreciate. The most familiar objects are dealt with, and are made to vanish and re-appear in unexpected places, as though they really were disembodied and reinstated. The amateur will find, after a few years' experience, that the impromptu performances he may, from time to time, be called upon to give in the drawing-rooms of his acquaintances, will be much more satisfactory to both himself and his audiences than the more pretentious affairs given upon stages, which call for a great deal of management, apart from ability, to render them successes. When once the performer has attained the credit of being better than the ordinary ruck, it will become incumbent upon him to keep up the level of skill by means of practice, as...
3 minute read
THE PALM PROPER—THE FINGER PALM—THE THUMB PALM—THE REVERSE PALM. Method 1. The Palm Proper. —Hold the coin firmly between the thumb on the one side and the middle and third fingers on the other, the first and little fingers taking up graceful positions, as it were, to cover the movement about to be made ( Fig. 1 ). Remove the thumb to its ordinary position of repose, and, at the same instant, let the two fingers (second and third) press the coin into the palm of the hand, half way down the root of the thumb, the muscles of which must be brought to bear against the edge of the coin, so that it is held firmly and forms a bridge over the hollow of the hand ( Fig. 2 ). A backward and forward swing should be given to the hand whilst the coin is being palmed, as it...
47 minute read
TRICK FOR PALM PRACTICE—HOW TO "PASS" A COIN INVISIBLY—HOW TO CHANGE A COIN—THE USE OF THE WAND IN PALMING—TO PASS A MARKED COIN THROUGH A TABLE—METHOD FOR CONCEALING MANY COINS—THE AERIAL VISIT AND JOURNEY—TO "PASS" SEVERAL COINS—HINTS ON PRACTICE—TO CAUSE A COIN TO VANISH FROM A HANDKERCHIEF—ON BORROWING A HANDKERCHIEF—THE DANCING COIN—A MYSTERY WITHIN A MYSTERY—TO CAUSE A FLORIN AND A PENNY TO CHANGE PLACES—TO PICK A MARKED COIN FROM A NUMBER, BLINDFOLDED—THE MARRIAGE—TO INVISIBLY EXTRACT A COIN FROM OUT OF A GLASS OF WATER—TO PASS PENNIES INTO A BOTTLE—TO CAUSE EXPOSED COINS TO CHANGE PLACES—TO "SLEEVE" COINS—HINTS ON MARKING COINS—THE BEST COINS TO USE. The uses of the palm will make themselves manifest in every trick in which money is used as a medium, but the beginner can astonish his friends, and, at the same time, make himself perfect, by any of the following minor tricks: ( a )...
22 minute read
ON RAPIDITY AND DECEPTION—MISDIRECTION—A JAPANESE SUGAR TRICK—"FLY AWAY, JACK; FLY AWAY, JOHN: COME AGAIN, JACK; COME AGAIN, JOHN"—A "RISING BLADE"—TO RESTORE A PIECE OF COTTON THAT HAS BEEN CUT UP IN SMALL PIECES—TO PASS A RING FROM A HANDKERCHIEF ON TO A WAND HELD AT EACH END—A SECOND METHOD—A THIRD METHOD. I commence this, the second portion of drawing-room conjuring, with the decided hope that, before my readers attempt to follow me, they will have attained some proficiency in the art of palming and other little matters alluded to in my remarks concerning the treatment of coins. If such skill has been acquired, although in a small degree only, it will be of use in rendering the manipulation of other objects much easier. The prevailing idea with the public is that a conjuror moves things about from place to place before one's very eyes, but with such extreme rapidity as...
11 minute read
THE CUPS—THE BALLS—HOW TO CONCEAL A BALL—HOW TO SLIP A BALL UNDER A CUP UNPERCEIVED—HOW TO VANISH A BALL: PHASE ONE, PHASE TWO, PHASE THREE—THE MANUFACTORY—HOW TO INTRODUCE LARGE OBJECTS BENEATH THE CUPS—BAG FOR HOLDING ARTICLES—HINTS—TALK FOR THE TRICK. The variety of tricks performed with the aid of cups and balls take a prominent position in the repertory of every conjuror laying claim to any proficiency in pure sleight of hand. Three tin cups (or, rather, as they are always used in an inverted position, covers), rather more than 4in. in height, and some 3in. across the mouth, with the bottom concave, and two or three little rings near the mouth ( Fig. 23 ) will be required. Also make, to commence with, four cork balls, blackened, either by burning or by colouration, each about the size of an ordinary bullet. The audience know of the existence of three balls...
12 minute read
BURNING A HANDKERCHIEF IN A SMALL WAY—HINTS ABOUT APPARATUS—HOW TO PULL A HANDKERCHIEF THROUGH THE LEG—THE KNOT UNTIED BY MAGIC—THE CONFECTIONER HANDKERCHIEF—FEATS WITH HANDKERCHIEFS. What conjurors would do without pocket handkerchiefs, I will not venture to suggest. Almost every trick has a handkerchief of some kind as a component part. Handkerchiefs are torn up, burnt up, tied into knots, made receptacles for money, and used in a variety of other ways; in fact, they are the conjuror's most faithful allies. Burning a Handkerchief is usually made a stage trick, and belongs properly to Grand Magic; but there is a method which may be successfully tried in the confined limits of the drawing-room. I do not allude to the use of the "burning globe," which article entirely dispenses with the necessity for the display of anything approaching sleight of hand, with which I, in this book, have only to deal. By...
10 minute read
A NEW MARBLE TRICK—FIRE-EATING—FINAL EFFECT—THE BUTTERFLY TRICK—THE FAN—HOW TO MAKE THE BUTTERFLIES—HOW TO KEEP THEM IN THE AIR. Chinese Marble Trick. —Some years ago, there came over to England a few Chinese conjurors, who were seen by the public but very little, but who favoured me on several occasions with private views. Their skill lay chiefly in the performance of such delectable feats as swallowing sword-blades, tiny china cups, glass balls, and large leaden plummets. Although appreciating such tricks, I respectfully declined attempting to astonish my audiences by their means. There was, however, one little trick performed with four small marbles, which struck me as being something quite novel and quaint. Of the four marbles (little ivory balls are what I invariably use), one is concealed in the fingers, as in the cup and ball trick, unknown, of course, to the audience, who are supposed to know of the existence...
20 minute read
HOW TO CAUSE A WINEGLASS WITH WINE IN IT TO VANISH—ITS STARTLING REPRODUCTION—FILTER TUMBLERS—HOW TO CAUSE A PLATE OR OTHER LARGE ARTICLE TO VANISH—HOW TO PERFORM THE CUP AND BALL TRICK WITH PLATES AND BREAD PELLETS—A DIE TRICK—MAGICAL SURGERY—A DESSERT OF CORKS—KNIFE-SWALLOWING MADE EASY: TWO METHODS. To Vanish a Glass of Sherry. —When invited out to a dinner party, one usually leaves one's conjuring tricks at home; but in some instances, where, perhaps, one's fame has gone before, an unexpected call is made for an exhibition of skill. "Come, So-and-so, let us see some tricks," says the host, and "Hear, hear!" say the guests. You are, of course, quite unprepared, and beg to be excused, but in vain. You must acquiesce, or be voted a boor. In an absent manner, you place a glass of sherry to your lips, as though bracing yourself for the fray. The glass is half...
7 minute read
With the foremost of these, as the most important, I will first deal. The use of the pass is to transfer a given card from one portion of the pack to another. In nine tricks out of ten, a card is chosen and replaced in the centre of the pack, which is then shuffled. If this were in reality done without any previous interference on the performer's part, he would be at sea as to the position of the chosen card, and so rendered totally unable to find it when he wanted to do so. To avoid this contretemps he, by means of the pass, brings the card either to the top or the bottom of the pack, and executes a shuffle which, although it appears to mingle all the cards, in reality leaves the chosen one in its original position. If a chosen card is placed in the centre...
3 minute read
This is a very useful variety of the two-handed pass, by means of which cards placed simultaneously in different parts of the pack are at once brought together. Say, three cards have been selected by various spectators. The performer presents the pack to each in turn, requesting to have the card chosen placed in any portion of it. The chooser thereupon pushes the card between the others, which are not opened out by the performer, but merely presented in a compact body. The card is not permitted to be pushed quite home, the performer withdrawing the pack in time to prevent this. The pack is presented to the two other selectors of cards, and, when the three have all been placed in it, the performer apparently pushes them home with the right hand. What he actually does is thus described: Nip the three cards by the still protruding portions between...
15 minute read
This the conjuror will find a very useful adjunct to the pass. There is nothing very difficult about it, but it is necessary to be somewhat bold in executing it. The two methods of shuffling in ordinary use are the perpendicular and the horizontal. The perpendicular is the most business-like, and I have no doubt that it is used by most of my male readers who are card-players. Ladies, I am aware, mostly patronise the horizontal shuffle, in which the cards are passed from right to left, or vice versâ , alternately over and under. To illustrate the perpendicular method, suppose the card to be at the bottom of the pack, just passed there, and it is desired to keep it in that position. By applying pressure with the fingers and thumb, the top and bottom cards will be retained in the left hand when the right hand draws away...
5 minute read
This, as a sleight-of-hand feat with cards, takes precedence, for bare-faced daring, of, perhaps, any other. It consists in deliberately exchanging a card held in one hand for another in the pack held in the other hand, and this in full view of the audience. Such a feat may appear at first sight impossible, but, with a little attention and practice, it will become as easy as any other, although it will always demand some care and address in execution. There are various methods by means of which the change is effected, of which the following three are perhaps the best. For simplification of description we will suppose that the ace of diamonds is to be exchanged for the ace of clubs. First method : Hold the pack, with the ace of clubs on the top, in the left hand, between the first finger and thumb. The other fingers should...
7 minute read
"Palm a card!" exclaims the reader, "how can one possibly palm a card?" Not after the manner of a coin, certainly; but, after the proper method, the palming of a card— i.e. , the concealing it unnoticed in the hand—is not at all difficult. It is as important as, and, next to the pass, more used than, the other sleights with cards, there being a continual demand for its assistance. To palm a card in the right hand, take it in the left, across the middle, and place it in the right, so that the top left-hand corner is against the inside of the little finger, and the bottom right-hand corner against the fleshy part of the thumb. This pressure is quite sufficient to hold the card, but other parts of the hand and fingers will render a slight assistance. This, unless one possessed an enormous hand, would be impossible...
1 minute read
This is a very simple, but not, therefore, any the less useful, little deception, which deserves to be brought more into use by conjurors than it is. It consists merely in sliding back, in a particular manner, the bottom card of a pack, with the fingers of one hand, so that the other hand may remove the one next to it, and yet appear to actually remove the bottom card. The particular method of holding the pack is shown at Fig. 39 . The cards are taken, face downwards, in one hand, and the first and second fingers push back the bottom card to the extent of from half an inch to an inch. Damp a finger of the other hand, and apply it to the bottom of the pack, drawing away the last card but one instead of the last. Thus, if, as in the illustration, the seven of...
53 minute read
This is the last of the elementary principles to be learnt, and in a highly important one. It is hardly a feat of sleight of hand, although requiring considerable practice and determination to carry out properly. The act of forcing a card consists in inducing the chooser of a card to select from those proffered by you any particular card you please. As will hereafter transpire, it is highly essential for some tricks that a particular card, and none other, be chosen. The best method is as follows: Have the card which you desire to have selected at the bottom of the pack, in which the finger is inserted ready for the pass. As you advance for the purpose of presenting the cards, make the pass and allow the middle finger to remain under what was the bottom card, now somewhere in the middle. Spread out the cards, keeping them...
9 minute read
PREPARATION—WHERE, AND TO WHOM, TO GIVE ARTICLES TO BE HELD—ON THE PUNISHMENT OF MEDDLERS—ON THE REPETITION OF TRICKS—REHEARSING—"PATTER"—ADDRESS—IMPERTINENCE AND AUDACITY—ON PLAYING THE BUFFOON. The learner has now arrived at that point where he will quit the humble drawing-room, understood in its ordinary sense, and essay to grander flights on the stage. It is true that this stage may, after all, consist only of the back drawing-room, the front one serving as the auditorium; but, in a conjuring sense, it is a drawing-room no longer. It is the exclusive domain of the performer, in which he will work his spells of enchantment unmolested by busybodies indulged in too close a view. In this exclusiveness consists the main difference between the two branches of conjuring. In what may be aptly termed impromptu conjuring, the performer is greatly at the mercy of his audience, who may at any moment, if so disposed, seize...
11 minute read
THE TABLE: ITS HEIGHT—THE BODY—THE SHELF—THE LEGS—VANISHING AND CHANGING TRAPS—ON USELESS MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS—SIDE TABLES—HOW TO PASS ARTICLES DOWN TRAPS: VARIOUS METHODS—THE DRESS: POCKETS—THE VEST—HOW TO COMMENCE—INTRODUCTORY TRICKS. Of very important assistance in Grand Conjuring are the specially prepared tables, of which one, two, or three will be used, according to the size of the room. These tables differ from ordinary ones, in the first place, by being considerably higher, their height being from 2ft. 10in. to 3ft. This is to render it unnecessary for the performer to stoop when taking anything from or placing anything upon the table, as the action would take away a great deal from an effective execution of many things. The next important difference (unknown, however, to the audience) is that the body of the table is a hollow box, of which that side which is unseen by the spectators is perfectly open, and is furthermore...
39 minute read
HOW TO PRODUCE ARTICLES FROM THE WAND—ARTICLES PRODUCED FROM THE PERSONS OF THE COMPANY—VANISHING OBJECTS FROM THE HANDS—EXCHANGING ARTICLES—MESMERISING A DOVE—MARKING A CARD IN COURSE OF PERFORMING—PASSING HANDKERCHIEF OVER FLAME OF CANDLE—THE CONJUROR'S SHUFFLE—THE DEVIL'S HANDKERCHIEF—COIN HANDKERCHIEF—FLYING RING—MAGICIAN'S EGGS—PRODUCTIVE EGGS—COIN-VANISHING TUMBLER—MAGIC PLATEAU. Sleights. —Often, in the description of a trick, the learner is told that a handkerchief, coin, egg, orange, or other article has to be made to disappear or appear by sleight of hand. In the descriptions here given, my own methods naturally appear in preponderance over those of others; but it is a mistake for conjurors to confine themselves arbitrarily to any such, whose soever they be, or whatever their nature. The peculiar means for magically vanishing or producing an article which has seemed to me to be most convenient under the conditions governing the particular trick under notice, I have always laid the most stress upon; but...
42 minute read
HOW TO VANISH AND RECOVER A PACK—THE EGYPTIAN POCKET; HOW TO MANUFACTURE CARDS—THE MISSING LINK—ASCENDING CARDS; VARIOUS METHODS—THE CARD-HOLDER—WHAT APPARATUS NOT TO USE—THE SALAMANDER CARD—A LEGITIMATE USE FOR "FORCING" PACKS—HERRMANN'S BOUQUET—A HUMAN HEN—THE HATCHED CARD—THE WAND, AND HOW TO MAKE IT—MORE ABOUT APPARATUS. Nearly every modern conjuror of any pretensions to skill commences with a card trick. There is something about a good card trick well executed that always takes with an intelligent audience. When a performer does not commence with the cards, it is generally because he does not possess skill enough to do anything effective with them, although he will generally make a virtue of necessity (at which conjurors are particularly apt), and give some totally different reason. Vanishing a Pack. —When the time is limited, none should be wasted in preliminaries; but, when possible, the performer should always vanish the pack, by palming it, and find it...
34 minute read
THE RESTORED HANDKERCHIEF: ITS VARIOUS MISFORTUNES—THE CONJUROR'S PISTOL—SUN AND MOON: A TOTAL ECLIPSE—THE DISSOLVING KNOTS—THE DECANTED HANDKERCHIEF—THE MELTING HANDKERCHIEFS—THE ELASTIC GLOVE: HOW TO ACCOMMODATE ALL SIZES. The Restored Handkerchief. —This title will doubtless apply to many tricks with handkerchiefs, so, if the performer thinks it too general, he can find another of his own for this particular trick. Herrmann called it Le Mouchoir Serpent, from the fancied resemblance to a snake which the handkerchief was made to take at one stage of the trick. For it the performer must have prepared a lemon, with a small handkerchief inside. The way to operate on the lemon is as follows: Cut off one end—the apex is the best—and then, by means of a spoon, take out the whole of the interior, being careful to remove the inner white skin. Push in the handkerchief, replace the portion of lemon which you cut off,...
39 minute read
THE INVISIBLE FLIGHT: THE GLASS—THE BOXES—OTHER APPARATUS USED IN THE TRICK—THE BANKER—HOW TO COLLECT MONEY—THE MONEY TUBE—THE MULTIPLYING TRAY—HOLD THEM TIGHT! OR, SKILL VERSUS STRENGTH—THE MONEY CHANGER—HINTS UPON MANNER—THE CRYSTAL PLATEAU—THE MONEY-PRODUCING CANDLE—THE FLIGHT—COIN AND WORSTED BALL TRICK. The Invisible Transit. —This is a remarkably effective coin trick. Several coins are inclosed in a little box, which is stood in a position close to the audience. An empty tumbler is placed upon a chair or table far away on the stage, and the performer, abstracting the coins one by one from the box, "passes" them into the distant glass, into which they are heard to fall. On the glass being brought forward, the coins are poured from it, and the box into which they were put is found to be empty. The tumbler used should be coloured and opaque, or semi-opaque. Into it is fitted a zinc plate, depicted at...
24 minute read
ON SKILL—CANNON-BALLS—CAULIFLOWERS—THE DISTRIBUTION—BONBONS AND FLOWERS—SHOWER OF CUPS—MULTIPLYING BALLS: HOW TO MAKE AND HOW TO PRODUCE THEM—BUNDLE OF FIREWOOD—RETICULES AND DOLLS: HOW TO MAKE THEM—BIRDCAGES—A FEAST OF LANTERNS—AN UNFORTUNATE CLIMAX: HOW TO GET OUT OF IT—THE FLYING HAT. One of the most taking of all the tricks performed by the many public exhibitors is that in which a hat is borrowed from the audience, and at once from its interior are produced a quantity of heterogeneous articles, the nature and number of which cause, not only the greatest merriment, but also the most unbounded astonishment that they should ever have found lodgment in so unsuitable a receptacle as an ordinary "chimney-pot" hat. The reader will hardly require to be told that every article which is produced from the hat has first to be introduced into it by the performer, and on the skill with which this is done will the success...
28 minute read
ON BORROWING WATCHES—THE PUTTY WATCH—THE GLASS—TWO KINDS OF MORTARS AND PESTLES—THE DUMMY WATCH—THE WATCH BAG—HOW TO REPRODUCE THE WATCH—THE LOAF—THE TARGET—ANOTHER TARGET—THE PLATE SCREEN—THE ADHESIVE WATCH: A JOKE—THE WATCH BOX—A NOVEL RABBIT WARREN—HOW TO CAUSE RABBITS TO DISAPPEAR—THE BRAN VASE—THE BRAN—THE WELSH "RABBIT"—THE SAUCEPAN AND COVER—THE HAT STOVE—THE FUEL—THE INGREDIENTS—THE RESULT—THE BIRD AND CARD. Tricks with Watches. —The reader has doubtless been on the look-out for the chapter which shall initiate him in the art of pounding up a friend's gold chronometer before his very eyes, and immediately afterwards restoring it whole. I have purposely introduced the subject so late in the day, because watches are very awkward things to perform with, and the performer should be tolerably expert before he touches them. On borrowing a watch, it is always as well to do, or pretend to do, something with it that shall cause the greatest anxiety to the owner...
22 minute read
BLINDFOLD FEATS—IMITATION SECOND SIGHT—ON SPIRITUALISM—THE MESMERISED POKER—THE PERAMBULATING WALKING STICK—THE ASCENT—THE TALKING GLASS: TWO METHODS—THE SPIRIT BOUQUET—THE SLATE TRICK—FIERY HANDS, WRITINGS, &C.—THE ELECTRIC TOUCH—THE ANIMATED SKULL. Clairvoyance. —This is one of the most mysterious agencies with which the scientific world has ever had to deal. Doubted by the majority, because of its seeming improbability, and because of the difficulty of comprehending it, the faculty of clairvoyance or second sight has, nevertheless, been possessed, and is possessed, by not a few. Some marvellous manifestations of seeing without the eyes have been shown, and in a manner sufficient to convince even the most sceptical of its reality. This faculty has often been imitated by conjurors, some of whom have fairly admitted that they were only imitators, whilst others have assumed possession of the actual power itself. At that now defunct institution, the Polytechnic, and other places of amusement, cleverly arranged telegraphic communication...
11 minute read
Having at length brought the beginner to that point where he will first have to shift for himself in real earnest, I wish to leave him in a position to do credit to my tuition, and, with this object, impart a few hints for his guidance. On the subject of practice, I would not say any more if I could. By this time, it must have become so evident to everyone that nothing can be brought to any degree at all approaching perfection without assiduous attention to detail, that any repetition of my often-expressed injunctions to practice would become nauseating. But I ought to say something regarding the best method for learning new tricks or sleights from the foregoing text. It is a bad plan to read the description through, and then immediately try to produce the result right away. The whole trick should certainly be read carefully through first,...