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practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,1,,"GV 1547
P88
Copy 1"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,1,,"111
.
116"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,2,,"LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
GV1547
Cumprinty
Shel P.88
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,3,,"UNITED
STERARIES"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,3,,"A
A
.
COCASA'"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,6,,"THF UNMANKING
ROBER"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,8,,"8061
'00 3H.L
MEN
INICHOH
18
NIGNOH -
JO
DNINSVINNO TH.L"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,9,,"313341
Copyright, 1906
Copyright, 1907
Copyright, 1908
By HARRY HOUDINI
Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England
All rights reserved
Composition. Electrotyping and Printing by
The Publishers Printing Company
New York, N. Y., U.S.A."
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,9,,"-
:
No.8. THE MAGNET NAND
Price Twenty-five Cents.
SUTD
NEW-YORK:
HURST & CO., PUBLISHERS."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,9,,"LATEST MAGIC
BEING
ORIGINAL CONJURING TRICKS
INVENTED AND ARRANGED
BY
PROFESSOR HOFFMANN
(ANGELO LEWIS, M.A.)
Author of ""Modern Magic,"" etc.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
FIRST EDITION
NEW YORK
SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 120 LIBERTY ST.
1918"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,10,,"Dedication
This Book is affectionately dedicated to the memory of
my father,
Rev. M. S. Weiss, Ph.D., LL.D.,
who instilled in me love of study and patience in research"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,10,,"1.665
Copyright, 1918
Bx SPON & CHAMBERLAIN
$ 180
CAMELOT PRESS, 226-228 WILLIAM ST., NEW YORK, U. S. A.
CIA506691"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,11,,"THE
Practical Magician
AND
VENTRILOQUIST'S GUIDE.
A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF
FIRESIDE MAGIC AND CONJURING ILLUSIONS.
CONTAINING ALSO
COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACQUIRING & PRACTISING
The Art of
the
the
NEW YORK
HURST & CO., Publishers,
75 NASSAU STREET.
(Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1876, by THOMAS D. HURST, in
the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.)"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,11,,"TO
J. N. MASKELYNE, ESQ.
FOREMOST OF ENGLISH MAGICIANS,
AND
FEARLESS EXPOSER OF FALSEHOOD AND FRAUD
THIS Book IS DEDICATED
BY
His FRIEND AND ADMIRER,
THE AUTHOR"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,12,,"CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION,
7
CHAPTER
I. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-
HOUDIN,
33
II. THE ORANGE-TREE TRICK,
5I
III. THE WRITING AND DRAWING FIGURE,
83
IV. THE PASTRY Cook OF THE PALAIS ROYAL,
II6
V. THE OBEDIENT CARDS-THE CABALISTIC CLOCK-THE
TRAPEZE AUTOMATON,
I4I
VI. THE INEXHAUSTIBLE BOTTLE,
.
176
VII. SECOND SIGHT,
. 200
VIII. THE SUSPENSION TRICK,
. 222
IX. THE DISAPPEARING HANDKERCHIEF,
245
X. ROBERT-HOUDIN'S IGNORANCE OF MAGIC AS BE-
TRAYED BY His OWN PEN,
. 264
XI. THE NARROWNESS OF ROBERT-HOUDIN'S ""MEMOIRS,"" 295
[5]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,12,,"7 V / = ,
P88
BEST BOOK ON THE ""BLACK ART.""
PARLOR PASTIMES.
A NEW BOOK ON
MAGIC, CONJURING, LEGERDEMAIN,
AND PRESTIDIGITATION.
BY THE CELEBRATED
PROFESSOR RAYMOND
This work is certainly the most exhaustive one on Magic that has ever
been issued. It exposes all the secrets of tho Wizard's Art. No trick or
illusion of importance is left unnoticed, and tho explanations are made in
so simplo a manner that any one of ordinary comprehension can readily
understand and perform them. The book thoroughly elucidates all tho
mysteries connected with
White Magic,
Galvanism,
Natural Magic,
Magnetism,
Jugglery,
Legerdemain,
Sleight-of-Hand,
Necromancy,
Electricity,
Fireworks,
Chemistry,
Mechanics,
Cards,
The Black Art,
1
Coins,
Prestidigitation.
It also contains a grand assortment of
RIDDLES, CONUNDRUMS, CHARADES, ENIGMAS, RE-
BUSES, TRANSPOSITIONS, ANAGRAMS, PUZZLES,
PARADOXES, ACROSTICS, AND PROBLEMS.
A stndy of this extremely interesting work would make any one thor-
oughly expert in the art of Amusing, whether in private or public. Tho
work may be consulted with profit either by the Amateur or Professional
Magician.
Price Twenty-Five Cents.
Sent to any address on receipt of price. Address
HURST & CO., 75 NASSAU STREET, New YORK."
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,13,,"PAGE
Introduction
8
Of palmistry and the passes
9
To command a dime to pass into the centre of a ball of wool,
so that it will not be discovered till the ball is unwound
to the very last of its threads
13
To change a bowl of ink into clear water with gold fish in it.
14
The dancing egg
15
The walking cent
16
Tricks with and without collusion
19
To make a quarter and a penny change places while held in
the hands of two spectators
23
Trick with the dime, handkerchief, and an orange or lemon
23
How to double your pocket money.
24
The injured handkerchief restored.
25
To make a large die pass through the crown of a hat with-
out injuring it.
26
To produce from a silk handkerchief bonbons, candies,
nuts, etc.
27
Practice
29
A sudden and unexpected supply of feathers from under a
silk handkerchief or cloth.
31
Heads or Tails ?
33
To cook pancakes or plumcakes in a hat over some candles.
34
To eat a dish of paper shavings and afterwards draw them
from your mouth like an Atlantic cable.
36
How to cut off a person's nose without injuring him
37
Tricks by magnetism, chemistry, galvanism and electricity.
39
The watch obedient to the word of command
41"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,13,,"PREFACE
The tricks described in the following pages are
of my own invention, and for the most part are en-
tirely new departures: not only the effects pro-
duced, but the appliances by means of which they
are produced, being original.
From the nature of the case, it follows that few
of the items described have been submitted to the
supreme test of performance in public, but all have
been thoroughly thought out; most of the root-
ideas having in fact been simmering in my mind
for more than two years past. One or two of them
may demand a more than average amount of ad-
dress on the part of the performer; but the ma-
jority are comparatively easy, and I believe I may
assert with confidence that all will be found both
practicable and effective. Should any of my mod-
est inventions be found, as is not improbable, sus-
ceptible of further polish, the keen wits and ready
fingers of my brother wizards may safely be
trusted to supply it.
The items entitled The Mystery of Mahomet,
The Bewildering Blocks, and The Wizard's
vii"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,14,,"INTRODUCTION
T
HIS book is the natural result of the moulding,
dominating influence which the spirit and wri-
tings of Robert-Houdin have exerted over my
professional career. My interest in conjur-
ing and magic and my enthusiasm for Robert-Houdin
came into existence simultaneously. From the moment
that I began to study the art, he became my guide and hero.
I accepted his writings as my text-book and my gospel.
What Blackstone is to the struggling lawyer, Hardee's
""Tactics"" to the would-be officer, or Bismarck's life and
writings to the coming statesman, Robert-Houdin's books
were to me.
To my unsophisticated mind, his ""Memoirs"" gave to
the profession a dignity worth attaining at the cost of
earnest, life-long effort. When it became necessary for
me to take a stage-name, and a fellow-player, possessing
a veneer of culture, told me that if I would add the letter
""i"" to Houdin's name, it would mean, in the French
language, ""like Houdin,"" I adopted the suggestion with
enthusiasm. I asked nothing more of life than to become
in my profession ""like Robert-Houdin.""
By this time I had re-read his works until I could re-
cite passage after passage from memory. Then, when
Fate turned kind and the golden pathway of success
led me into broader avenues of work, I determined that
my first tour abroad should be dedicated to adding new
[7]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,14,,"CONTENTS.
iii
PAGE
A chemical trick, to follow one where a young friend has as-
sisted
43
To draw three spools off two tapes without those spools
having to come off the ends of those tapes, and while
the four ends of the tapes are held by four persons...
44
To restore a tape whole after it has been cut in the middle
46
On the continuity of tricks
49
The invisible hen, a very useful trick for supplying eggs for
breakfast or dinner
53
Tricks with a plain gold ring
56
Friendly suggestions.
59
The conjuror's ""bonus genius"" or familiar messenger.
61
The shower of money.
63
To furnish the ladies with a magic supply of tea or coffee,
at their selection, from one and the same jug
64
To furnish a treat to the gentlemen
66
Ventriloquism
67
Ventriloquism among the ancients
70
Modern professors of the art.
71
The theory of ventriloquism
76
The means by which it is effected
79
Practical illustrations.
81
Polyphonic imitations
87
A mountain echo
88
Points to be remembered.
88
Concluding remarks
90
To make the magic whistle
91"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,14,,"viii
PREFACE
Pocket-book, have been described in the columns of
an English magical serial, but have never appeared
in book shape, and are by special desire, included
in the present volume.
A final word on a personal matter. Had I been
prophet, as well as magician, when I first began
to write on conjuring, I should have chosen a dif-
ferent pen-name. In the light of later events, my
selection was unfortunate. My identity has long
been an open secret, but as I cannot flatter myself
that it is universally known, I take this opportun-
ity to assure all whom it may concern that I am
British to the backbone.
LOUIS HOFFMANN."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,15,,"INTRODUCTION
laurels to the fame of Robert-Houdin. By research and
study I would unearth history yet unwritten, and record
unsung triumphs of this great inventor and artiste. The
pen of his most devoted student and follower would
awaken new interest in his history.
Alas for my golden dreams! My investigations brought
forth only bitterest dis-
appointment and sad-
dest of disillusionment.
Stripped of his self-
woven veil of romance,
Robert-Houdin stood
forth, in the uncom-
promising light of cold
historical facts, a mere
pretender, a man who
waxed great on the
brainwork of others, a
mechanician who had
boldly filched the in-
ventions of the master
craftsmen among his
predecessors.
""Memoirs of Robert-
Houdin, Ambassador,
Robert-Houdin in his prime, immedi-
Author and Conjurer,
ately after his retirement. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.
Written by Himself,'
proved to have been
the penwork of a brilliant Parisian journalist, em-
ployed by Robert-Houdin to write his so-called auto-
biography. In the course of his ""Memoirs,"" Robert-
[8]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,15,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN
AND
VENTRILOQUIST'S GUIDE.
CHAPTER I.
""
INTRODUCTORY.
M' object in writing these hints on CONJURING is for the bene-
fit of amateurs to promote (lively and entertaining amuse-
ment for the home circle and social gatherings.
My large experience enables me to explain and simplify many
of the best tricks and illusions of the art. I present the key to
many of the mystical mysteries which have puzzled and bewild-
ered our childhood days as well as confounded us in our matur-
er years.
The young student can in a very short time, if he be in the
least of an ingenious turn, amuse and astonish his friends, neigh-
bors and acquaintances.
Preference has been given to those tricks which suggest
others, the more complete and difficult performances and
illusions have been passed by as being out of place ; I"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,15,,"CONTENTS
PORTRAIT OF PROFESSOR HOFFMANN
Frontispiece
PAGE
PREFACE
vii
SOME New APPLIANCES OF GENERAL UTILITY
1
Magical Mats
1
Fairy Flower-Pots
5
Patter Introducing the Flower-Pots
8
Adhesive Cards and Tricks Therewith
10
The Missing Card
12
NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF THE ""BLACK ART"" PRINCIPLE
17
Black Art Mats and Black Art Patches
17
A Magical Transposition
23
The Detective Die
26
Dissolving Dice
32
Where is It?
38
CARD TRICKS
46
Arithmetic by Magic
46
Those Naughty Knaves
49
Magnetic Magic
55
The Telepathic Tape
57
A Card Comedy
60
The Fast and Loose Card-Box
63
A Royal Tug of War
64
Sympathetic Cards
66
Tell-Tale Fingers
68
Divination Doubly Difficult
72
A New Long Card and Tricks Therewith
77
The Mascot Coin Box
83
ix"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,16,,"INTRODUCTION
Houdin, over his own signature, claimed credit for the
invention of many tricks and automata which may be
said to have marked the golden age in magic. My in-
vestigations disproved each claim in order. He had
announced himself as the first magician to appear in
regulation evening clothes, discarding flowing sleeves and
heavily draped stage apparatus. The credit for this revo-
lution in conjuring belonged to Wiljalba Frikell. Robert-
Houdin's explanation of tricks performed by other
magicians and not included in his repertoire, proved so
incorrect and inaccurate as to brand him an ignoramus
in certain lines of conjuring. Yet to the great charm of
his diction and the romantic development of his personal
reminiscences later writers have yielded unquestioningly
and have built upon the historically weak foundations of
his statements all the later so-called histories of magic.
For a time the disappointment killed all. creative
power. With no laurel wreath to carve, my tools lay idle.
The spirit of investigation languished. Then came the
reaction. There was work to be done. Those who had
wrought honestly deserved the credit that had been taken
from them. In justice to the living as well as the dead
the history of the magic must be revised. The book,
accepted for more than half a century as an authority
on our craft, must stand forth for what it is, a clever
romance, a well-written volume of fiction.
That is why to-day I offer to the profession of magic,
to the world of laymen readers to whom its history has
always appealed, and to the literary savants who dip into
it as a recreation, the results of my investigations. These,
I believe, will show Robert-Houdin's true place in the
[9]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,16,,"6
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
shall not, therefore, in these elementary papers advert to those
experiments which require ample resources, or a prepared stage,
for exhibiting them-or which can only be displayed to advan-
tage by consummate skill and the most adroit manipulation-
but confine my remarks at present to thosè branches of the art
to the performance of which a young amateur may aspire with
prospect of success.
A few hours' practice will enable the learner to execute the
simple tricks that I shall first treat of; and they will only re-
quire for their display such articles as are readily available in
every household. Most of them will be supplied by any com-
pany of a few friends, and if not in the parlor, can be brought
from no greater distance than the kitchen or housekeeper's
room ; such as handkerchiefs, coins, oranges, or eggs, a
glass bowl, etc., etc. There may only remain a few inexpensivo
articles to bo supplied from repositories for the sale of conjur-
ing apparatus, or they may be had direct from the publishers of
this work.
It may be well explicitly to avow that the time is quite gone
by when people will really believe that conjuring is to be donc
by supernatural agencies. No faith is now reposed in the
""black art of sorcery,"" or even in the art to which the less re-
pulsive name was given of ""white magic.' Many years havo
elapsed sinco conjurors have seriously assumed to themselves
any credit as possessing supernatural powers, or as enabled by
spiritual agency to reveal that which is unknown to science and
philosophy, or mysteriously to work astonishing marvels.
A well-marked contrast exists between the old school O. con-
jurors and those of modern times. The former, who used bold-
ly to profess that they employed mysterious rites and preter-
natural agency, designedly put the spectator upon false inter-
pretations, while they studiously avoided giving any elucidation
of tho phenomena, nor would ever admit that tho wonders dis-
played were to bo accounted for by the principles of science and
natural philosophy.
Modern conjurors advance no such pretensions. They use as
scientifically as possible the natural properties of matter to aid"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,16,,"<
PAGE
MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS
88
Money-Making Made Easy
88
The Missing Link
92
Culture Extraordinary
97
The Bounding Beans
104
Lost and Found
110
The Riddle of the Pyramids
115
The Miracle of Mumbo Jumbo
123
The Story of the Alkahest
130
The Oracle of Memphis
137
The Mystery of Mahomet
146
The Bewildering Blocks
156
An ""Od"" Force.
162
The Mystery of the Three Seals
170
The Wizard's Pocketbook
.
180
CONCERNING PATTER
192
THE USE OF THE WAND
203
A FEW WRINKLES
215
.
222"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,17,,"INTRODUCTION
history of magic and give to his predecessors, in a pro-
fession which in each generation becomes more serious
and more dignified, the credit they deserve.
My investigations cover nearly twenty years of a busy
a
or
focus
b2
the
Frontispiece of ""Hocus Pocus,"" Second Edition, 1635, one of the earliest
works on magic. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
professional career. Every hour which I could spare
from my professional work was given over to study in
libraries, to interviews with retired magicians and col-
lectors, and to browsing in old bookstores and antique
[10]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,17,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
7
in their exhibition of wonderful results. They are content to
let the exhibition of their art appear marvelous They some-
times mystify the matter, and so increase the puzzle, in order
to heighten the interest and amusement of the spectators; but
they throw asido any solemn asseveration of possessing hidden
powers, or of ability to fathom mysterious secrets.
It may be admitted that proficients and exhibitors still adopt
language that has become current with conjurors, and in com-
mon parlance it may be asserted that the wonderful Mr. So-and-
So undertakes to pass some solid object through a wall or a ta-
ble ; to change black into white, and white into black; to place
rings in.closely-fastened boxes, or draw money out of people's
ears; and conjurors may with ridiculous humor distract the at-
tention of spectators, so that accurate observation is not fixed
upon the object that is to undergo before their eyes some sin-
gular transformation ; but no outrageous bombast or positive
falsehoods are commonly advanced. And the practical meaning
of any exaggerated pretension is clearly understood to mean no
more than that Mr. So-and-So undertakes to present before you
what, TO ALL APPEARANCE, is the conversion of black into white,
or vice versa and the audience aro clearly aware that no more
is assumed to bo presented to them than a very striking illu-
sion, undistinguishable from a reality and how this is effected
will bo in many cases wholly untraceable, and therefore the
trick is inimitable.
We may be permitted to feel some pleasure in the conviction
that tho exhibition of our art in its more striking exploits is
really marvelous, and very attractive; for we certainly havo
tho power of placing some astonishing phenomena before our
audience: and we may surely prize the estimation with which
tho uninitiated are disposed to honor us, but we erect no vain-
glorious assumptions upon these data, as we are quite contented
with fair praise intelligently-accorde to us. And so far from
closely concealing tho principles and arcana of our science, we
are ready plainly to avow that it all depends upon faculties that
all may attain by patient culture, and exhibit by careful prac-
tice. Undoubtedly thero are less and greater degrees of exoel-"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,17,,"LATEST MAGIC
INTRODUCTORY
SOME NEW APPLIANCES OF GENERAL UTILITY
THE little appliances to be presently described
are the outcome of ideas which, after a long period
of incubation in my note-books, have ultimately
taken concrete form in what, I venture to believe,
will be found to be practical and useful items of
magical apparatus. I may further claim that they
combine in an exceptional degree absolute inno-
cence of appearance with a wide range of practical
utility. Examples of their uses are indicated in
the following pages, but the inventive reader will
find that these by no means exhaust their possibili-
ties of usefulness.
MAGICAL MATS
The first to be described are of two different
kinds, to be known as the ""Card"" and ""Coin"" Mat
respectively. They are in appearance simply cir-
cular table-or plate mats, with an ornamental
1"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,18,,"INTRODUCTION
shops where rare collections of programs, newspapers,
and prints might be found.
In order to conduct my researches intelligently, I was
compelled to pick up a smattering of the language of
JOH BAPT PORTA
Ca Philosoph, Madamatitor and Atrologic zus
govo. on
John Baptist Porta, the Neapolitan writer on magic. From an old woodcut
in the Harry Houdini Collection.
each country in which I played. The average collector
or proprietor of an old bookshop is a canny, suspicious
individual who must accept you as a friend before he
will uncover his choicest treasures.
As authorities, books on magic and kindred arts are
practically worthless. The earliest books, like the magi-
cian stories written by Sir John Mandeville in 1356, read
like prototypes of to-day's dime novels. They are thrill-
[ II ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,18,,"8
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
lence to be obtained by proportionate intelligence and dexterity.
There are attainments in the art, at which, by natural qualifica-
tion and peculiar adaptation, special study, practice, and expe-
rience enable somo few only to arrive. These qualifications
cannot be easily communicated to every one who might wish to
possess them; and therefore the highest adepts will ever havo
an incommunicable distinction. But this is no moro than is
the case in the medical, the legal, and any learned profession,
in all which the most eminent proficients reserve to themselves,
or unavoidably retain, an unquestioned superiority. At tho
same time there is much in our art that may be communicated,
and the present papers will show to our friends that we are will-
ing to impart to others such portions of our art as they are ca-
pable of acquiring; and we trust that what wo shall communi-
cate to them will furnish them much rational recreation among
themselves, and enable them to supply innocent and interesting
amusement to their friends and companions."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,18,,"2
LATEST MAGIC
border as depicted in Fig. 1, and about seven inches
in diameter. In the centre of each is an embossed
shield, ostensibly a mere ornament, but in reality
serving, as will presently be seen, an important
practical purpose.
Fig. 1
To the casual observer the two mats look pre-
cisely alike, but there are in reality important
practical differences between them. The ""coin""
mat is covered with leather on both sides, and each
has the embossed shield, so that, whichever side is
uppermost, no difference is perceptible to the eye.
In the case of the ""card"" mat the upper surface
only is of leather, the under side being covered with
baize. The object of this difference is that the
exposure (accidental or otherwise) of the baize-
covered side of the card mat may induce in the
mind of the spectator the assumption that the
under side of the coin mat is covered in the same
way, such assumption naturally precluding the
idea that it is reversible."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,19,,"INTRODUCTION
ing tales of travellers who witnessedmagical performances,
but they are not authentic records of performers and
their work.
One of the oldest books in my collection is ""Natural
and Unnatural Magic"" by Gantziony, dated 1489. It
is the author's script, exquisite in its German chirography,
artistic in its illuminated illustrations, but worthless as an
historical record, though many of the writer's descriptions
and explanations of old-time tricks are most interesting.
Early in the seventeenth century appeared ""Hocus
Pocus,"" the most widely copied book in the literature of
magic. The second edition, dated 1635, I have in my
library. I have never been able to find a copy of the
first edition or to ascertain the date at which it was
published.
A few years later, in 1658, came a very important con-
tribution to the history of magic in ""Natural Magick in
XX. Bookes,"" by John Baptist Porta, a Neapolitan.
This has been translated into nearly every language.
It was the first really important and exhaustive work on
the subject, but, unfortunately, it gives the explanation
of tricks, rather than an authentic record of their in-
vention.
In 1682, Simon Witgeest of Amsterdam, Holland,
wrote an admirable work, whose title reads ""Book of
Natural Magic."" This work was translated into German,
ran through many an edition, and had an enormous sale
in both Holland and Germany.
In 1715, John White, an Englishman, published a
work entitled ""Art's Treasury and Hocus Pocus; or a
Rich Cabinet of Legerdemain Curiosities."" This is
[iz]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,19,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
9
CHAPTER II.
OF PALMISTRY AND PASSES
nature and limit of the art of Conjuring has now
defined-what it is that we assume to do, and
wherein we have discontinued the exaggerated preten-
sions of the conjurors of the old school and I have hinted in
what respects, and within what bounds, a young amateur may
gim at exhibiting some amusing experiments in our art. But
it remains for me to explain the grand pre-requisite for a novice
to cultivate before he should attempt to exhibit before others
even the simplest tricks of prestidigitation or legerdemain, to
which we at present confine our attention.
I have first to speak of PALMISTRY, not in the sense that the
fortune-teller uses the word, but as expressing the art of the
conjuror in secreting articles in the PALM of one hand while he
appears to transfer those articles to his other hand. It is abso-
lutely necessary that the young amateur should acquire the habit
of doing this so adroitly as to escape the observation of others
while doing it openly before their eyes.
The two principal passes are the following:
FIRST PASS or, method of apparently carrying an
object from the right hand to the left, while actually re-
taining it in the right hand.
The reader will please to observe that the illustrative sketches
depict the hands of the performer as seen by himself.
FIRST POSITION OF PASS 1.
The right hand, having the knucles and back of the fingers
turned toward the spectators, and holding openly a cent, or
some similar object, between the thumb and fore-finger, must
be moved toward the left hand.
The left hand must be held out, with the back of the hand
toward the ground, as exhibited in the illustration. (Fig. 1.)"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,19,,"MAGICAL MATS
3
Each mat has a secret space, after the manner of
the old ""multiplying"" salver, between its upper
and under surfaces. The opening in each case is
opposite the lower end or point of the shield before
mentioned, so that, however the mat may be placed,
a glance at the shield will always furnish a guide
to the position, for the time being, of the opening.
Fig. 2
In the case of the card mat the secret space (see
Fig. 2) is just large enough to accommodate three
playing cards, one upon another. The corre-
sponding space in the coin mat (Fig. 3) is shorter,
narrower and deeper, being designed to receive,"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,20,,"INTRODUCTION
Het Natuurlijk
TOVER-BOECK
of
SPEEL =TONEEL
der
KONSTEN
Frontispiece from Simon Witgeest's ""Book of Natural Magic"" (1682),
showing the early Dutch conception of conjuring. From the Harry Houdini
Collection.
[*3]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,20,,"10
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
FIG. 1.
Ellie
First Position of Pass 1.
SECOND POSITION OF PASS 1.
The left hand must appear to close over the object that is
brought toward it, at the same instant that the right hand se-
cretes and withdraws that object.
The left hand that appeared to receive it must continue
closed. The right hand, though it actually retains the object,
must be allowed to hang loosely over it, so that it appears to
have nothing in it.
FIG. 2.
Second Position of Pass 1.
The performer then may blow upon the closed left hand, and
may say, ""Fly,"" or ""Begone,"" or any similar expression, and
then open his left hand, holding it forward. Of course there is
nothing in it, and the object seems to have flown from it, and
the spectators are much surprised.
SECOND PASS.-Method of apparently transferring
an object from the left hand to the right, while retaining
it in the left hand.
FIRST POSITION.
Let the left hand hold up the object in its open palm. The"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,20,,"4
LATEST MAGIC
one upon the other, a couple of half-crowns, or
coins of similar size.¹
When required for use, the coin mat is prepared,
shortly beforehand, by rubbing the whole of the
space within the ornamental border on one of its
faces with diachylon, in the solid form. The
FIG. 3
diachylon is used cold, the necessary rriction melt-
ing it sufficiently, without any additional heating.
This treatment renders the surface of the mat, for
the time being, adhesive, without in any way alter-
ing its appearance. To make sure of its being just
right, press a half-crown or penny down firmly
1 Where coins of English denominations are referred to in the text,
the American wizard will naturally replace them by corresponding coins
of the U. S. currency."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,21,,"INTRODUCTION
fully as reliable a book as the earlier ""Hocus Pocus""
books, but it is not so generally known.
Richard Neve, who was a popular English conjurer
just before the time of Fawkes, published a book on
somewhat similar lines in I715.
Germany contributed the next notable works on magic.
First came Johann Samuel Halle's ""Magic or the Magical
Power of Nature,"" printed in Berlin, in 1784. One of
his compatriots, Johann Christian Wiegleb, wrote eighteen
books on ""The Natural Magic"" and while I shall
always contend that the German books are the most
complete, yet they cannot be accepted as authorities save
that, in describing early tricks, they prove the existence
of inventions and working methods claimed later as
original by men like Robert-Houdin.
English books on magic were not accepted seriously
until the early part of the ninetcenth century. In Vol.
III. of John Beckmann's ""History of Inventions and
and Discoveries,"" published in 1797, will be found a
chapter on ""Jugglers"" which presents interesting matter
regarding magicians and mysterious entertainers.
I
quote from this book in disproving Robert-Houdin's
claims to the invention of automata and second-sight.
About 1840, J. H. Anderson, a popular magician,
brought out a series of inexpensive, paper-bound vol-
umes, entitled ""A Shilling's Worth of Magic,"" ""Parlor
Magic,"" etc., which are valuable only as giving a glimpse
of the tricks contemporary with his personal successes.
In 1859 came Robert-Houdin's ""Memoirs,"" magic's
classic. Signor Blitz, in 1872, published his reminis-
cences, ""Fifty Years in the Magic Circle,"" but here
[14 ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,21,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
11
right hand is brought toward the left hand, but only appears to
grasp it.
Fig. 3.
First Position of Pass 2.1
SECOND POSITION.
The left hand secretes the object in its palm, while the fingers
are allowed to fall loosely down, appearing to retain nothing
under them. At the very same moment the right hand must be
closed, and remain in shape as if containing the object, with the
second joints of the fingers pointed toward the spectators, and
the back of the hand toward the ground. The performer then
holding his right hand forward, may blow on it and say ""Change
FIG. 4.
Second Position of Pass 2.
-fly,"" and opening that hand, the spectator deems the object
has passed away from it, though in fact it has remained all along
in the left hand.
The illusion in either of these passes is, that the spectator
seeing both hands move as if the object were passing from one
to the other, thinks it has done so ; whereas, in fact, the object"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,21,,"THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS
5
upon it, turn the mat over, and wave it about
freely. If the coin adheres securely, the mat is
in working order.
THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS
These are, strictly speaking, only flower-pot
cases, called in French cache-pots. They may be
of leather or cardboard, ornamented on the out-
side, but plain black inside, their general appear-
Fig. 4
ance being as shown in Fig. 4. They have neither
top nor bottom, and when not in use, can be opened
out flat or rolled up as in Figs. 5 and 6, for greater
portability.
The pair, when needed for use, are exhibited in"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,22,,"INTRODUCTION
C
JOHN WHITE, Autbor of
ART's Treafury, and Hocus
Pocus ; or a Rich Cabinet of
Legerdemain Curiofities.
John White, an English writer on magic and kindred arts in the early part
of the eighteenth century. Only portrait in existence and published for the
first time since his book was issued in 1715. From the Harry Houdini Col-
lection.
[
15"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,22,,"12
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
always remains in the hand where it was first visible to the spec-
tators. The BACK of that hand where the object is first displayed
must afterwards be kept well toward the spectators.
Observe, the eye of the performer must rest always on the
hand or object at which he desires the spectators to look, and
whatever he wishes them not to notice, he himself must refrain
from looking at.
If it is not required that the very object that has been held up
in these passes be seen again by the spectators, the performer
must quietly pocket it, or drop it on a handkerchief on his ta-
ble, or inside a hat, or otherwise get rid of it as soon as he con-
veniently can.
On the contrary, if that very object must be again produced
or transferred to a person standing at some little distance, this
must be effected by one of the following methods :
Either you must take care beforehand to place adroitly in that
person's cap or pocket a double or similar object.
OR, you must walk up to him, and putting your hand on his
hair, sleeve, or pocket, quickly place there the object you have
all
along retained, and which you must pretend by this ma-
noeuvre to find in his possession.
Or, lastly, you will see in the first trick subjoined, a method
of substituting one object for another.
FIRST TRICK.-To command a dime to pass into the
centre of a ball of Berlin wool, EO that it will not be dis-
covered till the ball is unwound to the very last of its
threads.
REQUISITE PREPARATIONS, TO DE MADE PRIVATELY.
You will require a glass bowl or quart basin, and you must
have a flattened tube of tin about four inches long. It must be
just large enough to let a dime slide easily through it by its own
weight. Round the end on this tubo wind a ball of Berlin wool
of bright color, covering about two inches of the tube, and pro-
jecting about an inch bevond the end of it. Place this ball with
the tube in it in your right-hand pocket of coat tail, (or in the
left breast-pocket, if that is largo enough to hold it completely
left hand.
covered.) Lastly, place a dime concealed in the palm of your
Commence the exhibition of the trick by requesting one of the
spectators to mark a dime (or cent) of his own, so that he will
be sure to know it again. Then ask him to lend you that coin."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,22,,"6
LATEST MAGIC
the first instance as one only, the one within the
other. The professedly single pot, after being
proved empty by exhibiting the interior and pass-
0
0
FIG. 5
FIG. 6
ing the hand through it, is made into two, by sim-
ply drawing out the inner one. The duplication
is not presented as a trick, the modus operandi"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,23,,"INTRODUCTION
again we have a purely local and personal history, without
general value.
Thomas Frost wrote three books relating to the history
of magic, commencing about 1870. This list included
'Circus Life and Circus Celebrities,' ""The Old Show-
men and the Old London Fairs,"" and ""Lives of the
Conjurers."" These were the best books of their kind up
to the time of their publication, but they are marked by
glaring errors, showing that Frost compiled rather than
investigated, or, more properly speaking, that his in-
vestigations never went much further than Morley's
""Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair.""
Charles Bertram who wrote ""Isn't it Wonderful?""
closed the nincteenth-century list of English writers on
magic, but his work is marred by mis-statements which
even the humblest of magicians could refute, and, like
Frost, he drew heavily on writers who preceded him.
So far, in the twentieth century, the most notable con-
tribution to the literature of magic is Henry Ridgely
Evans' ""The Old and the New Magic,"" but Mr. Evans
falls into the error of his predecessors in accepting as
authoritative the history of magic and magicians fur-
nished by Robert-Houdin. He has made no effort
whatever to verify or refute the statements made by
Robert-Houdin, but has merely compiled and re-written
them to suit his twentieth-century readers.
The true historian does not compile. He delves for
facts and proofs, and having found these he arrays his
indisputable facts, his uncontrovertible proofs, to refute
the statements of those who have merely compiled. That
is what I have done to prove my case against Robert-
[r6 ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,23,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
13
Holding it up in your right hand, you may say, 'Now. ladies
and gentlemen, this is the marked dime which I shall experi-
ment with. The gentleman has accurately marked it, so that
there can be no mistako about its identity when reproduced.""
Then by Pass 1 pretend to transfer the marked coin to your left
hand, but in reality retain it in your right hand. Next, hand
with your left hand your own dimo (which had been secreted in
'hat hand) to some person. and request him to hold it. Chooso
for this person some one three or four yards distant from your-
self, and also from the person who originally marked the coin.
It is unnecessary to explain that you do so, lest the two should
compare notes. Of course, the person who is asked to hold it
will believe that it is the very dime that was borrowed.
Yon may proceed to say : ""Now we waut a ball of worsted.'
So, placing your right hand in your pocket, pretend to fecl
about for something in your pocket, and while doing so you
must place the dime in the top of the tin tube, and shako it
down. Then carefully draw the tube ont of the ball of worsted;
and leavo the tube in your pocket, bnt draw tho ball out of your
pocket, pressing it together whilo doing so.
Then request some one to fecl the ball in order to ascertain
that it has no opening towards its centre.
Yon mayhero mako some humorons remark about your having
such a ball in your pocket. As for instance: :
"": Ladies may think it od:l that I havo such a ball of Berlin
wool in my pocket. It was bought to please my consin Mary
Ann, or my Aunt Tabitha. Well, it will do very fairly for our
experiment.
Then request somo ono to hold tho glass basin containing the
woollen ball. Whilo you retain in your hand the end of tho
woollen thread, address the gentleman who has consented to
hold the dime, asking him to hand it to you. Tako it in your
right hand, pretend by Pass 1 to transfer it to your left hand,
but in reality keep it concealed in your right hand.
Holding up your closed left hand, (which in fact has nothing
in it.) yon may say :
""Now, dime, pass along this woollen thread into the very
centro of the woollen ball which is there held in tho glass bowl
or basin.""
Blow upon your left hand, and show that the dime is gone.
You must adroitly get rid of the dime, which has remained
secreted in your right hand, by placing it in your pocket or
sleeve while making somo humorous remark, or whilo asking
somo lady or gentleman to draw tho woollen thread till it is all
unwound. It will bo dono tho quicker by letting the ball bo
confined loosely in the bowl with two fingers preventing its
leaping out."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,23,,"THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS
7
being self-evident, but it has a pretty effect, and
the exhibiting of the two pots as one in the first
instance admits of the presence, within the outer
one, of a secret pocket, open at top, as depicted in
Fig. 7, but folding down, when not in use, flat
against its side.¹
0
o
0
0,
FIG. 7
The main object of this pocket is to enable the
performer to ""vanish"" a card. The card to be
got rid of is dropped ostensibly into the flower-
pot, or rather, the pot being bottomless, through
it on to the table, where, when the pot is lifted,
the spectators naturally expect to see it. It has
however disappeared, having in fact been dropped
into the pocket, where it remains concealed. Two,
or even three cards may on occasion be dealt with
in the same way. By covering the pocket with the
1 It is extremely difficult to construct the ""pots"" so that the pocket is
workable on the concave inner surface, but if they are made four, five or
six-sided the pocket folds against a flat surface and works perfectly.-ED,"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,24,,"INTRODUCTION
Frontispiece from Richard Neve's work on magic, showing him performing
the egg and bag trick about 1715. Photographed from the original in the
British Museum by the author.
2
[ (17 ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,24,,"14
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
Draw attention to how completely the coin is wrapped up till
you arrive at the very last circles, when it will drop into the
bowl.
Hand the dime to the owner who marked it, and let him de-
clare whether he recognizes it as the very one he lent you.
His affirmativo will surprise the spectators.
SECOND TRICK.-To change a bowl of ink into clear
water, with gold fish in it.
REQUISITE PREPARATION, TO BE MADE PRIVATELY BEFOREHAND.
The same glass bowl as in previous trick. If your bowl has
not a foot to it, it must be placed on something that will hold it
high above your table. Some small fish, a white plate or sau-
cer, a piece of black silk just fitting the inside of your bowl, a
spoon of peculiar construction, so that in a hollow handle it will
retain about a teaspoonful of ink, which will not run out as long
as a hole near the top of the handle is kept covered or stopped.
A large tumbler and two or three minnows will do for a simpler
exhibition, but will, of course, not be so pleasing to the eye.
Place the black silk so as to cover the part of the bowl that is
shaded; when damp it will adhere to the glass. Pour in clear
water to fill the space covered by the black silk, and placo the
fish in the water.
Fig. 5.
Commence the trick in public thus: Holding the spoon-han-
dle slanting up and uncovering the hole in the handle, the ink
which you have placed in the handle will run into the bowl of
the spoon, and the spoon being held carefully to the surface of
the water, concealing the black silk, will give the spectators the
impression that you fill the spoon from the glass bowl.
Pour the spoonful of ink on a white saucer, and show it round
to convince the spectators it is ink. They will see it is undeni-
ably ink, and they will conclude, if the spoon were properly"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,24,,"8
LATEST MAGIC
fingers in the act of picking up the pot, the interior
of the latter may be freely shown after their disap-
pearance.
The pocket, previously loaded accordingly
(though the flower-pot is shown, to all appearance,
empty), may also be used for the production of a
card or cards.
PATTER APPROPRIATE TO THE FAIRY
FLOWER-POTS
The flower-pots may be introduced as follows:
""Permit me to call your attention to one of my
latest improvements. Conjurers have a foolish
fancy, as I dare say you have noticed, for borrow-
ing other people's hats. If a conjurer wants to
collect money from the air, he collects it in a hat.
If he wants to make an omelette, he cooks it in a
hat. If he wants to hatch a few chickens, he does
it in a hat. And, for fear of accidents, he never
uses his own hat, but always borrows somebody
else's. It's very wrong of us. As Sir William
Gilbert says, about some other forms of crime,
'It's human nature, P'raps. If so,
O! isn't human nature low.'
But we all do it. The worst of it is, we get so in
the way of borrowing hats that we do it without
thinking. You will hardly believe that one even-
ing I came away from the theatre with two hats."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,25,,"INTRODUCTION
Houdin. I have not borrowed from the books of other
writers on magic. I have gone to the very fountain head
of information, records of contemporary literature, news-
papers, programmes and advertisements of magicians who
Signor Antonio Blitz, author of ""Fifty Years in the Magic Circle"" (1872).
Original negative of this photograpli is in the Harry Houdini Collection.
preceded Robert-Houdin, sometimes by a century. It
would cost fully a million dollars to forge the collection
of evidence now in my hands. Men who lived a hundred
years before Robert-Houdin was born did not invent
[ 18]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,25,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
15
inted out of the bowl, that the glass bowl contains nothing but
ink.
Borrowing a silk handkerchief, place it for a few seconds over
the bowl, and feigning to be inviting fish to come to the bowl.
exclaim Change! Then, placing your hand on the edge of
the bowl near yourself, draw off the handkerchief, and with it
take care to catch hold also of the black silk. The bowl when
uncovered will exhibit the fish swimming about in clear water.
While the spectators are surprised at the fish, return the hand-
kerchief, having first dropped out of it the black silk on your
side of the table. Decline giving any explanation, as people
will not thank you for dispelling the illusion.
THIRD TRICK,-The Dancing Egg.
REQUISITE PREPARATION TO BE MADE IN PRIVATE.
An egg-shell that has been blown (my young friends will know
that the way to blow an egg is to make a small hole at each end
of the egg. Then, by blowing at one end, the yolk will be
driven out, and the egg-shell be left empty.)
Make a hole also on the side of the egg, in which insert a
chip of wood, or a small pin, held by a fine black silk thread,
about twelve or fourteen inches long, which must have a loop at
the far end, which loop fasten to a button on the coat or waist-
coat and have on a dark vest, otherwise the dark thread be-
coming visible, will reveal the moving power.
FIG. 6.
a
Commence by borrowing two black hats. If there is an in-
strument in the room, ask some one to play a lively tune, as
"" eggs are fond ofglively music to dance to."" Then, with the
brim of a hat in each hand, interpose the round of each hat
successively under the thread that holds the egg, moving them
from your breast toward the egg. The egg will appear to move
of itself over the hats, as you place them under it."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,25,,"THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS
9
One of them was my own. The other I had bor-
rowed-from under the seat. You don't believe
it? Well, I said you wouldn't. I always know!
""But that is not all. It isn't only the bad effect
on the conjurer's own morals, and sometimes on
the hat. People are SO careless. They do leave
such funny things in their hats. Cannon balls and
birdcages; babies' socks and babies' bottles; rab-
bits and pigeons, and bowls of fish, and a host of
other things. And just when you are going to pro-
duce some brilliant effect, you are pulled up short
by finding some silly thing of that sort in the hat.
It's most annoying.
""So, after thinking it over, I made up my mind
to do away with hats altogether. Of course I
don't mean for putting on people's heads, but so
far as conjuring is concerned, and it struck me
that a pretty flower-pot, like this, would form a
capital substitute."" (Show as one, the combined
pots, inside and out.) ""Much nicer than a hat,
don't you think? It is prettier, to begin with, and
then again, you can see right through it, and make
sure there is no deception. You see that at pres-
ent the pot is perfectly empty.
""But no! I scorn to deceive you. I am like
George Washington, except that I haven't got a
little axe. I cannot tell a lie. At least it hurts
me very much to do so, and I don't feel well enough
to do it now. No! It is useless any longer to dis-
guise it! The pot is not really empty, for you see"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,26,,"INTRODUCTION
posters or write advertisements in order to refute the
claims of those who were to follow in the profession of
magic. These programmes, advertisements, newspaper
notices, and crude cuts trace the true history of magic as
Philip Astley, Esq.
Ruc. by Alex. Bogg. & c. Aug 1.1806.
Philip Astley, Esq., an historical circus director, a famous character of
Bartholomew Fair days, and author of ""Natural Magic"" (1784). From the
Harry Houdini Collection.
no romancer, no historian of a single generation possibly
could. They are the ghosts of dead and gone magicians,
rising in this century of research and progress to claim
the credit due them.
[r9]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,26,,"16
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
You must not allow people to handle the egg on the thread af-
terwards, for when they see the simplicity of the process they
will undervalue the trick, whereas it appears marvellous as long
as they do not understand how the extraordinary movements
are produced. And in these illusions, as Hudibras expresses it,
Doubtless, the pleasure is as great
In being cheated as to cheat.
-
FOURTH TRICK-The Walking Cent.
PRELIMINARY PREPARATION IN PRIVATE.
Ask for a long dark hair from some lady's tresses. Have a
pin in shape of a hook, or a small loop affixed to the end of this
hair, and fasten a little piece of beeswax (less than a pea) at the
other end of the hair. Fasten the hair by the loop to a button
on your vest, taking care to wear a dark-colored vest. The
hair may be allowed to hang from your vest, with the bees-
wax visible. Have a glass of water or cup on the table.
Commence the exhibition of the trick by borrowing a cent.
While pretending to examine the cent to see if it is a good one,
press the waxed end of the hair firmly to the under side cf tho
cent, and place it about a foot from the edge of n table. Then
bid the cent to move toward you, to the right or to the left, and
by gently moving your body in whatever direction you name,
the hair will draw the cent in the same direction. You may
say, while your left hand is near the table, ""Now, cent, movo
up my arm. Advancing your a.m gently, the cent will appear
to move up to your elbow. It is your arm that moves, but it
will appear to the spectators as if the cent moved or you may
help it up the outside of the sleeve by interposing your right
hand under the hair, so as to draw up the cent, while appearing
to beckon it.
""Now, cent, as you have performed so well, you shall have a
bath."" Placing the tumbler near the edge of the table, draw
the cent into it. After exhibiting it in the water, say, "": Oh,
cent, you must not stay so long in the water."" Then jerk it out
upon the table. Detach the waxed end of the hair by your
nail, after which return the cent to the person who loaned it
to you.
When performing this trick, in order to keep the spectators at
a little distance, you must inform them that the cent is very
susceptible to magnetic influences, and request ladies not to ap-
proach too near it, as the loadstones of their eyes are the causo
of the magnetic attraction."""
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,26,,"10
LATEST MAGIC
here is another inside it.'' (Produce second pot.)
""You wouldn't have thought it, would you ? In
fact, you would never have known, if I hadn't told
you.
""Of course I could keep on doing this all the
evening, but there wouldn't be much fun in it, and
no time would be left for anything else, SO I will
proceed at once to make use of the pots for a little
experiment with cards.""
(Proceed with any trick for which the card mat
may have been prepared.)
N. B. It will be taken for granted, in the
description of tricks dependent upon the use of the
flower-pots, that these have been already intro-
duced, after the above or some similar manner.
ADHESIVE CARDS AND TRICKS THEREWITH
I believe I may safely claim that the device I
am about to describe was, until I disclosed it some
months ago in the Magazine of Magic, an absolute
novelty. It consists in the preparation of one card
of a pack (or, better still, of a spare card, to be
substituted at need for its double), by rubbing one
or other of its surfaces, shortly before it is needed
for use, with diachylon, in the solid form.
We will suppose, in the first instance, that the
back of the card is so dealt with. The rubbing
does not alter its appearance, but gives it a thin
coating of adhesive matter, and if another card is"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,27,,"INTRODUCTION
Often when the bookshops and auction sales did not
yield fruit worth plucking, I had the good fortune to
meet a private collector or a retired performer whose
assistance proved invaluable, and the histories of
Charles Bertram (James Bassett), the English author and conjurer, who
wrote ""Isn't it Wonderful ?"" Born 1853, died Feb. 28th, 1907. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.
these meetings read almost like romances, so skilfully
did the Fates seem to juggle with my efforts to secure
credible proof.
To the late Henry Evans Evanion I am indebted for
[20]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,27,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
17
My young friends must remember that it is absolutely neces-
sary to keep up in spectators their belief in the niysterious, and
therefore must decline on the spot to give explanations before or
after the performance of this trick, however they may be dis-
posed to reveal the secret privately to any friend. A singular
instance is recorded of a person who was grievously disappointed
when by importunity he had received an explanation of this very
trick, which had appeared at first to him a most marvellous phe-
nomenon; and he was quite annoyed when the gilt was stripped
off his ginger-bread. It is said that a gentleman walked into a
FIG. 7.
00
coffee-room at Manchester, England, and was exhibiting to a
friend the above trick. A traveler at a table near them had his
attention drawn by their laughing discourse, while one of them
exhibited the trick to the other. The cold barrier of English
reserve was broken down, and he addressed one of the strangers,
requesting to be informed how the trick was done. For his part
he imagined it must be connected with some perfectly new phil-
osophical law of attraction involved in the experiment. "" Will
yon be kind enough to tell me I shall be happy to offer n fee
to learn it. I was about to proceed by the next train, but I will
gladly defer my journey to understand this, which appears so
unaccountable."""
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,27,,"ADHESIVE CARDS
11
pressed against the surface SO treated, the two
adhere, and for the time become, in effect, one card
only, viz., the one whose face is exposed, the other
having temporarily disappeared from the pack.
This renders possible many striking effects. To
take an elementary example, let us suppose that
the old-fashioned flat card-box, or some other
appliance for magically producing a card, is
loaded with, say, a seven of diamonds. The cor-
responding card is forced on one of the company,
and taken back into the middle of the pack, on
the top of the prepared card. The performer does
not disturb or tamper with the pack in the smallest
degree. He merely squares up the cards, and,
pressing them well together, hands them to be
shuffled, meanwhile calling attention to the card-
box, which is shown apparently empty. He then
asks the name of the drawn card, announcing that
it will at his command leave the pack and find its
way into the box.
He now counts off the cards, showing the face
of each as he does so, and leaving it exposed upon
the table. The seven of diamonds has disap-
peared, being in fact hidden behind the prepared
card, which we will suppose to be in this instance
the queen of clubs.
Leaving the cards outspread upon the table, the
performer opens the card-box, and shows that the
missing card has somehow found its way into it.
In the hands of a novice, the trick might end at"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,28,,"INTRODUCTION
many of the most important additions to my collection
of conjuring curios and my library of magic, recog-
nized by fellow-artistes and litterateurs as the most
complete in the world.
Evanion was an Englishman, by profession a parlor
magician, by choice and habit a collector and savant.
He was an entertainer from 1849 to the year of his death.
For fifty years he spent every spare hour at the British
Museum collecting data bearing on his marvellous col-
lection, and his interest in the history of magic was shared
by his excellent wife who conducted a ""sweet shop""
near one of London's public schools.
While playing at the London Hippodrome in 1904 I
was confined to my room by orders of my physician.
During this illness I was interviewed by a reporter who,
noticing the clippings and bills with which my room was
strewn, made some reference to my collection in the
course of his article. The very day on which this inter-
view appeared, I received from Henry Evanion a merc
scrawl stating that he, too, collected programmes, bills,
etc., in which I might be interested.
I wrote at once asking him to call at one o'clock the
next afternoon, but as the hour passed and he did not
appear, I decided that, like many others who asked for
interviews, he had felt but a passing whim. That after-
noon about four o'clock my physician suggested that, as
the day was mild, I walk once around the block. As
I
stepped from the lift, the hotel porter informed me that
since one o'clock an old man had been waiting to see
me, but so shabby was his appearance, they had not dared
send him up to my room. He pointed to a bent figure,
[ 2I ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,28,,"18
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
The gentleman declined for a considerable time ; but at
length, being overcome by the importunity, in order to get rid
of the matter, assented. The time of the departure of the train
had arrived and passed by, and the aspirant offered two guineas
to learn the trick. The gentleman acceded to bis request on
condition that he should faithfully promise not to reveal it to
others, or to make public the mystery. ""Agreed,"" says tho
'traveler. The mail train was gone-the money paid-tho trick
exhibited and explained to him. ""Oh!"" cried the traveler,
"" how easy and plain it is. What a simpleton I have been to
lose my journey and spend my money only to learn how you-.""
""
Stop!"" cried the gentleman, ""remember you have promised
not to divulge the secret."" "" Yes, but how foolish to care for
an experiment which only depends on-. Stop, sir, stop.
Are you going to tell all the room ?"" and thus a good half-hour's
amusement was caused by the traveler fretting over his simpli-
city, and having relinquished an important journey for that
which, though marvellous while a secret, became so simple and
uninteresting to him after an explanation."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,28,,"12
LATEST MAGIC
this point; but even a novice may very well carry
it a stage further. To do so, he will in the first
place replace the card in the box, in such a manner
that it can be again ""vanished."" In gathering
together the outspread cards, he takes care to place
the queen of clubs on top of the rest. As this,
however, is the double card, the actual top card is
of course the missing seven of diamonds. It is
an easy matter, in handling the cards, to detach
this from the queen of clubs, and, after a little
""talkee-talkee,"" show that it has left the box and
returned to the pack.
The above would, however, be much too crude
and elementary a proceeding to commend itself to
the expert. In the trick next to be described the
same expedient is employed after a more subtle
fashion.
THE MISSING CARD
The requirements for this trick consist of two
complete packs of cards and an extra card, which
we will suppose to be the knave of diamonds. One
of the two packs, which we will call A, has on top
a card made adhesive at the back as above
described, and its own knave of diamonds at the
bottom. The other pack, B, is wholly unprepared.
The first step is to offer pack B to be shuffled,
and when it is returned to palm on to it the spare
knave of diamonds, after which the pack is left"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,29,,"H Eranion
Last photograph of Henry Evans Evanion, conjurer and collector, taken
especially for this book in which he was deeply interested. Died June 17th.
1905. From the Harry Houdini Collection.
[ 22]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,29,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
19
-
CHAPTER III.
TRICKS WITH AND WITHOUT COLLUSION.
I'
resuming my hints to amateurs, I shall now offer some re-
marks upon two subjects.
Frrst.--] will notico the class of tricks th at are performed by
the collusion of a confederate. Old books on conjuring record
several of this description, and some conjurors still practise
them. But I do not advise the inexperienced frequently to ex-
hibit tricks of this sort, for the co-operation of assistants used
in them is liable to be traced by spectators, or to be divulged by
the person who has been employed to aid in the exhibition of
them. They may, indeed, be very well as a make-shift until
dexterity of hand is acquired; but they will always rank as an
inferior branch of the science of conjuring, and if the collusion
is discovered, it will throw discredit even upon those tricks
which the same performer may exhibit without such collusive
arrangement. An instance of the annoying failure of such de-
pendence upon confederates is recorded in ""Houdin's Memoirs.""
It is thero related that Torrini, at the commencement of his ca-
reer, was insidiously induced by an envious rival (Pinetti) to
undertako a public exhibition of his art before a very grand as-
sembly. Torrini was at the time diffident of his own attain-
ments, but he was persuaded to make the attempt by the assur-
ance of Pinetti that he would take care that several confeder-
ates should be present, and should help in carrying out sundry
illusions which he would have to display. One of these was,
that the conjuror, after borrowing a ring, was to restoro it magi-"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,29,,"THE MISSING CARD
13
temporarily for the time being in view on the table.
The next step is to pick up pack A, and force from
it the knave of diamonds, receiving it back on top of
the prepared card, passed to the middle of the pack
for its reception. Squaring up the pack and
applying the necessary pressure, the performer
offers it to be shuffled, meanwhile delivering him-
self to something like the following effect.
""Before going further, ladies and gentlemen,
I want you to remember exactly what has been
done. A card has been chosen from this pack. It
has been put back again, the cards have been
shuffled, and you can all bear witness that I have
not touched them since. Nobody knows, except
the lady who chose it, what card she chose.
Whereabouts in the pack it may be at this moment
not one of us knows, even the lady herself. I can
assure you truthfully that I don't, but I propose,
by force of magic, to compel that card, whatever it
may be, to leave that pack altogether, and pass into
the other one. Nay, more than that, I shall com-
pel it to place itself at any number in that pack
you like to name. What shall we say ? Seventh:
Good.
""Now please bear in mind that that pack, like
the other, has just been shuffled, and that I have
not touched it since. It is therefore manifestly
impossible that I should know the position of any
card in it. Of course, as there is already a knave
of diamonds in the pack, it is just possible, though"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,30,,"INTRODUCTION
clad in rusty raiment. When I approached the old man
he rose and informed me that he had brought some
clippings, bills, etc., for me to see. I asked him to be
as expeditious as possible, for I was too weak to stand
long and my head was a-whirl from the effects of
la grippe.
With some hesitancy of speech but the loving touch of
a collector he opened his parcel.
""I have brought you, sir, only a few of my treasures,
sir, but if you will call-
""
I heard no more. I remember only raising my hands
before my eyes, as if I had been dazzled by a sudden
shower of diamonds. In his trembling hands lay price-
less treasures for which I had sought in vain-original
programmes and bills of Robert-Houdin, Phillippe, Ander-
son, Breslaw, Pinetti, Katterfelto, Boaz, in fact all the
conjuring celebrities of the eighteenth century, together
with lithographs long considered unobtainable, and news-
papers to be found only in the files of national libraries.
I felt as if the King of England stood before me and I
must do him homage.
Physician or no physician, I made an engagement
with him for the next morning, when I was bundled into
a cab and went as fast as the driver could urge his horse
to Evanion's home, a musty room in the basement of
No. I2 Methley Street, Kennington Park Road, S.E.
In the presence of his collection I lost all track of
time. Occasionally we paused in our work to drink tea
which he made for us on his pathetically small stove.
The drops of the first tea which we drank together can
yet be found on certain papers in my collection. . His
]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,30,,"20
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
cally into the possession of its owner. The ring was borrowed,
and some mysterious gesticulations practised; but instead of the
contemplated result being produced, the false confederate pro-
claimed aloud that he had lent a very valuable jewelled ring, and
had only received back a common copper ring. The audience
was of course disappointed at such words so derogatory to the
conjuror This unpleasant feeling was deepened by the malic-
ious meddling of another false confederate. Torrini had to
present some cards to the King of Naples, who was honoring the
assembly by witnessing the exhibition, and a card was selected
by his Majesty. Instead, however, of being pleased with what
he saw on the card, the king manifested intense disapprobation.
The confederate had written on the card words of disrespect and
insult, and Torrini had to retire amid the loud censures of the
enraged spectators. There may. be no danger of so disastrous
results to a young amateur; but dissatisfaction of a milder kind
will probably ensue whenever it is discovered that any trick has
depended upon the secret co-operation of an assistant among
the spectators.
The SECOND topic which I propose at present to discuss is the
employment of mechanism-such mechanical constructions as
boxes with false sides, cabinets with secret drawers, or double
compartments, etc.
It makes a great difference whether such arrangements are
used as subordinate aids, or as constituting the essence and sub-
stance of the illusion. In the former respect it is quite legiti-
mate to take advantage of any well-arranged mechanical aid su-
bordinately. In fact, nearly all tricks must be performed with
some modified aid of artistic contrivance, or with mechanical
implements adroitly used. The conjuror, thereforc, unavoid-
ably requires, and may advantageously employ, mechanical ar-
rangements to give greater effect to his illusions. I only wish
to dissuade the learner from relying solely upon mere mechani-
cal puzzles, or artistic contrivances, for furnishing an interesting
exhibition of the conjuror's art.
The fewer the contrivances which he employs of this sort, and
the more entirely the performance rests upon sleight-of-hand
the more lively will be the surprise of the spectators."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,30,,"14
LATEST MAGIC
scarcely likely, that that card may have been
shuffled into the seventh place. We will see.""
He counts off cards from the top of the pack on
to the table, faces down, not exposing any card till
he comes to the seventh, which he holds up so that
all may see it. ""Now, Madam, is that your card?
I don't want to know the name of it yet. It is not
your card I did not suppose it was, for the
chances were over fifty to one against it, but you
never can tell!""
He gathers up the cards counted off, and without
disturbing their order, replaces them on the top
of the pack, thereby bringing the original top card
to the seventh place.
""Now please observe that I do not touch these
cards again till the miracle has actually happened.
I will now ask you, madam, to be good enough to
name your card. The knave of diamonds, you
say ? That is all right. Had you taken the knave
of clubs, I should have feared for the success of
my experiment, for that knave always gives
trouble, if he can; but the knave of diamonds is a
very gentlemanly card, and I have no doubt that
he will readily oblige. Now, Percy (perhaps you
didn't know his name was Percy), I want you to
leave the pack you are in, and place yourself sev-
enth in the other pack. Go at once, like a good
boy. Start at the top, and go straight down.
One. two, three, four, five, six, seven!
""I should think he has arrived by this time."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,31,,"INTRODUCTION
Very rare and extraordinarily fine lithograph of Robert-Houdin, which he
gave only to his friends. It depicts him among his so-called inventions. His
son, Emile, doing second siglit, is behind him. The writing and drawing
figure is on his left. On his right under the clockwork is a drawing which,
on close examination of the original, shows the suspension trick. From the
Harry Houdini Collection.
[ 24]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,31,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
21
I myself prefer doing without the aid of any confederate und
without mechanical aids ; but I must remember that I am writ-
ing for amateurs and novices in the art, and that, in proportion
as they are unpractised in palmistry, and in what the French
term prestidigitation, (preste digite, signifying ""ready fingers,"")
it will be desirable for them, at first, to have the assistanco
which mechanism will supply towards the exhibition of their
tricks.
Let them, however, keep such aids as subordinate and as se-
cret as possible. For instance, in the preparation for exhibiting
the first trick described on page 12, the small tin tube (which is
requisite for the performance of that trick) must not be seen by
the audience, either BEFORE or AFTER the trick is exhibited, but
must be kept secrêted in the pocket. Again, in Trick No. 4,
the preparation of the hair and beeswax must be made PRI-
VATELY beforehand; and these implements must vanish out of
sight when the trick is over. And the reader must observe that
in both the first and fourth tricks the mechanical aid employed
is the minor and subordinate part of the tricks, and that a suc-
cessful exhibition of either of thcm depends really on the dex-
terity of the passes, and of manipulations by the performer.
It may be admitted, then, that, with regard to the first topic
of our present paper, the young conjuror need not be restrained
from employing the subordinate aid of an assistant, so far as
this may carry him over difficulties which he cannot otherwise
surmount in the present stage of his im perfect skill.
And in regard to the second topic, the employment of me-
chanical contrivances, (though it may be well to begin with
those departments of the art which are easier, because aided by
mechanical apparatus,) it will be desirable for the amateur to
strive to get freo from dependence upon such aids. Mechanical
arrangements cannot be wholly discarded at any time, and the
conjuror will always require a few implements; but the more
he advances in dexterity of hand, quickness of eye, control of
his hand and eye, instantaneous adaptation of his words and
movements to contingencies as they arise, the more able will he
become to elude the observation of the most watchful specta-"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,31,,"THE MISSING CARD
15
Let us make sure first, though, whether he has
really left the other pack.""
Picking up pack A, he counts the cards slowly,
not looking at them himself, but showing the face
of each before laying it on the table. ""Stop me,
please, if you see the knave of diamonds."" He
counts, ""one, two, three, four,' and so on to the
end. ""Fifty-one cards only! Then there is one
card missing, and as you have not seen the knave
of diamonds, and as all the other cards are here, it
is plain that it is he who has left the pack. We
have still to find out whether he has obeyed orders,
and gone over to the other pack. You wished him
to place himself seventh, I think. I won't touch
the cards myself. Will some gentleman come for-
ward, and count them off for me?"" (This is
done.) ""The seventh card is really the knave of
diamonds, is it not ?
""But, you may say, this might be the knave
properly belonging to this pack. Please look
through the pack, sir, and if there has been no
deception you will find the proper knave in some
other part of it. You have found the other knave ?
Then you will admit that that proves clearly that
this first one is the identical card the lady drew.""
1
It would be easy to give other combinations
dependent on the use of the adhesive principle, but
1 A somewhat more elaborate trick of mine on the same principle
(The Elusive Card) will be found described in the Magazine of Magic,
Vol. II, pp. 13, 47."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,32,,"his chief anxiety was for the future of his wife and then
for his own decent burial. When these sad offices had
been provided for, he became more peaceful, and when
I rose to leave him, knowing that we had met probably
for the last time, he drew forth his chiefest treasure, a
superb book of Robert-Houdin's programmes, his one
[25]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,32,,"22
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
tors, and to mislead their imagination, so that they shall fancy
that they see him DO things which he only APPEARS to do, and
shall blindly fail to observe actions and movements carried out
before their very eyes.
And here let me say, that I have, by long experience, come to
the conviction, that the simpler and more common the objects
are on which, and with which. a trick is performed, and the less
anything beyond dexterity of hand is openly used, the greater
will be the astonishment and the amusement of the spectators.
There are, it is true, some very striking and complicated illu-
sions which it is impossible to present without resorting to art-
istic contrivances of mechanical or scientific arrangement. On
these illusions, as being beyond the power of a young amateur,
I need not dwell. Nor need the preceding remarks be consid-
ered as any disparagement of the combinations and extrinsic aid
which are indispensable for developing such startling illusions.
The scope of my present remarks is simply to this effect, that
to depend mainly upon the co-operation of a confederate, or
upon mechanical contrivances, for what can be far better carried
out by mere sleight-of-hand, will not pass for a satisfactory ex-
hibition of conjuring now-a-days; and the amateur will find
that, as he advances in skill and dexterity, he will swim more
freely the less ho trusts to such unsubstantial bladders to uphold
him.
Having thus discussed my two topics I shall now add explana-
tions of a few more tricks, which the learner may practise with
the hope of making progress in the art of conjuring. The only
way to make such progress and gain high attainments in the art,
is to practise diligently over and over again the passes I havo
described in my former paper, and to learn to do a few tricks
neatly, and without hesitation or stumbling. I subjoin, there-
fore, some simple but effective tricks, in which they will do well
to perfect themselves."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,32,,"16
LATEST MAGIC
these may safely be left to the ingenuity of the
reader. If the face, instead of the back, of a given
card be treated with the adhesive, that card will
itself disappear from the pack. By due adjust-
ment two adhering cards may (the one slightly
overlapping the other) be made to form a tem-
porary long or wide card."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,33,,"INTRODUCTION
Corn Exchange, Maidstone,
legacy, which is now the
central jewel in my col-
FOR TWO NIGHTS ONLY.
lection. Evanion died
UNDER DISTINGUASHED PATRONAGE.
THEBAND
ten days later, June 17th,
and within a short time
or THE vertzun LIGET INFANTSY
MILITIA
his good wife followed
wn attend on each Erening by the tund cerminsion of Col. Ser Thos. M. Wilson, Bart.
him into the Great Un-
known.
Even more dramatic
was my meeting with the
widow of Frikell, the
great German conjurer.
I had heard that Frikell
and not Robert-Houdin
SOIREES MYSTERIEUSES 1!
was the first magician
MR. J. SAVREN,
to discard cumbersome,
draped stage apparatus,
Artist in Experimental Philosophy, and
Natural Magic,
Sege . inform the - of thet
of
and to don evening
.
Novel - The te
deme by - - of the The MISTICAL
ILLUSTRATION will
MODERN
clothes, and I was most
anxious to verify this
MAGIC
rumor, as well as to in-
terview him regarding
equally important data
The Illusionary of Natural Science, Egyptian Mystery, the Manipulation of
the Chinese, the greatest Recamotes in the World.
PROGBAMME EXTRAORDINAIRR
bearing on the history of
PARE L
The Obediees Carde and theie Eccestricities
Le Mouchod- de confocum, "" What wit be
The Croutal Torala, its Divination, ne the Oracle
Hundred Yeare?
magic. Having heard
of Fomale Destiny
The Grand Escomotago, the Mireculous Pre-
The VANGAL of VENUS is the Prisco of
sectasion to the
Bacchue
The Bassers of - - Molti-
The Wateh Mascrovre, or the Wooders of Magical
farione Production in of the
that he lived in Kötchen-
Manipsiation
ALLIES
PART IL
A Night is the PALACE of NANKIN, or Novel
The Coffers of the Stores
Represvetation of the Wonder Working
broda, a suburb of Dres-
and Spint like Tou de phymique
Magie of the great Celestial Empire of
The Evenoncent Powers of Bodino
CHINA
Fiora's Tree . Minatore and CONE
a Liquid Metamorphosi and reprodection of the
Le Estraordisaire, les Bonlots des Allies
Coldee Circled in Peratorial
The CHINESE CREATION, the mout Brilliant
den, I wrote to him from
The Mesallic Currency, ita Trassitory Motion and
and Jorsplicable Toare over
Final imperceptible Joursey to the Crystal
Ascient or Modern Magle, parely
Cabset
of Chinese Origle
Cologne, asking for an
edome OPEN AT SEVES TO AT e'creca.
interview. I received
Poster used by James Savren. From
the Harry Houdini Collection.
in reply a curt note:
[ 26  ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,33,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
23
TRICK 5.-To make a quarter and a penny change
places, while held in the hands of two spectators.
PREPARATION.
Have a quarter of your own secreted in your right hand.
Then borrow two handkerchiefs, and a quarter and a penny,
from any one in the audience. Tell the lender to mark or accu-
rately observe them, so that he will know them again. In plac-
ing them on the table, substitute your own quarter for the bor-
rowed one, and conceal the borrowed one in your palm.
MEMORANDUM.
It is better to use things borrowed than coin of your own.
Still, the conjuror should provide himself with articles requisite
to display any trick, or otherwise much delay may occasionally
arise while borrowing them.
Commence the trick by pointing out where the quarter and
the penny are lying on the table. Take up the penny and show
it openly to all. Then take up one of the handkerchiefs, and
while pretending to wrap up the penny in it, substitute in its
place the borrowed quarter which you had concealed in your
palm, and ask one of your friends to feel that it is enfolded in
the handkerchief, and bid him hold the handkerchief enclosing
it above his head. Ask him if he has got the penny there safely.
He will reply that he has.
Then take up your own quarter which was laid upon the ta-
ble ; pretend to wrap it up in the second handkerchief, but
adroitly substitute the penny, (which you concealed in your
palm while wrapping up the first handkerchief.) Ask some
friend to hold it up above his head, indulging in some facetious
remark. Slip your own quarter into your pocket. Clap your
hands or wave your wand, saying, ""Change."" Tell your friends
to unfold their handkerchiefs. They will be astonished to find
that the quarter and penny have changed places.
TRICK 6.-Another trick with the dime, handkerchief,
and an orange or lemon
PREPARATION.
Have an orange or lemon ready, with a slit made in its side
sufficiently large to admit the dime easily ; and have in your
pocket a good-sized silk handkerchief with a dime stitched inio
one of its corners."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,33,,"NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF THE
""BLACK ART"" PRINCIPLE
BLACK ART MATS AND BLACK ART PATCHES
The Black Art Table has long since established
itself in the affections of the conjurer as one of his
most effective aids. At a stage performance the
presence of one or more such adjuncts is almost a
matter of course, but the drawing room performer
finds many occasions when, for one reason or
another, the use of such an aid is precluded.
Some wizards, as a matter of personal convenience,
decline to burden themselves with more artistic
luggage than can be bestowed in an ordinary hand-
bag. Others, again, hold (and not without rea-
son) that the use of a special table, imported by
the performer himself, tends to discount the marvel
of his show; as being suggestive of that ""prepara-
tion"" which every artistic conjurer is anxious to
disclaim. It is no doubt an easy matter to arrange
a good enough programme for which the aid of
""black art"" is not needed, but this means the
exclusion not merely of a valuable auxiliary, but
of many of the most striking magical effects.
I have pleasure in introducing to the reader a
substitute which, though its capabilities fall a good
17"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,34,,"INTRODUCTION
""Herr verreist,"" meaning ""The master is on tour.""
This, I knew, from his age, could not be true, SO
I took a week off for personal investigation. I ar-
rived at Kötchenbroda on the morning of April 8th,
1903, at 4 o'clock, and was directed to his home, known
as ""Villa Frikell."" Having found my bearings and
studied well the exterior of the house, I returned to the
depot to await daylight. At 8:30 I reappeared at his
door, and was told by his wife that Herr Frikell had
gone away.
I then sought the police department from which I
secured the following information: ""Dr."" Wiljalba Frikell
was indeed the retired magician whom I was so anxious
to meet. He was eighty-seven years old, and in 1884 had
celebrated his golden anniversary as a conjurer. Living in
the same town was an adopted daughter, but she could not
or would not assist me. The venerable magician had suf-
fered from domestic disappointments and had made a VOW
that he would see no one. In fact he was leading a
hermit-like life.
Armed with this information, I employed a photog-
rapher, giving him instructions to post himself opposite
the house and make a snap shot of the magician, should
he appear in the doorway. But I had counted without
my host. All morning the photographer lounged across
the street and all morning I stood bareheaded before
the door of Herr Frikell, pleading with his wife who leaned
from the window overhead. With that peculiar fervency
which comes only when the heart's desire is at stake, I
begged that the past master of magic would lend a help-
ing hand to one ready to sit at his feet and learn. I urged
[27]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,34,,"24
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
Borrow a marked dime. Take out your handkerchief, and
while pretending to wrap this dime in the handkerchief, conceal
it in your palm, and take care that the one previously sewn into
the corner of the handkerchief can be felt easily through tho
handkerchief. Giving it to one of your friends, tell him to feel
that it has the dime in it, and to hold it up over his head firmly.
While giving these directions to your friend, the dime that is in
your palm must be transferred to your pocket, and introduced
into the slit of the orange. Then bring the orange out of your
pocket, and place it on a table you will keep the slit on the side
away from the audience.
Then make a few mesmeric passes over the hand of the per-
son that holds the handkerchief, saying, ""I will now destroy
the sense of feeling in your hands. Tell me, can you feel tho
dime ?"" He will say, .6 Yes."" You can reply, ""Oh, you must
be wrong, sir. See! I will shake out the handkerchief."" Tak-
ing hold of one corner of it, shake it out, saying, ""Observe,
nothing will fall to the ground. You see that you were mis-
taken about feeling it in the handkerchief.""
The fact is, the dime being stitched in the corner' could not
fall out, and you must take care not to let that corner of tho
liandkerchief hit against the ground. Put the handkerchief in
your pocket, and say, ""But I must return the borrowed dime.""
Exclaim : ""Fly, dime, into the orange on the table."" Cut up
orange, and show the dime concealed in it, and then restore it
to its owner, asking him to tell the audienco if he finds it to bo
his own marked dime.
TRICK 7.-How to double your pocket money.
The only preparation 1S to have four cents concealed in your
left palm.
Commence the trick by calling forward one of the spectators,
and let him bring up his hat with him.
Then borrow five cents, or have them ready to produce from
your own pocket should there be any delay.
Request your friend, while he places them one by one on a
small plate or saucer, to count them audibly, so that the com-
pany may hear their number correctly. Inquire, ""How many
aro there ?"" He will. answer, ""Five."" Take up the saucer and
pour them into your left hand, (where the other four are already
concealed.) Then say, ""Stay, I will place these in your hat,
and you must raise it above your head, for all to see that noth-
ing is added subsequently to them."" You will have placed
these nine cents in his hat unsuspected by him.
Borrow five cents more. Make Pass 1, as described on page
9, appearing to throw these five into your left hand, but really"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,34,,"18
LATEST MAGIC
deal short of those of the actual table, will answer
many of its purposes, apart from special merits of
its own, and which has the further recommenda-
tion of exceptional portability. It may be appro-
priately entitled the Black Art Mat. It consists
of a piece of Bristol board of size and shape suit-
able to the purpose for which it is to be used, COV-
ered on both sides with black velvet and edged with
narrow ornamental braid or binding. The one
FIG. 8
side has no speciality, but the other has a flat
pocket across one or more of its corners; as indi-
cated in Fig. 8. In the case of a mat of small size
the pocket may extend diagonally from corner to
corner as in Fig. 9. The edge of the pocket may be
braided if preferred (the rest of the surface being
ornamented to correspond) but if the mat be well
made this is not necessary. The mouth of each
pocket is made slightly ""full,"" and is held open"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,35,,"The Author standing in front of Villa Frikell at Kötohenbroda, Germany. where the master magician, Wiljalba Frikell,
assent the yearn of his life. From the Harry Houdini Collection."
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,35,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
25
retaining them in your right hand, which is to fall by your side
as if empty.
Afterwards get rid of four of the five cents into your pocket,
retaining only one in your right palm.
Hold up your closed left hand, and say, while blowing on it:
Pass, cents, from my left hand into the hat. Now, sir, be
kind enough to see if they have come into your possession.
Please to count them aloud while placing them in the saucer.""
He will be surprised, as well as the spectators, to find that the
cents in his hat have become nine.
You may then put on a rather offended look, and say: ""Ah,
sir ! ah ! I did not think you would do so ! You have taken
one out, I fear."" Approaching your right hand to his sleeve,
shake the sleeve, and let the one cent, which you have in your
own hand, drop audibly into the saucer. It will raise a laugh
against the holder of the hat. You can say : 'Excuse me, I
only made it appear that you had taken one. However, you see
that the original money is now doubled.""
TRICK 8.-The injured handkerchief restored.
PREPARATION.
Have a dime of your own wrapped in the centre of a piece of
cambric about five or six inches in diameter, the ends falling
down loose. Conceal these in the palm of your left hand.
Borrow a marked dime from any of the spectators, and a
white cambric handkerchief. Throw the handkerchief spread
out over your left palm, (holding under the handkerchief your
own dime wrapped in the small piece of cambric )
Openly place the borrowed dime on the centre of the spread-
out handkerchief. Keeping hold of that dime, jerk the ends of
the
handkerchief over, so as to fall loose down from the lower
side of your left hand. Draw out from between your thumb
and fingers (that is from the upper side of your left hand) about
two inches of the smaller piece of cambric, containing your own
dime. The spectators will naturally conceive the two pieces of
cambric you hold in that hand to be merely the cambric hand-
kerchief.
)
Call any of the spectators forward, and request him to mark
off with his knife the portion of the piece of calico which holds
your own dime, and whisper to him to cut it completely off, and
to let the dime drop on the table. The spectators will believe
that he has cut a hole in the handkerchief itself, and that the
dime falling out is the one you recently borrowed, whereas it is
in fact the other piece of calico that has been cut, and the bor-
rowed coin remains still wrapped up in the handkerchief."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,35,,"BLACK ART MATS
19
a quarter of an inch or so by means of a stiffening
along its inner edge. By having the millboard
foundation cut in half before it is covered, the mat
may be made to fold like a chessboard for greater
portability.
FIG. 9
If some small article, say a coin or ring, is laid
on mat just behind the mouth of the pocket, it may
be made to disappear therein, being in fact swept
into the pocket in the act of apparently picking it
up. In the case of a coin, the pocket may by a
slight alteration of procedure be used to effect a
""change""; a substitute, palmed beforehand, being
exhibited in place of the one professedly picked up
from the mat.
It is desirable when placing the mat upon the
table for use to see that the mouth of the pocket
is duly open and has not been, by any accident,
pressed flat, and SO closed."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,36,,"INTRODUCTION
the debt which he owed to the literature of magic and
which he could pay by giving me such direct information
as I needed for my book.
Frau Frikell heard my pleadings with tears running
down her cheeks, and later I learned that Herr Frikell
also listened- to them, lying grimly on the other side of
the shuttered window.
At length, yielding to physical exhaustion, I went away,
but I was still undaunted. I continued to bombard Herr
Frikell with letters, press clippings regarding my work,
etc., and finally in Russia I received a letter from him.
I might send him a package containing a certain brand
of Russian tea of which he was particularly fond. You
may be sure I lost no time in shipping the little gift, and
shortly I was rewarded by the letter for which I longed.
Having decided that I cared more for him than did some
of his relatives, he would receive me when next I played
near Kötchenbroda.
With this interview in prospect, I made the earliest
engagement obtainable in Dresden, intending to give
every possible moment to my hardly-won acquaintance.
But Fate interfered. One business problem after another
arose, concerning my forthcoming engagement in Eng-
land, and I had to postpone my visit to Herr Frikell
until the latter part of the week. In the mean time, he
had agreed to visit a Dresden photographer, as I wanted
an up-to-date photograph of him and he had only pictures
taken in his more youthful days. On the day when he
came to Dresden for his sitting, he called at the theatre,
but the attachés, without informing me, refused to give
him the name of the hotel where I was stopping.
[29]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,36,,"26
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
Pretend to blame the person who cut the two inches off, say-
ing: ""Dear me, sir, what have you done ? You have quite de-
stroyed this nice handkerchief. Well, I hope, madam, you will
pardon the mistake, if I manage by magic to restore to you your
handkerchief in perfect order, and I request you to allow me to
try to do so. Carefully holding in the candle the edges of the
cambric, (both of the part cut off and of the portion from which
it was cut,) and letting the real handkerchief hang down from
the same hand, pretend with a conjuring wand to weld together
the edges of the cambric when they get hot, as a blacksmith
""welds metals together. You can prevent the flame from reach-
ing the real handkerchief by tightly pressing your fingers.
Then exclaim : ""Oh, where is the dime ?"" and while picking it
up from the table, get quietly rid of the pieces of cambric with
their burnt edges into a hat or some corner unseen by the audi-
ence.
Holding up the dime which you had just lifted from the table
say : ""But to complete my trick I must replace this dime in the
centre of the restored handkerchief, whence it was cut out.'
Make the Pass 1, appearing to pass it into the centre of the
handkerchief, but retaining it in your hand, and afterwards se-
cretly pocket it. The handkerchief has already the borrowed
dime in it. Say to the handkerchief: ""Change-restore !"" and
unfolding it, show the borrowed coin in it. Shake out the hand-
kerchief and show it is all sound and right, and restore it with
thanks, as well as the borrowed dime, to the owners.
TRICK 9.-To make a large die pass through the crown
of a hat without injuring it.
I will now give my young friends a nice, easy trick, requiring
very little dexterity, as the articles for its exhibition can be pur-
chased at any depot for the sale of conjuring apparatus there-
fore the most diffident amateur will be able to display this trick.
PREPARATION.
Have a die exactly like the common dice, only it may be about
two inches square. Have two covers for it, one of them exactly
resembling the appearance of a die, only hollow, except that
one side of it is open, so that it can easily be placed over, or be
taken off, the solid die.
The other cover may be of decorated material, and it is in-
tended to be placed over the first die-cover. Let this last cover
be made of some pliant material, so that by compressing gently
two of its sides with your fingers, while lifting it up, you can
lift up the first die-cover, which will be within it."
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,36,,"20
LATEST MAGIC
The utility of the black art mat, however, does
not depend upon the pocket only. Its unbroken or
""plain"" side, or indeed a mat wholly without
pockets may also be very effectively used for van-
ishing purposes. In this case a little auxiliary
appliance comes into play. This is a small velvet
patch, serving as an ""overlay."" It may be round
or square, according to the purpose for which it is
intended to be used. For coin-vanishing purposes
it is best circular, and about two inches (or less,
as the case may be) in diameter. The foundation
is in this case a disc of thin card covered on both
sides with velvet, in colour and texture exactly cor-
responding with that of the mat, under which con-
ditions the patch, when laid on the mat, will be
invisible. The exact similarity of the two surfaces
is a point of the highest importance for black art
effects, and the velvet used, if not actually silk vel-
vet, should at least be of the silk-faced kind. Vel-
vet which is all cotton will never give satisfactory
results.
If a coin be laid on any part of the mat the
performer has only (in the supposed act of picking
it up) to lay the velvet patch over it to render it
invisible. If it is desired to reproduce the coin, a
handkerchief shown to be empty, may be laid over
the patch, and a moment or two later picked up
again, bringing away the overlay within it, and
again revealing the coin in statu quo. A practical
example of the use of this device will be found in"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,37,,[OE]
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,37,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
27
Commence the trick by borrowing two hats place one with
its rims upwards on the table, and show that you place in that
hat the die with its first cover on it. But say, ""I forgot to ap-
peal to the company whether they will like to see the trick dong
visibly or invisibly."" They will most likely say, ""Visibly;' bnt
it is of no consequence which answer they make, for the process
of the trick is the same in either case.
Take out from the lower hat the first cover, which is painted
exactly like a die, and having placed the second hat (with its
rims downwards) on the other hat, display the first cover, and
openly place it on the crown of the upper hat. All the specta-
tors will believe it to be the solid die itself. Then take your
penknife; you may just thrust it into the crown of the hat, and
pretend to cut all round the die-cover there lying ; say-"" I
shall now bid it move into the lower hat, but it will not do so
while uncovered, so I must place this ornamental cover over it.""
Do so; show that you have nothing in your hands or sleeves;
then wave your wand or your hand, and say, ""Change, pass,
die, into the lower hat.' Give it a little time. Then, compres-
sing the outward cover gently, lift off also with it the painted
die-cover, which it has inside it. Lift up the lower hat, and
show the company the solid die lying in it. Show all that the
upper hat has received no injury.
The illusion to the audience will be that the solid die has pas-
sed through the crown of the upper hat without at all injuring
it. Return the hats to the owners, and show them to be unin-
ured.
TRICK 10.-To produce from a silk handkerchief bon-
bons, candies, nuts, etc.
PREPARATION.
Have packages of various candies, wrapped up in bags of the
thinnest tissne paper, and place them on your table rather shel-
tered from observation. Have also a plate or two on your
table.
-
MEMORANDUM.
It will be always desirable to have the table removed two or
three yards at least from the spectators, and of a height that
they cannot see the surface of it while sitting down in front of
it.
Gommence the trick by borrowing a silk handkerchief, or any
large handkerchief. After turning it about, throw it out on the
table, so as to fall over one of these packages.
Having carefully observed where the bag lies, place your left"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,37,,"BLACK ART MATS
21
the case of the trick entitled Lost and Found, post.
Another little device which will be found useful
in connection with the black art mat is a cardboard
disc covered as above, to one side of which a coin,
say a half-crown or half-dollar, is cemented as in
Fig. 10
Fig. 10. Such a patch, laid on the mat, coin side
down, will attract no notice, but the mere act of
turning it over will at any given moment produce
the coin. The ""change"" of a coin may be expected
very neatly by the aid of this device. Suppose,
for example, that the performer desires to retain,
unknown to the spectators, possession of a marked
coin just handed to him. He lays it, to all appear-
ance, in full view upon the table, but as a matter
of fact merely turns over a patch, loaded as above,
already on the table, the borrowed coin remaining
in his hand.
The velvet patch may also be utilised in another"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,38,,"INTRODUCTION
After the performance I dropped into the König Kaffe
and was much annoyed by the staring and gesticulations
of an elderly couple at a distant table. It was Frikell
with his wife, but I did not recognize them and, not being
certain on his side, he failed to make himself known.
That was mid-week, and for Saturday, which fell on
October 8th, 1903, I had an engagement to call at the
Villa Frikell. On Thursday, the Central Theatre being
sold out to Cleo de Merode, who was playing special
engagements in Germany with her own company, I
made a flying business trip to Berlin, and on my return I
passed through Kötchenbroda. As the train pulled into
the station I hesitated. Should I drop off and see Herr
Frikell, or wait for my appointment on the morrow?
Fate turned the wheel by a mere thread and I went on to
Dresden. So does she often dash our fondest hopes!
My appointment for Saturday was at 2 P.M., and as my
train landed me in Kötchenbroda a trifle too early I
walked slowly from the depot to the Villa Frikell, not
wishing to disturb my aged host by arriving ahead of time.
I rang the bell. It echoed through the house with pe-
culiar shrillness. The air seemed charged with a quality
which I presumed was the intense pleasure of realizing
my long cherished hope of meeting the great magician.
A lady opened the door and greeted me with the words:
""You are being waited for.""
I entered. He was waiting. for me indeed, this man
who had consented to meet me, after vowing that he would
never again look into the face of a stranger. And Fate
had forced him to keep that VOW. Wiljalba Frikell was
dead. The body, clad in the best his wardrobe afforded,
[ 3I ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,38,,"28
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
hand so as to take up the bag while catching hold of the middle
of the handkerchief.
Taking the handkerchief up by nearly the centre, the edges
of it will fall around and conceal the bag make some pretended
wavings of your wand or right hand over the handkerchief, and
say, ""Tow, handkerchief, you must supply my friends with
some bon-bons."" Squeeze with your right hand the lower part
of the bag which is under the handkerchief; the bag will burst,
and you can shake out into a plate its contents.
Asking some one to distribute them among your young
friends, you can throw the handkerchief (as it were carelessly)
over another bag, from which you can in the same way produce
a liberal supply of some other sweetmeats, or macaroon bis-
cuits, etc., etc., all of which will be duly appreciated by the ju-
veniles, and they will applaud as long as you choose to continue
this SWEET trick.
'
-"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,38,,"22
LATEST MAGIC
way for ""changing"" a borrowed coin. The per-
former, asking the loan of a marked coin, brings
forward held in his left hand a velvet mat (of small
size) whereon to receive it; the right hand mean-
while holding palmed against the second and third
fingers the velvet patch, and between this and the
hand a substitute coin of similar kind. Turning
(to the left) towards his table, with the coin in full
view on the mat, he (apparently) picks it up and
holds it aloft with the right hand, placing the
now empty mat alone on the table. What he
really does is to lay the velvet patch over the bor-
rowed coin and to pick the substitute in its place.
The original lies perdu on the mat, whence it is
child's play to gain possession of it at any later
stage of the trick.
The process may be varied by placing the mat,
after receiving the borrowed coin upon it, at once
on the table, and a little later picking up the mat
with the left hand, then proceeding as above indi-
cated. The advantage of this plan is that the turn
to the table to pick up the mat masks for the
moment the right side of the performer and gives
him a convenient opportunity to palm the coin and
patch, bestowed in readiness in the pochette on
that side.
The same principle may be applied with appro-
priate modifications to card tricks. The idea of
the black ait mat is so completely a novelty that I
have not found leisure to give it the full considera-"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,39,,"INTRODUCTION
all of which had been donned in honor of his expected
guest, was not yet cold. Heart failure had come suddenly
and unannounced. The day before he had cleaned up his
souvenirs in readiness for my coming and arranged a quan-
tity of data for me. On the wall above the silent form
were all of his gold medals, photographs taken at various
stages of his life, orders presented to him by royalty-
all the outward and visible signs of a vigorous, active,
and successful life, the life of which he would have told
me, had I arrived ahead of Death. And when all these
were arranged, he had forgotten his morbid dislike of
strangers. The old instincts of hospitality tugged at his
heart strings, and his wife said he was almost young and
happy once more, when suddenly he grasped at his heart,
crying, ""My heart! What is the matter with my heart ?
""
That was all!
There we stood together, the woman who had loved
the dear old wizard for years and the young magician who
would have been SO willing to love him had he been allowed
to know him. His face was still wet from the cologne she
had thrown over him in vain hope of reviving the fading
soul. On the floor lay the cloths, used SO ineffectually
to bathe the pulseless face, and now laughing mockingly
at one who saw himself defeated after weary months
of writing and pleading for the much-desired meeting.
I feel sure that the personal note struck in these remi-
niscences will be forgiven. In no other way could I
prove the authoritativeness of my collection, the thorough-
ness of my research, and the incontrovertibility of the facts
which I desire to set forth in this volume.
[ 32 ]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,39,,"THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
29
CHAPTER IV.I
PRACTICE.
IN
conjuring, as in all other arts and sciences, perseverance is
requisite in order to become expert and successful. There
is no royal road, or possibility of acquiring the end, without ex-
ercising the means to that end. Let my young friends, then,
carefully practise over and over again the passes and the tricks
which I have already explained to them. It is the only way to
attain dexterity and confidence, without which they will never
be able to make any creditable exhibition of the art of conjur-
ing. After they have attained considerable skill and sleight-of-
hand in displaying a few tricks, they will easily extend the range
of their performances, and gradually rise to greater ability. I
may, therefore, parody an old injunction for obtaining success,
and say There are three rules for its attainment: The firstis
""Practice."" The second is Practice."" The third is ""Prac-
tice."" In a word, constant and careful practice is requisite, if
any wish to be successful as amateur conjurors. They should
never attempt to exhibit before their friends any tricks that they
have not so frequently practised that no bungling or hitch is
likely to occur in their performance of it.
Let no one be staggered by the simplicity of the processes
recommended in these tricks. The result will in fact be all the
more astonishing, the simpler the operations employed.
The great point is the address of the performer, and that will
carry through successfully the means employed. However sim-
ple and insignificant those means may appear to the learner
when they have been explained to him, if there is good address"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,39,,"A MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION
23
tion it deserves, and have probably far from
exhausted its possibilities, but I offer by way of
illustration the trick next following, which it seems
to me would be rather effective, particularly as an
introduction to some other card trick. We will
call it
A MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION
Prepare two cards, say an eight of hearts and a
seven of spades, by blackening all their edges save
one of the narrow ends,¹ and backing each with
velvet matching the mat. Lay the two cards SO
treated face down with the white edge towards
yourself on the mat at some little distance apart,
or preferably on separate mats. Force corre-
sponding cards on two members of the company
and deliver an oration to something like the fol-
lowing effect:
""We hear people talk sometimes about the
quickness of the hand deceiving the eye. I sup-
pose such a thing must be possible, or nobody
would have thought of it, but it seems to me that if
it did anything of the kind, either the hand must be
extra quick, or the eye extra slow. I know I should
be afraid to attempt anything of that sort myself,
but if you are a magician of the right sort you have
no need to do so, for you can deceive the eye with-
1 Better still, thicken the under edge by the interposition between
card and velvet of a slip of white card, as described in The Detective
Die, post."
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,40,,"THE UNMASKING OF
ROBER'T-HOUDIN -
CHAPTER I
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ROBERT-EOUDIN
R
OBERT-HOUDIN was born in Blois, France;
December 6th, 1805. His real name was
Jean-Eugene Robert, and his father was Prosper
Robert, a watchmaker in moderate circum-
stances.
His mother's maiden name was Marie Catherine
Guillon. His first wife was Josephe Cecile Eglantine
Houdin, whose family name he assumed for business rea-
sons. He was married the second time to Françoise Mar-
guerite Olympe Naconnier. His death, caused by pneu-
monia, occurred at St. Gervais, France, on June 13th, 1871.
Barring the above facts, which were gleaned from
the register of the civil authorities of St. Gervais,
all information regarding his life previous to his first
public appearance in 1844 must be drawn from his own
works, particularly from his autobigraphy, published in
the form of ""Memoirs."" Because of his supreme egotism,
his obvious desire to make his autobiography picturesque
and interesting rather than historically correct, and his
utter indifference to dates, exact names of places, theatres,
books, etc., it is extremely hard to present logical and con-
3
[33]"
practicalmagicia00harr.pdf,40,,"30
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN.
and accurate manipulation, the astonishment at the result will
be infinitely greater than any one would imagine possible to be
produced by such simple means.
There is one help that I can suggest towards the better man-
agement of the hands in concealing or removing objects; it is
the use of a conjuror's rod or short magic wand. This is, now-
a-days, commonly a stick of about fifteen inches long, resem-
bling a common rule, or a partially-ornamented one. You may
often have observed this simple emblem of the conjuror's power,
and deemed it a mere idle or useless affectation. The conjuror
waves it mystically or majestically as he may be disposed. Of
course you are right in your judgment that it can do no good
magically; but it does not follow that it is useless. The fact is,
that it is really of considerable service to him. If he wants to
hold a coin or any object concealed in his hand, without others
observing the fact of his hand being closed, the wand in that
hand is a blind for its concealment. He may require to pick up
or lay down some object, and he can do so while openly fetching
or laying down his wand. If he wants to gain time, for any il-
lusion or process of change, he can obtain it while engaging the
attention of the spectators by some fantastic movements of his
wand. By the use of the wand, therefore, you will be able to
prevent the observation of your audience too pointedly follow-
ing the movements which you wish to carry on secretly. You
may also, at the same time, dispel their attention by humorous
remarks, preventing it from being concentrated on watching
your movements.
As a general rule, you must not apprise your audience of what
you are actually doing, but must often interpose some other
thought or object to occupy their mind. For instance : Do you
desire that a person should not examine too closely any object
which you place in his hand, tell him to hold it well above his
head. That takes it out of the range of his eyes. It would
never do to tell him not to look at it. He would then immedi-
ately suspect that you are afraid of something being observed.
Have you perchance forgotten to bring on your table any ar-
ticle requisite for displaying any trick, a feint must be made"
latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf,40,,"24
LATEST MAGIC
out any quickness at all. I will prove it to you by
means of these two cards which have been chosen.
Please give me one of them. I don't mind which.""
We will suppose that the card handed up is the
eight of hearts.
""Notice please what card this is; the eight of
hearts. You can't possibly mistake it for any
other card, can you? I will turn it down here on
the table. And now for the other card."" (It is
held up that all may see it.) ""This one, you see,
is the seven of spades. No mistake about that,
either! I will lay that one here."" The card is in
each case laid upon the velvet-covered card of the
opposite kind.
""Please don't forget which is which. There has
been no quickness of the hand so far, has there ?
Now I am going to make these two cards change
places."" (You touch each with the wand.)
""Presto, change!"" (Picking up the upper and
lower cards exactly one upon the other you show
what was a moment previously the eight of hearts,
but which now appears to be the seven of spades.)
""One card has changed, you see. And now for
the other."" (You show the other pair after the
same fashion.) ""And here we have the eight of
hearts. I will now order them to change back
again."" You lay both pairs again face down.
""Now I again give the cards a touch with my
wand, and say 'Right about! Change!' and now,
you see"" (showing the faces of the original cards),"
unmaskingrobert00houdgoog.pdf,41,,"THE UNMASKING OF ROBERT-HOUDIN
sistent statements regarding his life. Such discrepancies
arise as the mention of three chiklsen in one chapter and
four in another, while he does net give the names of either
Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin. Photograph taken about 1868. From the
HIarry Houdini Collection.
wife, though he admits his obligation to both good
women.
According to his autobiography, Jean-Eugene Robert
was sent to college at Orleans at the tender age of eleven,
and remained there until he was eighteen. He was then
placed in a notary's office to study law, but his mechanical
[ 34]"