pages: latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf, 209
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latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf | 209 | CONCERNING PATTER 193 great deal, and done very little, and that I had had very little real magic for my money. On the other hand, the loquacious doctor was always amusing, and it must not be forgotten that to amuse, even more than to puzzle, is the raison d'ĂȘtre of the mod- ern magician. It seems to me therefore quite legitimate to use, to a reasonable extent, the art of the raconteur to supplement that of the magician. If my own patter is in some cases found super- abundant, I have at any rate done my best to make it amusing, and if the reader opines that I have not paid sufficient regard to the late Mr. Ducrow's cele- brated maxim, "Cut the cackle, and come to the 'osses," he is quite at liberty to cut my cackle to what he may consider more reasonable proportions. No doubt, time would be saved thereby. If, for instance, he were to cut out the little romantic fictions with which I have introduced "The Miracle of Mumbo Jumbo" and "The Story of the Alka- hest," and start "right away" with the bare per- formance of the trick, both could be exhibited in little more time than I have allotted to either alone. Which treatment is likely to give the greater satis- faction to his audience, he must decide for himself. Where the performer has the gift (for a "gift" it undoubtedly is) of devising effective patter for himself I am strongly in favour of his doing SO. Borrowed patter may be likened to a borrowed dress-coat. It is never likely to be an exact fit, and |