pages: latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf, 210
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latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf | 210 | 194 LATEST MAGIC a "giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief," or the reverse, cannot be expected to be a becoming gar- ment. Every man has, or should have, a style of his own, and it is rarely good policy to imitate that of somebody else. If a low comedy man were to essay to play Hamlet, or a tragedian, however eminent, were to try to give an limitation of Harry Lauder, the result would be likely to be disappoint- ing. The reader, undertaking to write his own patter, and desirous of making it just what patter should be, will find counsels of perfection in "Our Magic," and the more nearly he can approach them the better. As, however, all have not the good fortune to possess that admirable work, I venture to indi- cate what to my own mind seem to be the chief points to be aimed at. It is almost a commonplace to say that the main object of patter is misdirection. As the term is more usually applied, this means something said or done midway in the course of a trick to draw away the attention of the audience at some critical moment, and to create what the French conjurers call a "temps," i.e., an "opportunity" for doing, unnoticed, some necessary act. But misdirection may very well start at an earlier stage than this: in fact, well in advance of the actual execution of the trick. Each trick should have some sort of introduction, and the patter serving this purpose should be such as to lead the mind of the hearer |