1. PRODUCTION OF A SINGLE SILK
(1) A silk rolled into a compact parcel by methods 1 (3) or 1 (4), can be secreted in various parts of the performer’s clothing, from which it can be taken secretly, palmed, and produced apparently from the air. For example, the balled silk can be tucked in a fold of the left sleeve, the opening of the fold being toward the wrist. Pull the right sleeve back a little with the left hand, showing the right hand empty; then pull back the left sleeve with the right hand, showing the left hand empty and at the same time stealing the silk with the right hand. Make the change over palm (as with a ball) in turning to the right and make a pretended catch in the air with the right hand, closing it. Transfer the supposed catch to the left hand, rub the left fingers on the left palm for a moment, nip the projecting corner of the silk with the fingers, and suddenly jerk it free, showing the silk hanging from the fingertips.
(2) Again, the balled silk can be placed under the vest a little toward the right or left, according to which hand is to steal it. For example, if the left hand is to take the silk, press the left elbow against the side and hold the forearm bent to bring the hand just opposite the point at which the silk is vested. Turn to the left, making a pretended catch in the air, high up, with the right hand, and at the same moment steal the silk with the left hand. The change over follows and you produce the silk.
(3) A very pretty production of a silk from the vest can be made with a fan. Roll a sheet of paper into a tube and hold it in the left hand. Pick up the fan with the right hand, open it, and hold it waist high so that the right fingers are close to the vested silk. Raise the tube to your eye to look through it at the spectators, and at the same moment steal the silk with the right fingers behind the fan. Hold the tube vertically and fan its upper end as you free the fold in the balled silk so that it will expand. Let it fall into the tube and catch it on the fan as it emerges at the lower end.
(4) You can also set the balled silk on the table behind some small object; as you pick up some article from the table with the right hand, drawing marked attention to it, quietly steal the silk with the left hand and palm it. Or you may have it on a small wire holder behind the top rail of a chair and steal it while casually moving the chair a little to one side; or again, in placing an article on the seat of the chair with one hand steal the silk with the other.
(5) A very effective production can be made in this way. A tiny slit is made in the seam of the trouser leg, just wide enough for a silk to be pulled through. A long narrow pocket of black silk is sewn to this inside the trousers and a silk is pushed inside it. To the upper corner of the silk an inch of strong thread is attached with a small black bead on the end.
The bead will hang just outside the pocket and can be found instantly with the fingers. When required, the silk is jerked out so rapidly that its appearance is instantaneous. The use of half silks—that is, silks which have been cut in half diagonally—is recommended for this production, as they take up only half the space, yet when held up by one corner they appear to be whole.
I have seen this effect used by a performer with marked success, in this way: at the close of each trick he would rapidly pull a silk, each one a different color, from various parts of his clothing.
(6) A thread can be very useful for getting a silk into the hand invisibly. The following will serve as an example from which other methods can be devised.
Fold a silk by the accordion-pleat method and tie a fairly strong black thread around it crosswise, leaving a free length of about fifteen inches. Tie the end of this to a vest button and place the silk in the left vest pocket. Stand facing the spectators; pull the sleeves back a little; and place the hands, backs outwards, flat against the vest, the fingers pointing downwards. Thrust the hands down, engage the left thumb in the thread loop, then, holding the thread by pressing the thumb against the side of the hand, turn both hands upwards to show the palms. Place the tips of the fingers together, pointing towards the front and a little towards the left, and stretch the arms out quickly. The silk will be dragged from the pocket against the left palm, the hand remaining wide open. Show the palm of the right hand and, in making a turn to the left, bring the right just over the left hand; engage the right thumb under the thread and draw the silk against the right palm at once, showing both sides of the left hand. It only remains to break the thread and produce the silk.
(7) A silk can be rolled around the end of the wand, the free end being tucked into one of the folds. In this case the wand is set on the table with the loaded end behind some small article. Pick it up by that end with the right hand. Show the left hand empty and clench it. Tap the fist with the wand, open it, and appear surprised that there is nothing there. Take the wand with the left hand by the free end, sliding it out of the right hand (which retains and closes on the silk). Now tap the right hand with the wand and open the hand, revealing the silk.
This method can be used with good effect in connection with the vanishing wand, already described. Wrap the silk around the end of the wand to be produced from under the coat and bring it out with the right hand concealing the silk. This is then produced as an introduction to a trick with silks.
There are a great number of gimmicks for the production of silks, some with lugs to permit them to be held at the front or back of the hand, others with loops of fine wire,or catgut by means of which they can be suspended from the thumb on either side the hand. Generally speaking, it will be found that to manipulate these articles successfully is very much harder than to produce a silk by the methods described above, and there is the additional difficulty of having to get rid of the gimmick afterward. Should the reader desire to experiment with any of these, they can be obtained at any magic store.
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