5. THE PHANTOM CIGARETTE
Effect. The performer goes through all the motions of rolling a cigarette in pantomime and a real lighted cigarette suddenly appears in his mouth.
Method. To prepare for the trick, fasten a part of the striking side of a box of safety matches to the inside of your left shoe and between the heel and the sole push two matches, out down and the ends wedge-shaped (Fig. 20); fasten a cigarette in a rubber-band holder under the left side of your coat.
In all the actions that follow an exact imitation of handling the real articles must be made. In pantomime take out a book of cigarette papers, remove one, put the book back in the vest pocket, smooth the paper with the fingers, make a crease in it to receive the tobacco, take a bag of tobacco from your coat pocket, open its mouth, pour some tobacco onto the paper, close the bag (pulling the draw string with your teeth), replace the bag in the pocket, roll the cigarette, raise it to your mouth to wet the paper and fix it, and put it in your mouth. Take a matchbox from your pocket, take out a match, turn slightly to the left, lift the left foot, bend down and really take a match from the heel of your shoe, strike it on the strip of lighting material (shielding the flame with your hand so that the match cannot be seen).
At the same time steal the cigarette with your left hand; bring the lighted match up to your mouth, shielding it with both hands, and under their cover place the cigarette between your lips. Light it and blow out smoke, extinguishing the match. Push the match between the second and third fingers as you show your hands empty, the palms to the front. Puff on the cigarette; then take it in your left hand to show it, drop the right hand to the side, and let the match fall to the floor. If well acted there is no better trick for opening a series of cigarette manipulations.
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