TONGUING
It was on the basis of this sleight that the whole act of producing lighted cigarettes from the air was built. As an isolated feat, the tonguing—that is, the vanish or production of a butt in the mouth—has been used for generations, especially by circus clowns.
The sleight is not a difficult one; confidence is the main requisite, and to attain this confidence practice should first be with an unlighted butt. Place it between the lips; press the point of the tongue on the end; open the mouth and make the butt tilt backwards, using the back of the lower teeth as a fulcrum. The butt will then fall on the tongue, the lighted end projecting over the arch formed by the root of the tongue and not coming into contact with it. The reverse movement will bring the butt, still lighted, back between the lips.
As many as five butts can be tongued at once or singly. For the best results from the sleight, the performer should be able to hold three lighted butts on the tongue and produce them one by one with ease and certainty. The production must be made under cover of the hand, which is placed to the mouth as if to put a cigarette between the lips or to remove one. The spectators should not have the slightest suspicion that a lighted cigarette can be held in the mouth. This is a point too often neglected by magicians; indeed, some of them do the tonguing quite openly to show how clever they are.
A good effect can be obtained in the course of the act by blowing smoke from the apparently empty mouth. To do this, press the unlighted end of the butt against the back of the upper front teeth and exhale strongly. Air is thus forced through the cigarette and the resulting smoke issues from the lips.
A second method of tonguing can be used for a single butt only. It is not somersaulted backwards but is drawn straight back into the mouth. To do this, slide the tongue along the end until it almost reaches the lighted part and then draw it back until the lighted end is behind the front teeth. The advantages of this method are that the mouth need not be opened widely in its execution and that a somewhat longer butt can be used. It is well to have both methods at command.
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