THE VANISHING ALARM CLOCK
Effect. An alarm clock is shown and the alarm is set off to prove that it is a genuine one. The clock is then covered with a handkerchief and hung on a stand. A hat is borrowed and placed on a table, crown downwards. The magician sets off the alarm again and, while it is ringing, he jerks the handkerchief away and the clock has vanished. Finally it is found in the borrowed hat.
Method. Many different methods have been devised for bringing about this startling effect, most of them requiring a special tray and an assistant. By using the following plan the trick can be worked singlehanded.
Three clocks are required, and care must be taken that all three have the same tone. One is placed openly on your table; the second is hung on a headless nail behind a chair, ready for loading into a hat; the third is fixed under your table, with a lever whereby a touch of the hand will set off or stop the alarm.
The handkerchief is double and has a length of flexible cardboard stitched in the middle between the two thicknesses. A small metal ring is attached to the middle of the cardboard and a small slit is made in the material so that the ring can protrude. The last accessory required is the stand. This is simply a metal rod, set in a foot, with a hook at the top.
To present the trick, begin by showing the clock and set off the alarm to prove that it is a genuine one. Put it on the table and throw the handkerchief over it; seize the ring of the cardboard shape and lift the handkerchief, at the same moment dropping the clock into a well in the table or onto the servants.
Place the ring on the hook of the stand, and the card, bending with the weight of the handkerchief, will simulate the presence of the clock. Put your hand under the handkerchief and pretend to set off the alarm; at the same time touch the lever connected with the third alarm clock and set it ringing—then stop it.
Go into the audience and borrow a hat; place this, mouth upwards, on the chair and turn to your table; then decide to place the chair a little further away. Pick up the hat by the brim with the right hand; with the same hand grasp the back of the chair, bringing the hat over the clock that hangs there. Grip the seat of the chair with the left hand, lift the chair, and set it down a little more toward the side. At the same time scoop the clock off the nail, letting it fall into the hat, and replace this on the chair seat, crown downwards.
Return to the table; pretend to set the alarm ringing (really the one under the table, as before); seize one corner of the handkerchief with the right hand and jerk it free, at the same time stopping the alarm by moving the lever with the left hand. Shake out the handkerchief, crumple it, and drop it on the table. Finally produce the alarm clock from the hat and set the alarm ringing as you take it out.
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