4. THE RING, HANDKERCHIEF AND GLASS
This very pretty combination gives the effect of great skill, but it is not at all difficult to perform.
Effect. A borrowed ring is placed in a small glass together with a silk handkerchief, and all three articles are passed, one at a time, into a borrowed hat placed at a distance.
Preparation. You require two small glasses, without feet, and two small silk handkerchiefs, duplicates, about twelve inches square. One glass and one silk you place openly on your table, the other glass with the silk pushed well into it you place under the edge of your vest, lengthwise, with the mouth of the glass toward the right. One other accessory needed is an ordinary handkerchief which has a round piece of celluloid, the same diameter as the mouth of the glass, attached to its middle. Arrange this in your pocket in such a way that when you spread it by two corners the celluloid will be on the side nearest to you.
Method. Begin by borrowing a hat. Take it in your right hand, the fingers on the outside of the brim, the thumb inside. In turning to put the hat on your table, slip the right thumb under the vest and into the glass and twist this out into the hat. This takes but a moment, and if you have kept the right elbow pressed to the side no suspicion will be aroused. Lay the hat on the table, crown downwards, and proceed to borrow a ring. A man’s ring is best for the trick, and the larger and more distinctive it is the better. Drop the ring into the glass and push the handkerchief down on top of it in exactly the same way as the silk in the duplicate glass, which is now in the hat.
Announce that you will make the three articles disappear one by one. To do this you must first make an exchange of the glasses, and this becomes a simple matter by resorting to the method of asking the spectators if they wish them to vanish visibly or invisibly. Generally someone will call out at once, “Visibly.” “That is very easy,” you say; and you place the glass in the hat, standing it alongside the one already there. “However,” you continue, “I prefer to do it invisibly.” Remove the duplicate glass and stand it on a little table at a distance from the hat. If by chance no one replies, simply say, “If you had asked me to do it visibly, this is what I would have done,” and you proceed as already explained.
As matters now stand, the apparent vanish of the ring is mere child’s play. Simply pretend to extract the ring and throw it at the hat. Of course, you take nothing; but you act seriously. Remove the silk from the glass and shake it out, then show the glass empty. Lay the silk beside the glass and go to the hat.
Lift the silk out of the glass and lay it beside the glass, being careful not to show any part of it above the brim of the hat; then slide the ring up with two fingers, so that it doesn’t “talk,” and bring it into view between the thumb and fingers. Return the ring to the owner and have it identified.
To vanish the handkerchief you have recourse to a pull (see page 161), which you secure in this manner: Roll the silk between your hands and close the fingers on it, at once putting your right hand, with its fingers almost closed and glancing at it furtively, into your right-hand trousers pocket. There will be knowing smiles and whispers in the audience, if not an open challenge; so you open the left hand and show the silk, remarking that you merely did that to see if the spectators were really following your actions. In the meantime you have secured the pull, previously placed at the top of the pocket; you bring the two hands together and proceed to push the silk into the vanisher as you wave the hands up and down, with your right side to the front. When the silk is safely in the holder—at the moment when the backward motion of the hands brings them near the body—release the pull, which instantly flies under your coat. Continue the up-and-down movement of the hands for a few moments and extend the hands well away from the body. Then close both hands; separate them, working the fingers on the palms; and suddenly open them, spreading the fingers far apart and turning the hands to show all parts of them. Go to the hat and take it by the brim with the fingers inside, pressing the glass against the side of the hat; lift this and turn it over, letting the duplicate silk fall to the floor.
Replace the hat on the table, mouth upwards, as before. The glass only remains to be vanished. Put it on the palm of your left hand, with the right; take out the prepared handkerchief, and throw it over the glass in such a way as to bring the celluloid disk over its mouth. Bring the left hand up until the glass thus covered is on a level with the opening of the outside breast pocket. Grasp the disk from above, through the fabric, between the tips of the right thumb and second finger; with the left hand, under cover of the handkerchief, drop the glass into the outside coat pocket. Stroke the handkerchief several times with the left hand, then, pointing that hand at the hat, call “Go!” and toss the handkerchief into the air. Catch it by one corner, as it falls, and shake it out; then crumple it and put it back in your pocket. Go to the hat and turn it toward the audience, so that the glass can be seen in it. Take it out and return the hat to the owner.
You have fulfilled your contract, and if your work has been well done you will find that this series of magical feats will be received with acclaim by any audience.
Website Content: © Copyright 2024 by Trickshop.com.