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Jfferlin 's Master Manipulations Jack Merlin
Section One of "and a Pack of Cards"
Cherished Secrets of a Master Maripulator, MERLIN!S MASTER ZAJvIPUI ' .. •.;:. Section One. "and a Pack of Cards." Third Revised Edition* By JACK MERLIN. Edited by A* W. C. Brurafield, Foreword by Charles J. Maly Published 1928. By THE WELWORTH COMPANY. 756 West Pratt Street. Indianapolis Indiana. U, 3. A. Cherished Secrets of a Master Manipulator*
5"c~ c T
COPYRIGHT
1937, 1928
THE WELWORTH COMPANY
FOREWORD. JACK MERLIN. The very name instantly recalls to our minds the unca.nny obedience of the little cardboards to his will and the subtle agility of his fingers. Undoubtedly, he is the master supreme of the pasteboards, and a student of psychology. To have witnessed a card demonstration by Merlin is an event not easily to be forgotten. In his hands, the old card tricks and sleights of yesterday with added Merlinesque touch become the classical masterpieces of today. In the pages of this manuscript '' a has unselfishly revealed, in detail, all the sleights, subterfuges, and clever tricks that have emanated from his own fertile brain; sleights and tricks that have made him stand out above all other card workers as the greatest of this century. He has omitted nothing. It was with the thought in mind of "magic first" that he finally agreed to divulge his cherished secrets to his brother magicians, with the hope that they might play some small part in elevating the art of manipulation. For the newest beginner, or the most seasoned professional, this work will thoroughly and completely furnish sufficient material, with a reasonable amount of practice, to bring yery gratifying results. To me a card worker myself, these pages will be priceless as I can well judge—for I have been privileged ."'to read the advance proofs. CHARLES J. ivIALY.
THEORY. As previous volumes have covered to a great extent, in preliminary chapters, subjects such as Stage Deportment, Dress, Patter, Theory ate., I will merely touch these subjects briefly. Dress according to the times, without exaggeration. Make your stage presence natural. Just be yourself* Patter is sadly missing from this volume; "therels a reason." Patter that is suitable to one personality is hopelessly unsuitable to another; however, if comedy is your goal, create it by natural situations, ^uns become very tiresome. The theorv of magic has been admirably covered in "Our Magic" (Maskelyne & D evant) by Mr. Maskelyne. Many may dis-. agree with the abstract principles he propounds, but eventually in the hard school of experience, the truths of feds theory, like chickens, will come home to roost. So much for the preliminaries, now for the main bout, PRACTICE. Many conjurors merely practice against time; by that, I mean they are "clockwatchers" and often they boast of their hours of practice. Practice to me is something I cannot resist. 1 practice because I enjoy it. When I force myself to practice, I accomplish nothing. Take a sleight and dissect it, that is, take each p&ase of the move and start accomplishing the sleight by as little movement as is absolutely necessary, seeking a plausible explanation to cover it. Do not practice in front of a mirror, but at different stages in the accomplishment of a sleight, try it before a mirror and make cor-r rections. Practicing before a mirror is responsible, I think, for the bad habit some manipulators have of closing the eyes at the psychological moment of accomplishing the sleight. When that moment arrives, let the eyes rest anywhere but on the hands and keep them open, donft wink. Do not grip the pack as though, your life depends on iti- -tHold the cards moderately loose. This eliminates noise. Avoid swinging the arms in an arc to cover a move. Even though familiar with a* move, always practice it as it is applicable to each trick before attempting in public* In regard to effects, always remember that an audience wish to be entertained so never ask them to think or remember to any great extent. What I wish to convey is: do not confuse the audience.by asking them to remember several cards or jnumbers or the positions of several cards. Make your effects direct.