THE MAGIC OF THE HANDS by
EDWARD VICTOR Hon, President of the Affiliated Societies of the Magic Circle, London A collection of Sleight-of-Hand and Magical Effects with CARDS COINS SILKS BILLIARD BALLS THIMBLES CIGARS CIGARETTES ROPES SLATES and MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES Second Edition 1942. World Copyright held by
L . Davenport & Co., London, England Under special arrangement with L. Davenport & Co. Published in U. S. A. by
New York
MAX HOLDEN Boston
Philadelphia
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MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE RUE PUBLISHING COMPANY, DENTON. MD.
The Rules of the Sleight-of-Hand Artist Are three, and all others are vain; The first and second are "practice� And the third one is "practice again.�
TO MY WIFE "EILEEN”
AUTHOR’S FOREWORD This book is mainly on the art of sleight-of-hand and it is my earnest hope that these pages will afford practical help to both the specialist and the amateur magician.
During the period of over twenty-five years of practical magic I have formed the conclusion that in all conjuring, no matter how cleanly a trick may have been worked, it is the effect that counts. A magical effect that one desires to "get over” must be definite and surprising. By definite I mean an easily followed plot or routine. By surprising I mean that a climax should be striven for that has not been foreseen by the audience. If you make these the two conditions of every trick you perform, and in addition ever remember the three rules of advice given on the first page of this book, then magic is yours, and all that lies therein. Every effect I have described has at some time found a place in my programmes, either impromptu or otherwise. So, reader, choose your fancied moves and effects and test for yourself "The Magic of the Hands”—and "practice again.”
CONTENTS CHAP.
AUTHOR’S FOREWORD I. SOME USEFUL CARD SLEIGHTS I HAVE PROVED EFFECTIVE
The “Pass”—“E.V.” Colour Change—“E.V.” Invisible Double Lift—A New Glide—A One-Handed Force—The “Book” Return—Sighting the Top Card—A Substitute for the “In-Jog.”
PAGE
xi
1
II. CARD PROBLEMS
13
III. CONJURING WITH COINS
35
IV. HANDKERCHIEF MAGIC The “Super” Sympathetic Silks. V. BILLIARD BALL SLEIGHTS
45 53
VI. THIMBLE SLEIGHTS
63
Supreme Control-—The Expert Deal—A Royal Exchange— “Sign, Please!”—The “Deo Ace” Trick—The Thirty Card Trick. “A Silver Collection”—A Vanish for One or More Coins—The Changing Coin. A Few Words on “Angles”—The “Direct” Palm Vanish—The “Throw-Up” Vanish—The “Push-In” Vanish—An Elbow Vanish—An Original Colour Change—A Continuous Ball Pro duction.
The Hopping Thimble—The Little Finger Sleight—A “Slow Motion” Disappearance—A Triple Colour Change—A Sleight With Four Thimbles—A New and Original Thimble Holder.
73 CIGARETTE AND CIGAR SLEIGHTS VII. The “Closed-Fist” Vanish—The “Pull-Out” Vanish—The “Thumb-Pivot” Vanish—The “Finger-Clip" Vanish—Method of Producing a Cigarette at the Finger-Tips From the Palm— A Change-Over Palm—Changing a Cigarette Into a Cigar (Sleight-of-hand Method)—The Magnetic Cigar—Cigar to Money—The Diminishing Cigar.
VIII. MY ROPE TRICK An Original Cut and Restored Rope Mystery. IX. AN IDEA FOR SLATES
A Novel Production of Names and Drawings on Two Ordinary Slates.
X. MISCELLANEOUS MAGIC
“Visiting”—The Cigarette Paper Effect—A Match “Divina tion”—A Novel Matchbox Transposition—A Useful Tip.
L’ENVOI
xiii
83 101 107 119
Chapter I.
SOME USEFUL CARD SLEIGHTS I HAVE PROVED EFFECTIVE.
CHAPTER I. SOME USEFUL CARDS SLEIGHTS I HAVE PROVED EFFECTIVE. The Pass. Naturally, in a work of this description, it is only right that I should commence the card section with “The Pass," and I therefore introduce a method of executing this well-known and indispensable sleight. The methods already published in books and magazines of mak ing the pass “invisibly” are legion. The ‘cover” I always make use of is a riffle of the lower half of the pack immediately this portion has been brought to the top after the pass is made. This is accomplished as follows:— The selected card is returned to the pack and the little finger of the left hand is inserted above it in the usual manner for making the double-handed pass as the cards are squared up. Holding the pack in the left hand (with the little finger inserted above the selected card), first give the pack a riffle at the top end with the fingers of the right hand, the right thumb being at the lower end of the pack. Then immediately make the ordinary double-handed pass, and as the lower half of the pack comes to the top, bend it outwards with the right fingers and riffle it down on to the top of the pack. The effect created will be that you have once more merely lifted the top half of the pack and riffled it back again. The required card is now on the top of the pack. The “E.V.” Colour Change. This is an invisible removal of a card from the back of the pack. The sleight is accomplished as follows:— Hold the pack in the left hand face outwards, the top of the thumb across one side at the top, and the first and second fingers at the top side opposite. The bottom of the pack is held well away from the palm. See Fig. 1. 2