YOUR BOOK OF ALEXANDER VAN RENSSELAER
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The YOUR BOOK Series Acting Aeroraodelling Animal Drawing Aquaria Architecture Astronomy Athletics Ballet Basketball Bird Watching Boxing Bridges Butterflies and Moths Camping Canoeing Card Games Carpentry Chess Coin Collecting Contract Bridge Cricket Diving The Earth Electronics Embroidery The English Bible The English Church Figure Skating Flying Furniture Gardening Book Gymnastics Heraldry Hockey Hovercraft The Human Body
Judo Kites Knots Landscape Drawing Lawn Tennis Lino-cutting Magic Modelling Model Car Racing Model Railways Music NetbaU Patience Pet Keeping Photography Keeping Ponies Sailing Sewing Skating Soccer Space Travel Squash Stamps Survival Swimming and Life Saving Swimming Table Tennis Tape Recording Television Trees Underwater Swimming Waterways The Weather Weaving Wild Flowers The Year
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YOUR BOOK OF
A L E X A N D E R VAN R E N S S E L A E R illustrated by JOHN N. BARRON
FABER AND FABER LIMITED 24 Russell Square, London
First published in mcmliii by Faber and Faber Limited 24 Russell Square London W.C.i Second impression mcmlvi Third impression mcmlxvi Printed in Great Britain by Latimer Trend & Co Ltd Plymouth All rights reserved
CONTENTS How
page 5
TO BE A MAGICIAN
KNOW YOUR HANDS
II
To PALM A COIN
12
To PASS A COIN THROUGH YOUR KNEES
PICKING U P TWO CORKS
14 14 18 18
ODD
20
THE DISAPPEARING SIXPENCE T H E MAGIC HOLE OR EVEN
PICKING THE RIGHT NAME
22
T H E JUMPING ELASTIC
24
REMOVING TWO SIXPENCES FROM UNDER A GLASS
25
T H E JUMPING SIXPENCE
27
CATCHING COINS
28
RUBBING AWAY A COIN
29
T H E MAGIC RING
3째
SIXPENCE IN THE RING
31
SHAKING A KNOT INTO A HANDKERCHIEF
32
KNOTTING A HANDKERCHIEF
34 34 36 37 39
A GOOD MIND-READING TRICK CALLING THE COLOUR TURNING OVER A CHOSEN CARD T H E ROPE RELEASE
3
T H E ESCAPING POLO PEPPERMINTS
page 41
T H E OBEDIENT COIN
42
FINDING A CHOSEN CARD
44
T H E REAPPEARING TOOTHPICK
46
THE MAGIC WAND
47
HOW TO BE A MAGICIAN Magic is just about 99 and 98-100 per cent bluff. About the only thing needed to be a good magician is nerve, and plenty of it. If you have the nerve to throw a good bluff, you can be a good magician. If you also have the 'gift of the gab', a fast line of foolish talk, you can be an ace magician. There is really nothing magic about Magic. When you are in the know, it is all very simple; after a little practice. In fact, some of the simplest and easiest-to-do tricks seem the most mysterious and magical. The secret of magic is confusion. The magician does some simple thing in a way that makes his audience think that he is trying to do something impossible. The magician just plays a practical joke on his audience. He does this by misdirecting his audience's attention. There are three important ways in which he can do this: 1. By never telling his audience at the beginning what he is going to do. This keeps his audience guessing. 2. By performing many unnecessary acts and motions. These confuse the audience, and make them think they know what is going to happen. But instead something else happens that the audience is not expecting. 3. By patter. A good magician talks all the time he is 5