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assistant obtains the loan of a coin, duly marked by its owner who is further
requested to drop it into a common matchbox of the slide and cover variety.
The assistant, having closed the box, shakes same to prove coin still inside
it (the fact); he then places it in full view upon the bottom of an upturned
tumbler.
The assistant now goes off but returns immediately with a plate upon which
is a table knife. Performer takes the knife and, having shown both sides of
the blade, proceeds to cut open the lemon--the borrowed and marked coin is
found in the center of the lemon and is forthwith (not changed) handed back
to its owner. The matchbox is found empty.
EXPLANATION: All the objects employed are of the most ordinary
description, with the exception of the matchbox, which is slightly prepared
by removing the LOWER HALF of the wood (not the paper) at one end.
The coin, duly placed in the box, the assistant closes same and, while
holding it with thumb at one end and fingers at the other, shakes it up and
down to prove presence of the coin--very convincing--then, in the act of
transferring the box from one hand to the other, he allows the coin to slide
out into the now-otherwise-empty hand; he then places the EMPTY box on
the tumbler and goes off to bring on the plate and knife.
During his temporary absence, however, he sticks the coin onto the
LEFT-HAND side of the blade--looking at the back of the knife--on to a
tiny bit of wax placed on the blade in readiness, at a point within an inch of
the handle.
Taking up the knife IN HIS LEFT HAND, the performer holds it
downwards in front of his body, showing the plain side. He then turns the
point of the blade upwards and to rest obliquely across his chest,
presumably showing the opposite side, but in reality, due to the fingers
having imparted a half turn to the blade, THE SAME SIDE IS SHOWN;
this movement, which should be repeated several times, is very deceptive.
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Borrowed and Marked Coin in Unprepared Lemon
The performer now, having transferred the knife to his right hand, and
while standing with his right side towards the audience, cuts open the
lemon on the plate, using the forepart of the knife blade; eventually he
draws the whole of the blade through the cut and, in doing so, dislodges the
coin with his left thumb.
The performer than removes coin on the point of the knife and hands it to
his assistant who, having dried it on a cloth, taking the opportunity to
remove any adhering wax, hands it back to its owner. Meantime the
performer shows the matchbox to be empty, thus bringing the trick to a
conclusion.
N. B.--The trick may be worked without an assistant, as the performer,
having secured secret possession of the coin, may readily and secretly
attach it to the knife as required, under cover of his body and in the act of
going to the rear of the room to bring forward the plate with the knife upon
it.
The match-box vanish, together with this method of using an ordinary table
knife (of course wide enough to completely hide the coin) for this purpose,
also the entire combination, are my own.
A mechanical knife, i.e., one with a metal clip soldered on one side to hold
the coin, was formerly used for the purpose, but this has long since been
relegated to the shades.
Now, for the next number, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm going to present to
you a young man whom I am sure you will like for his originality. His name
is not as well known as Thurston or Blackstone; but he's young yet, and if
we give him a little more time, he's going to be way up there with the big
shots. He's full of ideas and when he gets one he puts it into practice instead
of getting an idea and then promptly forgetting it, as most of us do. He's a
swell kid and I'm going to present to you now, Brandon, the Magician. Play
him on, George.
BRANDON, THE MAGICIAN, SPEAKING: How are you, boys? Here's
a new one I thought you might like. When you were a kid you no doubt
remember of having played "Crack the Whip." The one on the end usually
"cracked" the ground and received a bloody lip or nose in the play (?). I
assure you that in the trick I am about to describe, the climax holds no such
disastrous element; on the contrary, it is a quite pleasing and mystifying
one. I trust I have aroused your interest and attention in a way that will
make you relish the following (would I be taking a liberty in saying)
original invention. Next
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Crack the Whip
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CRACK THE WHIP
BRANDON, THE MAGICIAN
EFFECT:--The card is picked, as usual, and returned, as usual. It has been
forced, as usual. (FUNNY?) The deck is then thrown into the air by the
assistant. Let us leave the deck flying in the air while we give our thought
to the performer. He has been cracking a circus side-show whip (i.e., the
kind sold for 15c or 25c) into the air several times. On cracking the whip [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]