THE DIMINISHING BILLIARD b.a.l.l.s.--The trick under notice has for its effect the apparent diminution of an ordinary billiard ball, first to half its original size, secondly to one-quarter its original size, and finally to a very small ball, with which several amusing pa.s.ses are made, and which afterward disappears entirely.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 26.--Trick b.a.l.l.s]

In this case a trick ball is used of a size equal to half that of the ordinary one, and hollowed out so as to contain a solid ball of a diameter equal to half that of itself, (Fig. 26). The hollow ball must be so constructed that the small one pinches slightly into it, but can be instantly released by simply pa.s.sing the ball of the thumb over it.

A duplicate of this small ball should be placed in the right hand waistcoat pocket for use in the latter part of the trick.

The trick ball is placed in the left pochette, whence it is obtained and used according to the instructions given in the "Color-changing b.a.l.l.s." To produce the smallest size, hold the trick ball in the left hand, having previously loosened the small one, and in the act of stroking it with the right hand, palm off the hollow ball, and dispose of it as soon as possible.

With the small ball you now execute the pa.s.s as described under Example 4 on p. 96. Then actually place the ball in the mouth, pretend to swallow it, and produce the one from the vest pocket, which will appear to be the same.

You now seem to place the ball in the left hand, really palming it; then bring the left hand down with apparent force on the top of the head, showing the ball between the teeth. Here raise the right hand as if to take the ball from the mouth, but really push it back and show the palmed one. Then repeat the same pa.s.s, but this time actually let the ball fall from the mouth into the left hand, the right disposing of the palmed ball into the profonde.

I have seen a series of pa.s.ses, including the above, performed with two eggs in place of the small b.a.l.l.s, but unless the performer be endowed with a colossal cavity between the upper and lower jaws, I should not advise him to attempt this.

THE HANDKERCHIEF BALL.--This forms a very good introduction to a billiard ball trick, all that is required being a ball of the usual size, hollowed out so as to take a handkerchief, with an opening one inch in diameter on the surface. This ball is suspended behind the top rail of a chair by means of a pin.

After performing any trick in which a handkerchief has been employed, carelessly throw it over the back of the chair while you roll up your sleeves. If you do not care to roll up the sleeves, perform any small trick before proceeding with the present one, otherwise it might be too palpable that the handkerchief was thrown over the chair for a purpose.

Then take up the handkerchief (secretly securing the ball) and gradually work it into the ball, being careful to keep the ball out of sight as much as possible until the handkerchief has totally disappeared. Finally throw the ball into the air, which can safely be done providing it and the handkerchief are both of the same color, which would not admit of the hole being observed.

At this point, should you desire to proceed with a billiard ball trick, you can do so by changing the hollow ball for a solid one in the same manner that you changed the solid ball for the trick one in the "Multiplying Billiard b.a.l.l.s."

THE DISSOLVING BILLIARD BALL.--This forms an excellent conclusion to a billiard ball trick. A gla.s.s tumbler three parts filled with water is given to a gentleman to hold. A ball is then covered with a handkerchief and given to the gentleman with a request that he will hold it over the gla.s.s and at the word "three" will allow it to fall into the water. This is done, and upon the handkerchief being removed from the tumbler, nothing remains but the fluid, which is perfectly transparent, the ball having apparently been dissolved therein.

The secret of this lies in the fact that the performer is provided with a half sh.e.l.l of clear gla.s.s. This sh.e.l.l is secretly slipped over the ball in the act of covering it with the handkerchief, and when handing it to the gentleman the solid ball is palmed away by the performer. The gentleman is not at all likely to discover that he holds only a half ball, as, being hampered with the gla.s.s of water, he is effectually prevented from making an examination.

It is well to be provided with a tumbler the bottom of which is shaped somewhat to fit the form of the sh.e.l.l, and ornamented slightly, but this latter feature is not absolutely necessary.

FANCY SLEIGHT WITH A SMALL BALL.--A small ball is generally used for this pa.s.s, but it is applicable to any object that can be conveniently placed in the mouth. In effect it is as follows: A ball, for instance, is rubbed into the left elbow and pa.s.sed thence up into the hand. The hand is then brought down rather smartly on the back of the head, the ball being immediately afterward taken from the mouth.

The sleight is thus executed: The performer takes the ball in his right hand and commences to rub it into his left elbow. At this point he apparently meets with an accident, dropping the ball on the floor. The dropping of the ball, however, apart from being an accident, is absolutely essential to the success of the illusion. After having picked up the ball and while still in a stooping position with his back toward the spectators, the performer quickly throws it into his mouth, immediately facing round and drawing attention to the right hand the fingers of which must seem to close round the object. The rubbing at the elbow is again commenced and the right hand eventually shown empty.

The performer then makes a sign indicative that the ball has pa.s.sed up into the left hand, which is then brought down with apparent force on the back of the head. The ball in the mouth is then revealed, when it will appear to have actually traveled to that position.

This sleight can very well be introduced at the close of the Diminishing Billiard b.a.l.l.s.

I am indebted to Mr. Ross Conyears, an exceedingly dexterous magician, for the above.

ROUGE ET NOIR.--This pretty trick consists of causing two b.a.l.l.s, one red and one black, wrapped in pieces of paper and placed in borrowed hats, to change places at command. The diameter of the b.a.l.l.s should be four and one-half inches.

The solution of the problem lies in the construction of the papers with which the b.a.l.l.s are covered. They are arranged thus: Take two pieces of newspaper and paste them together all round the edges, having previously inserted between them a layer of red glazed paper of the same shade as the ball. The other one is prepared in exactly the same way, but contains a layer of black glazed paper to represent the black ball.

The two b.a.l.l.s are now wrapped in the papers, care being taken to cover the red ball with the paper containing the black layer, and vice versa.

After this has been done the performer feigns a slip, mixing up the packages, and thereby confusing the audience as to the relative positions of the b.a.l.l.s. As if to satisfy them on this point he tears a small hole in the outer covering of one of the parcels, exposing say the layer of black paper. The parcel is then placed in the hat on the supposition that it contains the black ball.

The other package is now treated in the same manner, after which the supposed transposition of the b.a.l.l.s will be easily understood.

BALL, HANDKERCHIEF, AND TUMBLER.--This is a very good combination trick, and as such will serve as an example for the arrangement of others. A billiard ball is placed in a small tumbler, which is in turn wrapped in a piece of newspaper and deposited in a borrowed hat. The performer then takes a small silk handkerchief and rolls it up in his hands, when it is seen to have become transformed into a billiard ball.

The gla.s.s is then taken from the hat, and, on the paper being removed, is found to contain the handkerchief. The ball, handkerchief, and tumbler, together with the piece of paper, are then caused to vanish, one at a time, from the hands of the performer, who immediately afterward produces them from the hat.

The modus operandi is as follows:--A duplicate tumbler containing a handkerchief, and wrapped in paper, must be secretly introduced into the hat prior to the commencement of the trick. (See Hat Tricks.) The tumbler containing the ball and wrapped in paper is then placed in the hat. The performer now takes up a duplicate handkerchief, and under cover of the same the hollow ball already described. The handkerchief is worked into the ball, which is shown in due course, and laid on the table, opening downward. The duplicate tumbler is then removed from the hat, and found to contain the handkerchief. These articles, including the piece of paper, are then laid on the table by the side of the ball.

The performer now goes to the hat, and, under pretense of moving it further away, turns it over, thus proving, in conjurer's logic, that it is empty. This can easily be done by taking the hat fingers inside and thumb out, the fingers being inserted in the top of the tumbler. The performer then returns to the table and proceeds to dispose of the articles thereon.

The piece of paper rolled up, and the ball, are caused to vanish by any of the means already explained. To cause the disappearance of the gla.s.s you must be provided with a handkerchief, silk by preference, consisting of two handkerchiefs sewn together round the edges, in the centre of which is fixed a disk of cardboard of the same size as the top of the tumbler. The tumbler being covered with this handkerchief, the performer, as if to satisfy the spectators that it is still there, strikes it several times on the back of a chair, and under cover of the movement allows the gla.s.s to fall into the network servante. The handkerchief, however, owing to the presence of the disk, still appears to contain the gla.s.s, the ultimate disposal of which will now be readily understood.

In conclusion, the performer takes the handkerchief lying on the table and vanishes it by palming in the ordinary way; the right hand being immediately dived into the hat and the handkerchief produced. The other articles should be removed one at a time, not forgetting to crumple the paper into a ball before taking it out.

CHAPTER VI

HAT TRICKS

The uses to which that piece of headgear, the much abused silk hat, lends itself in "l'art magique" are almost innumerable. The chief, however, and the one immediately under consideration, is the production therefrom of a host of heterogeneous articles, of which the following list will give an idea:

_Fifty yards of sash ribbon, eight inches wide._--The ribbon should be folded over and over, in large pleats, so that it can be readily taken from the hat.

_Two dozen fancy cardboard boxes, three and three-fourth inches by two and one-half inches by two and one-half inches._--These are made to fold flat, the size of the parcel when ready for introduction being five inches by three and three-fourth inches by one and one-half inches.

_Two hundred flowers, known as spring flowers._--Each flower when closed is very little thicker than brown paper, but immediately on being released expands to the size of a full-brown tulip. One hundred of these flowers, when closed, can easily be hidden in the hand.

_A string of sausages._--These, it is hardly necessary to remark, are imitation, being made in silk of the required color.

_A bundle of wood._--This is made hollow, consisting of a cardboard case with pieces of wood glued on the outside and on one end, the other being left open. It is usually filled with baby linen, together with a feeding-bottle containing milk.

_One hundred yards of narrow, colored ribbon._--This is made in coils, machine rolled, similar to that used for telegraph purposes. A coil of this ribbon can very well be placed in the bottom of the sham bundle of wood. When producing the coil it should be unrolled from the centre.

_Four pound weight of playing cards._--These make a tremendous show when strewn about the stage. A good plan, also, is to have a number joined together in a long string by means of cotton.

_A cannon ball._--This is usually made in zinc, five inches in diameter, hollow, and provided with a sliding lid. It can be filled with various soft goods, such as handkerchiefs, ribbons, etc., also sweets and bonbons for distribution.

_A solid wooden cannon ball._--This should have a three-quarter inch hole, two inches deep, bored in it toward the centre, for facility in introducing it into the hat.

_A barber's pole, about thirty feet long and four inches to five inches thick at the base._--This is made with stout colored paper, and pulls out from the centre. If the pole be constructed of red, white, and blue paper the performer, when introducing the trick, may announce that he is about to erect the American Colors at the North Pole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 27.--Bowl of Gold Fish]

_A bowl of gold fish._--This really consists of two bowls, one within the other. The s.p.a.ce between the two contains the water and fish, which are inserted through a hole in the bottom of the outer bowl, the latter being afterward corked. The inside bowl is filled with bonbons, etc.

(Fig. 27). The fish used are imitation, being made from pieces of carrot cut to shape.

_A large cage containing a live canary._--The cage, which is telescopic in action, the upper part sliding down into the lower, is nearly twice the height of the hat, and when once taken out cannot be put back. This is owing to the fact that the seed boxes, which in their normal position are on the inside, revolve on spring pivots, as the cage is withdrawn, thus making it impossible to return it to the hat until they are replaced.