Preface

The argument is "What constitutes a magician?" One fellow says the magician is the one who by adroitness in every case accomplishes his miracles. The claim has been put forth that the true lover of the art learns his difficult sleights to accomplish the effect and then does them in an artistic manner. That sounds fine and is fine in its own way but in my opinion does not make a magician by a long shot. Sleights are many and varied. Some you can learn in half an hour and others take a little longer to learn perfectly, say two or three years. After you learn it, it may be very useful or it may not be any good except for a show of dexterity. Here is my opinion of a magician, and a real one at that.

A magician is the fellow who by manner and address, instead of much dexterity, is able to deceive his watchers by mis-direction in his talk and personality. Rather deep? Not so, because I can put it in a more common and perhaps slangy way. Plain bunk and bluff put forward in a gentlemanly way with showmanship and a regard for the good opinion of the public.

Of course, there is a big difference in working from the stage and mingling with the audience. There are a lot of performers who can put on a model act from the stage, but when it comes to a private or impromptu drawing room entertainment they are "out." Why? Because they are not adept at working with their audience personally. The performer can stand on the stage and show a box empty and then produce a rabbit with ease and the spectator cannot say a word or make a motion to prevent the working of the trick, but in the drawing room and club he feels at home enough to make remarks about this and that, and at the same time comes in contact with performer enough so that some motion at a critical time in the experiment he may be helping is going to ruin it. There is the difference. The close worker must be always ready to place his wits up against those of the spectators seated around him and beat them at their own game but at the same time keeping a perfectly gentlemanly poise.

There are many far and near who at times feel like beating up a "Wise guy... who has without doubt "bummed" his way in free gratis but never a word can you say or thing can you do. A kind slam or a loud mouthed exposure from the audience is nothing but a hit below the belt to the magician as it only takes a word to change an audience's opinion.

So there you are. Magic is an art but when you get to the root it is nothing but your personality and wit against that of your watcher, and a case of telling him to do as he pleases and then letting him do what you want him to. You can't afford to be bashful in this line. It takes nerve and polite forwardness but don't make the mistake of thinking that I mean you should get big-headed and think you are better than the audience. They could probably "break" you in business but they are out of their environment for a little pleasure and you are being paid to furnigh it. Don't browbeat and bully them and scowl and growl but keep your face smiling and at the same time go at your task as if you know what you are doing and just how to do it.

There is the magician. Not the greatest sleight-of-hand man in the world but the one who, to quote in a slangy way, can take a highly intelligent audience and bluff, blow and force his way through an act of mystery and have his whole audience talk about the wonderful performance and the highly polished, gentlemanly and smooth ways of the entertainer. Who else has anything to say about this subject?

-Annemann