A Matter of Record
By Judson Brow
"Doubtless you have heard people remark, 'As a matter of record, this is what I think I' or 'I think I should like to go on record as saying such and such.' Of course they don't really say 'such and such,' but you got the idea, and probably never having seen anyone put any thing on record, for all you've heard them talk about it, you wonder how it's done. I'll show you. First, we must have a record, and to make it even better we'll use two of them."
A couple of flat phonograph records are shown. (Readers will please omit jokes about flat phonographs.)
"But we must have something to go on record. Here is a deck of cards--suppose we use one of them. Will you, sir, kindly select one? While I am shuffling it back in the pack, I would like the records to be examined.
The performer passes out the records, making jokes about the titles of the selections if he is that type of performer. Eventually the records are placed together and a pencil is run through the holes in the center of the records. They are then tied together and given to a spectator, who holds the pencil at either end, thus suspending the records between his hands. Another spectator holds the pack of cards. At command, a transposition takes place. The selected card vanishes from the deck and appears between the two records, impaled upon the pencil.
No duplicates are employed hence a free selection of the cards is allowed and the selected card may be marked to prove the transposition is real as well as apparent.
The preparation consists in smearing some wax on the center of one side of one record. This is not put on as a pellet but spread on thin, and polished down, in which condition the record may be passed for examination without any danger of the wax being detected.
The card is selected and replaced. While the performer is busily engaged in recklessly shuffling the cards, while making sure the selected card remains on top, the records are passed for examination. The deck is put on the table. When the records are returned, the performer places them together so that the waxed side of the prepared record is on the outside, facing down. He lays the records on the table--and on the deck--while he borrows a pencil. When he picks up the records, he first presses down, which causes the top card to adhere to the wax. The records may be shown casually, as maqicians show slates, then they are placed together with the card between the two. They are tied to prevent the card from being prematurely exposed to view. A sharp pencil is thrust through the holes, and the card, and then the spectator holds the ends of the pencil.
All properties are out of control of the performer. In spite of this he can still cause the transposition to take place, chiefly because it has already done so. The person who drew the card names it, the magician commands the passage to be made magically. The spectator with the pack finds that the chosen card has vanished. The records are separated and there on the pencil is the proper, marked, card.