CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE INDIAN ROPE TRICK: MY FULL CONFESSION

IT is with Abraham Lincoln's words in mind that I write this confession. He said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." I have tried to fool all the people with my great "Indian Rope Trick", but I am bound to be found out some time, so it is better for me to confess voluntarily straight away. If you want my excuse you can have it in Barnum and Bailey's words: "The public likes to be fooled."

In those far-off pre-War days, when I had newly become a star and was continually playing before royalty, I was annoyed by the number of people who came to me and asked me if I could perform the Indian Rope Trick. I never said I could not do this trick; that would have been bad showmanship. I made all sorts of excuses and tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. The day came, however, when my repertoire of excuses became exhausted, and I saw that my many questioners would soon suspect that this was a trick I could not perform. That was a challenge to my skill as an illusionist, and I resolved to stage this illusion.

I began by reading all I could find about the world-famous trick. I found that quite a number of people had seen it performed in India at one time or another, but their testimonies always seem to have been passed down to us through someone else. There are a few people who profess to have seen the trick, but it is most difficult to confirm their accounts. I finished my reading with the feeling that I was no nearer to the Indian Rope Trick.

This failure, instead of damping my curiosity, encouraged me to further efforts. For my purpose, it did not matter at all whether the trick had been performed or not. All I cared for was that it was a widely publicized illusion, and if I could perform it I should reap the profit. I determined to travel to India to see what I could find for myself. With that aim in view I deliberately booked a tour in India in 1915.

In that strange country I met many magicians and religious men and I asked them all the same question: "Do you know anything of the Indian Rope Trick?" As often as not they asked me to explain what I meant. I would say that a man makes a rope stand up of its own accord. A boy climbs up the rope and, at a signal from the magician, disappears. The magician then climbs the rope with a sword in his teeth. He slashes about at the top of the rope and the limbs and body of the boy fall down. The conjurer climbs down and the different pieces of the boy are placed together. The man takes hold of his hand and the boy rises from the ground unhurt.

The magicians I asked looked at me very gravely, as if they had doubts as to my sanity. Then they shook their heads and said that they knew nothing of such a trick.

I approached learned men who had lived many years in the East, and they told me the same story; they knew nothing of such a trick. I offered one thousand rupees to the man who could take me to see the trick. There was no response. I played in many of the mysterious and romantic towns in India and never even heard the trick mentioned, though, naturally, the talk often ran on the subject of magic.

Having failed to discover anything positive about the famous illusion, I decided that the only course left to me was to invent it myself. I have now three different methods of producing this phenomenon.

The first method is a simplification of the one I had already described. In the open air I can make the rope rise and become rigid. The boy climbs to the top and disappears and the rope falls to the ground.

As a small contribution to the gaiety of Coronation-time I offered to perform this trick in Hyde Park, but the Office of Works refused me permission. I was very much disappointed at the result of our correspondence, which ran as follows

H. M. Office of Works, Storey's Gate, London, S. W. I. Gentlemen, April 1, 1937. I am contemplating performing the Indian Rope Trick in Hyde Park some time next month and I wish to ask permission. Although the performance will take place only once, if permission is given, the spot selected would have to be guarded for six or seven days. As the preparations would entail a considerable outlay of cash and thought, I wish to pay all expenses. I would like to know what it would cost to guard the spot night and day. The performance would take place at a spot near two or three large trees; various lighting effects would have to be connected, but no damage would be done, as the performance may take place at night-time. I would require the spot roped off two hundred feet right and left for the public to view. Of course, it would be a free exhibition. I may require a number of policemen to safeguard the crowd during the performance. However, on hearing from you, I shall be glad to give you more details. Thanking you in advance, Sincerely yours, Horace Goldin.

21C/1937 April 6, 1937. Sir, In reply to your letter of April 1, I am directed by the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Works, etc., to inform you that it is regretted that permission cannot be given for you to perform the Indian Rope Trick in Hyde Park or any other Royal Park. I am, sir, Your obedient servant, Herbert Spencer.

So London lost an opportunity to see this marvellous trick, and the overseas visitors did not see an entertainment which I believe to be without equal in the history of magic.

The second method is the one which I am now presenting very successfully, and this is the one about which I have something to confess.

Ever since I invented this illusion I have consistently deceived my audiences with announcements, publicity, and propaganda... My reason for this deceit is easy to understand.

If I had gone to my audiences and told them the truth, saying that there was no such trick as the Indian Rope Trick, but that I had something quite as good, they would have thought that I was trying to "put something across". When a new trick is invented new publicity has to be invented as well. In fact, the making of the publicity is often more difficult than the invention of the trick. The sort of publicity I should have used if I had said there was never an Indian Rope Trick would have meant the loss of a considerable sum of money, which I spent in experiments preparatory to the showing of the trick, and of the time and energy I expended over my researches.

The Indian Rope Trick

I decided, therefore, that my trick had to be "The Indian Rope Trick", and I built up my publicity around that. I must confess that I enjoyed doing this immensely. When I walk past a theatre now and see the placards, "THE FIRST WHITE MAN TO PERFORM THE INDIAN ROPE TRICK, I feel a glow of pride. I put the act over very well. From the stage I usually make an announcement something like this:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the pleasure of presenting to you the most talked-of trick in the universe, the trick you have no doubt read of in the Press, 'The Indian Rope Trick', as performed by the Yogis. It seems that the Yogis are the only people to know the secret of this phenomenon. During my travels in India I met a very holy man, Yogi Caram Dumbila (a name I made up). We became very friendly and we exchanged ideas. He showed me, among other things, how it was possible to hang head downwards from a tree for days. It came to my knowledge that this Yogi was a master of the Indian Rope Trick, which was performed as a sacred and secret religious rite, and I asked him to divulge the secret.

"For many days he refused, but at last he imparted the secret after I had sworn on oath not to perform it until he had passed away. I have waited eighteen years. I was sworn to secrecy in a very strange fashion. The holy man ran a sharp instrument across the back of his right hand, so that blood appeared. Then he asked me to place my left hand on the back of his right. He told me that if the blood dried within five minutes I was not to be trusted. It was fifteen minutes before that blood disappeared, and thereupon the Yogi told me the secret."

It is a pretty tall story, and yet most of the people who have heard it believed it implicitly. That shows how easy it is, with the aid of a little ingenuity, to take people in. It is lucky that I have never had criminal instincts. I must warn you, however, that reading it in cold print is very different from hearing me in the theatre.

By means of this publicity my trick has been given the interest which I am certain it merits. I hope that my readers will forgive me for my deceit and accept my confession. Now you can turn your admiration and appreciation in the right direction, because I am the only man in the world to produce this much-talked-of phenomenon.

Nor is this all. There are still greater wonders to come. I have planned a sensational variation of the first, or open-air, method, and I am preparing a really fantastic third method. In the first of these I climb up the rope after the boy, who has disappeared. I cut the air with a knife and pieces of the boy fall down. These pieces are placed in a large cloth held by my assistants, rolled and then unrolled, and the boy emerges unscathed. That brings the trick in line with the fabled Indian Rope Trick.

For the still more sensational version of the trick I shall require an aeroplane. This flies around the chosen spot, discharging clouds of smoke. A rope is placed in a cannon, which is fired towards the aeroplane. The boy climbs this rope, disappears, and when the aeroplane lands the boy is found to be inside.

There have been, as you are no doubt aware, very many challenges issued concerning this famous illusion. About three years ago, when I began to see how to perfect this illusion, I cabled to the Magic Circle from Gibraltar taking up their challenge, which was for the sum of £500, and yet I have not yet received the invitation to demonstrate the trick. Mr. Bertam Mills Mills has made a standing offer of £5000 for a performance of the trick, and this reward I intend to claim.

I can confidently state that my Indian Rope Trick is unbeatable. I have confessed the deceit I practised in order to obtain the necessary publicity. Now that it has been seen and acclaimed by millions of people I feel that it can stand by itself; one of the greatest illusions over to be presented before any audience.

So, if confession is no crime, I am not guilty, my lord--thank you!