CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TWO GREAT UNPERFORMED MIRACLES EXPLAINED

Horse entering box

Horse as seen by audience a. Cabinet c. Dummy Tail b. Dummy Head d. Bucket of water

Sawing through the horse

EVERYONE who sees a magician at work on the stage wishes to know how he obtains his effects. If the audience does not it means that he has failed to perform his tricks properly and is a poor magician. It is not my intention in this book to explain how any of the great tricks which are now being performed either by myself or any other magician are worked. That would be in no one's interests. But I will show you how two of my best inventions work, for neither "Sawing a Horse in Half" nor "The Haunted Sculptor" has ever been performed on the stage, though they could both be built and successfuly performed tomorrow and be as baffling and successful as my Indian Rope Trick or "A Woman Sawn in Half".

"Sawing a Horse in Half" is at first sight a great deal more difficult than sawing a woman through the middle. On the stage there is a horse-box. The horse is led on to the stage by an assistant, enters the box, and the doors at each end are closed. His head and tail, however, can still be seen by the audience at each end of the box. While the trick is being performed the horse takes a drink from a bucket.

Two men mount ladders, one on each side of the horse-box, and with a double-handed saw they cut through the middle of the box and of the horse. The animal seems not to mind what is being done to him. He goes on drinking contentedly, and occasionally he flicks his tail.

Having finished the sawing, the men descend; one of them takes the horse's head and leads him out quite unharmed. The sensation can easily be imagined.

This is how the effect is obtained. The horse is led into the box all right, but he does not stay there long. He enters a container, which is hinged to the side of the box and can be lowered into the floor by means of two cables worked by a winch below the stage. So that the audience will not notice that the horse is not there a dummy head and tail are shown at the ends of the box. These are carefully prepared and worked, and at no time does anyone suspect that they are not real.

The box is sawn through as soon as the horse has been disposed of, when the box is empty. At a given signal the horse-container with the horse inside is brought back to its original position, the doors are opened, and the horse is let out.

It seems easy as soon as it is explained, does it not? Yet I can guarantee that no one seeing it on the stage would be able to explain how it is done.

"The Haunted Sculptor" is even more baffling. When the curtain rises a sculptor is seen working on a statue of a beautiful girl. He is chipping away diligently with his chisel. Suddenly he hits his finger and hurts himself badly. He leaves the stage to bandage his hand.

While he is away the Devil appears. He examines the statue carefully and decides to play a trick on the sculptor. He lifts up the statue and takes it off the stage; then he returns with a real girl, dressed exactly the same as the statue, and he tells her to stand in exactly the same posture as that which the statue had taken up. His work finished to his satisfaction, the Devil vanishes.

The sculptor returns with his finger bandaged and immediately takes up his chisel again. Unfortunately, at the first blow the statue falls to the ground and breaks into seven pieces. The sculptor is grief-stricken. Here is the work of months utterly spoiled. He sinks into a chair and buries his head in his hands.

The Devil takes pity on him and reappears. At a flash of light from his hands the pieces reassemble and stand upright. The Devil takes one hand and leads the lady to the sculptor, who is more amazed than ever now that he sees his statue come to life.

The explanation of this attractive illusion may sound complicated, but it is in reality quite simple. For perfect performance the trick needs careful rehearsal and good showmanship. Here again I can guarantee to perform the trick so that no one guesses how it is done.

On the stage there is a platform, eight feet long, six feet wide, and eight inches deep, and in the middle of this there is another platform which is made to sink and rise; this is six feet long and two feet wide. As the curtain rises the sculptor and his statue, which is made of papier mâché, are on the real platform. When the Devil brings on the real girl, however, she stands on the second platform. against a bar which rises up to support her. This bar is about three feet six inches long, and is attached to a strong spring and a hinge. When the girl's heels touch the hinge her weight causes the platform to fall below the stage, and she vanishes. When this platform touches the bottom it automatically releases two traps which are hinged to the bottom of the platform, and these cover up the space left by the descent of the false platform. On these traps are false arms, legs, head, and trunk, all made of papier mâché.

While these changes are being made good showmanship is necessary, so that the audience's attention is distracted. Of course, it all happens in a shorter space of time than it takes to describe the operations.

When the moment comes for the pieces to become the statue again the traps are released and disappear under the platform. The living figure supported by the bar comes up to the standing position again. The false platform rises level with the real one; by another release the bar falls flat with the platform, and the lady is free to step off on to the stage.

These two are mechanical illusions, and need a professional magician for their proper exhibition. Now I will explain a small illusion which anyone, with practice, should be able to perform.

Imagine seeing someone take a liqueur-glass and unscrew the bottom. He takes off the circle of glass and puts it in his eye like a monocle. Then he screws it back on again and the glass it just as it was at first.

You would say that it was a special glass, but you would be wrong. The glass is an ordinary glass, as you will discover if you examine it carefully enough. The trick is partly optical illusion and partly skill at palming.

To perform this trick, call for any liqueur-glass. Take the top in your left hand and pretend to twist off the round glass bottom with your right. This needs careful rehearsal to give realism. You should pretend that it is stiff at first and that it gradually works loose. And when you are screwing it up again it seems to start easily enough and then needs extra pressure just at the end.

When you have given seven turns or so you take a piece of glass, exactly the same size as the bottom of the glass, and put it in your eye. It looks exactly as if you have taken the bottom of the glass off. The cleverness of the trick lies in the pretence of unscrewing and the deftness with which the palmed glass is produced and hidden again. Some care has to be taken so that the bottom of the glass is not exposed to the audience while the "monocle" is in your eye.

In Yorkshire there is a magical society called "The Mystic Seven of Dewsbury", of which I have the honour to be vice-president. As a preface for their book, Mysteries of the Mystic Seven, I gave them Seven Mystic Points, and I wish to repeat them here, so that any amateur magician who reads this book will be able to benefit from the experience I have gained during my long connection with the stage.

Point One. The first thing on the road to success is ORIGINALITY. Study your own temperament, your own personality, and select your effects accordingly. Point Two. Don't let JEALOUSY overpower you, or envy, when you see another conjurer making a success of a trick. Point Three. Be in a FIT CONDITION both physically and mentally when you start to perform. Forget everything else; concentrate on what you are doing and saying. Point Four. When you hear of something original, invented by someone else, something that is better than what you are doing, don't copy it. Furthermore, don't get discouraged; try to create something better yourself. One original trick of your own is far better than fifteen copied effects. Point Five. The art of conjuring is like a play. Tricks are like actors: the producer chooses the players and the types according to the part they have to portray; therefore be discriminating in your choice of tricks. Point Six. Should you purchase a trick from a dealer, remember that the instructions for the presentation are the same for every purchaser. It is essential, therefore, for you to endeavour to reconstruct the trick to suit your individuality. Point Seven. Last but not least, practise your tricks well. Rehearse walking on and walking off the stage. Pay attention to your hands, whether you are doing a trick or not. Practise bowing to acknowledge applause.