CHAPTER V

MANIPULATIVE PRINCIPLES

BEGINNING with manipulative magic, it will be seen by referring to the previous table that this branch of the subject includes four types, the first on the list being Prearrangement. This, again, has three subdivisions with certain characteristics in common. They all relate to matters which the performer has to set in order before his experiment begins. We shall consider them in the order given.

The principle of Collusion is one in which little merit exists. An effect depending upon this principle is simply a put-up job, by means of which the audience is actually deceived, instead of being dealt with legitimately. Nothing can be simpler than to employ an agent, who pretends to be an ordinary spectator and plays into the performer's hands in some preconcerted manner. This can hardly be regarded as a genuinely magical principle, though there may arise occasions when its use may be justified. As a rule, it is to be avoided as a form of procedure unworthy of a magician whose repute is of any value to him.

Disposition, the principle next on the list, represents the prearrangement of accessories in a certain place or order, as required for the experiments about to be performed. Examples of this principle are provided by the stocking of cards, the loading of pockets or other receptacles, and the manifold details incidental to putting things where they will be wanted during a performance.

Preparation relates to processes employed in tampering beforehand, in some unobtrusive manner, with accessories to be used later on. All devices by means of which articles are "doctored up" for some special purpose that has to be served later on, come under this heading. Marked cards give a familiar illustration of the principle. A more familiar, though less direct, illustration is found in the constant insistence by magicians upon the fact that their accessories are without preparation. We may remark, in passing, that this custom is more honored in the breach than in the observance. A direct repudiation, such as this, only serves to arouse suspicion about things in general, even though the article in question is proved entirely innocent. Better far, in most cases, is the indirect proof of honesty which allays suspicion instead of tending to create it. In certain instances, when an experiment depends for its success upon a strict examination of accessories, the disclaimer is bound to be made, in some form or other. But even then it is well to avoid direct reference to preparation or any other form of trickery. To assure the audience that a receptacle has no trap or false bottom, is about the surest way to make people think there may be something of the kind; whereas, had nothing been said about the matter, they might never have given it a thought. If the thing to be examined can be given into the hands of a spectator and, upon some pretext, he is caused to handle and inspect it in a manner that indirectly suggests the absence of trickery, that is bound to be more satisfactory than the common plan of bluntly inviting the man to satisfy himself that there is no trick in the thing. When, for instance, it is necessary to show that a pack of cards is free from preparation, rather than to ask a spectator to see that such is the case the performer would be wiser were he to request that some stranger oblige him by counting and shuffling the cards. Left at that, every useful purpose is served and no harm done.

Under the general heading of Concealment, the first principle on the list is Covering. It includes all processes in which one action or object serves to screen another from view. Thus, any device for passing one object behind another, or performing an action that is required not to be seen, under the cover of a different movement altogether, is included in this type. Thus, dropping the hands while making the pass, or holding two cards together so as to appear but one only, may be cited in illustration of this principle.

Disposal, the principle next in order, refers to processes by means of which objects are finally put out of sight during the course of an experiment. Dropping an article into the profonde, or other convenient receptacle, is a process of this type. Other examples will readily occur to the reader's memory.

Retaining, the last of this particular group, is the principle of withholding from transit any object which should normally pass from one position to another. Palming a coin in the right hand, while appearing to place it in the left, is a process belonging to this category.

In the general type of processes grouped under the heading of Interposition, the first principle set down is that of Loading. Interposition, of course, is the direct antithesis, of Concealment. It has to do with bringing into play something not employed previously; whereas Concealment indicates the putting away of things already at hand. The principle of Loading is eminently characteristic of its group. It is the most direct and most obvious method of bringing new material into a magical experiment. To cite examples in this instance would be superfluous. Even those who have but a nodding acquaintance with the principles of magic must well understand the nature of this particular item in our catalog. To prevent misunderstanding, however, we may point out that the process of loading consists in transferring a load from its hiding-place to the receptacle from which the contents of the load are to be produced. It does not consist in placing a load in a place where it can be got at when the time comes for loading it into the receptacle intended for it. A process of the latter type comes under the heading of Disposition. It is well to make this point clear, as there appears to be a certain amount of confusion about it. A performer may sometimes find it convenient to say that a chair, for instance, has been loaded, when he means that a load has been set behind a chair, ready for loading. In actual fact, his statement is quite correct; but, in a magical sense, it is not so. Still, so long as the point is clearly understood, and the disposition of a load is not taken to be the same thing as the act of loading, there is no importance in mere choice of words. The only thing that matters is that the meaning of magical terms shall not be subject to confusion, on account of the mixed medley in which their casual use is liable to involve them.

We now come to the principle of Duplication. This includes all processes in which two objects are used where there is supposed to be only one. The familiar experiment in which a coin is apparently made to pass from one hand to another, usually through the performer's knees, is a good example of the uses to which this principle is applied.

The principle of Substitution is nearly allied to the foregoing. The actual difference between them is that, while Duplication interposes an additional object to be used in conjunction with one exactly resembling it, Substitution brings in a new object to replace one that has been destroyed or otherwise put out of use. The experiment in which a card is torn up and apparently restored, with the exception of one piece held by a member of the audience, is based upon this principle.

The last on the list of types comprised in manipulative magic is False Handling. Though not so precisely defined as the other types in this order, it is still sufficiently definite to warrant its standing as a special subdivision. As a matter of fact, several of the principles which belong to other groups may be said to represent modes of false handling. The three principles-Forcing, Securing, and Transposition-are, however, so distinctly different in their mode of application that they obviously form a separate group. For the characteristic feature common to them all and denoting the type they represent, we can find no better title than False Handling.

Forcing is the principle of controlling the selection of a particular object from among a number, while appearing to allow an entirely free choice to be made. It is, in fact, a covert form of "Hobson's choice"--take which you like, but you will only get the one I intend you to have! Its most familiar application is the forcing of a certain card from a pack, spread out fanwise. Another met-hod is that employed in what is called "The Four Ace Trick," wherein a spectator is allowed to make a selection, and the performer interprets the meaning of the choice to be either that the chosen cards shall be used or set aside, according to whether or not they are those he wants to use.

Securing is the principle involved in all manipulative processes for insuring the availability of a certain article in the event of its being required for use. It is closely allied to the principle of Retaining, already discussed. The latter, however, is based upon the concealment of an object; whereas the securing of an object does not necessarily imply that it is concealed. Further, a retained object is merely held back when being apparently passed on, while a secured object is one that is covertly held fast. Thus, when, in the act of passing a pack to be shuffled, certain stocked cards are palmed off, those cards are said to be retained. In a false shuffle, on the other hand, when certain stocked cards are prevented from being mixed with the others, the cards thus held in place are said to be secured. Again, in the trick known as "dealing seconds," the top card is secured, and by a process of substitution the second card is dealt instead. The principle, of course, is not confined to tricks in the handling of cards. It is the basis of every manipulation in which the position of an object, or the arrangement of objects in a particular order, is prevented from changing.

The last principle in this group is that of Transposition. It implies the secret reversal of positions respectively occupied by two or more objects. The well-known card trick called the "pass" illustrates this principle; being a device for transposing the relative positions of the two half-packs. Any other manipulative process by means of which two objects are secretly made to change places will necessarily represent an embodiment of this principle.

This brings us to the end of those principles and methods which are applicable to sleight-of-hand. They represent all that can be done in magic, by means of a performer's hands, apart from other physical aid. The limited number of such principles undoubtedly serves to indicate the fact that, in pure sleight-of-hand, a magician has but slender resources upon which to draw for his effects. Even so, the principles enumerated are not all purely manipulative in their application. A comparison of this list with that of principles available in physical magic will emphasize the limitations of unaided dexterity, in a manner that cannot fail to strike even a casual observer.

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