Later Day Tricks
A. Roterberg
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The Wand and Flying Rings
TRICKS with borrowed rings are ever popular, both with magicians and their audiences, and the trick that I am about to describe will, I hope, prove no exception to the rule. It is not of sufficient length to form a separate trick by itself, but will prove very effective if introduced in connection with some more pretentious tricks in which borrowed rings are used. The effect is as follows; Four borrowed rings are placed in some apparatus like for instance the Davenport Cabinet, Watch Box or any other suitable device that secretly gives the performer immediate possession of them. With the hand in which the rings are palmed the conjurer seizes his wand, working the rings on that end of the latter that is concealed by the hand holding it.
Into the wand, near its other end, is driven in a slanting position, a short needle, which is painted black to match the rest of the wand. The conjurer now states that the rings will one by one leave the apparatus in which they are apparently contained and will travel through the air out of which he will catch them one after the other by the aid of his wand.
Suiting the action to the word the conjurer pretends to see the first ring floating through the air, and proceeds to make a lunge at it with his wand, the ring being seen to appear on the latter. All that the performer did however, was to release one of the rings held concealed under his hand and allowing it to quickly glide along the wand, near the other end of which it is brought to a sudden stop by the needle inserted there.
In the same manner the other rings are caught and are poured on a plate, the wand being reversed for that purpose. The apparatus which previously contained them is shown empty and the rings are then identified by their owners. The catching of the rings is very, deceptive, as the audience cannot tell where the rings come from; this is especially the case with the last three rings, the adding of them to the ring already on the wand occurring from the opposite direction that the spectators' attention is centered upon.
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