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Title: The Practical Magician and Ventriloquist's Guide - A practical manual of fireside magic and conjuring - illusions, containing also complete instructions for - acquiring and practising the art of ventriloquism.
Author: Anonymous
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Practical Magician and Ventriloquist's Guide - A practical manual of fireside magic and conjuring - illusions, containing also complete instructions for - acquiring and practising the art of ventriloquism." ***
THE
Practical Magician
AND
VENTRILOQUIST’S GUIDE.
A PRACTICAL MANUAL OF
FIRESIDE MAGIC AND CONJURING ILLUSIONS,
CONTAINING ALSO
COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACQUIRING & PRACTISING
The Art of Ventriloquism.
NEW YORK
HURST & CO., Publishers,
75 NASSAU STREET.
(Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1876, by
THOMAS D. HURST,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.)
BEST BOOK ON THE “BLACK ART.”
PARLOR PASTIMES.
_A NEW BOOK ON_
MAGIC, CONJURING, LEGERDEMAIN,
AND PRESTIDIGITATION.
BY THE CELEBRATED
PROFESSOR RAYMOND
This work is certainly the most exhaustive one on Magic that has ever
been issued. It exposes all the secrets of the Wizard’s Art. No trick
or illusion of importance is left unnoticed, and the explanations are
made in so simple a manner that any one of ordinary comprehension can
readily understand and perform them. The book thoroughly elucidates all
the mysteries connected with
White Magic,
Natural Magic,
Jugglery,
Sleight-of-Hand,
Electricity,
Chemistry,
Cards,
Coins,
Galvanism,
Magnetism,
Legerdemain,
Necromancy,
Fireworks,
Mechanics,
The Black Art,
Prestidigitation.
It also contains a grand assortment of
_RIDDLES_, _CONUNDRUMS_, _CHARADES_, _ENIGMAS_, _REBUSES_,
_TRANSPOSITIONS_, _ANAGRAMS_, _PUZZLES_,
_PARADOXES_, _ACROSTICS_, _AND PROBLEMS_.
A study of this extremely interesting work would make any one
thoroughly expert in the art of Amusing, whether in private or public.
The work may be consulted with profit either by the Amateur or
Professional Magician.
Price Twenty-Five Cents.
Sent to any address on receipt of price. Address
HURST & CO., 75 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction. 8
Of palmistry and the passes. 9
To command a dime to pass into the centre of a ball of wool,
so that it will not be discovered till the ball is unwound
to the very last of its threads. 13
To change a bowl of ink into clear water with gold fish in it. 14
The dancing egg. 15
The walking cent. 16
Tricks with and without collusion. 19
To make a quarter and a penny change places while held in
the hands of two spectators. 23
Trick with the dime, handkerchief, and an orange or lemon. 23
How to double your pocket money. 24
The injured handkerchief restored. 25
To make a large die pass through the crown of a hat without
injuring it. 26
To produce from a silk handkerchief bon-bons, candies,
nuts, etc. 27
Practice. 29
A sudden and unexpected supply of feathers from under a
silk handkerchief or cloth. 31
Heads or Tails? 33
To cook pancakes or plumcakes in a hat over some candles. 34
To eat a dish of paper shavings and afterwards draw them
from your mouth like an Atlantic cable. 36
How to cut off a person’s nose without injuring him. 37
Tricks by magnetism, chemistry, galvanism and electricity. 39
The watch obedient to the word of command. 41
A chemical trick, to follow one where a young friend has
assisted. 43
To draw three spools off two tapes without those spools
having to come off the ends of those tapes, and while
the four ends of the tapes are held by four persons. 44
To restore a tape whole after it has been cut in the middle. 46
On the continuity of tricks. 49
The invisible hen, a very useful trick for supplying eggs for
breakfast or dinner. 53
Tricks with a plain gold ring. 56
Friendly suggestions. 59
The conjuror’s “bonus genius” or familiar messenger. 61
The shower of money. 63
To furnish the ladies with a magic supply of tea or coffee,
at their selection, from one and the same jug. 64
To furnish a treat to the gentlemen. 66
Ventriloquism. 67
Ventriloquism among the ancients. 70
Modern professors of the art. 71
The theory of ventriloquism. 76
The means by which it is effected. 79
Practical illustrations. 81
Polyphonic imitations. 87
A mountain echo. 88
Points to be remembered. 88
Concluding remarks. 90
To make the magic whistle. 91
[Illustration: Decoration]
THE PRACTICAL MAGICIAN
AND
VENTRILOQUIST’S GUIDE.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY.
My object in writing these hints on CONJURING is for the benefit of
amateurs to promote lively and entertaining amusement for the home
circle and social gatherings.
My large experience enables me to explain and simplify many of the
best tricks and illusions of the art. I present the key to many of the
mystical mysteries which have puzzled and bewildered our childhood days
as well as confounded us in our maturer years.
The young student can in a very short time, if he be in the least
of an ingenious turn, amuse and astonish his friends, neighbors and
acquaintances.
Preference has been given to those tricks which suggest others, the
more complete and difficult performances and illusions have been passed
by as being out of place; I shall not, therefore, in these elementary
papers advert to those experiments which require ample resources, or
a prepared stage, for exhibiting them—or which can only be displayed
to advantage by consummate skill and the most adroit manipulation—but
confine my remarks at present to those branches of the art to the
performance of which a young amateur may aspire with prospect of
success.
A few hours’ practice will enable the learner to execute the simple
tricks that I shall first treat of; and they will only require
for their display such articles as are readily available in every
household. Most of them will be supplied by any company of a few
friends, and if not in the parlor, can be brought from no greater
distance than the kitchen or housekeeper’s room; such as handkerchiefs,
coins, oranges, or eggs, a glass bowl, etc., etc. There may only
remain a few inexpensive articles to be supplied from repositories for
the sale of conjuring apparatus, or they may be had direct from the
publishers of this work.
It may be well explicitly to avow that the time is quite gone by when
people will really believe that conjuring is to be done by supernatural
agencies. No faith is now reposed in the “black art of sorcery,” or
even in the art to which the less repulsive name was given of “white
magic.” Many years have elapsed since conjurors have seriously assumed
to themselves any credit as possessing supernatural powers, or as
enabled by spiritual agency to reveal that which is unknown to science
and philosophy, or mysteriously to work astonishing marvels.
A well-marked contrast exists between the old school of conjurors and
those of modern times. The former, who used boldly to profess that they
employed mysterious rites and preternatural agency, designedly put the
spectator upon false interpretations, while they studiously avoided
giving any elucidation of the phenomena, nor would ever admit that the
wonders displayed were to be accounted for by the principles of science
and natural philosophy.
Modern conjurors advance no such pretensions. They use as
scientifically as possible the natural properties of matter to aid
in their exhibition of wonderful results. They are content to let the
exhibition of their art appear marvelous. They sometimes mystify the
matter, and so increase the puzzle, in order to heighten the interest
and amusement of the spectators; but they throw aside any solemn
asseveration of possessing hidden powers, or of ability to fathom
mysterious secrets.
It may be admitted that proficients and exhibitors still adopt language
that has become current with conjurors, and in common parlance it may
be asserted that the wonderful Mr. So-and-So undertakes to pass some
solid object through a wall or a table; to change black into white, and
white into black; to place rings in closely-fastened boxes, or draw
money out of people’s ears; and conjurors may with ridiculous humor
distract the attention of spectators, so that accurate observation
is not fixed upon the object that is to undergo before their eyes
some singular transformation; but no outrageous bombast or positive
falsehoods are commonly advanced. And the practical meaning of any
exaggerated pretension is clearly understood to mean no more than that
Mr. So-and-So undertakes to present before you what, TO ALL APPEARANCE,
is the conversion of black into white, or vice versa; and the audience
are clearly aware that no more is assumed to be presented to them
than a very striking illusion, undistinguishable from a reality; and
how this is effected will be in many cases wholly untraceable, and
therefore the trick is inimitable.
We may be permitted to feel some pleasure in the conviction that
the exhibition of our art in its more striking exploits is really
marvelous, and very attractive; for we certainly have the power of
placing some astonishing phenomena before our audience; and we may
surely prize the estimation with which the uninitiated are disposed to
honor us, but we erect no vain-glorious assumptions upon these data,
as we are quite contented with fair praise intelligently accorded to
us. And so far from closely concealing the principles and arcana of
our science, we are ready plainly to avow that it all depends upon
faculties that all may attain by patient culture, and exhibit by
careful practice. Undoubtedly there are less and greater degrees of
excellence to be obtained by proportionate intelligence and dexterity.
There are attainments in the art, at which, by natural qualification
and peculiar adaptation, special study, practice, and experience
enable some few only to arrive. These qualifications cannot be easily
communicated to every one who might wish to possess them; and therefore
the highest adepts will ever have an incommunicable distinction. But
this is no more than is the case in the medical, the legal, and any
learned profession, in all which the most eminent proficients reserve
to themselves, or unavoidably retain, an unquestioned superiority.
At the same time there is much in our art that may be communicated,
and the present papers will show to our friends that we are willing
to impart to others such portions of our art as they are capable of
acquiring; and we trust that what we shall communicate to them will
furnish them much rational recreation among themselves, and enable
them to supply innocent and interesting amusement to their friends and
companions.
CHAPTER II.
OF PALMISTRY AND PASSES.
The true nature and limit of the art of Conjuring has now been
defined—what it is that we assume to do, and wherein we have
discontinued the exaggerated pretensions of the conjurors of the old
school; and I have hinted in what respects, and within what bounds, a
young amateur may gim at exhibiting some amusing experiments in our
art. But it remains for me to explain the grand pre-requisite for a
novice to cultivate before he should attempt to exhibit before others
even the simplest tricks of prestidigitation or legerdemain, to which
we at present confine our attention.
I have first to speak of PALMISTRY, not in the sense that the
fortune-teller uses the word, but as expressing the art of the conjuror
in secreting articles in the PALM of one hand while he appears to
transfer those articles to his other hand. It is absolutely necessary
that the young amateur should acquire the habit of doing this so
adroitly as to escape the observation of others while doing it openly
before their eyes.
The two principal passes are the following:
FIRST PASS; or, method of apparently carrying an object from the right
hand to the left, while actually retaining it in the right hand.
The reader will please to observe that the illustrative sketches depict
the hands of the performer as seen by himself.
FIRST POSITION OF PASS 1.
The right hand, having the knuckles and back of the fingers turned
toward the spectators, and holding openly a cent, or some similar
object, between the thumb and forefinger, must be moved toward the left
hand.
The left hand must be held out, with the back of the hand toward the
ground, as exhibited in the illustration. (Fig. 1.)
[Illustration: FIG. 1. First Position of Pass 1.]
SECOND POSITION OF PASS 1.
The left hand must appear to close over the object that is brought
toward it, at the same instant that the right hand secretes and
withdraws that object.
The left hand that appeared to receive it must continue closed. The
right hand, though it actually retains the object, must be allowed to
hang loosely over it, so that it appears to have nothing in it.
[Illustration: FIG. 2. Second Position of Pass 1.]
The performer then may blow upon the closed left hand, and may say,
“Fly,” or “Begone,” or any similar expression, and then open his
left hand, holding it forward. Of course there is nothing in it, and
the object seems to have flown from it, and the spectators are much
surprised.
SECOND PASS.—Method of apparently transferring an object from the left
hand to the right, while retaining it in the left hand.
FIRST POSITION.
Let the left hand hold up the object in its open palm. The right hand
is brought toward the left hand, but only appears to grasp it.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. First Position of Pass 2.]
SECOND POSITION.
The left hand secretes the object in its palm, while the fingers are
allowed to fall loosely down, appearing to retain nothing under them.
At the very same moment the right hand must be closed, and remain
in shape as if containing the object, with the second joints of the
fingers pointed toward the spectators, and the back of the hand toward
the ground. The performer then holding his right hand forward, may blow
on it and say “Change—fly,” and opening that hand, the spectator deems
the object has passed away from it, though in fact it has remained all
along in the left hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. Second Position of Pass 2.]
The illusion in either of these passes is, that the spectator seeing
both hands move as if the object were passing from one to the other,
thinks it has done so; whereas, in fact, the object always remains in
the hand where it was first visible to the spectators. The BACK of that
hand where the object is first displayed must afterwards be kept well
toward the spectators.
Observe, the eye of the performer must rest always on the hand or
object at which he desires the spectators to look, and whatever he
wishes them not to notice, he himself must refrain from looking at.
If it is not required that the very object that has been held up in
these passes be seen again by the spectators, the performer must
quietly pocket it, or drop it on a handkerchief on his table, or inside
a hat, or otherwise get rid of it as soon as he conveniently can.
On the contrary, if that very object must be again produced or
transferred to a person standing at some little distance, this must be
effected by one of the following methods:
Either you must take care beforehand to place adroitly in that person’s
cap or pocket a double or similar object.
Or, you must walk up to him, and putting your hand on his hair, sleeve,
or pocket, quickly place there the object you have all along retained,
and which you must pretend by this manœuvre to find in his possession.
Or, lastly, you will see in the first trick subjoined, a method of
substituting one object for another.
* * * * *
FIRST TRICK.—To command a dime to pass into the centre of a ball of
Berlin wool, so that it will not be discovered till the ball is unwound
to the very last of its threads.
REQUISITE PREPARATIONS, TO BE MADE PRIVATELY.
You will require a glass bowl or quart basin, and you must have a
flattened tube of tin about four inches long. It must be just large
enough to let a dime slide easily through it by its own weight. Round
the end on this tube wind a ball of Berlin wool of bright color,
covering about two inches of the tube, and projecting about an inch
beyond the end of it. Place this ball with the tube in it in your
right-hand pocket of coat tail, (or in the left breast-pocket, if that
is large enough to hold it completely covered.) Lastly, place a dime
concealed in the palm of your left hand.
Commence the exhibition of the trick by requesting one of the
spectators to mark a dime (or cent) of his own, so that he will be sure
to know it again. Then ask him to lend you that coin. Holding it up in
your right hand, you may say, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is the
marked dime which I shall experiment with. The gentleman has accurately
marked it, so that there can be no mistake about its identity when
reproduced.” Then by Pass 1 pretend to transfer the marked coin to your
left hand, but in reality retain it in your right hand. Next, hand with
your left hand your own dime (which had been secreted in that hand) to
some person, and request him to hold it. Choose for this person some
one three or four yards distant from yourself, and also from the person
who originally marked the coin. It is unnecessary to explain that you
do so, lest the two should compare notes. Of course, the person who
is asked to hold it will believe that it is the very dime that was
borrowed.
You may proceed to say: “Now we want a ball of worsted.” So, placing
your right hand in your pocket, pretend to feel about for something in
your pocket, and while doing so you must place the dime in the top of
the tin tube, and shake it down. Then carefully draw the tube out of
the ball of worsted; and leave the tube in your pocket, but draw the
ball out of your pocket, pressing it together while doing so.
Then request some one to feel the ball in order to ascertain that it
has no opening towards its centre.
You may here make some humorous remark about your having such a ball in
your pocket. As for instance:
“Ladies may think it odd that I have such a ball of Berlin wool in my
pocket. It was bought to please my cousin Mary Ann, or my Aunt Tabitha.
Well, it will do very fairly for our experiment.”
Then request some one to hold the glass basin containing the woollen
ball. While you retain in your hand the end of the woollen thread,
address the gentleman who has consented to hold the dime, asking him
to hand it to you. Take it in your right hand, pretend by Pass 1 to
transfer it to your left hand, but in reality keep it concealed in your
right hand.
Holding up your closed left hand, (which in fact has nothing in it,)
you may say:
“Now, dime, pass along this woollen thread into the very centre of the
woollen ball which is there held in the glass bowl or basin.”
Blow upon your left hand, and show that the dime is gone.
You must adroitly get rid of the dime, which has remained secreted in
your right hand, by placing it in your pocket or sleeve while making
some humorous remark, or while asking some lady or gentleman to draw
the woollen thread till it is all unwound. It will be done the quicker
by letting the ball be confined loosely in the bowl with two fingers
preventing its leaping out.
Draw attention to how completely the coin is wrapped up till you arrive
at the very last circles, when it will drop into the bowl.
Hand the dime to the owner who marked it, and let him declare whether
he recognizes it as the very one he lent you. His affirmative will
surprise the spectators.
SECOND TRICK.—To change a bowl of ink into clear water, with gold fish
in it.
REQUISITE PREPARATION, TO BE MADE PRIVATELY BEFOREHAND.
The same glass bowl as in previous trick. If your bowl has not a foot
to it, it must be placed on something that will hold it high above your
table. Some small fish, a white plate or saucer, a piece of black silk
just fitting the inside of your bowl, a spoon of peculiar construction,
so that in a hollow handle it will retain about a teaspoonful of ink,
which will not run out as long as a hole near the top of the handle is
kept covered or stopped. A large tumbler and two or three minnows will
do for a simpler exhibition, but will, of course, not be so pleasing to
the eye.
Place the black silk so as to cover the part of the bowl that is
shaded; when damp it will adhere to the glass. Pour in clear water to
fill the space covered by the black silk, and place the fish in the
water.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
Commence the trick in public thus: Holding the spoon-handle slanting up
and uncovering the hole in the handle, the ink which you have placed
in the handle will run into the bowl of the spoon, and the spoon being
held carefully to the surface of the water, concealing the black silk,
will give the spectators the impression that you fill the spoon from
the glass bowl.
Pour the spoonful of ink on a white saucer, and show it round to
convince the spectators it is ink. They will see it is undeniably ink,
and they will conclude, if the spoon were properly lifted out of the
bowl, that the glass bowl contains nothing but ink.
Borrowing a silk handkerchief, place it for a few seconds over the
bowl, and feigning to be inviting fish to come to the bowl, exclaim
“Change!” Then, placing your hand on the edge of the bowl near
yourself, draw off the handkerchief, and with it take care to catch
hold also of the black silk. The bowl when uncovered will exhibit
the fish swimming about in clear water. While the spectators are
surprised at the fish, return the handkerchief, having first dropped
out of it the black silk on your side of the table. Decline giving any
explanation, as people will not thank you for dispelling the illusion.
THIRD TRICK.—The Dancing Egg.
REQUISITE PREPARATION TO BE MADE IN PRIVATE.
An egg-shell that has been blown (my young friends will know that the
way to blow an egg is to make a small hole at each end of the egg.
Then, by blowing at one end, the yolk will be driven out, and the
egg-shell be left empty.)
Make a hole also on the side of the egg, in which insert a chip of
wood, or a small pin, held by a fine black silk thread, about twelve or
fourteen inches long, which must have a loop at the far end, which loop
fasten to a button on the coat or waistcoat; and have on a dark vest,
otherwise the dark thread becoming visible, will reveal the moving
power.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
Commence by borrowing two black hats. If there is an instrument in
the room, ask some one to play a lively tune, as “eggs are fond of
lively music to dance to.” Then, with the brim of a hat in each hand,
interpose the round of each hat successively under the thread that
holds the egg, moving them from your breast toward the egg. The egg
will appear to move of itself over the hats, as you place them under
it.
You must not allow people to handle the egg on the thread afterwards,
for when they see the simplicity of the process they will undervalue
the trick, whereas it appears marvellous as long as they do not
understand how the extraordinary movements are produced. And in these
illusions, as Hudibras expresses it,
Doubtless, the pleasure is as great
In being cheated as to cheat.
FOURTH TRICK.—The Walking Cent.
PRELIMINARY PREPARATION IN PRIVATE.
Ask for a long dark hair from some lady’s tresses. Have a pin in shape
of a hook, or a small loop affixed to the end of this hair, and fasten
a little piece of beeswax (less than a pea) at the other end of the
hair. Fasten the hair by the loop to a button on your vest, taking care
to wear a dark-colored vest. The hair may be allowed to hang from your
vest, with the beeswax visible. Have a glass of water or cup on the
table.
Commence the exhibition of the trick by borrowing a cent. While
pretending to examine the cent to see if it is a good one, press the
waxed end of the hair firmly to the under side of the cent, and place
it about a foot from the edge of a table. Then bid the cent to move
toward you, to the right or to the left, and by gently moving your body
in whatever direction you name, the hair will draw the cent in the same
direction. You may say, while your left hand is near the table, “Now,
cent, move up my arm.” Advancing your arm gently, the cent will appear
to move up to your elbow. It is your arm that moves, but it will appear
to the spectators as if the cent moved; or you may help it up the
outside of the sleeve by interposing your right hand under the hair, so
as to draw up the cent, while appearing to beckon it.
“Now, cent, as you have performed so well, you shall have a bath.”
Placing the tumbler near the edge of the table, draw the cent into it.
After exhibiting it in the water, say, “Oh, cent, you must not stay so
long in the water.” Then jerk it out upon the table. Detach the waxed
end of the hair by your nail, after which return the cent to the person
who loaned it to you.
When performing this trick, in order to keep the spectators at a little
distance, you must inform them that “the cent is very susceptible to
magnetic influences, and request ladies not to approach too near it, as
the loadstones of their eyes are the cause of the magnetic attraction.”
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
My young friends must remember that it is absolutely necessary to
keep up in spectators their belief in the mysterious, and therefore
must decline on the spot to give explanations before or after the
performance of this trick, however they may be disposed to reveal the
secret privately to any friend. A singular instance is recorded of
a person who was grievously disappointed when by importunity he had
received an explanation of this very trick, which had appeared at
first to him a most marvellous phenomenon; and he was quite annoyed
when the gilt was stripped off his ginger-bread. It is said that a
gentleman walked into a coffee-room at Manchester, England, and was
exhibiting to a friend the above trick. A traveler at a table near them
had his attention drawn by their laughing discourse, while one of them
exhibited the trick to the other. The cold barrier of English reserve
was broken down, and he addressed one of the strangers, requesting to
be informed how the trick was done. For his part he imagined it must
be connected with some perfectly new philosophical law of attraction
involved in the experiment. “Will you be kind enough to tell me? I
shall be happy to offer a fee to learn it. I was about to proceed by
the next train, but I will gladly defer my journey to understand this,
which appears so unaccountable.”
The gentleman declined for a considerable time; but at length, being
overcome by the importunity, in order to get rid of the matter,
assented. The time of the departure of the train had arrived and passed
by, and the aspirant offered two guineas to learn the trick. The
gentleman acceded to his request on condition that he should faithfully
promise not to reveal it to others, or to make public the mystery.
“Agreed,” says the traveler. The mail train was gone—the money paid—the
trick exhibited and explained to him. “Oh!” cried the traveler,
“how easy and plain it is. What a simpleton I have been to lose my
journey and spend my money only to learn how you—.” “Stop!” cried the
gentleman, “remember you have promised not to divulge the secret.”
“Yes, but how foolish to care for an experiment which only depends
on—.” “Stop, sir, stop. Are you going to tell all the room?” and thus
a good half-hour’s amusement was caused by the traveler fretting over
his simplicity, and having relinquished an important journey for
that which, though marvellous while a secret, became so simple and
uninteresting to him after an explanation.
CHAPTER III.
TRICKS WITH AND WITHOUT COLLUSION.
In resuming my hints to amateurs, I shall now offer some remarks upon
two subjects.
FIRST.—I will notice the class of tricks that are performed by the
collusion of a confederate. Old books on conjuring record several of
this description, and some conjurors still practise them. But I do
not advise the inexperienced frequently to exhibit tricks of this
sort, for the co-operation of assistants used in them is liable to be
traced by spectators, or to be divulged by the person who has been
employed to aid in the exhibition of them. They may, indeed, be very
well as a make-shift until dexterity of hand is acquired; but they
will always rank as an inferior branch of the science of conjuring,
and if the collusion is discovered, it will throw discredit even
upon those tricks which the same performer may exhibit without such
collusive arrangement. An instance of the annoying failure of such
dependence upon confederates is recorded in “Houdin’s Memoirs.” It is
there related that Torrini, at the commencement of his career, was
insidiously induced by an envious rival (Pinetti) to undertake a public
exhibition of his art before a very grand assembly. Torrini was at the
time diffident of his own attainments, but he was persuaded to make
the attempt by the assurance of Pinetti that he would take care that
several confederates should be present, and should help in carrying out
sundry illusions which he would have to display. One of these was, that
the conjuror, after borrowing a ring, was to restore it magically into
the possession of its owner. The ring was borrowed, and some mysterious
gesticulations practised; but instead of the contemplated result being
produced, the false confederate proclaimed aloud that he had lent
a very valuable jewelled ring, and had only received back a common
copper ring. The audience was of course disappointed at such words so
derogatory to the conjuror. This unpleasant feeling was deepened by
the malicious meddling of another false confederate. Torrini had to
present some cards to the King of Naples, who was honoring the assembly
by witnessing the exhibition, and a card was selected by his Majesty.
Instead, however, of being pleased with what he saw on the card, the
king manifested intense disapprobation. The confederate had written on
the card words of disrespect and insult, and Torrini had to retire amid
the loud censures of the enraged spectators. There may be no danger
of so disastrous results to a young amateur; but dissatisfaction of
a milder kind will probably ensue whenever it is discovered that any
trick has depended upon the secret co-operation of an assistant among
the spectators.
The SECOND topic which I propose at present to discuss is the
employment of mechanism—such mechanical constructions as boxes with
false sides, cabinets with secret drawers, or double compartments, etc.
It makes a great difference whether such arrangements are used as
subordinate aids, or as constituting the essence and substance of
the illusion. In the former respect it is quite legitimate to take
advantage of any well-arranged mechanical aid subordinately. In fact,
nearly all tricks must be performed with some modified aid of artistic
contrivance, or with mechanical implements adroitly used. The conjuror,
therefore, unavoidably requires, and may advantageously employ,
mechanical arrangements to give greater effect to his illusions. I only
wish to dissuade the learner from relying solely upon mere mechanical
puzzles, or artistic contrivances, for furnishing an interesting
exhibition of the conjuror’s art.
The fewer the contrivances which he employs of this sort, and the more
entirely the performance rests upon sleight-of-hand the more lively
will be the surprise of the spectators.
I myself prefer doing without the aid of any confederate, and without
mechanical aids; but I must remember that I am writing for amateurs and
novices in the art, and that, in proportion as they are unpractised
in palmistry, and in what the French term prestidigitation, (preste
digite, signifying “ready fingers,”) it will be desirable for them, at
first, to have the assistance which mechanism will supply towards the
exhibition of their tricks.
Let them, however, keep such aids as subordinate and as secret as
possible. For instance, in the preparation for exhibiting the first
trick described on page 12, the small tin tube (which is requisite for
the performance of that trick) must not be seen by the audience, either
BEFORE or AFTER the trick is exhibited, but must be kept secreted in
the pocket. Again, in Trick No. 4, the preparation of the hair and
beeswax must be made PRIVATELY beforehand; and these implements must
vanish out of sight when the trick is over. And the reader must observe
that in both the first and fourth tricks the mechanical aid employed
is the minor and subordinate part of the tricks, and that a successful
exhibition of either of them depends really on the dexterity of the
passes, and of manipulations by the performer.
It may be admitted, then, that, with regard to the first topic of our
present paper, the young conjuror need not be restrained from employing
the subordinate aid of an assistant, so far as this may carry him over
difficulties which he cannot otherwise surmount in the present stage of
his imperfect skill.
And in regard to the second topic, the employment of mechanical
contrivances, (though it may be well to begin with those departments of
the art which are easier, because aided by mechanical apparatus,) it
will be desirable for the amateur to strive to get free from dependence
upon such aids. Mechanical arrangements cannot be wholly discarded at
any time, and the conjuror will always require a few implements; but
the more he advances in dexterity of hand, quickness of eye, control of
his hand and eye, instantaneous adaptation of his words and movements
to contingencies as they arise, the more able will he become to elude
the observation of the most watchful spectators, and to mislead their
imagination, so that they shall fancy that they see him DO things which
he only APPEARS to do, and shall blindly fail to observe actions and
movements carried out before their very eyes.
And here let me say, that I have, by long experience, come to the
conviction, that the simpler and more common the objects are on which,
and with which, a trick is performed, and the less anything beyond
dexterity of hand is openly used, the greater will be the astonishment
and the amusement of the spectators. There are, it is true, some very
striking and complicated illusions which it is impossible to present
without resorting to artistic contrivances of mechanical or scientific
arrangement. On these illusions, as being beyond the power of a young
amateur, I need not dwell. Nor need the preceding remarks be considered
as any disparagement of the combinations and extrinsic aid which are
indispensable for developing such startling illusions. The scope of my
present remarks is simply to this effect, that to depend mainly upon
the co-operation of a confederate, or upon mechanical contrivances, for
what can be far better carried out by mere sleight-of-hand, will not
pass for a satisfactory exhibition of conjuring now-a-days; and the
amateur will find that, as he advances in skill and dexterity, he will
swim more freely the less he trusts to such unsubstantial bladders to
uphold him.
Having thus discussed my two topics I shall now add explanations of a
few more tricks, which the learner may practise with the hope of making
progress in the art of conjuring. The only way to make such progress
and gain high attainments in the art, is to practise diligently over
and over again the passes I have described in my former paper, and to
learn to do a few tricks neatly, and without hesitation or stumbling.
I subjoin, therefore, some simple but effective tricks, in which they
will do well to perfect themselves.
TRICK 5.—To make a quarter and a penny change places, while held in the
hands of two spectators.
PREPARATION.
Have a quarter of your own secreted in your right hand. Then borrow two
handkerchiefs, and a quarter and a penny, from any one in the audience.
Tell the lender to mark or accurately observe them, so that he will
know them again. In placing them on the table, substitute your own
quarter for the borrowed one, and conceal the borrowed one in your palm.
MEMORANDUM.
It is better to use things borrowed than coin of your own. Still, the
conjuror should provide himself with articles requisite to display any
trick, or otherwise much delay may occasionally arise while borrowing
them.
Commence the trick by pointing out where the quarter and the penny are
lying on the table. Take up the penny and show it openly to all. Then
take up one of the handkerchiefs, and while pretending to wrap up the
penny in it, substitute in its place the borrowed quarter which you
had concealed in your palm, and ask one of your friends to feel that
it is enfolded in the handkerchief, and bid him hold the handkerchief
enclosing it above his head. Ask him if he has got the penny there
safely. He will reply that he has.
Then take up your own quarter which was laid upon the table; pretend
to wrap it up in the second handkerchief, but adroitly substitute the
penny, (which you concealed in your palm while wrapping up the first
handkerchief.) Ask some friend to hold it up above his head, indulging
in some facetious remark. Slip your own quarter into your pocket. Clap
your hands or wave your wand, saying, “Change.” Tell your friends to
unfold their handkerchiefs. They will be astonished to find that the
quarter and penny have changed places.
TRICK 6.—Another trick with the dime, handkerchief, and an orange or
lemon.
PREPARATION.
Have an orange or lemon ready, with a slit made in its side
sufficiently large to admit the dime easily; and have in your pocket
a good-sized silk handkerchief with a dime stitched into one of its
corners.
Borrow a marked dime. Take out your handkerchief, and while pretending
to wrap this dime in the handkerchief, conceal it in your palm,
and take care that the one previously sewn into the corner of the
handkerchief can be felt easily through the handkerchief. Giving it
to one of your friends, tell him to feel that it has the dime in it,
and to hold it up over his head firmly. While giving these directions
to your friend, the dime that is in your palm must be transferred to
your pocket, and introduced into the slit of the orange. Then bring the
orange out of your pocket, and place it on a table; you will keep the
slit on the side away from the audience.
Then make a few mesmeric passes over the hand of the person that holds
the handkerchief, saying, “I will now destroy the sense of feeling
in your hands. Tell me, can you feel the dime?” He will say, “Yes.”
You can reply, “Oh, you must be wrong, sir. See! I will shake out the
handkerchief.” Taking hold of one corner of it, shake it out, saying,
“Observe, nothing will fall to the ground. You see that you were
mistaken about feeling it in the handkerchief.”
The fact is, the dime being stitched in the ‘corner’ could not fall
out, and you must take care not to let that corner of the handkerchief
hit against the ground. Put the handkerchief in your pocket, and say,
“But I must return the borrowed dime.” Exclaim: “Fly, dime, into the
orange on the table.” Cut up orange, and show the dime concealed in it,
and then restore it to its owner, asking him to tell the audience if he
finds it to be his own marked dime.
TRICK 7.—How to double your pocket money.
The only preparation is to have four cents concealed in your left palm.
Commence the trick by calling forward one of the spectators, and let
him bring up his hat with him.
Then borrow five cents, or have them ready to produce from your own
pocket should there be any delay.
Request your friend, while he places them one by one on a small plate
or saucer, to count them audibly, so that the company may hear their
number correctly. Inquire, “How many are there?” He will answer,
“Five.” Take up the saucer and pour them into your left hand, (where
the other four are already concealed.) Then say, “Stay, I will place
these in your hat, and you must raise it above your head, for all to
see that nothing is added subsequently to them.” You will have placed
these nine cents in his hat unsuspected by him.
Borrow five cents more. Make Pass 1, as described on page 9, appearing
to throw these five into your left hand, but really retaining them in
your right hand, which is to fall by your side as if empty.
Afterwards get rid of four of the five cents into your pocket,
retaining only one in your right palm.
Hold up your closed left hand, and say, while blowing on it: “Pass,
cents, from my left hand into the hat. Now, sir, be kind enough to see
if they have come into your possession. Please to count them aloud
while placing them in the saucer.” He will be surprised, as well as the
spectators, to find that the cents in his hat have become nine.
You may then put on a rather offended look, and say: “Ah, sir! ah!
I did not think you would do so! You have taken one out, I fear.”
Approaching your right hand to his sleeve, shake the sleeve, and let
the one cent, which you have in your own hand, drop audibly into the
saucer. It will raise a laugh against the holder of the hat. You can
say: “Excuse me, I only made it appear that you had taken one. However,
you see that the original money is now doubled.”
TRICK 8.—The injured handkerchief restored.
PREPARATION.
Have a dime of your own wrapped in the centre of a piece of cambric
about five or six inches in diameter, the ends falling down loose.
Conceal these in the palm of your left hand.
Borrow a marked dime from any of the spectators, and a white cambric
handkerchief. Throw the handkerchief spread out over your left palm,
(holding under the handkerchief your own dime wrapped in the small
piece of cambric.)
Openly place the borrowed dime on the centre of the spread-out
handkerchief. Keeping hold of that dime, jerk the ends of the
handkerchief over, so as to fall loose down from the lower side of your
left hand. Draw out from between your thumb and fingers (that is from
the upper side of your left hand) about two inches of the smaller piece
of cambric, containing your own dime. The spectators will naturally
conceive the two pieces of cambric you hold in that hand to be merely
the cambric handkerchief.
Call any of the spectators forward, and request him to mark off with
his knife the portion of the piece of cambric which holds your own
dime, and whisper to him to cut it completely off, and to let the dime
drop on the table. The spectators will believe that he has cut a hole
in the handkerchief itself, and that the dime falling out is the one
you recently borrowed, whereas it is in fact the other piece of cambric
that has been cut, and the borrowed coin remains still wrapped up in
the handkerchief.
Pretend to blame the person who cut the two inches off, saying: “Dear
me, sir, what have you done? You have quite destroyed this nice
handkerchief. Well, I hope, madam, you will pardon the mistake, if I
manage by magic to restore to you your handkerchief in perfect order,
and I request you to allow me to try to do so.” Carefully holding in
the candle the edges of the cambric, (both of the part cut off and of
the portion from which it was cut,) and letting the real handkerchief
hang down from the same hand, pretend with a conjuring wand to weld
together the edges of the cambric when they get hot, as a blacksmith
welds metals together. You can prevent the flame from reaching the
real handkerchief by tightly pressing your fingers. Then exclaim: “Oh,
where is the dime?” and while picking it up from the table, get quietly
rid of the pieces of cambric with their burnt edges into a hat or some
corner unseen by the audience.
Holding up the dime which you had just lifted from the table say: “But
to complete my trick I must replace this dime in the centre of the
restored handkerchief, whence it was cut out.”
Make the Pass 1, appearing to pass it into the centre of the
handkerchief, but retaining it in your hand, and afterwards secretly
pocket it. The handkerchief has already the borrowed dime in it. Say to
the handkerchief: “Change—restore!” and unfolding it, show the borrowed
coin in it. Shake out the handkerchief and show it is all sound and
right, and restore it with thanks, as well as the borrowed dime, to the
owners.
TRICK 9.—To make a large die pass through the crown of a hat without
injuring it.
I will now give my young friends a nice, easy trick, requiring very
little dexterity, as the articles for its exhibition can be purchased
at any depot for the sale of conjuring apparatus; therefore the most
diffident amateur will be able to display this trick.
PREPARATION.
Have a die exactly like the common dice, only it may be about two
inches square. Have two covers for it, one of them exactly resembling
the appearance of a die, only hollow, except that one side of it is
open, so that it can easily be placed over, or be taken off, the solid
die.
The other cover may be of decorated material, and it is intended to be
placed over the first die-cover. Let this last cover be made of some
pliant material, so that by compressing gently two of its sides with
your fingers, while lifting it up, you can lift up the first die-cover,
which will be within it.
Commence the trick by borrowing two hats; place one with its rims
upwards on the table, and show that you place in that hat the die with
its first cover on it. But say, “I forgot to appeal to the company
whether they will like to see the trick done visibly or invisibly.”
They will most likely say, “Visibly;” but it is of no consequence which
answer they make, for the process of the trick is the same in either
case.
Take out from the lower hat the first cover, which is painted exactly
like a die, and having placed the second hat (with its rims downwards)
on the other hat, display the first cover, and openly place it on the
crown of the upper hat. All the spectators will believe it to be the
solid die itself. Then take your penknife; you may just thrust it
into the crown of the hat, and pretend to cut all round the die-cover
there lying; say—“I shall now bid it move into the lower hat, but it
will not do so while uncovered, so I must place this ornamental cover
over it.” Do so; show that you have nothing in your hands or sleeves;
then wave your wand or your hand, and say, “Change, pass, die, into
the lower hat.” Give it a little time. Then, compressing the outward
cover gently, lift off also with it the painted die-cover, which it has
inside it. Lift up the lower hat, and show the company the solid die
lying in it. Show all that the upper hat has received no injury.
The illusion to the audience will be that the solid die has passed
through the crown of the upper hat without at all injuring it. Return
the hats to the owners, and show them to be uninjured.
TRICK 10.—To produce from a silk handkerchief bon-bons, candies, nuts,
etc.
PREPARATION.
Have packages of various candies, wrapped up in bags of the thinnest
tissue paper, and place them on your table rather sheltered from
observation. Have also a plate or two on your table.
MEMORANDUM.
It will be always desirable to have the table removed two or three
yards at least from the spectators, and of a height that they cannot
see the surface of it while sitting down in front of it.
Commence the trick by borrowing a silk handkerchief, or any large
handkerchief. After turning it about, throw it out on the table, so as
to fall over one of these packages.
Having carefully observed where the bag lies, place your left hand
so as to take up the bag while catching hold of the middle of the
handkerchief.
Taking the handkerchief up by nearly the centre, the edges of it will
fall around and conceal the bag; make some pretended wavings of your
wand or right hand over the handkerchief, and say, “Now, handkerchief,
you must supply my friends with some bon-bons.” Squeeze with your right
hand the lower part of the bag which is under the handkerchief; the bag
will burst, and you can shake out into a plate its contents.
Asking some one to distribute them among your young friends, you can
throw the handkerchief (as it were carelessly) over another bag, from
which you can in the same way produce a liberal supply of some other
sweetmeats, or macaroon biscuits, etc., etc., all of which will be duly
appreciated by the juveniles, and they will applaud as long as you
choose to continue this SWEET trick.
CHAPTER IV.
PRACTICE.
In conjuring, as in all other arts and sciences, perseverance is
requisite in order to become expert and successful. There is no royal
road, or possibility of acquiring the end, without exercising the means
to that end. Let my young friends, then, carefully practise over and
over again the passes and the tricks which I have already explained to
them. It is the only way to attain dexterity and confidence, without
which they will never be able to make any creditable exhibition of
the art of conjuring. After they have attained considerable skill and
sleight-of-hand in displaying a few tricks, they will easily extend the
range of their performances, and gradually rise to greater ability. I
may, therefore, parody an old injunction for obtaining success, and
say: There are three rules for its attainment: The first is “Practice.”
The second is “Practice.” The third is “Practice.” In a word, constant
and careful practice is requisite, if any wish to be successful as
amateur conjurors. They should never attempt to exhibit before their
friends any tricks that they have not so frequently practised that no
bungling or hitch is likely to occur in their performance of it.
Let no one be staggered by the simplicity of the processes recommended
in these tricks. The result will in fact be all the more astonishing,
the simpler the operations employed.
The great point is the address of the performer, and that will
carry through successfully the means employed. However simple and
insignificant those means may appear to the learner when they have been
explained to him, if there is good address and accurate manipulation,
the astonishment at the result will be infinitely greater than any one
would imagine possible to be produced by such simple means.
There is one help that I can suggest towards the better management
of the hands in concealing or removing objects; it is the use of a
conjuror’s rod or short magic wand. This is, now-a-days, commonly a
stick of about fifteen inches long, resembling a common rule, or a
partially-ornamented one. You may often have observed this simple
emblem of the conjuror’s power, and deemed it a mere idle or useless
affectation. The conjuror waves it mystically or majestically as he
may be disposed. Of course you are right in your judgment that it can
do no good magically; but it does not follow that it is useless. The
fact is, that it is really of considerable service to him. If he wants
to hold a coin or any object concealed in his hand, without others
observing the fact of his hand being closed, the wand in that hand is a
blind for its concealment. He may require to pick up or lay down some
object, and he can do so while openly fetching or laying down his wand.
If he wants to gain time, for any illusion or process of change, he
can obtain it while engaging the attention of the spectators by some
fantastic movements of his wand. By the use of the wand, therefore, you
will be able to prevent the observation of your audience too pointedly
following the movements which you wish to carry on secretly. You may
also, at the same time, dispel their attention by humorous remarks,
preventing it from being concentrated on watching your movements.
As a general rule, you must not apprise your audience of what you are
actually doing, but must often interpose some other thought or object
to occupy their mind. For instance: Do you desire that a person should
not examine too closely any object which you place in his hand, tell
him to hold it well above his head. That takes it out of the range
of his eyes. It would never do to tell him not to look at it. He
would then immediately suspect that you are afraid of something being
observed.
Have you perchance forgotten to bring on your table any article
requisite for displaying any trick, a feint must be made that you must
have more candles, or must remove some other object, thus gaining the
opportunity to fetch what you require without naming it.
Do not even announce too fully or vauntingly beforehand what is to be
the result or development of any trick; rather proceed with it, and
let the audience come unexpectedly upon a result which they had not
contemplated. Their surprise will be greater, and their amusement more
lively, at such unexpected result.
It is for this reason that it will be well to avoid the repetition of
the same trick in the same evening, though requested to perform it over
again. The minds of the spectators have already traced once the whole
performance of it—the beginning, the middle, the end. The zest of it,
therefore, is gone off; their minds are languid and disinterested about
its second repetition; and the conjuror’s art proportionately sinks in
their estimation.
Having offered these general remarks, I will now invite the attention
of my young friends to another batch of interesting tricks, which, with
a little effort, they may succeed in exhibiting.
TRICK 11.—A sudden and unexpected supply of feathers from under a silk
handkerchief or cloth.
PREPARATION.
Have ready a good supply of plumes of feathers. They may be obtained
from a fur or fancy store, or purchased there loose, and tied up so as
to lie thin and flexible where you wish to place them. You may have at
least four batches of them. The common hackle feather will do, stitched
round a thin piece of whalebone. Feathers that are a little injured for
sale as ornaments may be picked up at little cost.
Take off your coat. You may then have one or more batches of feathers
placed round each arm; the lower point of the stem on which the
feathers are fixed being near your wrist, and the top of each batch of
feathers confined near your elbow by a slight worsted string, so that
they do not stick out the coat sleeve too much, or slip down together
if two batches are concealed in the same sleeve. You can have one or
more batches placed just within each side of your waistcoat, with the
lower point of the stem within easy reach of your hand—about four
inches below your chin. Then put your coat on.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
Commence the trick by borrowing a large silk handkerchief or cloth of
the same size. Show it to be empty by holding out the two top corners
in front of your breast, and shake the handkerchief while it falls
loosely down over your vest. Then moving the handkerchief toward your
left, catch hold (with your right thumb and finger) of the end of
the stem of the plume, No. 1, and draw it from under the left side
of your vest. It will remain concealed behind the handkerchief while
you move your two hands to the right, which will draw out the plume
from under your vest, then over the centre of your chest. Then toss
the handkerchief about, enveloping the first batch of feathers; say,
“Handkerchief, you must supply me with some feathers.” In a minute or
so, take off the handkerchief, and display the plume to the spectators.
Show the spectators again that the handkerchief is quite empty. Move
your arms toward your right till your left hand comes just over
the edge of the right side of your vest. With your left thumb and
forefinger catch hold of the stem of the feathers there concealed, and
by moving your arms back towards the left, you can draw out without its
being observed the plume that had been concealed under the right side
of your vest. Toss about and display as before this second batch of
feathers, and then place them aside.
Then show to the company again that your handkerchief has nothing in
it, and lay the handkerchief over both your hands. While waving it
mysteriously about, exclaim that the handkerchief must furnish you with
some more feathers. Draw out of the left sleeve one of the plumes,
shake the feathers out while taking off the handkerchief from this,
which will be plume the third.
Then, throwing your handkerchief over the hand, and clapping your hands
together, (with the left over the right hand,) manage to catch hold of
another point of a plume, and pull it out from your right sleeve while
waving about your two hands with the handkerchief over them. You have
now produced four plumes.
The exhibition may be continued to an increased number of plumes, if
you have more concealed in your sleeves, or elsewhere; but four will
probably be sufficient to manage at the commencement of your career as
an amateur conjuror.
TRICK 12.—Heads or Tails?
I shall now give directions for reproducing, before a juvenile
audience, a trick that will carry us back to the primitive style of
conjuring in old times. I cannot say that there is anything very
scientific or elevated in it, but, if neatly and adroitly executed, it
will tell very well with a youthful audience.
PREPARATION.
You must take care that your table be so placed that none of the
spectators can see behind yourself or the table. You must provide
yourself with some young pet of the juveniles, such as a puppy,
a kitten, or any other small pet. The performer must either have
some little bag hanging under his coat-tails, or some provision for
concealing the little animal behind him, or in a drawer before him; so
that there will be no chance of any of the audience seeing it before
the proper time. He must have ready also a penny, or any coin.
To begin the exhibition of the trick. Standing with all the nonchalance
you can assume, and placing one or both your arms behind your back,
you may say, “For a variety, I will challenge one of my young friends
to come and try which of us will succeed best in a few tosses of this
penny.”
Induce some young person to come to the front of your table, and tell
him to bring forward his hat. Ask him to toss first with the cent and
put the hat over it, while you will guess “heads” or “tails.” Say it
shall be seen who is most successful in five guesses. After he has
tossed up twice, you can take the penny, and say, “Now, I will vary
the method of tossing. You shall name now which you choose, ‘heads’ or
‘tails.’”
Toss up the penny, and while attention is occupied with this, and he
is looking to see which is uppermost, heads or tails, you withdraw
your left hand from behind you, holding the little animal you have
concealed, and slipping it into the hat, and turning the hat down over
it, exclaim, “Stay, I mean to pass the penny through the hat upon the
table, and the whole affair shall be settled by the result of the
present toss. You shall see the heads or tails on the table.”
By Pass 1, pretend to place the penny on the hat, but retain it in your
right hand. Say, “Fly, pass, and quickly.” Lift the hat, and show both
head and tail on the little animal or pet there concealed.
If you should have had a Guinea pig, you must make the guesses go on
till your adversary guesses “tails,” and then it will make a good laugh
to say, “He has won, and he had better now take it up by the tail.”
TRICK 13.—To cook pancakes or a flat plum cake in a hat, over some
candles.
REQUISITE PREPARATION.
Have two gallipots or earthen jars, of a size to go easily into a hat,
but of such dimensions that the one reversed will fit closely over the
other. Tie worsted or a strip of linen round the smaller gallipot, so
as to insure the larger one holding firmly round the smaller one. Have
ready some thin, fluent dough, some sugar, and a few currants, enough
for two or three pancakes or a small plum cake; also a spoon to stir
the ingredients up.
Have at hand two or three warm pancakes that have just been prepared
by the cook for you, with the same ingredients as mentioned above. Let
them be firm and free from grease. Have also at hand two small plates,
with knives and forks.
Commence the exhibition by borrowing two hats, to give you a choice
with which to perform. You can remark that as you should be sorry to
injure your friend’s hat, you will secure it from being soiled by
placing some paper in it as a lining. Hold up the paper to show it is
only paper, and then openly place it in the hat, and lay the hat down
on its side on the table near you, having the brim towards you.
Have the ready-prepared pancakes lying near you, and whilst taking off
the attention of the spectators by pretending to arrange the articles
on your table, slip the prepared pancakes or plum-cake into the hat.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
Unobserved, also place the smaller gallipot in the hat, and while
doing so, if requisite, add some remark, such as: “Please to shut,
or open, that door,” or any words that will draw off the attention
of the spectators from what you are doing. You must next, with some
parade, mix the fluent dough with the sugar and currants in the larger
gallipot. It must be fluent enough to pour out slowly, apparently into
the hat, but really into the smaller gallipot, which has been already
concealed inside the hat. Show you have emptied the larger gallipot,
all but a little; then, placing it over the smaller gallipot again,
empty the very last of it, and press the larger gallipot firmly down
over the smaller one. Then, with it, lift the smaller gallipot also,
with its contents, while you appear only to take back the larger
gallipot. Remove the gallipots, as supposed to be empty, out of sight.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I must request your patience a few minutes
for the process of cooking.” Put two or three candles near one another,
and move the hat at a safe distance above them for two or three
minutes, making in the meantime any laughable remarks that may occur to
you, such as: “My young friends will find this capital way of supplying
themselves with a delicate dish when they have lost their puddings
from being in the black books of their teacher or parents,” or any
similar humorous remark; but take care not to burn the hat whilst the
(supposed) cooking is going on. After a short interval, place the hat
on the table, and with some little ceremony take out the real pancakes
or plum-cake. Let it be cut up and handed round to the juveniles who
may be present.
REMARKS.
A more finished or surer arrangement for holding the dough, etc., can
be made with a tin apparatus, which can be prepared by any tinman, upon
the same principle as the gallipots, taking care not to have it made
larger than the inside of a youth’s hat.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
An amateur can render a common table more suitable for concealing any
little object he wishes to have secreted, by placing three or four
tumblers under each end of a plank, about the length to extend across
the table, and throwing any common cloth over the board and table,
or a kitchen table, covered with a cloth, having a drawer pulled out
about six inches, will furnish a very good conjuror’s table. It is
well to have the table rather broad, so as to keep the spectators at a
sufficient distance.
TRICK 14.—TO EAT A DISH OF PAPER SHAVINGS, AND DRAW THEM OUT OF YOUR
MOUTH LIKE AN ATLANTIC CABLE.
PREPARATION.
Procure three or four yards of the thinnest tissue paper of various
colors. Cut these up in strips of half an inch or three-quarters of an
inch breadth, and join them. They will form a continuous strip of many
feet in length. Roll this up carefully in a flat coil, as ribbons are
rolled up. Let it make a coil about as large as the top of an egg-cup
or an old-fashioned hunting-watch. Leave out of the innermost coil
about an inch or more of that end of the paper, so that you can easily
commence unwinding it from the centre of the coil.
Procure a large dish or basketful of paper-shavings, which can be
obtained at little cost from any bookbinder’s or stationer’s. Shaken
out it will appear to be a large quantity. As you wish it to appear
that you have eaten a good portion of them, you can squeeze the
remainder close together, and then there will appear to be few left,
and that your appetite has reason to be satisfied.
Commence the trick by proclaiming you have a voracious appetite, so
that you can make a meal off paper-shavings. Bend down over the plate,
and take up handful after handful, pretend to munch them in your mouth,
and make a face as if swallowing them, and as you take up another
handful, put out those previously in your mouth, and put them aside.
Having gone on with this as long as the spectators seem amused by it,
at last, with your left hand, slip the prepared ball of tissue paper
into your mouth, managing to place towards your teeth the end you wish
to catch hold of with your right hand, for pulling the strip out from
your mouth. You will take care also not to open your teeth too widely,
lest the whole coil or ball should come out all at once.
Having got hold of the end, draw it slowly and gently forward. It will
unroll to a length of twenty yards or more in a continuous strip, much
to the amusement of the spectators.
When it has come to the end, you may remark: “I suppose we have come
to a fault, as there is a ‘solution of continuity here, just as the
strongest cables break off,’ so we must wait to pick up the end again,
and go on next year, when the Great Eastern again goes out with its
next Atlantic Cable.”
TRICK 15.—How to cut off a nose—of course without actual injury.
PREPARATION.
Have ready a piece of calico of light color, or a white apron, a sponge
saturated with a little liquid of the color of blood—port-wine, or the
juice of beet-root, will do; also two knives, resembling each other,
the one of them whole, the other with a large notch in its blade, so
that when placed over the nose it will appear to have cut through the
bridge of the nose. A cutler could supply such knives, or they may be
purchased at the depots for conjuring apparatus.
Having placed out these articles on your table with seriousness and
imposing formality, show to the audience the knife that is whole, and
call upon them to observe that it is sufficiently strong and sharp.
The other knife must be placed somewhere near you, but where it is
sheltered from the observation of the spectators.
Ask some young friend to step forward, assuring him that you will not
hurt him. Make him sit down on a chair facing the audience. After
having measured the real knife across his nose, say: “But I may as well
protect your clothes from being soiled, so I will put an apron round
your neck.” Go to the table to take up the apron, and, in doing so,
place down the real knife where it cannot be seen, and, with your left
hand take up the conjuror’s knife, holding it by the blade, lest any
one should observe the notch in it. Conceal at the same time also, in
your left hand, the piece of sponge.
Advancing to the chair, tuck, with your right hand, the apron round the
youth’s neck. Then press the conjuror’s knife firmly over the nose and
leave it there, as if you had cut into the bridge of the nose. At the
same time gently squeeze the sponge, and a little of the liquid will
make an alarming appearance on the face and on the apron; go on for a
short time, covering the face and apron with (apparent) blood. When the
audience have seen it long enough, seize up the apron, wipe the face
of the youth quite clean, throw away the conjuror’s knife, and exhibit
your young friend to the audience all right, and dismiss him with some
facetious remark on his courage in undergoing the alarming operation.
CHAPTER V.
TRICKS BY MAGNETISM, CHEMISTRY, GALVANISM, OR ELECTRICITY.
There is a class of tricks about which I must say a few words, viz.,
those that require to be exhibited by the help of magnetism, chemistry,
galvanism, or electricity. I need not dwell long on them, for I do
not consider them such as the young people, for whom these notes are
written, can be recommended to devote their attention to, for the
following reasons: in the first place, they are, with a few exceptions,
attended with considerable expense. Secondly, the tricks connected with
the powerful agencies of galvanism and electricity are dangerous to the
unskilful operator; and, even in experienced hands, the most effective
of them are uncertain things to manage; therefore their effect cannot
be depended on.
Some very interesting tricks have, doubtless, at times been exhibited
by the help of galvanism and electricity. We have read of a conjuror
by such help confounding a powerful Arab, by first letting him lift
with ease a box, and afterwards rendering it impossible for him to
raise it, when an electric current had, to his dismay, paralyzed all
his strength. It is evident that an experiment of this kind could not
be safely attempted by any but a very experienced person. We read
also of conjurors who have surprised their audience by receiving them
in a dimly-lit theatre, and then firing off a pistol, (to startle
the audience and cover the real mode of operation,) they have by
electricity lighted up one hundred lamps at once. This has proved
very successful on some occasions; but on others, notwithstanding the
most careful preparation and the greatest precaution, it has been
found that the apparatus would not act, and the impatient spectators
have visited the disappointing failure with their indignant murmurs.
Other conjurors have become so attached to electric experiments, that
they have proposed to regulate all the clocks of a large district by
electricity, or have amused themselves by turning electric or galvanic
currents to the door-handles of their houses, so that unsuspecting
strangers, on touching them, were startled with electric shocks. There
is also a trick for rendering one portion of a portrait electric by a
metal plate concealed under it, and the spectators being invited to
touch some part of the picture, have, on touching the spots that were
charged with electricity, received a shock or powerful blow, as if the
portrait resented their touching it.
Having briefly given the character of this class of tricks, and stated
that they not only require expensive apparatus, but are attended with
danger to the inexperienced, there still remains another serious
objection, viz., that, like the experiments performed by automaton
figures or complicated machinery, they are liable to fail, through
any trifling disarrangement, just at the moment when the performer
is hoping that his audience will be delighted with his surprising
exhibition.
For these reasons I shall not stay to describe the more elaborate of
these tricks, as, however interesting they may be to the scientific,
they would not, in a youthful amateur’s hands, be sure to produce the
amusement which it is my primary object to supply.
The simpler experiments of magnetism and chemistry may well be
regarded as recreations of science, interesting curiosities, suitable
enough to be exhibited by a professor of chemistry for amusement and
instruction; but even these can hardly be considered as belonging to
“conjuring proper.” Young people do not care, at festive parties, to
watch red liquids turning into green, blue, and yellow; or the mixture
of different chemical ingredients producing strange conversions into
varied substances; nor will experiments that are interesting as
chemical curiosities produce the same excitement and pleasing surprise
that the wonders of sleight-of-hand do. In a word, such experiments in
a private circle of young friends fail to constitute the most amusing
kind of parlor magic, while upon a public stage they are too minute for
any large audience to trace and comprehend.
Lest, however, my young readers should think that I have any desire
to shut them out from any field of reasonable pleasure, I will now
carefully select one or two examples of tricks connected with the
sciences of magnetism and chemistry, and which may, even in the hands
of amateurs, produce a safe and pleasing exhibition.
In the following trick they will find an amusing instance of the
combination of science with rational recreation.
TRICK 16.—The watch obedient to the word of command.
The magnet is a well-known agent in producing several toys for the
entertainment of the young, and though its attraction is wonderful,
there is no danger likely to arise from employing it, in the same way
as might arise from unskilful dabbling with electricity, galvanism, or
chemical powers, and a strange and singular effect may be produced by
placing a magnet of some little strength near a watch.
Supposing the young conjuror to have provided himself with a powerful
but not very large magnet, let him conceal it in the palm, or under
a thin glove in his left hand, or near the edge of the cuff of his
sleeve. Let him then borrow a lady’s watch, (without chain,) and the
thinner the watch-case is, and if it has a glass, the better. Let him
then call forward a youth, and placing the watch in his own right hand,
and near to the ear of the other, ask him if he hears it going: he will
answer “Yes.”
Let him next bid the watch to stop; and on taking it in his left hand,
where the magnet is concealed, it will stop, if held steadily; and on
inquiring of his young friend whether he can hear it, he will reply
“No.”
Observe: you must keep systematically to using your right hand when
you wish to make the watch go on, and to your left when you wish it
to stop. Appealing to others among the company, the performer may
then tell the watch to go on, and holding it in his right hand, and
giving it a slight shake, apply it to one of their ears; it will be
heard “tic, tic;” then holding it in his left hand and telling it to
stop, they will also find that it does stop. You can pretend to doubt
whether they are all deaf of one ear, but lastly may declare that this
is caused by the obedient disposition of the watch, which so orderly
obeys your command. Remind your audience that savages upon first seeing
a watch believe it to be a living animal with power to think and act of
itself. “At any rate,” you may conclude, “the present watch seems to
hear, to understand, and to obey my orders.”
It will be an amusing addition to the above trick to say that you will
now order the watch to fly away and conceal itself.
You must for this purpose have provided yourself with an electro-plated
locket resembling a lady’s watch, and have two loaves ready in some
convenient corner.
When the watch has finished its “manual and platoon” exercise on the
platform, you may say, “I will now place this watch visibly to all
upon the table.” Turn round to go to your table, and in walking to it,
substitute the locket for the watch, and place the locket on some spot
visible to all. It will not be distinguishable from the watch by the
spectators at six or eight yards’ distance from them. Conceal the watch
itself in the palm of your hand. You can now exclaim, “I require two
loaves,” and walking towards them, slip the watch into the one you have
prepared with a slit in its side. Advancing to the audience, ask in
which loaf they will prefer that you shall bid the watch fly. If they
name the one in which you have concealed it, proceed to break open the
loaf and find the watch. But suppose they name the wrong one: you then,
remembering that the left hand of the spectators is your right hand,
proceed with the true loaf, whichever they have named, or manage to
cross the position of the loaves as you place them on the table.
Then taking up the locket with your right hand, make Pass 1, as if
transferring it to your left hand, but really retaining it in your
right hand (as described in my first paper.) Blow upon your closed left
hand, and say, “Watch, fly into that loaf.” Clap your hands. It is gone.
Advancing to the loaf, get rid of the locket from your right hand; take
up the loaf, break it open on the other side from that in which the
locket was introduced, bring out the watch, and appeal to the lady to
declare whether it is the same which she lent to you.
TRICK 17.
An experiment with a very mild dash of electricity in it, which will at
any rate be a popular trick with most people that try it. It will do
for a small entertainment, or at any joyous party of young people. It
does not, however, require a large number to be present, but, contrary
to the usual scientific tricks, its development comes off better with
one companion than with a dozen.
PREPARATION.
You must induce your cousin Jemima, or some other young lady who is
just of age to have cut her eye-teeth, to consent to help you by
accompanying you to a room with closed shutters and no candles. A
moderate-sized looking-glass must be on the table, the smaller the
better, for reasons below assigned. Have ready at hand some ounces of
hard candy.
You commence the trick by placing yourselves, hand-in-hand, before the
looking glass. If it is rather small, your heads will be the closer—in
order to see the reflection of both at once. Then, with mouths as open
as may be, try which of you can crush his or her share of sugar-candy
with the teeth the quickest. In the glass will appear the reflection of
sparks of electricity, as the experiment proceeds. If your companion
is nervous, you can of course support her with one arm—ladies are
sometimes susceptible, whether from animal magnetism or what not. The
electric sparks coming between the lips may also be attractive, and you
may be tempted to try whether the electricity evaporates the sweetness;
but of course you must not be tempted to forget the philosophical
nature of the experiment; and, if you behave with propriety, the lady
will doubtless, on her return to the company, tell them, in a staid
manner, that the experiment was all right; and perhaps when you see
her, even a day or two afterwards, you will observe there is an arch
dimple on her cheek and an electric sparkle lighting up her eye—and I
should not wonder if you should feel a desire to try the experiment
over again.
TRICK 18.—A chemical trick to follow one where a young friend has
assisted.
PREPARATION.
You must have a wine-glass, a saucer, and a teaspoon, and the chemical
bottles No. 1 (silicate of potash) and No. 2 (aluminate of potash,)
which can be obtained from any druggist.
At the close of some trick in which any young friend has assisted, you
can say: “Well, my young friend, you have assisted me so courteously
and well that I must, in order to express my thanks, ask you to take a
glass of wine. Do you like wine? Ah, I see by your smile you do.”
Pour out of bottle No. 1 half a glass, and, going towards him, stop
short and say: “Ah, but I am afraid your mamma would be displeased with
me if I gave you wine so strong without any water, and I should be
sorry to tempt you to drink what she would disapprove. Stay, I will mix
a little water with it.”
Mix some of No. 2 bottle, so as to fill the wine-glass, and say: “Oh,
never mind losing the pure wine; I dare say you will like it very well
as it is,” and make a few chatty remarks, to give the liquids time to
mingle their effects in the glass; and after a minute or two say: “Ah!
I’ll tell you what I am sure your mamma would like still better—if I
could give you some calves’-foot jelly. Now, I really believe, if I
were to stir it with this teaspoon, and try my magic wand over it,
I can turn it to jelly. Let us try.” Occupy a little time while it
is becoming like jelly, and go on with a little more talk till you
see that it has become solid. Then say: “Well, after all, I will not
deprive you of your wine; so here it is. Please drink it.” Putting it
to his lips, he will find it has become so solid that he cannot drink
it, but it can be turned out quite solid into the saucer, and a general
laugh will greet him on the disappointment of his wine.
Having submitted a few remarks upon the class of tricks that are to
be performed by help of the sciences, magnetism, chemistry, etc., and
having stated my reasons for my not more fully discussing them, I will
now proceed to give an explanation of one or two more that are better
suited for the practice of amateurs.
TRICK 19.—To draw three spools off two tapes without those spools
having to come off the ends of the tapes, and while the four ends of
the tapes are held by four persons.
PREPARATION.
You must have two narrow tapes of about four feet long, bent as in Fig.
11. Red tape I prefer.
You must next insert about half an inch of A through the loop of B, and
bring it back down on the other part of A.
A spool such as cotton is wound on, or an ornamented ball with a hole
drilled through it, just large enough to hold the tapes lightly, will
be required (Fig. 13.)
[Illustration: FIGS. 11, 12.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.]
The spool or ball must be put on the tapes at the extreme ends of the
tape B, and drawn to the left, till it just covers the noose at K. as
in Fig. 14.
N. B.—All the above should be prepared before the spectators are
invited to witness the trick.
Commence the exhibition by calling upon the spectators to observe that
you hold a reel, or ball, through which two tapes are passed.
You may then produce two more spools, or wooden balls, and place one of
them over the ends at A, and the other over the ends at B.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.]
The following will then be the appearance of the balls or spools and
the tapes passed through them (Fig. 15):
You may move about the spools 2 and 3, to show how the tape runs
through them, but you must not move spool 1.
You may then say that the puzzle is to get the spools off the tapes
while the four ends are held firmly in the hands of four persons.
Appoint four persons to hold them, and you may then say: “To make
doubly sure, I will tie one of the ends at A to one of the ends at B
with (the first half of) a knot.” It does not signify which ends you
take to do this, so that you take one A and one B. “I will now pull
these two ends so tight that it will draw the three spools together,
and also tighten all along one side of them.”
[Illustration: FIG. 16.]
Then, while four persons hold firmly the extreme ends of the tapes, you
must take shorter hold of the two A’s with your left hand, (where it
is marked by a dotted line, Fig. 16,) and also take hold of the other
tapes where a dotted line is marked on them towards B. Then drawing
your arms wider apart, so as to pull the tapes steadily, the spools
or balls will fall to the ground without passing over the ends of the
tapes.
TRICK 20.—To restore a tape whole after it has been cut in the middle.
PREPARATION.
Have five or six yards of tape about three-quarters of an inch broad.
Take half the length in each hand. You will be able to show the
audience that you are about to cut it in the middle, by holding it in
two loops of equal length. Call their attention pointedly to the equal
division of the full length.
The tape will thus appear to the performer in the position represented
in Fig. 17.
Observe the tape A crosses at z the tape B on the side next to the
performer, whereas the tape D is to cross the tape y on the side
farthest from him.
Fig. 18 represents the hands as they appear to the performer himself,
holding the tape with the thumb and forefinger at the crossings of the
tape at y and z, while the outward sides of each loop are to be held by
the three other fingers of each hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18.]
To proceed with the trick: Holding your hands in this position, (Fig.
18,) you must request one of the spectators to cut through the tape at
x, but just as he is about to do so, you must quickly lower your hands
two or three inches, and then raise them again. This movement will
conceal the following operation. You drop the part (B) of the tape held
in your right hand, and at the same moment pick up with that hand the
other tape marked C.
This will bring the portion of tape from C to D, so that it now becomes
the transverse tape, substituted in place of the tape marked x, and
your young friend will then cut it—instead of the original tape marked
x—without being aware that he is so doing.
When the tape has been cut through, you can put your hands near
together, allowing the two ends of the little piece of the tape—C D—to
be seen, but concealing from the spectators that you have hold of two
pieces, one a very long one, and the other only about five inches long.
You can then say: “Now I have to join these two ends, and to restore
the tape whole as at first.” You then turn the little piece C D round
the piece y, which is in your left hand, and you tie a knot with the
ends of that little piece. You must not tie this knot very tight, and
after you have tied it, you drop the other end of the tape altogether
out of your right hand.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.]
The appearance which the tapes will then have is represented in Fig.
19. That is, you will seem to hold the equally divided pieces of the
long tape joined in a knot at y, whereas in fact it is only the small
end piece C D, tied round the middle of the long tape, which you hold
between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Exhibit the knot
to the company, and say: “I admit that this knot hardly looks like
a perfect restoration; I must employ my best art to get rid of its
unsightly appearance.”
Ask some one to hold, at about three yards’ distance, the end marked
with small d, retaining hold of the centre—at y—in your left hand,
which quite covers the knot. Tell your friend to wind the tape round
his hand, and, while pretending to show him how to do this, by winding
the part which you hold round your left hand, slide away towards your
right the loose knot under your right hand. Then, holding out the end
of the tape A towards another friend, to hold at about three yards’
distance to the right, slip from off the long tape the little movable
knot under your right hand, just before he takes hold of this end of
the tape. Conceal in your right hand the little end-piece of tape,
until you can get rid of it into your pocket, or into any unobserved
spot. Blow upon your left hand, which is supposed still to cover the
knot, saying: “Knot, begone!—Restore!” Take up your left hand, and show
the tape to be free from any knot, or join from one end of it to the
other.
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE CONTINUITY OF TRICKS.
It may be useful now to invite attention to the theory of preserving a
continuity in the development of tricks, where circumstances admit of
this being done. Sundry displays of legerdemain admit of being adroitly
linked together; and I shall endeavor to explain why such an harmonious
continuity is preferable to an unconnected series of isolated tricks;
for when once a novice gets a clear perception of this principle, he
will be able, according to his own special taste, to produce a pleasing
variety of combinations in his experiments. He will thus rise above
being a mere copyist of the methods used by others, and so will give a
zest and freshness to his performances.
Now, there are many short and secondary dashes of legerdemain, which a
spirited performer will be able to introduce in addition to the tricks
which he is exhibiting. There are also several ornamental or fanciful
little tricks which would not rivet the attention of an audience if
exhibited by themselves. These, though unqualified to shine as the main
object of observation, may nevertheless be worked into the evening’s
entertainment as amusing by-play, and may thus prevent the interest
of the spectators from flagging. They may come in as accessories—as
stimulating side-dishes—causing the entertainment to bear a continuous
character, instead of merely consisting of sundry isolated experiments.
Let me be allowed to substantiate what I have advanced by reference to
some of the tricks which I have already described.
The reader will have seen that, in some of the tricks explained in
previous papers, there is simply some one definite object to be carried
out. For instance, in the two tricks which concluded the last paper,
the performer simply undertakes to throw the spools off the tape, or
to restore a tape which has been cut. He sets about this, accomplishes
it, and the trick is over. This is all very well as far as it goes.
If the trick is really a good one, it is like a host furnishing his
guests with a solid joint to satisfy their appetite; and it may do so.
But still it comes short of a lively entertainment. It is confessedly
dull for an audience to come to pauses or gaps between isolated tricks.
Their attention is unoccupied while the performer, having finished
off one trick, is making mute preparations to introduce some other
trick wholly unconnected with what has gone before. Such a method
will not keep awake the lively interest that the skilful combination
of the conjuror’s art will sustain. I maintain that varied by-play
and supplementary sets-off will greatly heighten the interest of the
performance.
It will also serve to disarm the suspicious and incredulous, preparing
them to believe what they might otherwise stand on their guard against.
Bare tricks brought forward as isolated experiments give time for the
mind to take its estimate of their possibility; and, of course, in
attempting to exhibit wonders, the improbability of them is apt to
stare people strongly in the face. They are perfectly convinced that
a dime cannot fly into an orange at the other end of the room, that
ink cannot become water, nor a hat be safely used as a frying-pan;
but if you interpose appearances and movements that are consistent
with such processes going on, they are gradually prepared to recognize
as a legitimate result what you have previously indicated as the
contemplated end of those processes.
The amplification or fuller development which I speak of can be
effected at any of the following stages:
1. In the introductory matter leading on to the main trick or
transformation:
2. In the subsequent stages of its development; or,
3. In the winding-up smartly or variedly the conclusion of a trick.
I do not say that every trick is to be amplified or loaded with
extraneous matter in all these different stages, (that would be to
run into the contrary extreme of over-cumbrous amplification;) but I
will endeavor to point out the effect of such development in the above
three stages of a trick, and if I can show that amplification in each
several one may be an improvement, I may be considered to have made
good my proposition that any trick may be improved and rendered more
interesting by one or other of those amplifications.
Let us see if we cannot lay down a bill of fare for our guests which,
going beyond a solid joint, (good as that may be in its way,) will
furnish them with some relishing accessory in the first course of a
trick, some stimulant side-dishes with its second course, or may please
with some bon-bons before the entertainment is quite concluded.
1. INTRODUCTORY.
Now, first as to introductory matter. Suppose a conjuror is able to
perform Trick 3—the “Dancing Egg”—it will waken up his audience if,
instead of proceeding at once with the trick, he can by sleight-of-hand
find out an egg in the whiskers or necktie of some unwatchful
spectator, and afterwards substitute for it the egg prepared with a
hair and wax.
The chief aim of introductory matter should be to enlist the thoughts
and expectations of your audience under your command, so as to preclude
their watching what you are driving at. Show all you can safely show
openly; enlarge upon the things being submitted to their own eyes and
touch; engage their eyes and ears with certain appearances leading
their thoughts to adopt your suggestions, so that, when you approach
the development intended, they have had no reason to suspect your
motives; thus having their confidence, you can jump at once to their
credulity, though there may, in fact, exist some gap, or illogical
process, which they omit to notice.
2. DURING THE SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF A TRICK.
I often vary and render more interesting the development of a trick by
some little by-play.
For instance, in the trick which I often use as my first trick I make
a candle an amusing helper, by snatching it from the candle-stick, and
asking some one to hold it wrapt up in paper.
And this unexpected service of the candle is wrought into the body of
the trick which I have in hand.
I change also a crystal ball into an orange by skilful manipulation.
By such brief diversion of the attention of the spectators, their
eyes are withdrawn from watching too narrowly some manœuvre that is
requisite to carry out the more important trick which you have in hand.
Or you may actually make an act, which is a mere accessory, cover some
important portion of the trick; as in the tape trick (No. 20.) While
PRETENDING TO SHOW YOUR ASSISTANT HOW TO HOLD the tape in HIS hand, you
slip the knot away unperceived wider YOUR OWN hand.
3. IN CONCLUDING A TRICK.
It greatly adds to the efficiency of a trick to let it finish off with
a sparkle, or some playful addition which gilds its exit.
For instance, in the trick of doubling the pocket-money, (7th trick,)
the little by-play of finding, or rather pretending to find, some
coins secreted in the sleeve of the young friend who has helped you,
is sure to bring out a good-humored laugh at the termination of the
trick. Again, in Trick 16, the additional fact of finding the watch in
the loaf makes a lively termination of the performance of the obedient
watch. In the 18th Trick, the glass of wine becoming solid might be
used as a good finish to any trick where some friend has assisted in
its exhibition.
You may often raise a good-humored laugh by appearing to swallow any
object which you have used in a trick—as an orange, ball, egg, or
dime—and afterwards bringing it out from your sleeve; or, by the use of
Pass 1, to drive a coin up one sleeve, round the back of your neck, and
down the other sleeve, into your right hand.
I not only consider such Amplifications of a trick lively and
interesting, but I maintain this to be the best way of employing
many secondary and short tricks wherever they can be brought in
appropriately as offshoots of longer and more important ones.
TRICK 21.—The invisible hen: a very useful trick for supplying eggs for
breakfast or dinner.
PREPARATION.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.]
In order to save the invisible hen trouble and delay, it will be
advisable to have eight or ten egg-shells, (as described in Trick 3;)
or some light imitation eggs, painted white, may be bought at any depot
of conjuring apparatus. A linen or camlet bag may also be procured from
the same depot, though I think a bag made at home, according to the
following directions, to be preferable.
It must be about the size of a small pillow, two feet three inches
across, and one foot nine inches deep. It has one of its sides of
double cloth, (x,) the other single, (z,) in the same way as leather
writing-cases have a pocket on one side, and a single cover on the
other. The double side is stitched together all round, with the
exception of an opening at A, which must be about five inches long, or
large enough to admit easily a hand to put in or take out the eggs.
This double side of the bag must always be kept towards the performer,
whereas the single side must be always kept towards the spectators;
and the only opening between these two sides is between C and D. On
the interior of the side of the double cloth bag, a strip or kind of
frill of the same cloth must be sewn, with an elastic binding round
the pockets or cups for eggs. The elastic binding will keep them in
these pockets, unless they are pressed by the thumb or finger, so as to
release them and let them fall into the centre of the double bag. The
strip has the appearance of a string of inverted egg-cups, thus:
[Illustration: FIG. 21.]
The position of it in the bag is indicated in Fig. 21 by the dots
running across the bag; but the strip itself is never seen by the
spectators, for it is placed on the inner side of the double bag, which
is always towards the performer.
Having carefully prepared the above apparatus, commence the exhibition
of the trick by holding up the bag by the corners C and D, as
represented in Fig. 21. Shake the bag well while so holding it, showing
it to be (apparently) empty.
After having thus exhibited the bag, thrust both your hands down
inside it to the corners A and B. Holding those corners, pull the bag
inside out, and again show it to be empty, in this reversed position,
represented in Fig. 21.
As the spectators have now seen it thoroughly, inside and outside, you
may put the question to them, “whether they admit it to be empty, as
they ought to know.”
While holding the bag by the same corners A and B, you must now gather
the bag a little closer together, and holding it well up—see Fig.
21—press with your thumb one of the eggs out of its elastic cup. This
can be easily done without any one observing the movement. This egg,
with a little gentle shaking, will fall into the large bag made by the
double side; but it cannot fall to the ground, however much you shake
it, for there is no opening but at A, and that is upwards towards your
right hand, so you may shake the bag boldly.
[Illustration: FIG. 22.]
You next lower the bag a little, and spread it on your chest, letting
it rest there while you move your hands from A and B to take hold of
the corners C and D; and you must give an opening for what had hitherto
been the higher part of the bag, to drop through between the opening
that there is between C and D. This will keep the double side of the
bag (x) still towards yourself, and the bag will now be returned to its
original position (Fig. 21.) With your left hand retaining hold of the
corner D, and lowering the bag towards your right hand, shake well the
loosened egg down towards the corner A. Search with your right hand
about that corner, and the opening of the double bag, and you will be
able to bring out the egg that had been loosened while the bag was in
position 3.
Take out that egg; shake the bag well, as if it were quite empty: and
then, thrusting both your hands into the interior corners at A and B,
turn the bag inside out; bring it to position 2, ready to re-commence
bringing out the other eggs one by one, as long as the spectators are
interested. While you hold the bag in position 2, you can safely let
any young person feel to the bottom of the bag, as he will not be
likely to suspect the eggs are towards the top of the bag on the side
near to yourself.
The same bag may be used also much to the amusement of children, by
your loading it with walnuts, chestnuts, small apples, or pears, or any
bon-bon of about the size of an egg; and then allowing the children,
one by one, to feel in your lucky bag for what you take care they shall
find in their successive searches.
A SERIES OF TRICKS, 22, 23, 24.—The chief agent being a plain gold ring.
PREPARATION.
You must be provided with a small thin wire pointed at both ends,
which, being bent round, will resemble an ordinary plain gold ring.
You must also have on your table an orange or a lemon, a box or bowl, a
tumbler, and a dessert-knife.
And you must have four or five needlefuls of thick cotton, which have
been previously steeped for about an hour in a wine-glass of water,
with a teaspoonful of salt in it; and have been afterwards completely
dried, so as to burn easily.
TRICK 22.
Having the fictitious ring in the palm of your hand, commence by
requesting any lady present to oblige you by lending you a plain gold
ring, and borrow also from some gentleman a colored silk handkerchief.
Appear to place the borrowed ring in that handkerchief, but in reality
place in it the rounded fictitious ring. Doubling the centre of the
handkerchief round it, request some gentleman to hold it, so as to
be sure he has got the ring in the handkerchief—while you fetch a
slight cord to fasten it. While going to your table to fetch this
cord, you slip the real ring into a slit in the orange which you had
prepared, and which closes readily over it. You then tie the cord
round the handkerchief, about two inches from the ring, and, calling
the spectators to notice how it is secured, take hold of that part of
the handkerchief which incloses the fictitious ring in your own hand,
and tell the gentleman to place one by one the four corners of the
handkerchief over your hand. Directly he has begun to do this, your
fingers must proceed to unbend and open the fictitious ring, and to
press it by its pointed end through the silk, and conceal it in your
own palm. You tell your assistant to blow upon the handkerchief and
open it—the ring is gone, and you return the handkerchief to the owner.
Fetch the orange from your table, and ask some one to cut it open, and
he will find the lady’s ring in the centre of the orange.
TRICK 23.
You are now to proceed immediately to the next development of the
mysterious powers of the plain ring, which ladies so much admire. You
may commence by remarking that “you have little doubt that this symbol
of love and obedience will at your command pass through the table,
solid as it is. Let us try.”
Place the tumbler on the table—produce your own silk handkerchief, to
the centre of which a plain ring is already fastened by a doubled silk
thread of about 4 inches length.
Use Pass 1 with the real ring, as if passing it into the handkerchief:
conceal that ring, and substitute for it the fictitious ring.
Then addressing the spectators, say:
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will drop this ring into the glass, so
as you shall hear it fall.” Do so. Let the handkerchief rest over the
glass for a minute or two. “Now I must place this bowl under the table
to receive the ring.” In so placing the bowl, you must silently place
the real ring in it. Then say aloud, “Change, ring; pass from the glass
through the table into the bowl below.” Lift up the handkerchief, and
while inviting one or two to come and examine the glass and the bowl,
smooth your forehead with the handkerchief as if heated, and pass it
into your pocket. Your young friends will be astonished to find the
ring not in the glass, where they heard it tinkle, but in the bowl
underneath the table.
TRICK 24.
“Now, ring, you have amused us so well, that you shall, like Mahomet,
be sustained in the air without visible support.”
Place over a common walking-stick some of your prepared cotton
threads, having twisted two or three of them together, and united them
in a loop, which you draw through the ring, and then slip the ring
through the end of the loop. The ring will then hang suspended about a
foot below the stick. The stick itself may be steadily fixed, resting
on the back of two chairs at an elevation, so as to be easily seen by
the company.
When the ring has been thus suspended, set fire to the cotton about two
inches above the ring; the flame will run upwards towards the stick;
blow it out when about two inches from the stick, and the ring will
remain pendulous in the air for some little time after the cotton has
been burnt.
The suspension is said to be caused by a filament, or fine thread of
glass—which has been formed by the ashes of the cotton uniting with the
heated salt, with which the cotton had been prepared.
Now this trick would be too simple an experiment to be exhibited by
itself; but coming as a finish to two other tricks, which have been
performed with the same ring, the spectators
Will give it honor due.
I trust that I have satisfactorily established the assertion that a
combination of congenial tricks will often tell more effectively than
the same tricks would if exhibited without such combination.
CHAPTER VII.
FRIENDLY SUGGESTIONS.
As the amateur will aspire to come before his parlor audience some day
or other, it may be some little service and help to him to give a few
suggestions as to the best way of conducting such an exhibition, and to
specify the kind of tricks to which he will do well to limit himself.
It will be desirable to open with an off-hand expression of his wish to
place before them a few amusing tricks to wile away an hour; and let
him assume a lively air, for his own liveliness will sustain that of
the spectators.
There are some conjurors who, though they can perform good tricks,
exhibit them in such a heavy, uninteresting way that they create no
enthusiasm. An over-anxious look, coupled with a creeping, fearful
movement, and a dull, monotonous voice, will suggest distrust and
dissatisfaction, even where the audience has come together prepossessed
with the expectation of mirth and glee. Let none assume, then, to
wave the conjuror’s wand till he has himself some confidence in his
powers, knows what he purposes to do, and means to carry it out.
I would say that a moderate degree of assumption, a gay vivacity,
ready to break out into a smile, a cheerful spirit, and a joyous
voice, will go a great way to bespeak favor, which the performer can
quickly repay by dashing off his tricks with enthusiasm. The language
used by the conjurer should be studiously guarded. Let there be no
vain-glorious assertions, no self-praise, but respectful deference
to the judgment of the spectators; rather inclining to give them the
credit of understanding more than they do, than twitting them with
understanding less. Be neither overbearing with conceited “chaff” upon
any of the company; nor, on the other hand, venture upon extreme and
disconcerting compliments to any person present. Rather, as a courteous
master of the ceremonies, conduct the experiments with a simple effort
to please and to amuse all. With the exhibition of an amateur, the
performance of some lively airs upon the piano by any friend will form
an agreeable accompaniment, especially if the spirited and humorous
melodies are introduced, which the public taste recognizes as the tunes
of the day. You will do well to have your table neatly and carefully
arranged. Let it not lie too near to the spectators, nor within reach
of too minute inspection. It should be of sufficient height to show
the main objects placed on it; but the surface of it may be just high
enough to be sheltered from the spectators clearly viewing every
article upon it. The ornaments should be few, yet, at the same time, be
serviceable to shade a few articles which it may be policy to conceal.
1. The centre table may be a moderate-sized kitchen table, with a
drawer to stand open; so that the performer can take any article out
of the drawer with one hand, while engaging the eyes of the spectators
with his other hand. A colored cloth should be over the tables, on the
side towards the spectators.
2. Two small tables, at the sides of the centre table, may also be
useful, as in Fig. 23.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.]
3. With tables arranged somewhat in this manner, the amateur will
be able to take up articles, from either the surface or back of the
tables, without attracting notice to his doing so. He must practise
taking up things with one hand, while his other hand and his eyes are
ostensibly occupied with some other object; for if the spectators see
him looking behind his table, their eyes will immediately follow in the
same direction.
The amateur will do well to select the simpler tricks for his first
attempts, and never pretend to exhibit even those without having
frequently and diligently practised them. He must make up his
resolution to train his hands to the passes, and to the several
manœuvres in the tricks, as diligently as young ladies train their
fingers to the keys of the piano.
And let them not be discouraged if they feel awkward and nervous at
first. Some of the best conjurors have candidly confessed their early
failings and misgivings. With practice and perseverance this will, in
most cases, wear off. I would augur that, if they feel an interest in
the art, and a desire to excel in it, they will most probably secure a
measure of success that will amply repay their efforts.
TRICK 25.—The Conjuror’s “Bonus Genius,” or Familiar Messenger.
This is an old trick that has delighted thousands, and may amuse
thousands more, if adroitly performed. There are only the simplest
mechanical arrangements connected with it; its successful exhibition
depends upon the dexterity and vivacity of the performer.
PREPARATION.
You must have a strong wooden doll, about eight or ten inches high; the
head must fix on or off by a peg at the bottom of the throat, being
placed in a hole made at the top of the bust. Besides a close-fitting
dress to its body, a large, loose, fantastic cloak must be placed round
the whole figure, but must be so arranged as to allow the head to be
pushed down through the part of the cloak that covers the bust, and
an elastic pocket must be neatly made inside the cloak to receive and
retain the head.
Having the above apparatus ready, you may commence by saying:
“Allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce my learned friend and
assistant—indefatigable in traveling to the most distant parts on any
message I may wish to send him. He used to be recognized by early
conjurors as their Bonus Genius—their good familiar spirit. But,
whatever his special title, he is gifted with the art of rendering
himself visible or invisible, as he feels disposed, while he travels to
distant countries.
“Allow me to call your attention to the solid frame and unflinching
nerves, at any rate to the well-seasoned constitution of my friend.
[Rap him loudly, rap, rap, rap, on the table.] The raps he received
during his education doubtless accustomed him to bear much without
flinching. Though his travels have ranged from China to Peru, from the
Equator to the Poles, you perceive he still sounds like a hardy Pole
himself. (Rap, rap, rap.)
“I perceive, however, by the glaring of his eye, that, after my too
rough handling, he is desirous of starting on his travels. I suppose
we must provide him with the needful for his expenses. Large sums are
given now-a-days to special correspondents in foreign countries; who
will kindly give him sufficient? He will want a golden or silver key
to open some curiosities he may wish to inspect in foreign cities.
(Pause.) Oh, well, as there is a delay about it, I must myself supply
him. I think I have a few disposable coins in my pocket: he shall have
them.”
Suiting the action to the word, while your left hand holds the upper
part of the cloak near the neck, so as to cover what you are doing,
you withdraw the wooden body with your right hand, while you move your
right hand down to your pocket for the coins. You then leave the body
of the doll in your pocket, and taking out the coins, present them to
the head and cloak of the figure, which is held in your left hand,
saying: “There, my good friend, you can now, if you wish, proceed
on your tour to Algiers, or Dahomey, or Timbuctoo, or wherever the
universal Yankee travelers fancy at the present to resort.
“Ah, I see he is pleased and in good spirits again. He wishes
apparently to bid you good-bye. You will excuse his looking also round
about him, to judge whether the weather is fair to set out; after
which I will lay my hand on his head to express my good wishes for his
journey. I dare say he will not stay much longer after that than a
schoolboy does after his master has bid him good-bye.”
Place with formal ceremony your hand on his head, press it down through
the opening below it, receive it in your left hand underneath the
cloak, and bestow it safely in the pocket.
Affect astonishment at finding the gown alone left in your hands, and
fold it up with a lamentation at his departure. You may say: “It is
clear that he has chosen to go to a hot climate, as he has left his
cloak behind him.”
Discourse for a few minutes about sending a telegram to overtake him at
London or San Francisco—talk about the sea-passage, railways, tunnels,
and what not.
“Ah, but I need none of these if I wish him back. I can summon him
again by a few mystic wavings of my wand and by secret art. Hey, my
friend, I need thy presence; quick, return, I pray you. I wish to see
you again in your familiar garb—
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something ghostly hither comes.”
Swell out the cloak with your left hand, and at the same time thrust up
the head from the pocket. It will appear as if the whole figure stood
before them.
Then say: “I fear, dear friend, I have trespassed by abridging your
tour. You can hardly have traversed Algeria, crossed the mountains
of the moon, or found the birthplace of the Nile; and no one returns
now-a-days without some such marvel to relate. I will let you depart
again. As some people say to troublesome visitors: ‘You may depart now;
please to call again to-morrow.’”
Repeat the manœuvre, as before, of secreting the head. Then exclaim:
“Alas! he is gone in earnest, like the sojourner of a day (with mock
pathos.) When we have lost him, we feel our loneliness.”
Fold up sorrowfully the cloak of the departed, and so conclude the
trick.
TRICK 26.—The Shower of Money.
A dozen silver coins, or pennies, will be equally useful in exhibiting
this trick; but some fictitious coin, in color resembling gold, will
perhaps more effectively delight those who are charmed by the yellow
glitter of the precious metal. The performer must have provided himself
with so many of these in his left hand as he purposes to produce at the
end of the trick, and two of the same coin also must be concealed in
his right palm. He must further borrow a hat from one of the company.
The imagination of the spectators having been excited by the
expectation of beholding a shower of money, the adept in
sleight-of-hand, keeping one of the two coins in his right hand
concealed, must advance the other coin to the end of his forefinger
and thumb, while he pretends to pick a coin out of the candle, or of
the rim of a hat, or from a lady’s fan or shoulder, or may pretend
to clutch a coin floating in the air. As he brings away his prize,
he may rattle it against the other coin concealed in his right hand.
Then, making Pass 1, he may pretend to pass it into the hat, being
careful precisely at the same moment to drop, audibly, a coin from his
left hand into the hat which he holds in that hand. Let him tell the
audience to keep count how many he collects: it will rather distract
their attention.
He can continue this pleasant appearance of acquiring wealth for ten
minutes, or as long as he can devise various methods of appearing
to clutch it, till the number with which he stored his left hand is
exhausted.
He may then request some one to count out, audibly, into a plate the
coins collected in the hat, which will coincide with the number he has
appeared to collect so magically from various sources. When adroitly
done, this trick is very pleasing and effective.
TRICK 27.—To Furnish Ladies With a Magic Supply of Tea or Coffee, at
their selection, From One and the Same Jug.
PREPARATION.
Have a metal jug to hold not less than three pints. It must be
constructed with two compartments in the lower part of it, holding
about a pint and a quarter each, and these must each have a pipe
connected with the spout of the jug and another pipe connecting
with its handle, and in the handle a small hole about the size of a
letter—o—in this print. These lower compartments must be filled with
good tea and coffee before the jug is produced.
The upper chamber or compartment, like the upper portion of a patent
coffee-pot, must have no communication with the lower divisions, and
must be well closed also at the top with a tin cover, closely fitting.
Have half a dozen small tea-cups and half a dozen small coffee-cups
ready on a tray.
Begin the trick by placing openly in the upper compartment
coffee-berries and tea, mixing them together. Take up, as a sudden
thought, an old blacking bottle, and pretend to pour from it into
the jug, to furnish highly-colored liquid to improve the coffee; and
a little gunpowder, about a teaspoonful, may be fired off over the
mixture to make the tea strong. Wave your wand over the jug.
Then you may address the ladies: inform them that the ingredients are
well mixed, and invite them to name which they will prefer, “tea or
coffee,” as you can produce either at their command from the same jug.
Get some friend to hand the cups, while you follow him, and, by
unstopping the holes in the handle for admitting air upon the coffee or
tea, the one of them that each lady names will flow out from the spout
of this magic jug.
TRICK 28.—A Pleasing Exhibition for both the Performer and the
Audience to view when they feel a little Exhausted.
PREPARATION.
Have two pint bottles and one quart bottle; the pint bottles to
be filled, one with a liquid resembling port, the other with one
resembling sherry; the large bottle to be at first empty. Three opaque
metal stands—the centre one to stand under the quart bottle, to have a
large cavity to hold a quart, and the upper part of this stand to be
full of large holes, like a cullender, for the liquor to run from the
opening at H into that cavity.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.]
You must also have three metal covers, of proper size to cover the
above three bottles—these covers to have handles at top, so as to be
easily lifted. The large centre cover is simply a cover; but the two
side ones, which are to cover the pint bottles, must be made with metal
cavities large enough to hold, one a pint of port, the other a pint of
sherry, at top, with a descending pipe to fall into the mouths of the
pint bottles.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.]
There must be a small hole at top of each of the small covers, at B
and C, which hole, being covered with tinfoil, will, as long as it is
closed, prevent the wine from running out at D. But when the tinfoil is
scraped off, and the hole admits the air, the wine will then be able to
run into the pint bottles.
The above apparatus being all ready, commence by saying: “I will
now pour this pint of port and this pint of sherry into the large
bottle, mixing them inseparably together.” Having done so, remove the
stopper at bottom of the large bottle as you place it on its stand,
and immediately place the large cover over it. The mixed liquid will
gradually run out into the concealed cavity in the stand.
You must now talk a little magic nonsense, to draw off the attention,
while you place the special covers over each of the small bottles,
so that the descending pipes in the covers fit in the necks of the
bottles. Remove the tinfoil with which you had covered the holes at A
and B.
With a few magic waves of your wand, and words of art, say: “I shall
now cause the mixed liquids in the centre bottle to appear severally in
their own original bottles.” Let the covers remain a few seconds. Clap
your hands, saying: “Change, begone!” Lift the centre cover: the large
bottle will be seen to be empty. Lift successively the covers from the
small bottles: they will be seen to have each their proper wine—one
port, the other sherry.
TRICK 29.—To Furnish a Treat to the Gentlemen.
For this the magic bottle must be procured. One with three or four
compartments is amply sufficient. In these place gin, sherry, and port
wine, respectively. The bottle will have three or four holes, on which
you place your fingers as if stopping the holes of a flute. You may
have a bucket of water and a common bottle, resembling the magic one
in size and appearance, near your table. Have ready also a tray of
wine-glasses of thick glass, and holding only a very small quantity.
Exhibit the common bottle to the audience, and then place it on your
table, and direct attention to some of the other articles on your
table. “Now I must begin my experiment. I will wash and drain my
bottle, that you may see the experiment from the beginning to the end.”
Place it in the bucket, and while shaking it about, and letting the
water run out, exchange it for the magic bottle lying by the bucket.
Wipe that carefully with a napkin, as if drying it, and calling
two or three of the audience forward at a time, inquire which they
prefer. Have the stops according to alphabetical order to prevent your
mistaking—gin, port, sherry. Continue supplying the small glasses as
called for, till your bottle gets nearly empty, and then pour them out
indiscriminately. There will have been sufficient to satisfy the most
eager.
But if you wish to continue the trick, yen may have a second magic
bottle prepared in the same way, and you will easily, while propounding
some magic charm and gesticulating, make some pretence that will enable
you to exchange the empty for the second bottle, and so proceed.
VENTRILOQUISM MADE EASY.
WHAT IS VENTRILOQUISM?
Before we take the reader into the precise and minute instructions
which he will have to study and practice ere he can become the
possessor of the coveted art, it will be necessary to inform him what
Ventriloquism[1] is, and in what it consists. In doing so, we shall
endeavor to be as plain and clear as possible. Ventriloquism may be
divided into two sections, or general heads, the first of which may be
appropriately designated as Polyphonism, and consists of the simple
imitation of the voices of human creatures, of animals, of musical
instruments, and sounds and noises of every description in which no
illusion is intended, but where, on the contrary, the imitation is
avowedly executed by the mimic, amongst which we may classify sawing,
planing, door-creaking, sounds of musical instruments, and other
similar imitations.
[1] Literally signifying belly-speaking, from _venter_, the belly, and
_loquor_, I speak.
Secondly, we have ventriloquism proper, which consists in the imitation
of such voices, sounds, and noises, not as originating in him, but
in some other appropriate source at a given or varying distance, in
any or even in several directions, either singly or together—a process
exciting both wonder and amusement, and which may be accomplished by
thousands who have hitherto viewed the ventriloquist as invested with a
power wholly denied by nature to themselves. It is needless to observe,
that when the imitations are effected without a movement of mouth,
features, or body, the astonishment of the audience is considerably
enhanced.
The terms polyphony, mimicry, or imitation, are employed to
designate results obtained in reference to the first division of the
subject, where no illusion is intended; while the term ventriloquism
distinguishes those under the second division, where an illusion is
palpably produced. The first is much more common than the latter;
indeed, there is scarcely a public school which does not possess at
least one boy capable of imitating the mewing of a cat, the barking
of a dog, or the squeaking voice of an old woman. On the other hand,
from a want of the knowledge of _how_ to proceed, it is very seldom
that even a blundering attempt at ventriloquism is heard, except from a
public platform.
There have been many statements put forward defining ventriloquism,
but we are decidedly of opinion that the theory of two of the most
celebrated of foreign ventriloquists, Baron de Mengen and M. St. Gille,
who were sufficiently unselfish to avow the secret of their art, is not
only the most correct, but it is at once the most reasonable and the
most natural.
From Baron de Mengen’s account of himself, and the observations made by
M. de la Chapelle, in his frequent examinations of St. Gille, whom we
shall afterwards refer to, it seems that the factitious ventriloquist
voice does not (as the etymology of the word imports) proceed from the
belly, but is formed in the inner parts of the mouth and throat.
The art does not depend on a particular structure or organization of
these parts, but may be acquired by almost any one ardently desirous of
attaining it, and determined to persevere in repeated trials.
The judgments we form concerning the situation and distance of bodies,
by means of the senses mutually assisting and correcting each other,
seem to be entirely founded on experience; and we pass from the sign
to the thing signified by it immediately, or at least without any
intermediate steps perceptible to ourselves.
Hence it follows that if a man, though in the same room with another,
can by any peculiar modifications of the organs of speech, produce
a sound which, in faintness, tone, body, and every other sensible
quality, perfectly resembles a sound delivered from the roof of an
opposite house, the ear will naturally, without examination, refer it
to that situation and distance; the sound which he hears being only
a sign, which from infancy he has become accustomed, by experience,
to associate with the idea of a person speaking from a house-top. A
deception of this kind is practised with success on the organ and other
musical instruments.
Rolandus, in his “Aglossostomographia,” mentions, that if the
mediastinum, which is naturally a single membrane, be divided into two
parts, the speech will seem to come out of the breast, so that the
bystanders will fancy the person possessed.
Mr. Gough, in the “Manchester Memoirs,” vol. v. part ii. p. 622 London,
1802, investigates the method whereby men judge by the ear of the
position of sonorous bodies relative to their own persons.
This author observes, in general that a sudden change in direction of
sound, our knowledge of which, he conceives, does not depend on the
impulse in the ear, but on other facts, will be perceived when the
original communication is interrupted, provided there be a sensible
echo. This circumstance will be acknowledged by any person who has had
occasion to walk along a valley, intercepted with buildings, at the
time that a peal of bells is ringing in it. The sound of the bells,
instead of arriving constantly at the ears of the person so situated,
is frequently reflected in a short time from two or three different
places. These deceptions are, in many cases, so much diversified by
the successive interpositions of fresh objects, that the steeple
appears, in the hearer’s judgment, to perform the part of an expert
ventriloquist on a theatre—the extent of which is adapted to its own
powers, and not to those of the human voice.
The similarity of effect which connects this phenomenon with
ventriloquism, convinced the author, whenever he heard it, that what
we know to be the cause in one instance, is also the cause in the
other, viz., that the echo reaches the ear, while the original sound is
intercepted by accident in the case of the bells _but by art_, in the
case of the ventriloquist.
It is the business of the ventriloquist to amuse his admirers with
tricks resembling the foregoing delusion; and it will be readily
granted that he has a subtle sense, highly corrected by experience to
manage, on which account the judgment must be cheated as well as the
ear.
This can only be accomplished by making the pulses, constituting his
words strike the heads of his hearers, not in the right lines that
join their persons and his. He must therefore, know how to disguise
the true direction of his voice; because the artifice will give him an
opportunity to substitute almost any echo he chooses in the place of
it. But the superior part of the human body has been already proved
to form an extensive seat of sound, from every point of which the
pulses are repelled as if they diverge from a common centre. This is
the reason why people, who speak in the usual way, cannot conceal the
direction of their voices, which in reality _fly off towards all points
at the same instant_. The ventriloquist, therefore, by some means or
other, acquires the difficult habit of _contracting_ the field of
sound within the _compass of his lips_, which enables him to confine
the real path of his voice to narrow limits. For he who is master of
his art has nothing to do but to place his mouth obliquely to the
company, and to dart his words out of his mouth—if the expression may
be used—whence they will then strike the ears of the audience as that
from an unexpected quarter. Nature seems to fix no bounds to this
kind of deception, only care must be taken not to let the path of
the direct pulses pass too near the head of the person who is played
upon, but the divergency of the pulses make him perceive the voice
itself. Our readers will, therefore, not be surprised that the French
Academy adopted this view of the subject, and laid down that the art
consists in an _accurate imitation of any given sound as it reaches the
ear_. In conformity with a theory so incontrovertible, physiologists
have suggested a variety of movements of the vocal organs to explain
still further the originating cause; and some have gone so far as to
contend for a peculiarity of structure in these organs as an essential
requirement; but they have wisely omitted to specify what. Nothing,
however, can be more accurate than the description of “the _essence_”
of ventriloquy in the “English Cyclopædia”—namely, that it “_consists
in creating illusions as to the distance and direction whence a sound
has travelled_.” How those sounds are produced, we shall show in
another chapter.
VENTRILOQUISM AMONGST THE ANCIENTS.
Charles Lamb gave utterance to the thought that it was “pleasant to
contemplate the head of the Ganges,” but the student of ventriloquism
finds it difficult to obtain a view of the source of his art. In the
dim and misty ages of antiquity, he may trace under various guises the
practice of it. Many of the old superstitions were fostered by its
means; from the cradle of mankind to the birthplace of idolatry, we
incidentally learn of the belief in a familiar spirit—a second voice,
which afterwards took the form of divination.
The various kinds of divination amongst the nations of antiquity which
were stated by the priesthood to be by a spirit, a familiar spirit,
or a spirit of divination, are now supposed to have been effected by
means of ventriloquism. Divination by a familiar spirit can be tracked
through a long period of time. By reference to Leviticus xx. 27 it will
be seen that the Mosaic law forbade the Hebrews to consult those having
familiar spirits, and to put to death the possessor. The Mosaic law was
given about fifteen hundred years before Christ. Divining by a familiar
spirit was, however, so familiar to the Jews, that the prophet Isaiah
draws a powerful illustration from the kind of voice heard in such
divination, see Isaiah xxix. 4.
There can be little doubt but the Jews became acquainted with this
voice during their compulsory captivity in Egypt. In many of the
mysteries which accompanied the worship of Osiris, the unearthly
voice speaking from hidden depths of unknown heights was common. Some
philosophers have imagined that a series of tubes and acoustical
appliances were used to accomplish these mysterious sounds. The statute
of Memnon will instantly suggest itself as a familiar instance. The
gigantic stone-head was heard to speak when the first rays of the
worshipped sun glanced on its impassive features. The magic words were
undoubtedly pronounced by the attendant priest, for we find a similar
trick prevalent throughout the whole history of ventriloquism, and even
now the public professors of the art know how much depends on fixing
the attention of their audience on the object or place from whence the
sound is supposed to proceed. The Jews carried the art with them into
Palestine, for we trace the agency throughout their history.
The Greeks practised a mode of divination termed gastromancy, where the
diviner replied without moving his lips, so that the consulter believed
he heard the actual voice of a spirit speaking from its residence
within the priest’s belly.
In the Acts of the Apostles (xvi. 16), mention is made of a young woman
with a familiar spirit meeting the Apostles in the city of Philippi,
in Macedonia,—St. Chrysostom and other early Fathers of the Christian
Church mention divination by a familiar spirit as practised in their
day. The practice of similar divination is still common in the East;
it lingers on the banks of the Nile, and is even practised among the
Esquimaux. This divination by a familiar spirit has been practised
upwards of three thousand years.
MODERN PROFESSORS OF THE ART.
The earliest notice of ventriloquial illusion, as carried out in
modern times, has reference to Louis Brabant, _valet-de-chambre_ of
Francis I., who is said to have fallen in love with a beautiful and
rich heiress, but was rejected by the parents as a low, unsuitable
match. However, the father dying, he visits the widow; and on his
first appearance in the house she hears herself accosted in a voice
resembling that of her dead husband, and which seemed to proceed from
above. “Give my daughter in marriage to Louis Brabant, who is a man of
great fortune and excellent character. I now endure the inexpressible
torments of purgatory, for having refused her to him; obey this
admonition and I shall soon be delivered; you will provide a worthy
husband for your daughter, and procure everlasting repose to the soul
of your poor husband.”
The dread summons, which had no appearance of proceeding from Louis,
whose countenance exhibited no change, and whose lips were close and
motionless, was instantly complied with; but the deceiver, in order
to mend his finances for the accomplishment of the marriage contract,
applies to one Cornu, an old and rich banker at Lyons, who had
accumulated immense wealth by usury, and extortion, and was haunted by
remorse of conscience. After some conversation on demons and spectres,
the pains of purgatory, &c., during an interval of silence, a voice is
heard, like that of the banker’s deceased father, complaining of his
dreadful situation in purgatory, and calling upon him to rescue him
from thence, by putting into the hands of Louis Brabant, then with him,
a large sum for the redemption of Christians in slavery with the Turks;
threatening him at the same time with eternal damnation if he did not
thus expiate his own sins. Upon a second interview, in which his ears
were saluted with the complaints and groans of his father, and of all
his deceased relations, imploring him, for the love of God, and in the
name of every saint in the calendar, to have mercy on his own soul and
others, Cornu obeyed the heavenly voice, and gave Louis 10,000 crowns,
with which he returned to Paris, and married his mistress.
The works of M. L’Abbe La Chapelle, issued 1772, and before alluded
to, contain descriptions of the ventriloquial achievements of Baron
Mengen at Vienna; and those of M. St. Gille, near Paris, are equally
interesting and astonishing. The former ingeniously constructed a doll
with moveable lips, which he could readily control by a movement of the
fingers under the dress; and with this automaton he was accustomed to
hold humorous and satirical dialogues. He ascribed proficiency in his
art to the frequent gratification of a propensity for counterfeiting
the cries of the lower animals, and the voices of persons with whom he
was brought in contact. So expert, indeed, had practice rendered him
in this way, that the sounds uttered by him did not seem to issue from
his own mouth. La Chapelle, having heard many surprising circumstances
related concerning one M. St. Gille, a grocer at St. Germainen-Laye,
near Paris, whose powers as a ventriloquist had given occasion to many
singular and diverting scenes, formed the resolution of seeing him.
Being seated with him on the opposite side of a fire, in a parlor on
the ground floor, and very attentively observing him, the Abbe, after
half an hour’s conversation with M. St. Gille, heard himself called, on
a sudden, by his name and title, in a voice that seemed to come from
the roof of a house at a distance; and whilst he was pointing to the
house from which the voice had appeared to him to proceed, he was yet
more surprised at hearing the words, “it was not from that quarter,”
apparently in the same kind of voice as before, but which now seemed to
issue from under the earth at one of the corners of the room. In short,
this factitious voice played, as it were, everywhere about him, and
seemed to proceed from any quarter or distance from which the operator
chose to transmit it to him. To the Abbe, though conscious that the
voice proceeded from the mouth of M. St. Gille, he appeared absolutely
mute while he was exercising his talent; nor could any change in
his countenance be discovered. But he observed that M. St. Gille
presented only the profile of his face to him while he was speaking as
a ventriloquist.
On another occasion, M. St. Gille sought for shelter from a storm in
a neighboring convent; and finding the community in mourning, and
inquiring the cause, he was told that one of their body, much esteemed
by them, had lately died. Some of their religious attended him to the
church, and showing him the tomb of their deceased brother, spoke very
feelingly of the scanty honors that had been bestowed on his memory,
when suddenly, a voice was heard, apparently proceeding from the roof
of the choir, lamenting the situation of the defunct in purgatory, and
reproaching the brotherhood with their want of zeal on his account. The
whole community being afterwards convened in the church, the voice from
the roof renewed its lamentations and reproaches, and the whole convent
fell on their faces, and vowed a solemn reparation. Accordingly, they
first chanted a _De profundis_ in full choir; during the intervals
of which the ghost occasionally expressed the comfort he received
from their pious exercises and ejaculations in his behalf. The prior,
when this religious service was concluded, entered into a serious
conversation with M. St. Gille, and inveighed against the incredulity
of our modern sceptics and pretended philosophers on the article of
ghosts and apparitions; and St. Gille found it difficult to convince
the fathers that the whole was a deception.
M. St. Gille, in 1771, submitted his attainments in this direction to
several experiments before MM. Leroy and Fouchy, Commissioners of the
Royal Academy of Sciences, and other persons of exalted rank, in order
to demonstrate that his mimicry was so perfect as to reach the point
of complete illusion. For this purpose a report was circulated that a
spirit’s voice had been heard at times in the environs of St. Germain,
and that the commission was appointed to verify the fact. The company,
with the exception of one lady, were apprised of the real nature of
the case, the intention being to test the strength of the illusion
upon her. The arrangement was that they should dine together in the
country, in the open air; and while they were at table, the lady was
addressed in a supernatural voice, now coming from the top of adjoining
trees, then descending until it approached her, next receding and
plunging into the ground, where it ceased. For upwards of two hours was
this startling manifestation continued with such adroitness that she
was convinced the voice belonged to a person from another world, and
subsequent explanation failed to convince her to the contrary.
M. Alexandre, the famous ventriloquist, had an extraordinary facility
in counterfeiting all the expressions of countenance and bodily
conditions common to humanity. When in London, his mimetic powers,
which he was fond of exercising both in public and private, made his
company in high request among the upper circles. The Lord Mayor of the
City, in particular, received the ventriloquist with great distinction,
and invited him several times to dine at the Mansion House. But it
unluckily happened that on every occasion when M. Alexandre dined
there, he could not stay to spend the evening, having contracted
engagements elsewhere. The Lord Mayor expressed much regret at this,
and the ventriloquist himself was annoyed on the same account, being
willing to do his best to entertain the guests whom the Lord Mayor had
asked each time to meet him.
At last, on meeting M. Alexandre one day, the Lord Mayor engaged him to
dine at the Mansion House on a remote day. “I fix it purposely,” said
his lordship, “at so distant a period, because I wish to make sure this
time of your remaining with us through the evening.” Through fear of
seeming purposely to slight his lordship, M. Alexandre did not dare to
tell the Mayor that on that very morning he had accepted an invitation
from a nobleman of high rank to spend at his house the evening of the
identical day so unfortunately pitched on by the civic dignitary. All
the ventriloquist said in reply was, “I promise, my lord to remain at
the Mansion House, till you, yourself think it time for me to take my
leave.” “Ah, well,” said the Lord Mayor, and he went off perfectly
satisfied.
At the appointed day Alexandre sat himself down at the magistrate’s
board. Never had the ventriloquist comported himself with so much
spirit and gaiety. He insisted on devoting bumpers to each and every
lady present.
The toasts went round, the old port flowed like water, and the artiste
in particular seemed in danger of loosing his reason under its potent
influence. When others stopped, he stopped not, but continued filling
and emptying incessantly. By and by, his eyes began to stare, his
visage became purple, his tongue grew confused, his whole body seemed
to steam of wine, and finally he sank from his chair in a state of
maudlin, helpless insensibility.
Regretting the condition of his guest, the Lord Mayor got him quietly
lifted, and conveyed to his own carriage, giving orders for him to
be taken home to his lodgings. As soon as M. Alexandre was deposited
there, he became a very different being. It was now ten o’clock, and
but half an hour was left to him to prepare for his appointed visit to
the Duke of ——’s _soiree_. The ventriloquist disrobed himself, taking
first from his breast a quantity of sponge which he had placed beneath
his waist coat, and into the pores of which he had, with a quick and
dexterous hand, poured the greater portion of the wine which he had
apparently swallowed.
Having washed from his person all tokens of his simulated
intoxication, and dressed himself anew, M. Alexandre then betook
himself to the mansion of the nobleman to whom he had engaged himself.
On the following day the fashionable newspapers gave a detailed account
of the grand party at his Grace the Duke of ——’s, and eulogized to the
skies the entertaining performances of M. Alexandre, who, they said,
had surpassed himself on this occasion. Some days afterwards, the Lord
Mayor encountered M. Alexandre. “Ah, how are you?” said his lordship.
“Very well, my lord,” was the reply. “Our newspapers are pretty pieces
of veracity,” said his lordship. “Have you seen the _Courier_ of the
other day? Why, it makes you out to have exhibited in great style last
Thursday night at his Grace of ——’s!” “It has but told the truth,” said
the mimic. “What? impossible!” cried the Mayor. “You do not remember,
then, the state into which you unfortunately got at the Mansion House?”
And thereupon the worthy magistrate detailed to the ventriloquist
the circumstances of his intoxication, and the care that had been
taken with him, with other points of the case. M. Alexandre heard his
lordship to an end, and then confessed the stratagem which he had
played off, and the cause of it.
“I had promised,” said Alexandre, “to be with his Grace at half-past
ten. I had also promised not to leave you till you yourself considered
it fit time. I kept my word in both cases—you know the way.” The civic
functionary laughed heartily, and on the following evening Alexandre
made up for his trick by making the Mansion House ring with laughter
till daylight.
Many anecdotes are told respecting M. Alexandre’s power of assuming the
faces of other people. At Abbotsford, during a visit there, he actually
sat to a sculptor five times in the character of a noted clergyman,
with whose real features the sculptor was well acquainted. When the
sittings were closed and the bust modelled, the mimic cast off his wig
and assumed dress, and appeared with his own natural countenance, to
the terror almost of the sculptor, and to the great amusement of Sir
Walter and others who had been in the secret.
Of this most celebrated ventriloquist it is related that on one
occasion he was passing along the Strand, when a friend desired a
specimen of his abilities. At this instant a load of hay was passing
along near Temple Bar, when Alexandre called attention to the
suffocating cries of a man in the centre of the hay. A crowd gathered
round and stopped the astonished carter, and demanded why he was
carrying a fellow-creature in his hay. The complaints and cries of
the smothered man now became painful, and there was every reason to
believe that he was dying. The crowd, regardless of the stoppage to
the traffic, instantly proceeded to unload the hay into the street.
The smothered voice urged them to make haste, but the feelings of the
people may be imagined when the cart was empty and nobody was found,
while Alexandre and his friend walked off laughing at the unexpected
results of their trick.
It would be obviously invidious to compare the merits of living
professors. Mr. Maccabe, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Thurton and Mr. Macmillan
have long been favorites with the public.
THE THEORY OF VENTRILOQUISM.
Many physiologists aver that ventriloquism is obtained by speaking
during the inspiration of air. It is quite possible to articulate under
these circumstances, and the plan may with advantage be occasionally
adopted; but our own practical experience and close observation of many
public performers, and of not a few private friends who have attained
distinctness and no small amount of facility in the art, convince us
that the general current of utterance is, as in ordinary speech, during
_expiration_ of the breath. Some imagine that the means of procuring
the required imitation are comprised in a thorough management of the
echoes of sound. Unfortunately, however, for this theory, an echo only
repeats what has been already brought into existence. Several eminent
ventriloquists, including the late Mr. Matthews, have displayed the
vocal illusion while walking in the streets. Baron Mengen describes
as follows his mode of speaking, when he desired the illusion to take
the direction of a voice emanating from the doll: “_I press my tongue
against the teeth, and then circumscribe a cavity between my left check
and teeth, in which the voice is produced by the air held in reserve in
the pharynx_. The sounds thus receive a hollow and muffled tone, which
causes them to appear to come from a distance.” The Baron furthermore
mentions that it is essential to have the breath well under control,
and not to respire more than can be avoided. M. St. Gille was seen to
look somewhat exhausted when the vocal illusion grew less perfect. We
ourselves, and all ventriloquists with whom we have conferred, have
acknowledged that they have experienced fatigue in the chest, and have
attributed it to the slow expiration of the breath. M. St. Gille, with
the majority of ventriloquists, was often compelled to cough during the
progress of his exercitation.
To attain an exact and positive knowledge of the modifications of voice
specified as ventriloquism, it is important to be familiar with the
distinctions of the sounds uttered by the mouth; and to ascertain how
the organs act in producing those vocal modifications, it is necessary
to know how the breath is vocalized in all distinctions of pitch,
loudness, and quality, by the ordinary actions of the vocal organs. In
ordinary language, we speak of noise, of common sound, and of musical
sound-terms employed by Dr. Thomas Young in illustrating the mechanical
agencies of articulation:—“A quill striking against a piece of wood
causes a noise, but striking successively against the teeth of a wheel,
or of a comb, a continued sound, and, if the teeth of the wheel are
at equal distances, and the velocity of the rotation is constant,
a musical sound. The general terms—pitch, loudness, quality, and
duration, embrace all the distinctions with which the musician has to
deal, and which he uses in his art.”
The distinguishing feature of musical sound is its uniform pitch
throughout its duration, and acoustically musical sound is composed of
an equal number of impulses or noises produced in equal tones.
The general terms—pitch, loudness, quality, and duration, also embrace
all the distinctions heard in ordinary sounds. These sounds differ
from the musical in the pitch constantly varying throughout their
duration, as the human voice in speaking, and the voice of quadrupeds.
Acoustically such sounds are composed of an unequal number of impulses
or noises produced in equal tones. And from this circumstance pitch, in
the strictly musical sense, is not a property of ordinary sound.
The general terms—loudness and quality, embrace all the distinctions
heard in a noise, as in the collision of two unelastic sticks. Pitch
and duration can scarcely be considered as belonging to common noise.
Thus we have—(1) noise whose audible distinctions are comprehended
under the general terms loudness and quality; (2) common sound, whose
audible distinctions are comprehended under the general terms—loudness,
quality, duration, and every varying pitch; (3) musical sound, whose
audible distinctions are comprehended under the general terms—loudness,
quality, duration, and uniform pitch.
Phonation, or the production of voice, is a result of actions taking
place under two distinct classes of laws—namely, the ordinary
mechanical laws of acoustics, and the physiological laws of muscular
movement. The adjustment of the vocal mechanism to be brought into
operation by the current of air, is made by actions under the latter
laws; and phonation is the result of the reaction of the mechanism on
the current of air, by mechanical movements under the former laws.
Now, the pitch of the voice essentially depends on the tension of the
vocal ligaments; the loudness or the extent of the excursion of these
ligaments in their vibration; the duration on the continuance of the
vocalizing causes; the quality on the organization of the larynx, and
also on the form and size of the vocal tube. The form and size of
this tube can be altered in various ways—for instance, by dilating
or contracting the pharynx; by dilating or contracting the mouth; by
contracting the communication between the pharynx and mouth, so as
to constitute them distinct chambers, or by dilating the opening so
as to throw them into one, which is chiefly attained by movements
of the soft palate; and by altering the form of the mouth’s cavity,
which is effected by varying the position of the tongue. Each of these
modifications of the vocal tube conveys a peculiarity of quality to
the voice,—all, however, being local or laryngeal sounds. Moreover,
sounds can be produced in the vocal tube, apart from the larynx. These,
strictly speaking, are not vocal sounds, though some of them may be of
a definite and uniform pitch, while others are mere noises—as rustling,
whispering, gurgling, whistling, snoring, and the like. Now, as
everything audible comes under the classes of noise, sound, or musical
sound, and as each variety originates in the vocal apparatus of man, it
is obvious that _an ordinary vocal apparatus is all that is required
for the achievement of the feats_ of ventriloquism.
A person having an ear acutely perceptive to the nice distinctions of
sounds, may, by a little practice, imitate many sounds with accuracy.
Those persons, however, who are highly endowed with the mental
requisites, which consist of an intense desire to mimic, coupled with
the ability to originate mimetic ideas, are able to imitate sounds at
first hearing.
We next proceed to treat of those illusions, where the voice so
perfectly counterfeits the reality intended, that it appears not to
issue from the mimic, but from an appropriate source, in whatever
direction, and at whatever distance the source may be. We do not hear
the distance which a sound has travelled from its source, but we judge
the distance from our former experience, by comparing the loudness
which we hear with the known distance and known loudness of similar
sounds heard on former occasions. Common experience will prove that we
oftener err in estimating the distance of uncommon than of familiar
sounds. In apology for such an error, the ordinary language is, “It
seemed too loud to come so far,” or “It seemed too near to be so faint
a sound,” as the case may be,—both of which are apologies for an
erroneous judgment, and not for faulty hearing. Near sounds are louder
than distant ones. Now, by preserving the same _pitch_, _quality_, and
_duration_, but with an _accurately graduated reduction of loudness_,
a series forming a _perspective_ of sounds may be created, which,
falling in succession on the ear, will suggest to the mind a constantly
increasing distance of the sound’s source. The estimate, then, which is
formed of the distance which a sound has travelled before reaching the
ear is a judgment of the mind formed by comparing a present perception
(by hearing) with the remembrance of a former loudness in connection
with its known distance. With regard to direction, it is observed,
“The direction whence a sound comes seems to be judged of by the right
of left ear receiving the stronger impression, which, however, can
only take place when the sound’s source is in a plane, or nearly so,
with a line passing through both cars. It is familiarly known that
a person in a house cannot by the noise of an approaching carriage
judge with certainty whether it is coming from the right or left. He
accurately judges it to be approaching, passing, or receding, as the
case may be, by the gradations of loudness, but is unable to decide
with certainty whether its approach or recession is from up or down
the street. Enough has been stated to show that we do not _hear_, but
that we judge _the direction a sound has travelled from its source on
reaching the ear_.” The ventriloquist indicates, either directly or
indirectly, the direction from which he wishes his audience to believe
the sound is coming. Thus he directly indicates it by words, such
as—“Are you up there?” “He is up the chimney,” “He is in the cellar,”
“Are you down there?” &c., as illustrated in the various examples. He
indirectly indicates it by some suggestive circumstance, as an action
or gesture, which is so skilfully unobtrusive and natural as to effect
its object without being discovered. Thus, when the ventriloquist
looks or listens in any direction, or even simply turns towards any
point, as if he expected sound to come thence, _the attention of an
audience is by that means instantly directed also to the same place_.
Thus, before a sound is produced, the audience expect it to come in
the _suggested direction_; and the ventriloquist has merely, by his
_adjustment of vocal loudness_, to indicate the necessary distance,
when a _misjudgment of the audience will complete the illusion which he
has begun_.
The effect which is produced on sound by its travelling from a
distance, is observed to be:—
(1) That its loudness is reduced in proportion to its distance.
(2) That its _pitch_ remains unaltered.
(3) That its _quality_ or _tone_ is somewhat altered.
(4) That its duration remains unaltered.
(5) That the human speech is _somewhat obscured_, chiefly in the
_consonant_ sounds.
It must be remembered that the ventriloquist makes the sound, not as
it is heard at its source, _but as it is heard after travelling from a
distance_.
THE MEANS BY WHICH IT IS EFFECTED.
Before entering upon the first and easy lessons, it will be as well
to consider the means by which the effect is produced. The Student is
supposed to have made himself thoroughly acquainted with the previous
chapter, as to the effect to be produced, _not on himself_, but _on the
spectators and audience_. And we may assure him, that if he has a fair
range of voice, a diligent observance of the rules which we are about
to lay down, coupled with attention to the nature of sound as it falls
upon the ear, will lead him to such triumphs as, in all probability,
he never imagined he could have attained—an assurance which we are
emboldened to offer from _our own pursuit and practical realization of
the art_.
The student must bear in mind that the means are _simply natural
ones_, used in accordance with _natural laws_. We have given him the
acoustical theory of the effect on the auric nerve, and the means are
the organs of respiration and sound, with the adjoining muscles. They
are the diaphragm, the lungs, the trachea, the larynx, the pharynx,
and the mouth. The diaphragm is a very large convex muscle, situated
below the lungs, and having full power over respiration. The lungs are
the organs of respiration, and are seated at each side of the chest;
they consist of air-tubes minutely ramified in a loose tissue, and
terminating in very small sacs, termed air-cells. The trachea is a
tube, the continuation of the larynx, commonly called the windpipe:
through this the air passes to and from the lungs. It is formed
of cartilaginous rings, by means of which it may be elongated or
shortened. The larynx is that portion of the air-tube immediately above
the trachea: its position is indicated by a large projection in the
throat. In the interior of this part of the throat are situated the
vocal chords. They are four bands of elastic substance somewhat similar
to India-rubber. The cavity, or opening between these vocal chords is
called the glottis: it possesses the power of expanding or contracting
under the influence of the muscles of the larynx. The pharynx is a
cavity above the larynx, communicating with the nasal passages: it is
partially visible when the mouth is opened and the tongue lowered. Near
this part of the root of the tongue is situated the epiglottis, which
acts as a lid or cover in closing over the air-tube during the act of
swallowing. The mouth forms a cavity to reflect and strengthen the
resonance of the vibrations produced in the air-tube; it also possesses
numberless minute powers of contraction and modification.
We now proceed to give the instructions to which we have
referred—instructions guaranteed by a proficiency which we are ever
ready to submit to the ordeal of a critical examination, either in
private or in public.
If the student will pay strict attention to the parts printed in
_italics_, and will practice the voices here specified, he will find
that they are the _key to all imitative sounds and voices_; and,
according to the range of his voice and the capabilities of his mimetic
power, he will be enabled to imitate the voices of little children, of
old people, and, in fact, almost every sound which he hears.
Too much attention cannot be bestowed on the _study of sound as it
falls on the ear_, and an endeavor to imitate it as it is heard—_for
the “secret” of the art is, that as perspective is to the eye so is
ventriloquism to the ear_. When we look at a painting of a landscape,
some of the objects appear at a distance; but we know that it is only
the skill of the artist which has made it appear as the eye has seen
it in reality. In exactly the same manner a ventriloquist acts upon
and deceives the ear, by _producing sounds_ as they are heard from any
known distances.
PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO. I.
THE VOICE IN THE CLOSET
This is the voice in which Mr. Frederic Maccabe, the celebrated
mimic and ventriloquist, excels, and the clever manner in which he
can adapt it off-hand, as it were, will be best illustrated by the
fact mentioned to us by the gentleman in question, whom we call Mr.
B. in Mr. Maccabe’s presence. Mr. B., who was an invalid, suffering
from some nervous disorder, originating by overwork and anxiety, was
travelling in Ireland in search of health, and when on his way from
Dublin to Cork, he lay exhausted in a corner of a railway-carriage,
muffled up in cloaks and wrappers in a paroxysm of pain. At Mallow, two
gentlemen entered the carriage, one of whom was in exuberant spirits,
and commenced telling some amusing anecdotes. At length the porter
came to collect the tickets. They were all handed in but one, when the
following colloquy ensued:—
_Porter._—A gentleman hasn’t given me his ticket.
_Gentleman._—Bill, in the next compartment, has the ticket, (tapping at
the partition). Haven’t you, Bill?
The imaginary Bill, who appeared to be suffering from a severe
cold, replied that he had, and the porter would not take it. The
official went off to find the ticket, but Bill, in the mean time had
vanished. Back came the porter and indignantly demanded the ticket.
He was interrupted by a shrill voice in the opposite compartment,
crying,—“Porter! porter! why don’t you come and take the ticket!
There’s some one insulting me!” Away went the chivalric porter, to
come back puzzled and chafed to receive the ticket, which was handed
to him. His hand had not reached the coveted piece of pasteboard, ere
the yell of a terrier under the wheels caused the porter to draw back,
amid bursts of laughter, during which the ticket was thrown out, and
the train moved on. And Mr. Frederic Maccabe stood confessed, but not
penitent.
_Voice No 1._—To acquire this voice, which we so name for distinction’s
sake, speak any word or sentence in your own natural tones; then open
the mouth and _fix the jaws_ fast, as though you were trying to hinder
any one from opening them farther or shutting them; draw the tongue
back in a ball; speak the same words, and the sound, instead of being
formed in the mouth will be formed in the pharynx. Great attention must
be paid to holding the jaws rigid. The sound will then be found to
imitate a voice heard from the other side of a door when it is closed,
or under a floor, or through a wall. To ventriloquize with this voice,
let the operator stand with his back to the audience against a door.
Give a gentle tap at the door, and call aloud in a natural voice,
inquiring “Who is there?” This will have the effect of drawing the
attention of the audience to a person supposed to be outside. Then fix
the jaw as described, and utter in voice No. 1, any words you please,
such as “I want to come in.” Ask questions in the natural voice and
answer in the other. When you have done this, open the door a little,
and hold a conversation with the imaginary person. As the door is now
open, it is obvious that the voice must be altered, for a voice will
not sound to the ear when a door is open the same as when closed.
Therefore the voice must be made to _appear_ face to face, or close to
the ventriloquist. To do this the voice must not be altered from the
_original note_ or _pitch_, but be made in another part of the mouth.
This is done by closing the lips tight and drawing one corner of the
mouth downwards, or towards the ear. Then let the lips open at that
corner only, the other part to remain closed. Next breathe, as it were,
the words out of the orifice formed. Do not speak distinctly, but expel
the breath in short puffs at each word, and as loud as possible. By so
doing you will _cause the illusion_ in the mind of the listeners, that
they hear the same voice which they heard when the door was closed,
but which is now heard more distinctly and nearer on account of the
door being open. This voice must always be used when the ventriloquist
wishes it to appear that the sound comes from some one close at hand,
but through an obstacle. The description of voice and dialogue may be
varied as in the following examples—
EX. 1. THE SUFFOCATED VICTIM.—This was a favorite illustration of
Mr. Love, the polyphonist. A large box or close cupboard is used
indiscriminately, as it may be handy. The student will rap or kick the
box apparently by accident. The voice will then utter a hoarse and
subdued groan, apparently from the box or closet.
STUDENT (_pointing to the box with an air of astonishment_): What is
that?
VOICE: I won’t do so any more. I am nearly dead.
STUDENT: Who are you? How came you there?
VOICE: I only wanted to see what was going on. Let me out, do.
STUDENT: But I don’t know who you are.
VOICE: Oh yes, you do.
STUDENT: Who are you?
VOICE: Your old schoolfellow, Tom, ——. You know me.
STUDENT: Why, he’s in Canada.
VOICE (_sharply_): No he ain’t, he’s here; but be quick.
STUDENT (_opening the lid_): Perhaps he’s come by the underground
railroad? Hallo!
VOICE (_not so muffled as described in direction_): Now then, give us a
hand.
STUDENT (_closing the lid or door sharply_): No, I won’t.
VOICE (_as before_): Have pity (_Tom, or Jack, or Mr. ——, as the case
may be_), or I shall be choked.
STUDENT: I don’t believe you are what you say.
VOICE: Why don’t you let me out and see before I am dead?
STUDENT (_opening and shutting the lid or door and varying the voice
accordingly_): Dead! not you. When did you leave Canada?
VOICE: Last week. Oh? I am choking.
STUDENT: Shall I let him out? (_opening the door_). There’s no one here.
2. THE MILKMAN AT THE DOOR.—This affords a capital opportunity of
introducing a beggar, watercress or milkman, and may be varied
accordingly. We will take Skyblue, the milkman; and we would impress
on the student, that, although we give these _simple_ dialogues, _they
are merely intended as illustrations for the modest tyro_, not to
be implicitly followed when greater confidence and proficiency are
attained.
VOICE: Milk below!
STUDENT: Is it not provoking that a milkman always comes when he is not
wanted, and is absent when we are waiting for the cream?
VOICE: (_whistling a bar of “Shoo Fly”_).
STUDENT: Oh, yes, always the broken-hearted milkman as if he was not as
happy as a king.
VOICE (_nearer_): Milk below! Why, Sally, where’s the can?
STUDENT: Sally will be long in answering, I think.
VOICE: Sally’s gadding with the police. Milk below!
STUDENT (_slightly opening the door_): We don’t want any milk, my good
man.
VOICE: No skim milk for the cat, or cream for tea?
ANOTHER VOICE: Watercresses!
STUDENT: Really, this is too bad. Go away.
VOICE: You owe me ten cents for last week’s milk; I was to wait.
STUDENT: This is intolerable. I’ll send for the police.
VOICE [_ironically_]: Send for Sally and p’lice, I’ll foller.
STUDENT: Impudent rascal.
VOICE: Keep your compliments at home, Master Idlebones.
STUDENT [_opining the door_]: I’ll report you to your master.
VOICE [_louder, as the door is opened_]: Will you, young
Whippersnapper, pay us the dime, and let us go?
STUDENT offers to pay, while the voice gets weaker in the distance with
“Milk below!” until it becomes inaudible.
A conversation may be held in a similar strain with _cellarman_: and,
as a rule, the lower notes of the voice will be best for voices in the
basement, and formed as low in the chest as possible.
STUDENT: Thomas, are you coming?
VOICE BELOW [_gruffly_]: I should think I was.
STUDENT: We are waiting for the beer.
VOICE [_partly aside_]: The longer you wait, the greater our honor.
Mary, have another drop.
STUDENT: Why, the scamp is drinking the beer! Thomas! Who’s there with
you?
VOICE: Myself. [_Aside_] Make haste with the pot, Mary; he’s in such a
hurry.
STUDENT: You drinking rascal, how dare you!
VOICE: Coming, sir. The barrel’s nearly empty.
STUDENT: I should think so, tippling as you are at it.
VOICE: Now don’t be saucy.
STUDENT: The fellow is getting intoxicated. Thomas!
VOICE: Wait till I come. I have waited for you many times.
STUDENT: I suppose it is of no use hurrying you?
VOICE: No, it isn’t, my young tippler. I’m COMING! _coming!!_ coming!!!
From this illustration the student may proceed to try the second voice.
NO. II.
_Voice No. 2._—This is the more easy to be acquired. It is the voice
by which all ventriloquists make a supposed person speak from a long
distance, or from, or through the ceiling. In the first place, with
your back to the audience, _direct their attention_ to the ceiling
by _pointing to it or by looking intently at it_. Call loudly, and
ask some question, as though you believed some person to be concealed
there. Make your own voice very distinct, and as near the lips as
possible, inasmuch as that will help the illusion. Then in _exactly
the same tone and pitch_ answer; _but, in order that the same voice may
seem to proceed from the point indicated, the words must be formed at
the back part of the roof of the mouth_. To do this the lower jaw must
be drawn back and held there, the mouth open, which _will cause the
palate to be elevated and drawn nearer to the pharynx_, and the sound
will be reflected in that cavity, and appear to come from the roof. Too
much attention cannot be paid to the manner in which the breath is used
in this voice. When speaking to the supposed person, expel the words
with a deep, quick breath.
When answering in the imitative manner, the breath must be _held
back and expelled very slowly and the voice will come in a subdued
and muffled manner_, little above a whisper, but so as to be well
distinguished. To cause the supposed voice to come nearer by degrees,
call loudly, and say, “I want you down here,” or words to that effect.
_At the same time make a motion downwards with your hand._ Hold some
conversation with the voice and cause it to say, “I am coming,” or,
“Here I am,” each time _indicating the descent with the hand_ (_see
examples_). When the voice is supposed to approach nearer, the sound
must alter, to denote the progress of the movement. Therefore let the
voice at every supposed step, roll, as it were, by degrees, _from the
pharynx more into the cavity of the mouth_, and at each supposed step,
_contracting the opening of the mouth_, until the lips are drawn up
as if you were whistling. By so doing the cavity of the mouth will be
very much enlarged. This will cause the voice to be _obscured, and
so appear_ to come nearer by degrees. At the same time, care must be
taken not to articulate the consonant sounds plainly, as that would
cause the disarrangement of the lips and cavity of the mouth; and in
all _imitation voices_ the consonants must scarcely be articulated at
all, _especially if the ventriloquist faces the audience_. For example;
suppose the imitative voice is made to say, “Mind what you are doing,
you bad boy,” it must be spoken as if it were written “’ind ’ot you’re
doing, you ’ad whoy.”[2] This kind of articulation may be practised,
by forming the words in the pharynx, and then sending them out of
the mouth by sudden expulsions of the breath clean from the lungs at
every word. This is most useful in ventriloquism, and to illustrate
it we will take _the man on the roof_ as an illustration. This is an
example almost invariably successful, and is constantly used by skilled
professors of the art. As we have before repeatedly intimated, the eyes
and attention of the audience must be directed to the _supposed spot_
from whence the illusive voice is supposed to proceed.
[2] It is very rarely that a ventriloquist shows a full face to his
audience: it is only done when he is at a great distance from them, and
is pronouncing the labial sounds, in the manner given, for any movement
of the jaws would help to destroy the illusion.
STUDENT: Are you up there, Jem?
VOICE: Hallo! who’s that?
STUDENT: It’s I! Are you nearly finished?
VOICE: Only three more slates to put on, master.
STUDENT: I want you here, Jem.
VOICE: I am coming directly.
STUDENT: Which way, Jem?
VOICE: Over the roof and down the trap. (Voice is supposed to be moving
as the student turns and points with his finger.)
STUDENT: Which way?
VOICE (_nearer_): Through the trap and down the stairs.
STUDENT: How long shall you be?
VOICE: Only a few minutes. I am coming as fast as I can.
The voice now approaches the door, and is taken up by the same tone,
but produced as in the first voice. As another illustration, we will
introduce the reader to
THE INVISIBLE SWEEP.—This is a striking example of the second voice.
Let the student pretend to look up the chimney, and rehearse the
following or some similar colloquy:—
STUDENT: Are you up there?
VOICE: Yes. Chimley want sweep?
STUDENT: Really, it is extraordinary. What are you doing?
VOICE: Looking for birds’-nests.
STUDENT: Birds’-nests! There are none there.
VOICE: Dick says there be.
STUDENT: Come down!
VOICE: I shan’t.
STUDENT: (_stirring the fire_); I’ll make you show yourself.
VOICE: I say, don’t; it’s so hot.
STUDENT: Come down, then.
VOICE: Don’t be so stupid. Let I alone.
STUDENT: Will you come down?
VOICE: Yes, I will.
STUDENT: What’s your name?
VOICE (_much nearer_): Sam Lillyvite. I say, what do you want me for
among company?
STUDENT: To show yourself,
VOICE (_nearer_): What for?
STUDENT: To let these ladies and gentlemen see that there are many
strange things between heaven and earth, but not Sam Lillyvite, the
sweep.
Another good illustration is to hold a conversation with a friend
who lives on the first floor, and with whom you can converse on
any subject—as the _retired and mysterious student_—but the moment
the student can master the elementary sounds, he will not need our
assistance in providing him with dialogues, which, however simple they
may be to read, have _an extraordinary effect when properly spoken_.
POLYPHONIC IMITATIONS.
THE TORMENTING BEE.—It is related that Mr. Love, when young, took
great delight in imitating the buzzing of insects and the cries of
animals; indeed, it is difficult to decide whether he or Mr. Thurton
most excelled in this particular species of mimetic illusion. In all
imitations of insect noises, the bee should be heard to hum gently at
first, so as in a private party not likely to attract attention till
the right pitch is obtained, and be it remembered that the sound,
without being particularly loud, can be made to penetrate every corner
of a large room. The illusion is greatly increased by pretending to
catch the offending and intrusive insect. The humble bee, the wasp,
and the bluebottle fly are best to imitate, and afford an agreeable
relief to the other exercises of ventriloquial power. To imitate the
tormenting bee, the student must use considerable pressure on his
chest, as if he was about to groan suddenly, but instead of which, the
sound must be confined and prolonged in the throat; the greater the
pressure, the higher will be the faint note produced, and which will
perfectly resemble the buzzing of the bee or wasp.
Now, to imitate the buzzing of a bluebottle fly, it will be necessary
for the sound to be made with the lips instead of the throat; this
is done by closing the lips very tight, except at one corner, where
a small aperture is left, fill that cheek full of wind, but not the
other, then slowly blow or force the wind contained in the cheek out of
the aperture: if this is done properly, it will cause a sound exactly
like the buzzing of a bluebottle fly. These two instances will show how
necessary it is for the ventriloquist to study minutely the different
effects of sound upon his hearers in all his exploits. And to make
the above properly effective, he should turn his face to a wall; with
a handkerchief strike at the pretended bee or fly, at the same time
pretend to follow his victim first this way and then that, and finally
to “dab” his pocket-handkerchief on the wall as though he had killed
it; the sounds should be at times suddenly louder and then softer,
which will make it appear as it is heard in different parts of the room.
THE SPECTRE CARPENTER.—The noise caused by planing and sawing wood can
also be imitated without much difficulty, and it causes a great deal of
amusement. The student must, however, bear in mind that every action
must be _imitated_ as well as the noise, for the eye assists to delude
the ear. We have even seen ventriloquists carry this eye-deception so
far as to have a few shavings to scatter as they proceed, and a piece
of wood to fall when the sawing is ended. To imitate planing, the
student must stand at a table a little distance from the audience, and
appear to take hold of a plane and push it forward: the sound as of
a plane is made as though you were dwelling on the last part of the
word hu_sh_—dwell upon the _sh_ a little, as _tsh_, and then clip it
short by causing the tongue to close with the palate, then over again.
Letters will not convoy the peculiar sound of sawing—it must be studied
from nature.
A MOUNTAIN ECHO.
Some persons imagine ventriloquism to be an echo; but, as we have said,
an echo only repeats what has been said before—it could not answer a
question.
An echo is reflected sound, and the reflecting body must be at such
a distance that the interval between the perception of the original
and reflected sounds may be sufficient to prevent them from being
blended together. No reflecting surface will produce a distant echo,
unless its distance from the spot where the sound proceeds is at least
56½ feet, because the shortest interval sufficient to render sounds
distinctly appreciable by the ear is about one-tenth of a second;
therefore, if sounds follow at a shorter interval, they will form a
resonance instead of an echo; and the time a sound would take to go
and return from a reflecting surface, 56½ feet distance, would be
one-tenth of a second.
It would, therefore, be impossible for a ventriloquist to produce an
echo in a room of ordinary size, as the walls, being so near, would
cause the sounds to be blended, and would only produce one impression
on the ear; and yet the skilled ventriloquist can with ease imitate, in
a room, a mountain echo. We will give the instructions, as it is very
amusing.
Turn your back to the listeners; whistle loud several short, quick
notes, just as if you were whistling for a dog; then, as quick as
possible, after the last note, and as softly and subdued as possible to
be heard, whistle about a third the number of notes, but it must be in
_the same note or pitch_; this will cause the last whistle to appear
just like an echo at a great distance. This imitation, if well done,
never fails to take the listeners by surprise, and causes astonishment.
The same thing can be done by shouting. Call aloud any sentence, such
as—“Holloa, you there!” Let your voice be formed close to the lips;
then quickly, and mind in the _same pitch or note_, speak the same
words very subdued and formed at the back of the mouth. This is not
difficult, and is very effective.
POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED.
In giving the succeeding instructions, it must be borne in mind that
the power and acuteness of hearing is possessed in a greater or less
degree by different individuals, and depends upon the sensibility of
the auric nerves. It will not be out of place nor uninteresting to show
the effect of sound and the manner in which it is heard by the organs
of the ear. It is said that the human ear is capable of appreciating
as many as twenty-four thousand vibrations in a second, and that the
whole range of human hearing, from the lowest note of the organ to the
highest known cry of insects, as of the cricket, includes nine octaves.
Sound first strikes the drum or tympanum, a thin membrane which closes
the aperture of the ear; when this drum vibrates by the sonorous
undulations of the external air; the vibrations are communicated by
minute bones, muscles, and fluid in the cavity of the ear, and are
then conveyed to the brain; and to show how absolutely necessary it
is that all the organs of the would-be ventriloquist should be entire
and without fault to succeed well, we will show how the ventriloquist
makes that nice distinction of the gradation of sound, and by which he
is enabled to judge whether he is causing his voice _to appear_ at the
proper distance from his audience or not.
Let any one firmly close both ears by stopping them, then speak a few
words; now, as the cars are stopped, the sound cannot enter immediately
to the drum of the ear, but it takes cognizance of the sound by a
passage called the eustachian tube, which extends from the back part of
the mouth to the cavity immediately behind the drum of the ear.
The sound vibrations made in the mouth are transmitted along this tube
to the interior part of the organs of hearing. Now it is by a nice
judgment of sound by this tube that the professional ventriloquist
judges the majority of his voices, especially those greatly obscured or
muffled. Not only must the auric nerves of the would-be ventriloquist
be perfect, but he will become more proficient as he is able to study
and understand the human voice. There is the language of emotion, or
natural language. When we say natural, we mean the language by which
the feelings manifest themselves without previous teaching, and which
is recognized and felt without teaching. Some of them are the scream of
terror, the shout of joy, the laugh of satisfaction, laugh of sarcasm,
ridicule, &c., which are made by man, and understood by fellow-men,
whatever may be the speech or country of the other.
There are also distinct qualities of voice, peculiar to each person,
both in tone and quality, and the best practice is to try and imitate
three or four people’s voices, and let them be of a different tone and
pitch.
The ordinary compass of the voice is about twelve notes, and a very
good practice to the attainment of the art is to call aloud in a
certain note, _and then in the octave to that note_; do this several
times a day, changing the note, also speak a sentence all in the same
note or pitch, properly called intonation, loud at first, and then by
degrees lower; this kind of practice will enable the ear to judge of
the modulation required to make a voice appear to recede or come near
by degrees.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
When the student is acquainted with the voices before described, he
may imitate many others by _contraction and expansion of the glottis,
and by modification of the cavity of the pharynx and mouth_. The best
way to practice is in a room by himself, to talk loud, and, while so
doing, to make all sorts of _contortions with the muscles of the mouth
and jaws—first fixing the jaws_ in the manner already described, _then
drawing the lips inward, next putting them forward, at the same time
putting the tongue in different shapes and positions in the mouth_;
also by speaking in the natural voice, and answering in the _falsetto
pitch_, which is the imitating voice for women and children.
We are confident that enough has been said to enable any one with a
good range of voice to attain proficiency in the art; the student
always remembering (and it cannot be too often repeated) that _to
render a voice perspective, the most essential thing is to attend to
the study of sound as it falls upon the ear; then imitate that sound
by the different contractions and expansions of the muscles of the
throat, mouth, face and jaws_. During these various contractions and
expansions, draw in a long breath and talk, first rapidly, then slowly,
but always with a _slow expiration of breath_. Do this a dozen times
consecutively for several days, at the same time taking particular care
to _elevate and depress the roof of the mouth_, especially the back
part, as this movement will cause the voice to appear near, or at a
distance. Ample directions have been given how all this is done, but
let it be understood that it is most essential. The student may then
practice before a friend, and he will be astonished to find that he can
deceive any listener, as to the point from which the sound comes; and
will be gratified that he has become the source of great amusement to
himself as well as in the circle in which he moves.
Thus we have acquired a working power in the art which, we trust, we
have now explained to the satisfaction of the reader. The progress of
the student will, of course, be facilitated by an inherent propensity
of mimicry, which often approaches some of the minor attainments of
ventriloquism. In every company some person may be found who, without
any professional instruction, can give admirable imitations, of the
voice, gait, and peculiarities of a friend or acquaintance; thus
proving that Nature, to some extent, supplies the basis upon which,
if we may use the phrase, the complete superstructure of vocal
illusion may be raised. The possession of this quality would amount,
comparatively, to little, without instruction and perseverance. Here,
as in other respects, practice makes perfect; and, more than that, a
diligent application of our rules will invest the originally defective
amateur with an attainment which the ignorant will attribute to the
possession of a supernatural gift.
All we need say in conclusion is, that the rules propounded will not
only clear away imaginary difficulties from the path of the student,
but entitle him, like ourselves, to an acquirement more or less near
perfection, according to a natural gift of mimicry, and to the zeal
with which he may study and practice the art.
THE MAGIC WHISTLE.
It will be pleasant when the wind is howling without, among the
snow-laden limbs of the trees, to be reminded of the gay summer by the
counterfeit notes of the woodland songsters; or, wandering among the
woods and fields in spring or summer time, how glorious to challenge
the feathered musicians to a contest of skill with you in their own
sweet language. We propose to instruct the reader in the manufacture of
a little instrument by which the notes of birds, voices of animals, and
various peculiar sounds may be imitated.
First, look at the annexed diagram, and then procure a leek and cut
off from the green leaf thereof a piece about the size of the diagram;
then lay it on a smooth table, and with the thumb-nail delicately
scrape away a small semi-circular patch of the green pulpy substance
of the leaf [as represented in the diagram], being careful to leave
the fine membrane of outer skin of the leaf uninjured—and there is the
instrument complete. It may require several experiments to make the
first one, but once having discovered the right way, they are very
easily manufactured. The reader may not be aware of the fact that the
leaf of the leek has a fine transparent outer skin, which is quite
tough, but by breaking and carefully examining one or two leaves, he
will soon find out what we allude to.
[Illustration: The section of leaf.]
The way of using this instrument is to place it in the roof of the
mouth with the side on which is the membrane downwards; then place it
gently in its place with the tongue, and blow between the tongue and
the upper teeth. After the first two or three attempts, you will be
able to produce a slight sound like a mild grunt; then as you practice
it you will find you can prolong and vary the sound somewhat, so that
in the course of a couple of days you can imitate the barking of a dog
and the neighing of a horse. With two or three weeks’ practice, you
will be able to imitate some of the song birds; but to produce exact
counterfeits of the best singing birds will probably require months of
study; the result, however, will reward you for all your pains, for
certainly to be able to carry a mocking bird, canary, thrush, cat-bird
and sucking-pig in your vest pocket, is no small accomplishment.
When not using the instrument, it should be kept in a glass of water to
prevent its drying.
THE
Hunters’ and Trappers’
COMPLETE GUIDE.
A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION IN THE ART OF
HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING.
This book will be found very valuable to those who have not had
experience in these healthy, manly and profitable pursuits. The book is
thorough in detail in every respect. The young sportsman can learn how
to use the Gun or Rifle with ease and precision, and become an unerring
shot. The mystery of making, setting and baiting Traps successfully, is
shown.
The Best Methods of Catching all kinds of Fish,
Either in the Sea, Lake or River, is told practically and
understandingly. The whole
Art of Managing and Training Dogs for Sporting Purposes,
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* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and
punctuation remains unchanged.
The following corrections have been made.
Trick 8 Paragraph 4 – The cambric becomes calico in this paragraph. It
has been changed back to cambric
Fig. 10 was originally labelled Fig 25.
Fig. 23 was originally labelled Fig. 22
Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold=.
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