Chapter 1
Chapter 1 of Herman's Book of Magic, Black Art, Fully Exposed. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Alex Karaz. Herman's Book of Magic, Black Art, Fully Exposed. A complete and practical guide to drawing room and stage magic for professionals and amateurs,
including a complete exposure of the black art by Professor Alexander Herman. Chapter 1 Introduction There are one or two leading principles to be borne in mind by anyone taking up the study of magic. The first and foremost is never tell the audience what you're going to do before you do it.
If you do, the chances of detection are increased tenfold as the spectators, knowing what to expect, will the more readily arrive at the true method of bringing about the result. It follows as a natural consequence that you must never perform the same trick twice in the same evening. It is very unpleasant to have to refuse an encore, and should you be called upon to repeat a trick, study to vary it as much as possible,
and to bring it to a different conclusion, there will generally be found more ways than one of working a particular trick. It is an axiom in conjuring that the best trick loses half its effect on repetition. Should a hitch occur in the carrying out of the program by the accidental dropping of an article, or from any other cause, above all things, do not get confused,
but treat the matter as a good joke, and meet the difficulty with a smile, making use of some such expression as the following. Well, you see, I put it down there to show that it would go. It is perfectly solid and does not stick. By this means, instead of spoiling the entertainment, you add greatly to the amusement of the spectators.
Do not cultivate quick movements. At the same time, it will never do to be painfully slow, but endeavor to present your tricks in an easygoing, quiet, graceful manner. It is generally understood that the quickness of the hand deceives the eye, but this is entirely erroneous. It is impossible for the hand to move quicker than the eye can follow, as can be proved by experiment. The deception really lies in the method of working the trick, and in the ability of the performer in misdirection, as will be seen from the perusal of the following pages.
A little well-arranged patter as an introduction to an entertainment will be found to put you on good terms with your audience. A few words, something like the following, will suffice. Ladies and gentlemen, with your kind attention, I shall endeavor to amuse you with a series of experiments in ledger domain. In doing so, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I shall do my best to deceive you, and upon the extent to which I am able to do so will depend my success.
At the close of an entertainment, a little speech, of which the following is an example, will be found to prove a good finish. Ladies and gentlemen, in concluding my entertainment, I have only to say that apart from deceiving you, which was but a secondary consideration, if I have been able to afford you some slight fun and amusement, I feel amply rewarded. In concluding these remarks, I must enforce upon
the novice the necessity for constant practice, without which the clearest instruction would be useless. This applies not only to conjuring, but equally well to any form of amusement, so the would-be magician may congratulate himself on the fact that the difficulties to surmount are not an excess of those of any form of entertainment. Before proceeding to describe the various tricks, it will be well to notice one or two appliances of general utility.
The dress. The usual attire of the modern magician is the conventional evening dress, but I have known performers of the present day to adopt various fancy costumes. For instance, I have seen a conjurer attired as a knight of the garter, another one calling himself Leron Mesquet, wears court dress with a black mask covering the upper part of his face. In these two cases, however, the swallowtail coat, an important adjunct, is retained.
Again, I have seen a conjurer attired as Mephistopheles, a very smart costume and to a certain extent appropriate, but entailing too much trouble for the majority of performers. I have also been present in an entertainment where the magician, a very clever performer, was attired in an evening dress, but wore a short dinner jacket. In these last two cases, the swallowtail coat was, of course, dispensed with a decided improvement,
as it adds greatly to the bewilderment of the audience as to how the conjurer obtains and disposes of the various articles he uses. Where the ordinary dress coat is used, each tail is provided with a large pocket, known as a profonde, the mouth of which is on level with the knuckles, and slopes slightly to the side. These pockets, which are usually 7 inches square, are lined with buckram and sewn on rather full to keep them constantly open. They are used to contain loads for hat tricks, etc., also to vanish articles such as watches, eggs, or balls.
In addition to these pockets, two others known as pochettes are used on the trousers. These are sewn on rather full at the back of the thigh, on a level with the knuckles, and covered by the tails of the coat. They are useful to contain rings, coins, or other small articles required in the course of the performance. There are also two pockets known as breast pockets, one in each side of the coat. These should be of a size large enough to contain a dinner plate,
and should be made with the bottom sloping a little towards the back to prevent articles placed in them from falling out. The opening should be in a perpendicular position one inch from the edge of the coat. These are loaded with rabbits, doves, etc., or any large or cumbersome article required for magical production. In the case of fancy costumes, the pockets, if required, must be arranged as the attire permits. If you perform in a dinner jacket, the ordinary side pockets can be used for producing or vanishing the articles.
The breast pockets, as already described, can be retained. The collar, which should be of the ordinary stand-up pattern and one size larger than that in everyday wear, will be found to provide an excellent means for the advancement of articles such as coins, small balls, rings, handkerchiefs, and the like. When it is necessary to regain the possession of a coin or ring vanished in this way, it will be well to have a small silk handkerchief arranged between the shirt collar and the side of the neck. Otherwise the piece might be lost beyond recovery.
See the Wandering Coin. The Table There are a great many tricks which can be performed without the aid of a special table. In fact, tables of any description are very secondary articles in the stage settings of conjurers of the present day. Where they are employed, they are usually of the small, round tripod pattern, fancifully made for show, and are used only for the purpose of an ordinary table.
Tables with traps and other mechanical appliances are almost, if not entirely, out of date. No performer with any pretensions of originality making use of them. A neat little table can be made from a piece of board 18 inches in diameter, covered with red bays and hung with fancy fringe to taste, the legs taking the form of an ordinary music stand. The underside of the table is fitted with a brass plate holding a pin about 2 inches long to fit the socket of the stand. This forms one of the most compact tables possible and is greatly in vogue as the stand can be folded up into a small compass and placed together with the top in a black canvas case for traveling.
Two of these tables will occupy very little more room than one and they will look well in pairs. They will generally be found to afford sufficient convenience for an evening's entertainment. The Servant This is a secret shelf behind the performer's table, on which are placed articles to be magically produced in various ways. It is also used to vanish articles as occasion may require.
In the absence of a specially prepared table, a servant can be readily devised by pulling out the drawer at the back of any ordinary table about 6 inches, and throwing a cloth over the hole, the cloth being pushed well into the drawer so as to form a pad to deaden the sound of any article dropped into it. If a table with a drawer cannot be obtained, a servant, which will answer every purpose, can be arranged by throwing a cloth over a table and pinning it up behind in the form of a bag. In the case of the small round tripod tables, a small drawer made from a cigar box can be attached to the underside of them and pulled out as required. The fringe decorating the edge of the table will conceal the presence of the drawer,
but if the whole of the underside of the table, drawer included, be painted black, it cannot be detected at a few paces. Figure 1. Servant for use on a chair. There are various forms of portable servants for fixing to the back of a table or chair. A description of one for the use of a chair will be sufficient to give a clear idea of the construction of others, which can be arranged as required by ingenuity of the performer. A piece of half-inch board, 7 inches by 5 inches, is covered with green baize and slightly padded on one side with cotton wool to prevent injury to any fragile articles that may come in contact with it in the course of the performance.
To this is screwed an iron frame, figure 1, of the same dimensions as the board. The frame, which carries a network as shown, is screwed to the board in such a way that it will fold up flush with the same. The hole being when closed under one inch in thickness. The frame carrying the network is prevented from opening too far by an iron bar screwed to the back of the woodwork. The sides of the frame being extended under this as shown.
The board is fitted with two brass eyelets for attaching it to the top rail of an ordinary chair by means of two screws or stout pins. To conceal the servant, throw a fancy cloth over the back of the chair. The wand. This is a light rod about 15 inches long and a half inch in diameter, usually of ebony, with ivory tips. A plain rod, however, will answer the purpose equally well.
The use of the wand is regarded by the uninitiated as a mere affection on the part of the performer, but such is far from being the case. Its uses are legion. In addition to the prestige derived from the traditional properties of the wand, which has been the mystic emblem of the magician's power from time immemorial,
it is absolutely necessary for the successful carrying out of many experiments, as will be seen in the course of the present work. For instance, having palmed the coin, say, in the right hand, you lower that hand and take up the wand which effectually conceals, in a perfectly natural manner, the presence of the coin.
The wand is now passed once or twice over the left hand, which is supposed to contain the coin, and on opening the hand the coin will be found to have vanished. It will thus be seen that the wand is of the utmost importance, and that Tyro cannot do better than make it his first investment.
End of chapter 1 Recording by Alex Karaz, New York
