Ency123

Take any number of cards and spread them out fan-like in your hand, faces fronting the spectators. Ask one of them to select a card. You tell him to take it, and then to place it at the bottom of the pack. You hold up the pack, so that the spectators may see that the card is really at the bottom. Suppose this card is the king of hearts. Then, pretending to take that card, you take the card preceding it, and place it at a point corresponding to A in the following figure. A C B D You then take the card drawn, namely, the king of hearts, and place it at the point corresponding to B in the above figure. Finally, you take any two other cards, and place them at C and D. Of course, the cards are placed face downwards. After this location of the cards, you tell the person who has chosen the card that you will change the position of the cards, by pushing alternately that at the point A to B, and that at D to C, and vice versa; and you defy him to follow you in these gyrations of the card, and t...

Take the four kings, the four queens, the four knaves, and the four tens of a pack, and ask if there be any one in the company who can form a square with them in such a manner that, taken in any direction, from right to left, from the top to the bottom, by the diagonal—anyhow, in fact—there will always be in each line a king, queen, knave, and a ten. Everybody will think the thing easy, but it is certain that no one will succeed in doing it. When they “give it up,” take the sixteen cards and arrange them as follows, when the king, queen, knave, and ten will stand as required. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

The cards may be easily divided into two numerical parts, even and odd: by taking a king for four points, a queen for three, a knave for two, and the other cards for their especial points, we may make up two sets of sixteen cards each, the even composing one, and the odd the other. These two sets being before the performer, he takes one, shuffles it well, and lets a person take a card. He then takes the other, shuffles it, and lets another person take a card. Then, whilst each person is looking at his card, which he is requested to do, the performer dexterously changes the place of the two sets, and he requests them to replace the cards in the set whence they took them. It follows that he who took a card from the even set places it in the odd set, and he who took it from the odd set places it in the even set. Consequently all the shuffling and cutting in the world will be useless, for the performer has only to spread out the cards of each set to point out the cards drawn. Excerpt from ...

Lay out twenty cards of any kind, two by two, and request a friend to think of two in a line; that is, one of the ten sets formed by the twenty cards. This done you take up the sets in the order in which they lie, and place them in rows according to the letters of the following words:— You may use a diagram like the above, but as the words are easily retained it had better be dispensed with, distributing the cards on the table just as though upon the diagram, which will make the trick more puzzling and extraordinary. Proceed as follows:—Place the cards two by two on similar letters: thus, place the two cards of the first set on the two d’s in dedit; the two cards of the second set on the two i’s of cicos and dedit; the two of the third set on the two c’s, and so on with the ten sets. All the letters of the words being thus covered, ask the friend who has thought of the cards to tell you in which lines these cards are. If both are in the first line (cicos), they must be those on the ...

For this amusing trick you arrange the cards thus: Holding the pack in your hands, find all the knaves, place one of them next to your left hand, and the other three on the table. Then find a queen, which also place on the table. Then say:—“Three scamps went into a tavern, and ordered drink. Here they are—the three knaves. ‘Who’s to pay? I can’t,’ said the first. ‘I won’t,’ said the second. ‘I wish she may get it,’ said the third. ‘I’ll manage it,’ said the first, the greatest rogue of the three. ‘I say, my pretty girl, haven’t you some very old wine in your cellar?’ Here’s the barmaid thus addressed by the rogue in question (showing the queen), and she replied:—‘Oh, yes, sir, prime old wine.’ ‘Let’s have a bottle.’ Off went the barmaid. (Put the queen in your pocket.) ‘Now for it, my lads,’ said the knave in question; ’”run" is the word. Let’s be off in opposite directions, and meet to-night; you know where.’ Hereupon they decamped, taking opposite directions, which I will indica...

Make a set of all the clubs and spades, and another set of hearts and diamonds. Shuffle well each set, and even let them be shuffled by the spectators. Then request a person to draw a card from one of the sets, and another person to draw one from the second set. You now take a set in each hand, presenting them to the two persons requesting them to replace the drawn cards. You must pretend to present to each person the set from which he drew his card, but in reality you present the red set to the person who drew the black card, and the black set to the person who drew the red card. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

Take four kings. Beneath the last place any two cards, which you take care to conceal. Then show the four kings and replace the six cards under the pack. Then take a king and place it on the top of the pack, place one of the two other cards in the middle, and the other about the same place, and then, turning up the pack, show that one king is still at the bottom. Then let the cards be cut, and as three kings were left below, all must necessarily get together somewhere about the middle of the pack. Of course in placing the two other cards you pretend to be placing two kings. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

Secure a little round box, into the bottom of which a half-crown will fit exactly. Line the box with dark paper and cover one side of a half-crown with the same material. Retaining this half-crown, pass the box round to be examined so that the audience may be sure it has no false bottom. Now borrow half-a-crown, and as you return to the table exchange it for your prepared one. Show this to the audience, keeping the papered side carefully towards you, and let them see you drop it into the box. In doing this keep the papered side upwards. Close the box and shake it up and down so that the coin rattles. Now touch the box with your wand and charge the coin to pass into a box, vase, or any other object in another part of the room into which you have previously placed half-a-crown. Shake the box again, this time from side to side, and there will be no rattle. Open it, the coin cannot be seen. Now ask the audience to go to the place where you have planted the other half-crown, and while they ...

Fit a black silk lining into a glass vessel so that it lines the sides but not the bottom. Put water in the glass and gold fish, but let the audience see nothing except the black lining. Behind the glass have a spoon with ink in it. Speak to the audience with an empty spoon in your hand, and then go to the glass, secretly change the spoons and pretend to take a spoonful of ink from the glass. Now show the spoon with the ink in it to the audience, and they will believe the vessel is full of ink. Throw a cloth over the glass and call upon the ink to change to water. Remove the cloth, and with it the black lining, and there you have the water and the gold fish swimming in it. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

Obtain some long feathers—the longer the better. Take off your coat and lay the feathers in the left sleeve with the quills near the wrist. Now put on your coat with the feathers still there. Borrow a large handkerchief, and after flourishing it, to show it conceals nothing, throw it over your left arm. When you take it up again take with it one of the feathers, and when you shake the handkerchief again out drops the feather. If the feather is large and curved it will not appear as though it had been up your sleeve. Repeat the process with suitable talk until all the feathers have been produced. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

Have a bag made of calico or similar material. Have it made double and just inside the mouth of the part you keep towards you have six little pockets made. Into each of these put an egg that has been blown or sucked until nothing remains in it.  You may now shake the bag and turn it inside out to show it is empty, and yet you are able to produce one egg after another. One may be a full one, and if you break this the trick will seem more real. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

You will need two cardboard cases open at each end, and large enough to slip easily over the bottles; a specially constructed bottle, the upper part of which can contain a liquid, and the lower part containing an open space in which a glass can stand; an imitation bottle made of tin and large enough to just slide over the special bottle; and two glasses. With this apparatus before us we are ready to proceed with the performance. We introduce an empty glass and what appears to be an ordinary wine bottle, but which is really a special bottle, with its tin case over it, and containing a second wine-glass inside. By careful manipulation we pour the contents from the upper part of the bottle into the wine-glass, and then setting the bottle down in its position, pour back half the liquid, which now runs through a hole in the partition into the glass beneath. So that the audience sees one glass half full, two cardboard cases, and what appears to be the bottle (as in figure), but which real...

Take a small quantity of “Aniline Violet,” obtainable at any chemist’s, two pennyworth making about two dozen pens, and make it into a thick paste with water, taking care not to leave any lumps; then add a few drops of mucilage or good gum. Do not add too much, or the paste will not set well. Apply a small quantity of the paste thus made to the hollow part of a clean pen, within a quarter of an inch of the point, and leave it for a few hours to dry. When dry, tell your friends that you will write anything they like to tell you with the pen, but instead of using ink, you will use water. Then dip the pen into the water, taking care not to show the side with the paste on, and write whatever they ask you to, the writing appearing the same as if you were using an ordinary pen. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914

Take four half sheets of note-paper from any table, and then borrow four florins; these florins you place upon a table about a foot apart, and gently lay the half sheets over each. You then take up one sheet and discover the florin underneath. Placing the paper on one side you take up the coin, and without touching, in some extraordinary way, make it pass through the next paper. You lift it, and sure enough, there lie two florins. You then lift the third paper, to find the florin you placed there. Again, in the same mysterious manner you pass the coin through the paper. It makes no hole going through, but when the paper is lifted up there are the three of them. Now you lift up the last piece of paper, thereby uncovering the last florin. Repeating the same process, you then request one of the audience to lift the paper, so that he or she may see that there is no deception. This being done, there lie the four florins as cosy as little fledglings in a nest. The extreme simplicity of the t...

The trick of the dissolved half-crown may be varied. In this case the coin should be marked by the owner. Upon finding it is not in the water when the handkerchief has been removed pretend to be anxious about its loss. Say you will pay it back in instalments, and offer a shilling towards it. When the money-lender tries to take the proffered shilling it vanishes too. This is managed by boring a hole in the shilling, tying some elastic through the hole, and stitching the other end of the elastic up your sleeve. Then as soon as you leave hold of the coin it darts back up your sleeve. “Has that gone too!” you exclaim. “Well, we must try to find that half-crown; perhaps it is in this ball of worsted,” you say, as you pick one from the table. Hand the ball of worsted to someone to examine and they declare that the coin is not in it. As you walk back to the table secretly exchange this ball for another. Now this other ball of worsted has been prepared in this way. It has been wound round...

For this trick the young magician needs a glass, which may be either the ordinary tumbler or a wine-glass, as shown in our illustration (Fig. 2). It must be of such a size that if a half-crown be dropped into the glass, it shall, lying flat, nearly or quite fill the bottom space. The conjuror must be provided also with a glass disc, of the thickness of a half-crown, and in diameter exactly corresponding with the bottom space of the glass. This, when about to perform the trick, he holds concealed in his right hand, after the manner of A in Fig. 3. Filling the glass about three-quarters full, as shown in Fig. 2, he hands it to a spectator to hold. He then asks the loan of a half-crown, and a lady’s pocket-handkerchief. Taking the coin as C in Fig. 3, he accordingly throws the handkerchief over it, or, rather, makes believe to do so, for in reality, under cover of the handkerchief, he deftly substitutes the glass disc, and holds this between his fingers, while the coin takes its place i...

The curtain rises and a young and beautiful girl, clothed in white, is introduced to the spectators as the victim who has been doomed to cremation, which will be instantaneously accomplished. The girl mounts upon a table placed at the back of a kind of alcove, consisting of a three-sided screen, and above her is suspended a big fire-proof sack, folded up as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914 The table upon which the victim stands ready for sacrifice appears to have four legs, and under this table burn, or appear to burn, four candles, the purpose being to indicate to the public that the space beneath the table is open, perfectly free, and beyond suspicion of any trickery. The sack, which forms a cylindrical screen under which the victim is to be burned, has been previously handed round to the spectators, so that they might assure themselves that it ...

How To Do Ventriloquism Ventriloquism is no more a gift than is the ability to talk or sing; it does not depend on any peculiar formation of the throat; it is, in fact, an art which can be acquired by almost any one possessing a voice of average compass (some twelve notes), together with an ordinarily good ear for music. If, in addition to these, the tyro show any aptitude for acting and mimicry, there is prospect of his becoming an expert performer. Excerpt from the book: Three Hundred Things A Bright Boy Can Do BY MANY HANDS - FULLY ILLUSTRATED LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LTD. 1914 Broadly speaking, ventriloquism consists in a close imitation of sound as it falls upon the ear, the ventriloquist effecting this by skilfully modifying the cavity of the mouth in such a way as to give his voice a deceptive character. The young ventriloquist must study all sorts and conditions of sounds and voices as they fall on the ear. He must become familiar with the models he seeks to i...