Undoubtedly this is the most rapid cigarette penetration through cloth yet devised. It takes a little practice to master the move and care must be taken to have the audience directly in front of you.

The cigarette may be lit. Hold it upright in the right fingers as shown in Fig. 1. Actually the lower end is grasped only by the thumb and third finger.

The left hand holds the handkerchief over its palm as shown in Fig. 2. It carries the cloth in front of the cigarette, then tosses it back over the right hand, cigarette and all. But as soon as the cigarette is concealed by the cloth, the third and little fingers bend backward so that the cigarette points toward you and the cloth drapes over it as shown in Fig. 3. The first and second fingers remain upright and should be spread slightly to better conceal the cigarette behind.

Pause only for an instant, then quickly raise the fingers and thumb bringing the cigarette upright into the view of the audience. The appearance is that the cigarette suddenly popped through the cloth!

You may now grasp the cigarette through the cloth with the first and second fingers, and release it with the thumb and third finger. This will allow you to tilt the hand forward and raise the back edge of the cloth to show that the cigarette is actually in the center of the handkerchief.