Since magic seems to get harder and harder to book, why not go in for an act in which the sleight-of-hands or effects are not so much the integral part of the performance, but rather an incident? Keating subordinated his tricks to patter and personality, and Mulholland has done the same with his lectures. Think this over.
Be a little particular and see that no bulge may be noticed in your dress suit or Tuxedo. Don’t think the audience will not notice this or that. All under the coat apparatus should be painted a dead black or covered with black cloth as a further precaution against flashes in turning. Too many performers still make an entrance as a stout magician, and exit looking like a starved trickster.
I mentioned sometime ago the possibility of having various fakes constructed, whenever possible, of stiff leather instead of metal (for instance pulls or hand-boxes). Many fakes not possible of such construction, and which require metal strength, can be covered with felt, and some even padded. If such are by accident or design dropped, they will not “talk”.
Principles that are utilized in one effect can be applied to others. This seems to have been neglected to a considerable extent, most every magician thinking that he is compelled to present the effect embracing that principle the same as described in the directions, or as some other magician does it. As an illustration of adaptability, tho perchance not a very good one, an amateur magician around New York has fitted up a lead pencil with the Anti-Gravity Wand principle. Get your wits to work and figure out a few – it will pay.
Study to make your moves natural. Only the real top-notchers of the profession have learned this well. Rarely does one see a “pull” secured gracefully and naturally. Henry Dixie did it exceptionally well. (Jinx #10) In the Vanishing Cigarette, Dixie took the case from his hip pocket, lit it, returned the case to the pocket and in so doing — Get that! The top of the trouser pockets is another place. It’s not unnatural to place the hand in the pocket and then — Get that too!
Cardini has reached perfection (or very close) with natural moves. The ball appears, and as his eyes open in surprise, the monocle drops. The right hand picks it from the point where it is hanging and replaces it in his eye, but — he has the next ball! Have a natural gesture or excuse for your actions. Then, magic become an art.
Don’t stall for your own sake. It’s disastrous. If you have not a sufficient number of tricks to do the length of time required, get more. If you haven’t more, do a shorter turn. Nothing annoys an audience more than stalling and a lot of unnecessary talk. Get to the point – That’s what they want to see. It’s better to work too fast than too slow.
Thinking about that last paragraph and also about magic being incidental reminds me of one who enters, talks at least three minutes, and vanishes his wand. I think it far better to use the wand during several tricks, and, it having served its purpose, vanish it in an offhand manner with no comment. In such a case you are not a magician presenting a trick for the audience to figure out, but a master of magic to whom such things are common occurrences and “something that seems to happen whenever you are around.” Then your work becomes impressive.
I had this note to use a long time ago in previous editions of this series, but thought I might be laughed at. Since then I met a fellow who, in freezing weather, got to an engagement with icy hands and had to work with stiff fingers. Warm woolen gloves, whether they are in style or not, are a decided advantage. You won’t have to thaw out, and the detail may save you an important show, and return work.
Never pun on a person’s name, and don’t use gags about deaf, blind, insane or stuttering people. Too many have afflictions themselves, or in their immediate family. The same holds good about puns and jokes ridiculing any nationality.
If you entertain children, stay away from any trick in which something is placed in the mouth or burned. Children always try to do a magician’s trick after he has left. Al Baker has successfully entertained children for many years, and these points come from him.
There is a mystifier in New York today whose magic is pediculous when compared to others of the craft, but he steadily works the best places because his manner, diction and enunciation are “tops”. Class audiences will put such a person on a far higher pedestal than an even more clever magus who hands them “dese”, “dems” and “dose” while wetting his thumb every time he deals a card. They may be perfectly willing to admit such a person is “very clever” but their sensibilities are antagonized and they’ll turn away.
Very few realize the poor psychology of allowing the audience to learn how many assistants are employed. Naturally, it is necessary, at times, to have one, two or even three on the stage at one time, but I fail to see the need for more. The fewer the better. I saw one line up as many as eight for what he considered a “flash.” Good night! Would not a real magician be able to do everything alone, or practically so?
When manipulating cards under colored lights, leave out the red cards. Jack Merlin used 26 black cards only. You can also make up a deck of all black cards and it shows up much better.
Don’t use a Bible in your act. This thought comes to mind because I saw a performer do a book test with a Bible wherein the page was selected by a dagger, the line by a deck of cards, and the word by a throw of the dice! There are too many other kind of books, and using a Bible for a trick is bound to offend someone.
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