Of all the various and sundry secrets which beset the modern conjuror there can be but few which are as barefaced as that which is to follow. Yet, withal that, the professional magician, and the advanced amateur, will immediately realize that they are given a method of accomplishing the seemingly impossible with little attention necessary to any of the mechanics of the trick. All thought can be concentrated upon the presentation alone. To the audience it appears that a coin is borrowed, marked by its owner in an unmistakable manner, and folded very fairly inside a piece of newspaper. The…
(Editor's note: This is a trick evolved, finally, from virtually a bit here and a bit there. The effect in itself first was published by Tom Sellers about five years ago. The use of burning paper (Sellers laid a burning cigarette on the tray to melt the wax, but this had no real reason) as a coin fold was the improvement of Charles Harris, of New York, and the superlatively clean-cut coinfold used herein came from our scrapbook as penciled to us by H. G. A. Lambie, of Vancouver, exactly eleven years ago this month.) This has been called, by…
Quite a few magicians have used this old time effect, but at present it seems to have died out. The usual method has been for a faked plate to be used, but this method is simplicity itself, the plate and newspaper being unprepared. A common soup plate is shown together with a sheet of ordinary newspaper. The paper is put on the table and the plate placed on it with the eating side down. One or two handkerchiefs are now shown and vanished by any favorite means or appliance. Upon the plate being lifted, the handkerchiefs are found underneath. Dependent…
In most ad tests, there is but one way of getting the information, as far as the audience is concerned. In this instance, I've tried to change the effect for each, and at the same time make it very, very easy for the performer. A want ad, or renting ad page is removed from a local paper, a column cut from it, and six or seven people clip out ads. The most practical way of presentation here, is for the performer to clip the strip of ads apart on a saucer, and let people pick out one. Each is handed…