Dabblers of things of a spiritualistic nature should be interested in the following effect which has been put together for the small gathering and intimate type of performer. It can be carried in one pocket and, performed practically impromptu, runs about seven minutes with great impression. The performer asks the spectator to write the initials of a dead man on one of seven small white cards, explaining that from this point on the card will represent the deceased person and that his burial will be re-enacted. On the six remaining pasteboards, the spectator is told to write the initials of…
Editor's Note Some might say this rightly belongs on the periodical Jinx Improvement page. However, Arthur Monroe's Voodoo, in Jinx #32, caused so much comment and has been written about so often, that I think this Clever version of the unusual theme will make possible an effect which many couldn't use before. When the effect Voodoo first appeared in the Jinx I went wild over it. But I just couldn't see spending $10.00 on it. (I know of four persons who did. — Ed.) Therefore I evolved another method and explained it in December 1937 TOPS. I was bawled out…
Looking for new principles is like searching for the proverbial needle. Finding a really new dress for old tricks is luxury enough for most magi. The following is something for many who want a stunt off the beaten path and away from the stereotyped message on the slate. Try it at your next housewarming. Showing four pieces of ordinary silicate to be clean on every side, the performer has a member of his audience make a choice and two are banded together and held. Ten cards, each bearing a single figure, and ranging from one to zero, are freely shown,…
Owing to the popularity of slate work with every audience, I've tried nearly all known ideas and methods. Many look good on paper but prove risky or ineffective in practice. Changing the 1 to a 4 is probably the best non-flap method but it is becoming well known. I worked out the following several years ago and consider it about perfect. The slates can be shown high up in front rather than to one side and two messages can be obtained successively. The numbers and messages are written with #98 Sanford white ink using a small camels hair brush. The…
Undoubtedly, this is one of the neatest and most subtle of the flap slate methods for home seance work yet devised. I first saw it done by its originator several years ago, and its operation had me completely puzzled until the whole routine of actions was revealed. Two slates and a flap are used, the flap being prepared at one end with a sharp spring steel hook. A flat piece of spring, about a quarter of an inch wide and one inch long is bent into a V shape. One prong is now filed to a sharp point. The V…
In the January 1937 Jinx #28, was an effect (The Secret Order of The Aces) for which this, to follow, is quite a perfect follow up. It bears a similarity, but its general appearance is different, and the conditions are strict, which will effectively throw off any thoughts an audience may secretly have about the first trick. The performer asks that his assistant, or medium, remove herself to a distant room for a few minutes. He now asks that any deck be shuffled and well mixed. Remarking that he will not touch the cards even once, the performer then asks…
Very seldom does an effect come to light and cover the weird phases as does this. It is strictly a "spook tale" and the reader will see at one that the whole thing is a gigantic "build up" and must be done seriously to surround itself with the right atmosphere. The effect is at its best in a home where you are a guest or present professionally at a small party. The room wherein you are working must be made dark for about four minutes during the "voodoo" portion of the trick. A spectator scratches an identification mark on a…
Perhaps I have taken some liberty with the title of this number but few will remember that part anyway. Several years before Houdini died, he attempted an exposure of Boston's top medium, Ms Leroy Crandon, better known around the psychic globe as Margery. One of his articles dealt with a device she used and for want of a better name it was termed as a "bell box". Inside a rectangular box was a bell, a battery, and the combination was connected to a slightly sprung lid, pressure upon which caused the bell to ring. In the dark, and while the…
Good methods for the appearance of spirit (?) writing on slates are many, and there seems to be no end to ideas. The method explained here was shown to me by one of the cleverest of amateur magic fiends and it has supplanted my present almost impromptu method. In his hands the psychic has four pieces of silicate of the flap type. With a handkerchief or dry cloth he casually wipes the upper surface of the top piece, turns it over, cleans the under side and puts the cleaned slate on the table. This is done with all four pieces…
Sealed letter tests have come and gone. They no doubt will still come and go, but in this case we have one which differs enough in effect to make it appear new in the eyes of the sitter. Only one envelope and sheet of note paper is in use at any time and it is presented as a combination of psychometry and automatic writing. The sitter (who doesn't sit in this test) is handed a sheet of note paper and a letter envelope. They write a question about something concerning themselves personally, fold the paper several times, and seal it…