The First Book Of Magic , livre ebook

THE FIRST BOOK OF MAGIC
By EDWARD STODDARD
Pictures by ROBIN KING
CONTENTS
The First Secret of Magic
Tricks with Money
Rubbing a Coin Away
The Disappearing Coin
Which Coin is under the Teacup?
Tricks with Handkerchiefs
The Knot That Ties Itself
The Knot That Melts Away
The Vanishing Handkerchief
Tricks with String
Cutting Through Your Neck
The Mended String
The Ring Through the String
Tricks with Cards
The Changing Card
The Tell-Tale Face
The Flying Aces
Tricks with Balls
The Ball That Rolls by Itself
The Amazing Cups and Balls
The Wandering Sponge Balls
Famous Magicians
Mind-Reading Tricks
You Can t Fool Me
How to Read Sealed Messages
Tricks with Numbers
The Predicted Total
The Magic Number
I ll Guess Your Number
Spirit Tricks
The Rising Table
A Lights Out S ance
Spirit Writing
Magic at the Dinner Table
The Jumping Candle Flame
The Magnetized Knife
The Vanishing Salt Pot
Your Own Magic Show
What Happens in the Show
What You Will Need
How to Get Ready
The Disappearing Candle
The Milk in the Hat
The Rope Through the Man
The Rabbit From the Box
How to Give the Show
THE FIRST SECRET OF MAGIC

Magic is fun. It s fun to do and fun to watch - if it fools people.
Here is the first secret: It s not tricks that fool an audience - but the person who does the tricks.
In this book you ll find dozens of easy tricks with money, string, handkerchiefs, balls, cards, and other things. They are all good magic. But they will only fool an audience if you do them right .
You see, it s hard to fool someone s eyes. A magician s hand is not quicker than the eye. The important secret magicians use is this: they know how to make a person look for the secret of the trick in the wrong place.
Nobody can see two things at once. If you know how to make a person look at one hand, he won t see what you are doing with your other hand.
So when you are learning a trick and are told to do or say something that might not seem important, do it anyway. Do it just the way you are told. There s a good reason for it. It s to make your trick fool people.
All the tricks in this book are easy. All of them have fooled people over and over. They ve been chosen because none of them needs anything very special in the way of equipment. You ll find almost everything you need in your home. For two or three of the tricks, you ll want to go to a shop like Woolworths for some inexpensive supplies. At the end of this book you can even find out how to put on your own magic show for your friends, with real stage-size tricks.
Later, you may want to buy some real magic equipment. There s a good magic shop in almost every large town, and the experts there will be glad to help you get the things you should have.
All real magicians follow the rules on the next page. So will you if you want to be a good magician.

Practise in front of a mirror if you can

Never tell how you did it!

Don t do the trick twice - you ll be found out

Don t be a show-off
1. Practise each trick over and over before showing it to anyone. If you show it before you ve really learned it, you ll just give it away or make a mess of it !
2. Never, never tell your audience how you did a trick . . . no matter how much they beg. As soon as they find out, all the mystery is gone. They won t even be excited about other tricks you do, once they find out how simple the secrets are.
3. Never do the same trick twice for the same person. The first time, your friend never knows quite what will happen next. The second time, he watches every move. So he see things he didn t see the first time . . . things you don t want him to see! Do another trick instead.
4. Never show-off . This makes people angry. Even if you fool them, they won t want to see another trick. It s no fun knowing magic if people don t want to watch. So be quiet and modest. Act as if you were surprised too.
Now go ahead . . . you ll have fun!
TRICKS WITH MONEY

Rubbing a Coin Away
All you need for this trick is a small coin. It should be your own because, after you make it disappear, you can t get it back again straight away.
Tell your audience you re going to rub the small coin through your elbow. Take it in your right hand. Bend your left arm and rest your left hand on the back of your neck so you can see your elbow.
Rub the coin against your elbow with your right fingers. After four or five rubs, let it slip out from under your fingers and fall to the floor.

Pick up the coin with your left hand. Put it in your right hand. Put your left hand behind your neck again and go on rubbing.

Drop the coin again. Pick it up again and begin rubbing. After a moment, take your right hand away. The coin is gone. Both your hands (and sleeves) are empty!
Here is the secret: the second time you drop the coin, pick it up in your left hand just as you did the first time. Pretend to put it back in your right hand. But, instead, just bring your hands together and leave the coin in the left hand. Don t pay any attention to this at all. Don t look at your left hand. Put it behind your neck again and, with your right fingers tight together, begin rubbing your elbow. Your left hand drops the coin down your collar, and there you are!
Be sure to drop the coin twice. It gets everyone used to your picking it up with your left hand and putting it in your right hand!

Pick up the coin with your left hand

Pretend to put the coin into your right hand
The Disappearing Coin

Here is another way to make a coin disappear.
You give a friend his own coin to hold under a handkerchief. While he s still holding it, you whisk away the handkerchief. The coin is gone!

or

or

First, you must prepare the handkerchief. The best way is to get one with a hem as wide as the coin. Cut some of the stitching on the hem near the middle of one side. Push the coin inside the hem and shove it along until it s in the corner. Sew up the hem again.
If you can t get a handkerchief with a wide enough hem, you can sew a little patch of white cloth neatly over the coin in the corner. Nobody is going to look at the handkerchief very closely. Another way is to get a washer the size of the coin and cut it in half, stuffing this inside the hem.