HOME CONJURING

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 72, 18 December 1928, Page 29 (Supplement)

HOME CONJURING

A FEW TRICKS YOU CAN DO YOURSELF.

By Professor Nikaldi.

Exclusive to The Dominion

I have been asked to “give away” come of my most effective and entertaining tricks and illusions, so I will tell you of some that need no expensive apparatus and can be performed with a little practice. Handkerchief Trick. The idea is to produce a handkerchief from a lighted candle which has been previously examined. It is accomplished as follows: —The handkerchief is a small silk one, and is concealed at the back of the drawer of an ordinary match-box which has the drawer half pulled out as if in readiness to get at. the matches. The candle Is given for examination, and you then place it in the candlestick on the table and show your hands empty. Pick up the match-box, take a match from it, and light the candle. Close the box, .which pushes the concealed handkerchief into your hand. You then pretend to pluck the handkerchief from the flame of the candle, and let it expand as you your hand back from the flame. Catching a Fish in Mid-air. Obtain a cheap fishing-rod with thick stock. Mark three divisions in the end of the rod, each about three inches long. Then hollow out in the side of the rod, in each of these divisions, a receptacle large enough to contain a goldfish. Now make three shells of tin, each having a hole in the side similar to that in the fishing-rod.

Fit these over the end of the rod, and exactly over the hollowed-out divisions. The shells should work loosely like ventilators, so that the holes may be brought opposite each other or closed at will.

The shells X may be kept in place by having a brass ring Y fitted at each side as shown.

The rod must be all one colour. At the end of the line, instead of a hook, place a small thimble-shaped cup about half an inch long to which is attached an imitation goldfish of yellow silk.

When you have made these preparations you are ready to perform the trick. Push the imitation fish into the cup and place a goldfish into each of the receptacles, putting a little damp moss with them to keep them alive. Apparently put some 1 lit on, and make a swing in the air, holding the rod by the end, the right hand covering the first of the shells. A sharp jerk will cause the “fake” fish to fall out of the cup and apparently wriggle on the line. Then immediately give the shell a turn until the hole comes opposite that in the rod; this will cause the fish to drop out in your hand. You now reach up seemingly to take the fish off the hook; in reality, the silk is pushed into the cup. This is repeated until three fish are caught. The Disappearing Sixpence. Take an ordinary tumbler and glue across the top a piece of plain white paper, being careful to see that it fits exactly. This tumbler, a coloured silk handkerchief, a sheet of plain white paper, and, of course, a sixpence, are the only apparatus required for this interesting trick. Place the sixpence on the paper, then take up the tumbler with the silk handkerchief, being very careful to see that the white paper on the tumbler is concealed from the view of the spectators. Put the tumbler on the sixpence, make some fantastic movement of the hands, remove the handkerchief, and let the spectators see that the coin has disappeared ! Replace the silk handkerchief on the tumbler, make some more magic signs, lift up the tumbler, and the sixpence is revealed again. This trick is quite a simple one, but causes great fun.

The Three Almonds. This is given in the shape of a conjuring trick usually after two or three bona-fide tricks have been performed. You place three almonds on the table and cover each with a borrowed hat Make a great point of having nothing concealed in your hands and profess your willingness to allow the audience, if they please, to mark the three almonds, so that there can be no question of substitution. You then take up each hat in succession, pick up the almond beneath it, and gravely eat it, replacing the hat mouth downwards on the table. Anyone is at liberty to see that there is nothing left under any hat. You then undertake to bring the three almonds under whichever of the three hats the company may select; and, the choice being made, you at once put the hat on your head! No one can deny that the three nuts are thereby brought under the hat. The Mysterious Clock Dial. This conjuring trick is really a simple application of the force of gravity. Anything spinning vertically freely upon a centre will come to rest with its heaviest part at the bottom. Make a dial from plate glass, bevelled and numbered like a clock, and with a loop of silk cord by; which to hang it up.

It has a spindle A in the centre on which the hand spins. I£ glass is not available, you can do equally well with a dial made of wood or cardboard.

Make a spindle in the centre about an inch in length. The hand is easily shaped up with a file from sheet brass, . and should have a disc at the centre to ’ hide an attachment immediately behind it. A piece of tube half an inch long is fixed through the centre of the disc and fits over the spindle A in the dial. The only additional part is a small clip which fits, friction tight, over the tube in the centre of the hand. It should be made of strong tin or sheet steel, so that it grips the tube securely, yet may be easily moved. It is weighted with

a small piece of lend B and should be so constructed that it can be put on,