CONFESSIONS OF A MAN OF MYSTERY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 16, 18 July 1936, Page 27

CONFESSIONS OF A MAN OF MYSTERY

A magician's illusions are made to impress his audience, in front of the footlights, with sometimes an indulgence. toWards a. committee who come up and "stand abbut'pn .the stage. From behind the curtain, however, ■the whole bag of,'tricks. is open to vulgar inspection, confesses Jasper Maskelyne, the fjgoous -^magician, as reported in^'Pubfi^. Opinion;" ■ ..In a good 50 ii& cent of pur big illusions, stage-hanaß ■' have . to assist put of sight in the: wings or up in the •flies. -ConsequenOß; . pur greatest -secrets are rio v seoaas .to them. .' ■ " When I first staafed touring; I overlooked this salieaifect I began to produce the very best tricks .that-I-had staged- at St.■•-•■ Georges.-, Hall,■where all.pur assistants were as loyal as bulldogs, "and. many of them vener- , ated '.the memory of my. 'grandfather as well. ■' "' ': "', ■-- ";

■ My. new tricks caused a. sensation in the theatres Irvisited,.. But alas for human nature! Other magicians, who desperately wanted; to learn the Secrets of those tricks, marched on my trail, standing drinks to good fellowsiarnong the stage-hands who assisted me^, offering ' a flve-ppurid note here and some other, inducement. !th,ere, just for a couple of words of explanation—to' "settle a bet"—about the way I did this or that. - ■. [

Mr. Maskelyne once went' to. a - children's' party, and says:

"I fan-through".my repertoire, and as always when the audience is a sympathetic and excited one was inspired to perform my. very best. I ended with a trick in which I borrowed a' top-hat from the host, together with a huge pair of scissors, apparently cut the hat to bits, handed round the pieces to be" examined, by the screaming children, received them back again, shook them up in an empty cardboard box, showed the box to be empty, turned it upside down, and then shook the borrowed 'topper,' perfect and undamaged, from its in-^ terior. -

"This concluding illusion was greet-

Ed with howls of delight, from which rose the persistent voice of a young lady of about five years old. "You couldn't do that, uncle! Could you uncle?' • .

. But uncle was not going to be challenged in this way in his- own house and refuse the dare.: ' " 'I'll show you whether-1' can do %°\ *$ my,dear Cicely!' he respond' ed with mock severity, and climbed up on the stage beside me.- 'Would you mind lending .me your hat, Mr. Maskelyne?' he asked. '"I did so. He examined my 'topper* a moment, reflectively picked up the scissors, and asked me* if I minded him jrymg to repeat my own trick. *v I? <*iection' tnou Sh I rather doubted if he could do it. "Next moment the scissors had sheared through the rim, and a large section fell to the floor!

Now; I. was standing within three feet of him at the time, and, since I knew what to look for in the trick, I expected to see something' which did not .happen. Instead, ' another and another sliver of hat was clipped away; really clipped away from", my hat! '

"I looked closer and closer, till the hat was cut into small strips, but even with my experience I could not detect the illusion.

"Then my host put the strips into my cardboard box,- shook them up, and turned to his audience, who waited breathless and silent. He turned the box upside down, just as I had done—but instead of the bits having vanished, they all poured out on to^ the floor!

"It was comical to see the chagrin on his face. The audience rose to its feet, whooped; shouted with laughter, and yelled unkind advice.

' "Then the-amateur conjurer picked up .the bits,: and turned to me with a crestfallen air. .

",Tm afraid I can't do it after all!" he said sadly. "And there was my top-hat in segments all over the carpet at our feet!"