A vaudeville
favorite for 35 years, Jean Hugard-born John Gerard Rodney Boyce
(1873-1959)- was not only a stunning success as a stage magician but
was also one of the most prolific and illuminating of writers about
magic. In this classic manual-the first he wrote for people outside the
inner cicrcle of magic performers-he reveals secrets of a host of
mystifying tricks.
In "The Lemon
and Note Trick," three dollar bills disappear from the handkerchief
they were wrapped in and turn up in the middle of a lemon when it is
sliced in half. In 'The Miser's Dream," the magician manages to pluck
eight coins from the open air or from spectaror's ears, hair or
collars. And in "The Watch in the Loaf of Bread," the magician
"inadvertently" smashes the watch he borrowed from a spectator, but
then discovers it, intact and still ticking, inside a fresh-baked loaf
of bread. Other mind-boggling feats the reader will learn to master are
swallowing a watch, transforming a cigarette into a silk handkerchief,
producing bouquets of real flowers from a borrowed hat and distributing
them to the spectaors-and even pulling a live rabbit (or guinea pig)
out of a hat. Clear, comprehensive, and enhanced with 240 detailed
diagrams and illustrations, this indispensable resource belongs in the
library of every would-be magician or magic love.
Paperbound, 345
5 3/8" by 8 1/2" pages, 240 illustrations.
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