The Blindfolded Juggler.
While watching the clever manner in which a good juggler passes various articles from hand to hand, how many people ever give a thought to the many hours of practice devoted to even the simplest trick that he performs? To become even a passable juggler, many weary months of constant practice are necessary. There are tricks in all trades, and some of the most successful entertainers in this line can scarcely do a half dozen genuine feats of juggling, yet they are great favorites with the public. It has been truly said that “the tricks that require the most practice are the least appreciated by the average spectator.” It is our intention merely to show how a simple trick has won fame for several well-known jugglers.
This is the trick of juggling blindfolded. An assistant tightly binds a heavy handkerchief over the juggler’s eyes, and then, to make sure that he cannot see, there is placed over his head and shoulders a sort of bag, made of heavy goods, which should exclude all light, even if his eyes were not tightly bound with the handkerchief. Regardless of this, the juggler performs the usual passes with balls and knives. Yet, when the bag is removed, the bandage over his eyes is found undisturbed. (Fig. 50.)
Fig. 50.—The Blindfolded Juggler.
Fig. 51.—The Illusion Explained.
The explanation is simple. The bag is made of the usual coarse bagging, and a few threads are pulled out of the part that will come in front of the juggler’s face when the bag is over his head, thus allowing him to see between the remaining threads as though looking through a coarse screen. (Fig. 51.)
When the bag is being placed over his head, and during the seeming effort of passing the arms through the armholes in the bag, the performer or assistant has no trouble in pushing the handkerchief up from the eyes to the forehead, thus allowing him to see through the open work of the bag. In removing the bag after the act, there is no trouble in pulling the handkerchief down over the eyes.