It is to laugh

by Edna Geister

Magic Writing.

The magic writer sends his confederate out of the room while the group decides on some short active verb. On his return the magician will write out this word in magic writing, whereupon the confederate will immediately go through the action of the verb decided upon.

That verb may be “dance.” When the confederate comes into the room the magician must be careful to say nothing that is not connected with his magic writing, or he will confuse his confederate. The first thing he says is, “Don’t get excited.” He then makes a great many fantastic motions on the floor with an umbrella, suddenly tapping hard, just once. Then he remarks, “Now be careful,” and after a very short pause, “Come on and try it,” and finishes with more flourishes of the umbrella and two distinct taps. Immediately the confederate, without saying a word, starts to dance.

It is a simple matter—when one knows how. The flourishes and the fantastic motions mean nothing, but all conversation and the taps mean a great deal. The first letter of each sentence gives the necessary consonant, and the taps give the vowels. For example, the first letter of the first sentence was “d.” Next came one tap, the first vowel “a,” then, “n,” then “c,” and then two taps for “e” the second vowel, and there you have “d-a-n-c-e.” The vowels come in their usual order of course, a, e, i, o, u, with one tap for a, two taps for e, three taps for i, etc., etc.

Discourage any other than short verbs. Imagine living through “palpitate!”