[B] Some conjurors (myself included) use the third finger, but the little finger is the better one to employ, as it is more removed from observation. It is more difficult at the commencement, the digit being so weak; but the better execution it ensures repays the extra trouble.
[Part II.—Grand, or Stage Magic.]
[CHAPTER IX.]
GENERAL REMARKS.
PREPARATION—WHERE, AND TO WHOM, TO GIVE ARTICLES TO BE HELD—ON THE PUNISHMENT OF MEDDLERS—ON THE REPETITION OF TRICKS—REHEARSING—"PATTER"—ADDRESS—IMPERTINENCE AND AUDACITY—ON PLAYING THE BUFFOON.
The learner has now arrived at that point where he will quit the humble drawing-room, understood in its ordinary sense, and essay to grander flights on the stage. It is true that this stage may, after all, consist only of the back drawing-room, the front one serving as the auditorium; but, in a conjuring sense, it is a drawing-room no longer. It is the exclusive domain of the performer, in which he will work his spells of enchantment unmolested by busybodies indulged in too close a view. In this exclusiveness consists the main difference between the two branches of conjuring. In what may be aptly termed impromptu conjuring, the performer is greatly at the mercy of his audience, who may at any moment, if so disposed, seize upon him and wring from him his secrets. He is beset with difficulties on all sides, and must exhibit a total invulnerability. In stage performances, he has matters much more his own way. To a great extent, he can control circumstances, to which he is constantly liable to fall a victim when exhibiting in a humble way. He can so arrange matters that one effect follows another in a most natural manner—a state of affairs which it is almost impossible to bring about under any other system of arrangement. So far stage conjuring possesses its advantages; but, unless the conjuror has gone through a course of training such as has been set before him in the preceding chapters, he would be quite unable to avail himself of them. The performer, with a limited amount of skill in execution, could never succeed in true legerdemain on the stage, where it is far more difficult—in most cases impossible—to cover a mistake or clumsy movement. Everything must be reduced to an absolute certainty. To ensure this, the learner must engraft on his mind the single but important word "preparation." Effective preparation is the great secret of success in stage conjuring of any magnitude: without it, things are tolerably certain to result in what is expressively termed a "bungle." The reader will discover, as I progress, what is meant by "preparation" quite speedily enough, so I will not now enlarge on what will sometimes prove a somewhat tedious operation. I once asked a well-known conjuror how he liked conjuring for its own sake. "As far as conjuring itself goes," he said, "I could perform all night; but what settles me is the everlasting preparation." I must say, that my ideas on the point are marvellously like his.
There are many axioms which belong equally to either branch of conjuring, and which it is well for the learner to bear in mind at the outset. By getting into the way of acting up to them from the first, they soon cease to be irksome, and so assist, instead of detain, when anything important is being undertaken. One important thing is to be careful to give borrowed articles to be held, when it is required to do so, in a part of the room as far removed from the owners of them as possible. This rule need not be observed when the article is not to be changed; but it is so seldom that this is the case, that the possibility of its occurring is hardly worth while considering. It can never do any harm to remove an article which is not to be changed far from its owner; but a great deal of harm may be done by substituting one article for another in such proximity to its lawful possessor that that individual is able to discover the fraud. If this care be not taken, the most perfect dexterity will be thrown away. In a large room, full of strangers, one can perpetrate the most barefaced deeds, such as giving a substituted ring, which is in every respect totally unlike the original borrowed one, to be held openly in the fingers. Neither the holder nor the owner of the ring will know that the article is not the one which was borrowed.
Where possible, always give articles, when they are not too ponderous or awkward, into the custody of members of the weaker sex. Ladies, as a rule, have much less self-possession than men during performances, and, besides, are naturally anxious (and not without some success) to do everything that is asked of them in the most graceful and effective manner possible. These causes conduce to the result which the performer so much desires, viz., an absence of that inquisitiveness which ultimately leads to a private and premature examination of the article in custody. This axiom applies only when an article is to be held passively. Under no circumstances must the performer cause a lady to rise from her seat; rather let the trick be shorn of some of its effect. When the assistance of one of the audience is required, select an intelligent-looking man, who will not be likely, from either incompetency or malice, to act exactly contrarily to your directions. Unfortunately, a large number of block-heads and malicious persons, with intelligent and winning expressions of countenance, do exist. On meeting with either individual in a dangerous shape, make him look ridiculous by giving him something big and cumbersome to hold above the head, in a conspicuous position (such as when standing on a chair), and let him remain there during the whole of the trick, or even longer, if he will put up with it, selecting someone else to render you the assistance you require. Be careful not to allow it to be palpably seen that you are hoaxing the person, or offence may be given to more than one: and conjurors must always strive to keep their audiences in the best possible humour.