Some performers dispense with the use of the vase, and vanish and reproduce the borrowed handkerchief by sleight-of-hand, after one or other of the modes described in relation to handkerchief tricks.
The “Passe-Passe” Trick.—The trick which is specially designated by this name (which would appear to be equally applicable to about three parts of the tricks we have described) is as follows:—
The performer brings forward a bottle and a small tumbler, which he places side by side upon the table. Producing a couple of tin or pasteboard covers, ornamentally japanned, of a size to just go over the bottle, he places one of them over the bottle, and another over the glass. He now commands the two articles to change places, and on again removing the covers the glass and bottle are found to be transposed. Again he covers them, and again the change takes place; and this he repeats as often as he pleases, occasionally pouring out wine or other liquor, to show that the bottle is a genuine one, and not a mere make-believe.
The reader will already have anticipated that there are in reality two bottles and two glasses. The bottles are of tin, japanned to resemble the ordinary black bottle, but with the bottom only about a couple of inches below the neck, leaving an open space beneath for the reception of the glass. Each bottle has near the bottom, at the side which is kept away from the audience, an oval opening or finger-hole, measuring about an inch and a half by one inch. When it is desired to lift the glass with the bottle, the middle finger is made to press on the glass through this opening, thereby lifting both together with perfect safety. The outer cover just fits easily over the bottles, and if lifted lightly leaves the bottle on the table, but if grasped with some little pressure, carries the bottle with it.
The mode of working the trick will now be readily understood. The bottle which is brought forward has a second glass concealed within it, kept in position, while the bottle is brought in, by the pressure of the finger. The cover which is placed over this bottle is empty. The other cover, which is placed over the glass, contains the second bottle, which, being hollow below, enables the performer to rattle his wand within it, and thus (apparently) to prove the cover empty. Having covered the glass and bottle, he raises the cover of the first very lightly, leaving the glass concealed by the second bottle, but lifts the other with pressure, so carrying the bottle with it, and revealing the glass which has hitherto been concealed within it. By reversing the process, the bottle and glass are again made to appear, each under its original cover. Where it is desired to pour wine from either bottle, the performer takes care, in lifting it, to press the glass through the finger-hole, and thus lifts both together. For obvious reasons the glass into which the wine is poured should be a third glass, and not either of the two which play the principal part in the trick.
CHAPTER XVII.
Stage Tricks.
The present Chapter will be devoted to such tricks as by reason of the cumbrousness or costliness of the apparatus required for them, are, as a rule, exhibited only upon the public stage. The stage performer may, if he pleases, avail himself of the aid of mechanical tables, electrical appliances, etc., which enable him to execute a class of tricks which are beyond the scope of an ordinary drawing-room performance, though the wealthy amateur will find no difficulty in converting his own drawing-room into a quasi-stage, and qualifying it for the presentation of the most elaborate illusions.
The leading items of apparatus in stage magic are mechanical tables. These are of various kinds, many being specially designed to assist in the performance of some one particular trick. Putting aside these, which will be separately noticed, stage tables may be broadly divided into three classes—trap tables, piston tables, and electrical tables. In practice, these classes are somewhat intermingled, for it is rather the rule than the exception for a stage table to be fitted with both traps and pistons, while either or both of these may be found in conjunction with electrical appliances.