With this introduction, we shall now proceed to describe a few of the most popular “ball tricks.”
Fig. 127.
The Ball Box.—The leading idea of most of the tricks which we are about to describe is the magical appearance or disappearance of a ball. So far, they resemble the cup-and-ball tricks described in the last Chapter, but with this difference, that, in the case of the present series, the main effect is produced by mechanical means, any sleight-of-hand employed being rather an accessory than the leading feature. The oldest and simplest of the mechanical appliances for this purpose is that known as the “ball-box,” consisting of a box two to six inches in height, of the shape shown in [Fig. 127], and containing a ball which just fills it. The box consists of three portions—the lower portion, or box proper a, the lid c, and an intermediate portion b, being a hollow hemisphere coloured externally in imitation of the ball, and so fitted with reference to the box and lid, that it may be either lifted off with the lid, leaving the box apparently empty, or may be left upon the box when the lid is removed, the effect to the eye being as if the ball had returned to the box. The ball-box is generally of turned boxwood, and is scored with concentric circles, which serve to disguise its double opening. Simply stated, its effect is as follows:—The solid ball is first shown in the box, and then openly taken from it, and the box covered with the lid. The ball is then got rid of in one or other of the modes before described, and a pretence is made of passing it invisibly into the box. The lid is removed without the intermediate portion b, and the ball appears to have returned to the box. Again the lid is replaced, and again removed; but this time b is removed with it, and the box again appears empty. The trick in this form is to be found in every toy-shop, and is so well known as to produce scarcely any illusion, but its transparency may be considerably diminished by previously palming (in the right hand) the moveable shell b, the convex side being inwards, and then handing round the remaining portions and the solid ball for inspection. When they are returned, the performer apparently places the ball in the box, but really makes a secret exchange, and places b in the box instead. Upon again removing the lid, and with it b, the ball has disappeared; and as the audience have, as they believe, inspected the whole apparatus, the mode of its disappearance is not quite so obvious as in the first case. At best, however, the ball-box, in this its pristine form, is a clumsy and inartistic contrivance, and has long been relegated to the juvenile and country-fair school of conjuring. There is, however, an improved apparatus for producing a similar effect, which is generally worked in couples, under the name of
Fig. 128.
The Red-and-Black-Ball Vases.—The receptacle for the ball is in this case made in the form of a neat vase, and without any of those tell-tale grooves which disfigure the older ball-box. (See [Fig. 128].) Like its prototype, it is in three parts, which we will distinguish as before by the letters a, b, and c. The portion b, however, in this case goes completely within the lid c, within which it fits just tightly enough to be lifted off with it. When, however, the performer desires to leave b upon a, he presses down, in the act of lifting off the cover, a moveable button or stud at the top. This pushes out the shell b from the cover, and, when the latter is lifted, leaves it upon a. When used in pairs, the ball-vases are usually made with one red and one black ball, the shells b of each vase being also one black and one red. The balls are first offered for examination, after which the red ball is placed in the vase containing the black shell, and the black ball in that which contains the red shell. The vases are then covered, and on the covers being again removed, leaving the hollow shells upon the vases, the red ball being covered by the black shell, and the black ball by the red shell, the effect to the spectator is as if the two balls had changed places. By leaving alternately the one or the other shell over its respective vase, the ball in the opposite vase being left uncovered, the vases may be made to appear as if both containing red balls or both black balls, the genuine balls being finally again exhibited as at first.
Fig. 129.
There is yet another form of ball-box, also frequently worked in pairs, and designed to simulate the apparent passage of a ball from the one box to the other. The vase in this case consists of two parts only, the vase proper a, and the cover b, but the latter is of such a height as to completely contain the ball, and of such a size internally, that, if the ball be jerked up into the cover, it will not again fall, unless a slight shake be used to displace it. (See [Fig. 129].) Each vase has its own ball, and the mode of use is as follows:—One of the vases is prepared beforehand by jerking up the ball into the cover, which may then be removed, showing the vase apparently empty; or both may be first shown empty, and the ball then introduced secretly under the cover, after the manner of the cups and balls. The remaining vase and ball are offered for inspection, and when they are returned, the ball is placed within and covered over, after which the closed vase is placed upon the table; but in the act of doing this the performer gives the apparatus a slight upward jerk, thereby causing the ball therein to rise into the cover, where it remains. The second vase is once more shown empty; but in replacing it on the table, the performer puts it down sharply, thereby causing the ball to drop from the cover into the cup. He now orders the ball, which the company have seen placed in the first vase, to pass invisibly into the second; and on again opening the two, this transposition will appear to have taken place, and by a repetition of the process the ball may be made to travel backwards and forwards from one vase to the other.