Fig. 2.—India-rubber Cover.
Fig. 3.—The Bowl Covered Over.
The performer advances on the stage, and stands quite apart from any surrounding objects; there is nothing in his dress in any way unusual, and in his hand he holds an ordinary cloth about four feet square, which the audience is permitted to examine. Upon the cloth being returned to him by the audience, he throws it over his left arm and hand, and after a few seconds produces from under it a glass bowl full of water, in which gold-fishes are seen swimming; the cloth is again thrown into the air, shaken, and examined, and the trick is repeated until four large bowls have been produced from apparently nowhere. The following describes how the trick is accomplished:—Fig. 2 represents an india-rubber cover, the diameter (a b) being about the same diameter as the top of the bowl; the whole cover turns over the edge flat about two or three inches, so that the opening (c d) is considerably smaller than the diameter (a b). After the bowl (Fig. 1) has been about three-parts filled with water, and two or three fishes placed in it, the cover (Fig. 2) is stretched over the bowl (Fig. 3); the part of the cover a b (Fig. 2) is, of course, drawn over the rim of the bowl (a´ b´, Fig. 3); and the part c d (Fig. 2) is in contact with the outside top part of the bowl (c´ d´, Fig. 3). The bowl, as now covered, can be turned upside down and carried sideways, without any fear whatever of the water being spilt. The next point is how to conceal it about one's person. Fig. 4 represents a small black bag capable of holding two bowls side by side (i.e., the glass bottom of one in contact with the india-rubber cover of the other), which is tied round the waist, the tail of a dress-coat being amply sufficient to hide it. The sleight-of-hand required in performing the trick is to manage the cloth so that it hides the movement of the right hand and arm in bringing the bowl out of the pocket into position. When the bowl is brought under the cloth, rest the bowl on the right hand, and bring away the left from under the cloth. In taking off the cloth, incline the bowl very slightly towards one end, peel off the india-rubber cover by means of the left-hand finger and thumb inside the cloth. The cover remains in the cloth, and must be conveyed away into any pocket during the public examination of the bowl. The direction of the conjurer's eyes must be with the bowl, as should the eyes rest on the cloth after the bowl has been taken out, people will at once suspect that there is something there, and possibly put awkward questions, or ask to examine the cloth too soon. To bring out the four bowls the conjurer must, after exposing the first two, have the pocket (Fig. 4) replenished by leaving the stage or retiring to one of the wings, and allowing two more to be placed therein, unperceived by the audience, by an assistant.
Fig. 4.—The Small Bag for Carrying the Bowls.
HOUDIN'S CUPS AND BALLS CONJURING TRICKS.
The trick of the cups and balls, though one of the oldest known to conjurers, still remains one of the most interesting, by reason of the very slight preparation needed for its exhibition and the simplicity of its mode of performance.
The apparatus required are (1) three cups, (2) a magic wand, (3) six small balls, (4) six large balls, and (5) either a bag or shelf placed secretly on the performer's side of the conjuring table. The cups should be of polished tin; in form they are truncated cones; the top is concave, so as to afford a resting place for at least three of the small balls. The magic wand has been previously referred to, and one is just as good as another. The small balls, or muscades, as Houdin calls them, are made of cork, and should be a trifle more than half an inch in diameter. The large balls are made of horsehair, and covered with leather or woollen cloth. This covering is made of various colours, according to the particular "passes" which the performer intends to exhibit. Some balls are also made parti-coloured, two of the segments being of one colour and two of another. The bag, or gibecière, is made of some tolerably thick material, and is tied round the waist by strings. It has a wide-mouthed opening, allowing the hand to take freely therefrom the various articles needed for the performance of the trick, but it may be dispensed with in the event of a secret shelf being fitted in the performer's side of the table. Conjuring tables of special make have, as a rule, all the essential requirements; but it is not difficult for an ingenious lad to arrange the necessary table for himself out of a common discarded washstand. The sleight-of-hand required for the manipulation of the cups and balls is: (1) To conjure away a small ball, (2) to produce the ball when required at the tips of the fingers, (3) to secretly introduce a small ball under a cup or between two cups, (4) to cause a small ball placed between two cups to disappear, (5) to introduce a large ball under a cup, (6) to execute sundry "feints," hereafter described.