Chapter II: LITTLE TRICKS--(continued)

I have often thought that many conjurers--amateur and professional--take themselves and their conjuring far too seriously. It is just as well to unbend occasionally, and as a little change from tricks to spring a simple catch on your audience. Here is one.

Pour some water into a glass and cover it with an opera hat. Throw a large cloth over the hat.

"Now then," you say to your audience, "do you think that I can drink the water without lifting the hat?" The answer is in the negative, as they say in the House of Commons when they mean "No."

Hold up the cloth so that it hides your face. The audience see both hands on the top edge of the cloth and therefore are convinced that you are not removing the hat. Make the sound of a man drinking from a glass. (I confess that this part of the experiment is not all it ought to be!) Then announce that you have performed the feat and drop the cloth. Somebody will be sure to pick up the hat to see if the water is in the glass; then you drink the water. You have performed the feat of drinking the water without lifting the hat.

Topsy Turvy

A more difficult experiment--until you know the secret. Ask someone to put water into a glass when the glass is held upside down. Naturally, they give it up. Then:

Pour some water on a plate. Crumple up a small piece of paper, light it and drop it into a tumbler; let it burn for a second or two and then invert the glass over the plate. You will see the water rush into the glass. You have kept your word and have put water into the glass when the glass has been upside down.

A Sporting Offer

Bend a wooden match into the form of a capital V, taking care not to break the match. Lay the match on the top of a bottle and just at the angle of the "V" place a threepenny bit. Tell someone that they may have the coin if they can get it into the bottle, but they must not touch the match, or the coin, or the bottle, or the table on which the bottle is standing, and they must not blow the coin into the bottle.

You have probably guessed--since this book has to do with water tricks--that water must be used in this trick in some way. In that case you are right. Drop a little water on the angle of the match; the wood will expand, the "V" will open and the threepenny bit will drop into the bottle.

A Feat of Dexterity

Pour some water into a tumbler and balance two pennies on the edge of the tumbler; the coins should be opposite to each other.

The trick is to remove the coins together, using only a thumb and one finger.

To do this place the thumb on one coin and the first finger on the other. Quickly slide the coins down the sides of the glass and bring the first finger and thumb together, taking the coins with them.

This is a feat of dexterity; it is not difficult, but you will not do it at the first attempt. The water helps to steady the glass.

More Than Full

If a glass is full of water it will not hold anything else; that is obvious. But----

Fill a glass with water. Stand it on a level surface. Wipe the edge of the glass very carefully, because for the purpose of this experiment it must be quite dry. Then, with a steady hand bring the edge of a sixpence to the surface of the water and let the coin go. If you are careful you can put a dozen sixpences into the glass without causing the water to run over the brim.

The Obedient Corks

For this little experiment you want a nice large rose bowl, full of water, and seven corks. The trick is to put the corks into the water and to cause them to float in a perpendicular position.

This is how you do it. Grasp all the corks in one hand, and hold them under the water until they are thoroughly soaked. Then hold them in the position you wish them to assume and let them go; they will remain close together and in an upright position.

A Peculiar Egg

The peculiarity of the egg used in this experiment is that it neither floats on the top of a large glass of water nor sinks to the bottom, but merely remains an inch or two under water all the time.

Make a saturated solution of salt and half fill a big tumbler with it. Then, with a spoon fill up the tumbler with ordinary water, putting it in very steadily so that it does not mingle with the brine at the bottom of the glass. Now if you drop an egg gently into the liquid--which looks like ordinary water--the egg will sink down through the water, but will come to a standstill on to the top of the brine.

The Suspended Mug

This is an easy catch--more suitable for the garden than for the drawing-room.

Tie a piece of string to the handle of a mug. Hold the other end of the string, so that the mug is suspended, and pour in all the water it will hold in that position.

Stand on a chair and ask for the services of an assistant. You tell your assistant that you are going to cut the string, and it is his job to catch the mug without spilling a drop of the water. The first assistant naturally fails because you cut the string when he is not expecting the mug to fall. Another assistant tries his luck; he probably holds his hands just under the mug. You protest that that is not fair, but you will try the trick, nevertheless. While talking you quietly move the string until the mug is just over your victim's head, and then you cut the string quickly. (Note. Don't try this trick with a bad-tempered person, or you may spoil the party, and, obviously, the man must be wearing a hard hat or the mug will hurt him badly.)

You can keep the game going for quite a little time if you can induce enough brave spirits to take a hand, but sooner or later someone is sure to suggest that you try the trick yourself. You at once consent, and you tell your audience that if they will cut the string you will most certainly catch the mug directly it falls. While making this apparently rash promise you quietly tie a little loop in the string and keep it hidden with your hand for a moment. When your assistant is holding one end of the string and everyone is prepared to see you get a ducking you take your hand away from the loop, tell your assistant to cut the string "just there" pointing to the loop, and you will catch the mug directly it falls; of course, it will not fall.

All this is only a catch, something to amuse people at a juvenile garden party. To go to the opposite extreme, here is a little trick which will "want doing" if it is to be done well.

The Sticky Glass

Pick up a wineglass and fill it with water; while doing so say something about the state of the glass; you can say that the stem feels a little sticky, but perhaps it will do for the trick. Dip a small square piece of paper into the glass of water and take it out again. This action naturally spills a little of the water, so you fill up the glass once more. Then you place the piece of wet paper on the top of the glass and turn the glass over, and take the hand away. The paper remains over the glass, and the water does not run out.

If there is a schoolboy present he will be sure to tell you that there is nothing in that; anybody can do it. It is even probable that the boy will explain to you that the pressure of the air on the under surface of the paper is greater than the pressure of the water in the glass. Hence the apparent miracle. Let the dear boy prattle on. Then tell him that you have not done the trick yet.

Slowly take the paper away from the glass. The water remains. Put the paper back again; turn the glass right end uppermost, remove the paper, and show that you have nothing in your hands except the paper and the wineglass of water.

This is a capital little trick, but it needs practice. The edge of the top of the glass should be ground perfectly flat, and the base should be rather larger than the top. You also need a disc of celluloid with the edge slightly sunk so that when the disc is placed on the glass it fits there and cannot easily slip off sideways.

_Celluloid Fake_ _Fake_

_PAPER PLACED ON BOTTOM OF GLASS_ _PAPER & FAKE COVER GLASS TOGETHER_

Fig. 4]

Before commencing the trick dip this celluloid disc into some water and place it under the base of the glass, the sunk edge being against the glass. The water will cause the disc to adhere to the glass, and therefore when you show the glass you have nothing concealed in your hands. Fill the glass with the water and dip in the piece of paper. This causes some of the water to overflow and you naturally want to pick up the jug to fill it up again, but you are holding the glass in the left hand and the wet paper in your right. To get the right hand free you place the paper under the base of the glass and therefore under the celluloid disc while you fill up the glass with water. Then, in putting on the paper again you take the disc away with it and the disc goes quietly on the top of the glass. It is advisable to make the water overflow in the first place because you want to get the edge of the glass wet.

Press down on the paper and shape the paper round the glass and you need not worry about the rest; the celluloid disc will adhere tightly and you can wave the glass about after you have taken the paper away. You have said something in the first part of the trick about the glass being sticky, and you now mention that it must be very sticky, since all the water has stuck to it.

In replacing the paper on the top of your glass get your thumb nail under the disc and lift it up. Then remove the paper with the disc under it, place both under the glass, take away the paper, leaving the disc stuck to the base of the glass and the trick is over.

A similar trick is done with a tumbler, but as the base of an ordinary tumbler is smaller than the top the disc of celluloid cannot be hidden under the tumbler; it is usual to have it on a tray, and after wetting the paper to place the paper over the disc and pick up both together.

The tumbler used for this trick usually has a small hole made in one side (if there can be any side to a round tumbler). At the beginning of the trick the hole is closed with wax, and to conclude the trick the conjurer holds the inverted glass with the paper on it over a glass bowl, scrapes away the wax, thus admitting air, and the water rushes out, carrying the paper and disc with it into the bowl.

For a very much finer trick of this kind the reader is referred to