Water Wizardry: A collection of tricks in which water is the chief agent

it is for that reason that one seldom hears of a young amateur including the "Wine and Wat

ly just a chemical e

a very entertaining little bit of magic-simple in its effect, and very short. The trick used to b

has ever beaten Mr. Devant's method, which I give now with his permission. T

eturns it to the jug. Then he puts the glass down and pours a little water into each glass; the glasses should be about half full. The audience are-or should be-surprised to see that although t

the water in the jug is immediately turned into wine. The conjurer then mixes the contents of the third and fourth glasses together, and he gets a glass of clear water. Pouring this into the jug

nting it in a strange place it is always necessary to try it out beforehand, because the quantities of the chemical

he second and fourth glasses contain a few drops of a saturated solution of perchloride of iron, known to s

he tannin with the water in the jug. Directly he has done this the conjurer must be brisk in

then have "wine" in them, and the first and third water. The contents of the first and second mixed together will be "wine," and when poured into the jug will cause the water left in the jug to change into "wine."

course of a few minutes. The "water," by the way, is poisonous; to avoid any chance of an accident th

fourth) just before the performance begins, and those tumblers can then be placed upside down on a tray

hing Glas

the "Rice Bowls" (see Chapter V) you can proceed with the trick up to the point when the rice has been secretly removed and the water is in readi

hand take a tumbler from the table, pour some water into it, and take it with the disengaged fingers of the righ

put the jug down on the table. The right hand drapes the handkerchief round the glass. Pause

ntly that which has just vanished and the rice is that which the audience thi

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hief over the glass you get the disc of cardboard exactly over the top of the glass. Take the glass in the left hand and tap it once against the top of the jug-just to let the audience be convinced that it is there. Then, as you take it away, drop it into the

ut it into the open hat. The top of the hinged flap should be about half-way down the hat when the flap is resting against one side of the hat. It is an easy matter to hide a glass under the flap, and that glass is nearly filled with rice, which is prevented from coming out by means of a little plug of paper. By holding the fingers against the flap and the thumb on the brim of the hat it is an easy matter to prevent the glass from falling out when you casually

ss of water helps to fill in the time occupied by the w

nishin

ard cylinder over the glass; when you lift the cylinder the glass is empty, and

ng the cover the conjurer holds it with his thumb outside and his middle finger, which should be moistened, inside. Two fingers pull up the celluloid lining and hold it tightly against the cover, which, of course, hides it for a moment while the conjurer picks up the glass and shows that the water has vanished. While he does this he puts the cover down on his table for a moment and lets the celluloid lining sink gently d

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the conjurer was afraid of something inside it, must be practised and, of course, t

in this chapter, will serve for the purpose of the reproduction of the water, and if the conjurer will provide himself with an extra celluloid lini

or, if he prefers to do so, he can have another prepared glass similar to the first and put the handkerchiefs in that, so that he has a glass containing handkerchiefs on one side of his table and a glass containing water on the other, and the milk ca

containing handkerchiefs similar to those which have been vanished). This fake can be standing behind an opera hat on the table, and the conjurer should take away the hat as

njurer has caused some handkerchiefs and some water to vanish from two tumblers, one of which is left uncovered. Going to the

t you thinking of some other article which might be added to the water and the handkerchiefs to make a still more puzzl

quari

been able to discover his name. In common with some other conjurers I have always been under the impression that Mr. Claude Ch

o the tube. To the surprise of the audience the water remains in the tube. The conjurer puts two fingers into the lower end of the tube and draws out a quantity of coloured paper ribbons, perfectly dry;

ers would naturally wish to extend it by producing flags from

invented the tube was made in the form of an "unspillable" ink-well. (See illustration A.) Thus, when the water was poured in (in a way which I will describe presently) there was no risk that the water would

r to facilitate the task of emptying the tube there is a hole at the other end; this hole is closed during the performance of the trick by an india-rubber plug. It will be noticed that in both tubes the base is

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of water is bound to escape. For myself, I see no object in turning the tube upside down. After the conjurer has made a tube of paper and has poured water into it and has shown that the water does not run out

asses over it and then pulls out the paper ribbons; directly these have been

ls attention to their colours. He then lets the tube slide down out of the paper tube behind the ribbons and puts the lot on the table again. The "fake," being the same colour as the ribbons, is not noticed. If the conjurer has two or three

olding the "fake" behind the paper. In order to show both sides of the paper the conjurer brings up the free end with his right hand until it reaches the left thumb, which then takes it. At the same time he releases the end which he has been holding with his left thumb and th

ly holds the tube near the lower end in his left hand; it is as well to exte

two fingers into the lower end of the tube and starts the ribbons; they will fall at once into a heap on the table. I should mention that before loading the "fake" with the coil the outer ribbon on the coil should be torn; if

le, and then all he has to do is to pick up some of the ribbons with his left hand, at the same time getting his thumb i

i

ss curtain chain which has been pulled to pieces answers well for the trick.) The conjurer "fishes" into the tumbler with

separate links. He picks up the mirror-glass with his left hand and drops in all the separate links into the front compartment of the glass. (The water helps to disguise the presence of the mirror in the glass.) Then the conjurer brings his right hand over to the glass, takes it in that hand and immediately brings his hand right round to his right. Thus he has turned the glass round without having apparently done anything out o

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Milk

n the way shown in the illustrations you can compose two or three little tr

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be shown to be empty, because the water will not run out, but if the can is held with the faked side uppermost the wate

ence that both are empty and put them down on the opposite sides of your table. Pour water into the can which really

ing about the milk cans and the other liquid which is sometimes supposed to

rom Was

th water and is then closed with an india-rubber cap (procurable at any conjuring shop). Gummed o

At the third attempt leave the empty cup hidden in the box of waste paper and get hold of the cup filled with water. Add a little more paper to the top of this cup with the left hand and then remove one or

rubber cover with the thumb, and you leave it hidden in

to produce water from both cups. Let the second production be a surprise. If you are performi

t up out of the boxes some loose paper is on the top of each of the secret lids and the cups appear to be full of paper. The "visible" lid is then put on to each cup, an

Wool

njurers as the "coffee vase," and I mention it here becaus

will be seen that the bottom of the lining does not come down to the bottom of the vase, and that the outside part of the lining goes over the outside of the vase and extends to the who

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d, which fits loosely into the top of the lining, and a lid with a knob for a handle which f

eally empty. He then fills it with cotton wool, taking care to put in the wool in little pieces and not pressing it down. He then "explains"-and I ask you to remember that this is not my way of presenting the trick-that the original way of doing the trick was by covering the vase

ick consists in merely putting "this little lid" on the cotton wool. (Cotton wool, is easily compressible, and there is sufficient space between the bottom of the lining and the bottom of the vase for all the cotton wool which was placed

not permitted to see that the cover is empty before it is placed over the vase. I admit that the appearance of the vase is not altered in any way after the

it fits over the vase I drop it over the vase and lift it off again. I replace the cover and then, as a kind of afterthought, say: "I never showed you the vase; of course, there is nothing in that." This time, when taking off the cover I take off the inner lining by pinching the cove

ase it is not an easy matter to prevent the lining from knocking against the top of the vase, and if you are performing at close

ne say that the water is not real water. You at once pour some into a cup and throw it-apparentl

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the saucer, which is somewhat suspiciously thick. There is a hole in the centre of the saucer and the hole in the bottom of the cup goes exactly over the hole in the saucer. Thus, when the water is poured into the cup it finds its way directly into the saucer and the cup can at once be lifted up. The trick is

from

one in which they can produce a quantity of ribbons and flags, fin

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ows of his audience close to him the utmost he can do-in the way of showing the interior of the cylinder-is to point it to the audience on his right and then bring it round with a quick sweep to the audience on his left. It is as well to have an assistant for this trick,

the cylinder. The conjurer puts the jug down and peeps into the cylinder as though he were expecting something to happen. Of cour

remark that here is something which is "quite dry," and you take out an American flag. The little joke may, or may not be, discovered by the audience, but probably some of the older memb

roduce the last flag your assistant, knowing wh

e cylinder because one compartment, filled with flags before the commencement of the trick, is closed with a little semi-circular lid, and as this lid has to be open

is poured on to the top of the lid there will be a visible spla

refore, when you dip your hand into the cylinder for the third time to get at the first flag she t

a foot to it, and this makes it more convenient for the assistant to hold. Besides, knowing that the secret compartment is in the centre the conjurer does not have to be over careful as to the

hen able to get away with the india-rubber cover behind it; the cover c

Imitation flowers, sausages, balls and other things are also made in such a way that they can be packed in a very small space, but when they are produced they expand to the usual size. If you adopt this plan you apparently take out of the tube far more than could possibly be put into it. These things can be foll

if you merely dump them down in an untidy heap. One flag can be hung on the assistant's arm, another over a chair,

poured out of the vase at the end of the trick. You really want the end of the trick to be the production of

ze as the others and drape it with the others over the back of a chair. Then have the water poured out of the vase and the audience will think that you have come to the conclusion of the trick and wil

mportant point, because if you are performing in a room you may, in the excitement of the moment, do someone a serious injury if you merely "shoot" out the flag towards the audience. The flagstaff should be of the kind known as "self-locking"; that is to say, when every joint is out the staff can imme