Entertaining Children With Magic

E n tertain in g Children with Magic

.

.

.

by PAUL HENDRICK

LI B n ,

WILL ALMA M.I.M.C. (LO N D O N )

Entertaining Children with 3iagie

E N T E R T A IN IN G C H ILD R E N W ITH M AGIC

b» P a u l H e n d ric k

Published by LEN SH O RT, 2 DOWNS PARK ROAD, LONDON, E.S

COPYRIGHT

The State Library of Victoria “A L M A C O N JU R IN G C O L L E C T IO N "

ENTERTAINING

WITH

MAGIC

The e a siest w a y for m e to w rite a trea tise on m a g ic for children w ould b e to give a description of se v e ra l original effects for children, an d then re v e a l the methods. As there a re no end of b o ok s d e a lin g with effects for children, I sin cerely b e lie v e I c a n b e of g re a te r a s sis ta n c e to you if I d ea l m ore with the question of children th an with that of effects. If, incidentally, you pick up a n id e a or two for a n effect to add to your show , so m uch the better. FAIRY

TALES Every child loves a

fairy story; ev en the

" D ead -end g a n g s te r "

tw elve y e a rs of a g e en jo ys a fairy story provided it does not d e a l with fairies.

(Think that one out).

The older children m ay not c a re to adm it to

them selves that they like fairy stories; that is w here a little tact is used, as you will shortly see. TIME-KILLERS No effect, to my mind, is w orse th an a tim e-killer. m a g icia n s say : " I

will u se so -a n d -so , it's a

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I h a v e h eard m an y

splendid tim e-killer."

By

devoting every moment of the time of your p erform ance to en tertain in g the children to the very b est of your ability, the time 'will au tom atically p ass, quite p leasantly.

I intend to show you som e of the m ean s I u se to p a ss

the time entertainingly, w hich you m ay d ecid e to use. EXPOSURES I

There m ay b e a g rea t tem ptation to work " Su cker " tricks w here part of the effect is exposed, but the clim ax is not exposed. you not to perform such effects. being, an d so they should.

I.stro n g ly ad v ise

The children reg ard you a s a su p er hum an

O n ce you exp ose the most trivial effect, their

sub-conscious mind tells them that a n y other effect, no m atter how brilliant, is also done b y trickery, an d the perform er is no longer reg ard ed a s b e in g " M a g ic ,"

but

m erely

a

clev er(?)

ROUND

PROPS

trickster;

you

h av e

lost

p restige

unnecessarily. STORY

BUILT

Below is a brief description of on e or two of the props around w hich I shall build a story, w hich I trust you will regard m erely a s a guide. RABBIT

PAN

AND

SWITCH

W hen I first w orked the R ab b it P an m an y y ea rs a g o , I m erely show ed it ” em pty," then produced a prop chick en from it.

It w as not till a b o u t two

y ears later that I realised that the lau g hter an d scream s of 11 D ead chicken " w as just the id eal time for a switch.

I had a du plicate R ab b it P an m ad e with

thin m etal upright partitions inside.

O ne partition to hold w ater, one to hold

silks, the other to hold spring productions. W hen I produce chicken from a ctu a l ra b b it p a n with my left hand (holding pot in right hand) my left h and g oes up, I look up, my right hand

puts pot on cerv a n te a n d picks up pot with partitions; all th ese m oves a re sim ultaneous. In som e draw ing-room s it is not conven ient to u se a ce rv a n te; in that c a s e I h a v e to b e content with producing ch ick en an d ca rry on with m y next trick.

BLACK

STAND

This I u se for sw itching pictures.

The set-up is a b la ck stan d on tab le.

R estin g on stan d a re som e pictu res fa ce down.

The b a ck s a re p ain ted

black , so ap p a ren tly all the children s e e is a b la ck stand.

To sw itch picture

in my han d for the one on stand, it is p la ced fa ce up on the stand. turn the picture fa ce down, restin g e x a ctly on picture b e n e a th it. children s e e now is a w hite b a ck . round a s one.

DART

I now All the

Now I g ra sp both pictu res an d turn them

(My pictu res a re p a in ted on m etal.)

FLOW ER

PRODUCTION

The bottom of a sh eet of cartrid g e p a p e r is rolled up and gum m ed to form a tube, a la the su nshad es.

A s flow er darts a re h eav y , the join is

reinforced with strip of.gum m ed brow n p ap er.

This brow n p a p e r w ould b e

conspicuou s on its own, so I gum strips of brow n p a p e r p a ra lle l to it a t intervals of six inches. kid m yself it does.

EG G

IN

EG G

This converts my p a p e r to a tab le-cloth — a t least, I

P erh ap s you c a n im prove on it.

CUP

This consists of a n e g g cup with half a n eg g . sam e colour a s e g g cup, an d is hollow. a p p e a rs to b e a w hole one.

The insid e of e g g is

W hen the e g g is in e g g cup it

By turning e g g over it fits into e g g cu p so

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that no trace of e g g is visible.

My w a y of w orking is to hold e g g cup in

left hand, p la ce right hand in front a n d reverse e g g into e g g cup with left thumb. OTHER

PROPS

The other props for my story a re the coffee v a se, spirit sla te with se p a ra te flap, e g g b a g , dim inishing card s (for children!).

INTRODUCTORY EFFECTS

BEFORE STORY.

PATTER

(By the w ay, there is no n eed a t a n y time to inform the children you a re g oin g to tell them a story.) " Hallo, boys an d girls; I w ent to a party y esterd ay an d w hen I ca m e in the lad y show ed m e a beautiful silver v a se an d said could I fill it with som e lovely ruby w ine.

I looked inside, sa w it w as em pty, but I filled it

right to the top with ruby w ine, and now I should like to do the sa m e for you. "All I u se is ordinary cotton wool.

I ca n do this in tw o w ays: I ca n

either do it invisibly or I c a n do it visibly.

How w ould you like m e to do

it — visibly or invisibly ? V isibly ? Thank you.

In that c a s e I u se a sm all

d ainty lid, and I think you must a g r e e the sm all d ainty lid is far too sm all to contain a n y secret trapdoors or u ndergrou nd p a ssa g e s.

W e p la c e the

sm all lid on top, tap once, an d h ere w e h av e — beautiful ruby w in e." PASSWORDS “ W ell, I must sa y you 've b e e n a very n ice a u d ien ce, so I'm g oin g to te a ch you m agic.

W ould you like to learn m ag ic?

W ell, it's rea lly all done

b y passw ords. Now there a re three passw ord s— G azin ta, G azo o k a, G azik a. G azin ta— you know, on e g o es into tw o, two g oes into four. a s loud a s you c a n — G azintal loud enough.

inside it, is there ? a n egg .

Oh no, you ca n 't do m a g ic like that, it's not

Now just a little louder — G a z in ta l

G azo o k a !— G a z ik a 1

Now a fter m e

Now th at's fine..

Ah 1 th at's beautifu l.

First w e look inside this b a g ; nothing

No, 1 thought not; w e'll put it down. Now h ere w e h a v e

I should like you p le a se to w atch m e very carefully, b e c a u s e ,

naturally, the m ore you w a tch the less you see. passw ords (G azinta, etc.) ? I b e g your p ardon ?

Thank you, the e g g h a s now entirely vanished.

In m y han d ?

No, it's em pty.

you a re , it's vanished.

Both han d s ?

Both han d s together ?

W hy didn't you s a y so ?

INTO

THE

The other h an d ?

H ere

H ere you a r e — one hand, two hands.

se e the e g g is in the b a g all the tim e,"

STRAIGHT

A re you re a d y with the

H ere you a re.

No — you

(C arry on with the e g g -b a g routine.)

STORY

” M any y ea rs a g o th ere w ere th ree brothers— Huffalot, M uffalot an d Alfredo; and these three brothers w ent out to try an d m ak e their fortune. As Huffalot an d M uffalot w ere w a lk in g a lo n g they suddenly saw a n old witch.

Now this old w itch sa id to Huff, an d Muff.: ’ I am very hungry, could

you p le a se sp a re me a little food ? '

But Huff, an d Muff, said: ' W e ca n 't

g ive you a n y food — w e w an t every th in g for ourselves.' aw ay .

(R everse pictures.)

And th ey turned

The old w itch w a s very a n n o y ed a n d sh e ca st

a m ag ic spell, an d in a secon d they w ere surrounded b y b ig trees, an d they couldn't g et out.

(R everse e a c h picture pickin g up feke.)

H ere you

se e them trying to get out."

RUNNING

ONE

EFFECT

INTO

THE OTHER

” Now this time the old witch ca m e up to Alfredo. a w icked w itch — she w as a good w itch.

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S h e w asn 't re a lly

Sh e said to Alfredo : 1I'm very

hungry, could you p le a s e sp a re m e a little food ? '

Alfredo replied: ' I

hav en 't m uch food, only a p ie ce of b read ; but if you a re very hungry, m ay b e it will do you good.'

The w itch w a s very p leased , an d she said :

'As you a re so kind, tak e this pot an d this p a p e r table-cloth; you will find them very useful.'

Alfredo looked in the pot an d saw it w a s em pty, and

he didn't think m uch of the p a p e r table-cloth; but a s he w a s very polite he said 1Thank you very m uch,' and w ent on his w ay.

1

"A s he w a s w alking a lo n g a hungry wolf jum ped a t him an d said : ’ I am very hungry; I shall e a t you for my dinner.'

Alfredo said : ' Don't

e a t me up; I am very skinny and w ould not m ake you a very good dinner. Let m e try this m ag ic pot.'

And he said : ’ O ver land an d over se a , food

for the wolf p le a se com e to m e.' a chicken.

He looked in the pot an d there he found

The wolf w as very p le a se d an d w ent on his w ay.

" Then a b e a r ca m e rushing a t him.

11 am very thirsty,' the b e a r

said. ’ If you don't g ive m e som ething to drink I shall g o b b le you all up.' Alfredo said : ' Don't g o b b le m e up, let m e try my m a g ic pot.'

Then he took

his handkerchief, put it in the pot an d said : ' O ver land an d over se a , a drink for the b e a r p le a se com e to m e.' poured— a beautiful g la ss of milk. on his w ay.

Then he took a n em pty g la ss an d

The b e a r h ad a lovely drink an d w ent

He didn't sa y thank you b e c a u s e b e a rs h av en 't a n y m anners.

"A lfredo carried on with his jo u rn ey w hen suddenly he w a s stopped b y a fox.

The fox said : ' I am very hungry, an d if you give m e som ething

to e a t I will give you som ething to help you on your jo u rn ey .'

Alfredo took

the pot an d said : ' O ver land an d o v er se a , food for fox p le a se com e to m e.' And from the pot he g a v e the fox— som e lovely sa u sa g e s.

He also g a v e

him a carrot an d then— a lem on, b e c a u s e a fox loves a sour lemon.

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” The fox said ' Thank you ' a n d g a v e Alfredo a w riting sla te an d so m e picture cards.

The fox w a s v ery clev er, an d h e told A lfred o : 'I f

you w ant to m ake your fortune, you must m arry the king's dau ghter. W h en you com e to the p a la c e , look at m y sla te an d you will know w hat to do.'

" O n his w a y to the p a la c e he m et a m a g ic giant, and this g ian t turned him self into a b la ck b eetle.

Alfredo didn't know w hat to do.

only he had som e flow ers w ith spikes.

If

S o he took his p a p e r tab le-cloth an d

said : 1 O ver land a n d over s e a , flow ers with spikes p le a se com e to m e.' And he took out on e— two— th ree— four— five— six flow ers with spikes. Then he w alked on tow ards the p a la c e .

" W hen he ca m e to the p a la c e he looked a t the sla te an d he sa w a door with a keyhole an d a pictu re card.

Then he knew that he h ad to

g et the picture card through the keyhole.

He took the picture card s an d

said : 1Picture card s I b e g of thee, picture card s b e c a m e sm aller. w ere still too big. last card).

p le a se g et sm aller now for m e.' The

He looked a t the keyhole— the picture card s

S o he s a id : 'P ic tu r e card s I b e g ’ . . . .' (an d so on till

And w hen he saw this w a s sm all enou gh to go through the

keyhole he m ad e his w a y to the p a la c e an d boldly told the king he w anted to m arry the princess.

“ The king s a i d : 1Before you m arry my d au g h ter you h a v e to show that you love the king, you love the q u een , you love my d au g h ter.' king g a v e him a b a g an d told him to look inside it. an d there w a s nothing in it e xcep t h is hand.

The

He turned it insid e out

And the king sa id : 1If you

c a n b rin g som ething inside the b a g to show m e that you love the king, you love the q u een , you love m y d au g h ter, you will m arry the prin cess.' So he took the b a g an d said: ' O ver lan d an d over se a , p le a s e com e quickly

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now to m e, som ething in this b a g to show, I love the king, I love the qu een , I love the king's d au ghter.' flags.

He looked inside the b a g an d saw U nion-Jack

(Now p atter an d produce a t the sa m e time).

And w hen the king

saw the Union Jack flags he said : ' I c a n se e now you love the king, you love the q u een , you love the king's d au ghter.' you don't put a full stop after dau ghter). everybod y lived happily ever a fter."

(It will help the clim ax if

He m arried the prin cess and *

ANALYSIS There is no n eed to a b id e slav ish ly to the routine I h av e set out. That is one rea so n I h av e not given you my e g g - b a g routine.

The M a g ica l

Depots supply routine and p atter w hen you bu y the e g g b a g , and it is up to you to give it a n air of originality.

It is for very m uch the sa m e re a so n

that' I h av e d elib erately chopped out my routine with o p era hat an d boy from au d ience.

Your show will b e far m ore effective if you c a n introduce a n originality of your ow n creatio n w hich will suit your p erson ality an d style. PLAYING

CARDS

FOR

CHILDREN

Som e organ isers o b ject to p la y in g card s for children.

T here is no

n eed to ask; you c a n - u sually tell if organ isers a re conservativ e, without asking.

L eav e out dim inishing card s for a children's p arty o rgan ised b y a

religious body.

P erhaps

one d ay

an

en terp rising M ag ical Depot will put on the

m arket a set of dim inishing card s consisting of pictures w hich h av e no relation to p lay in g cards.

The effect would b e the sam e a s far a s the p er­ 12

former is con cern ed , y et it could b e w orked for children with im punity an d would b e far m ore effective th an ord inary p la y in g cards.

USING

"O L D

PRO PS"

It m ay h a v e occu rred to you th at most of the props I h av e m entioned ca m e out of the ark, an d you m ight co n seq u en tly scorn to u se them. a w a y you a re perfectly correct — a s far a s you a re concerned . a conjurer, an d know th ese props a r e an tiqu es.

In

You a re

But you must rem em ber

that if you hand le th ese props co rrectly an d p atter in the right m an ner, u sing the right words, you a re not show ing a ra b b it p an , you a re show ing a n ordinary em pty pot; you a re not sh o w in g half a n eg g , you a re show ing a n e g g in a n e g g cup. ordinary

articles

in

In other w ords, you a re not show ing props, but

e v e ry d a y

use.

Therefore, th ese props n e ed not b e

reg ard ed a s out of d ate. M any conju rers d isa g re e; let them , they h av e every right to do so. If p e rch a n ce you h a p p en to b e on e of those w ho a re ol the opinion that effects such a s I u se a re to'o a n tiq u a te d to u se in your ow n show, p erh ap s b y now you a re a b le to build a re a lly good story for children round the props you DO use. If you h a v e not sufficient effects to do a com plete good show for children, w hen you h a v e finished re a d in g this book through CAREFULLY you will h av e com e acro ss a hint w h e reb y you c a n find out inform ation a b o u t all the n ew est effects.

ABOUT

RABBITS

A g re a t flaw in the a ct I h a v e g iv en you in the story, is the fact that a t no sta g e of the a ct h a s a

13

ra b b it b e e n produced.

CHILDREN

EXPECT,

AND

ARE

ENTITLED

TO EXPECT, THE PRODUCTION O F A

RABBIT. V ery often w hen I h av e looked into my hat an d s a i d : " A h ! w hat h av e w e h e r e ? " the chorus h a s b e e n " A ra b b it 1 " an d I felt very guilty w hen I replied : ” No, a beautiful silk g arm en t."

The reaso n I h av e not b e e n producing a ra b b it is that it is not co n ­ venient for m e to use a re a l one, a n d I h av e never b e e n a b le to m ake a prop rab b it look life-like.

This w as not the fault of the m akers, but due

to my inability to m anipu late it in the proper m anner.

S e v e ra l y ea rs a g o I h ad a splendid prop ra b b it from a m an nam ed G rayson, w hich I put into my children's show a t Tynem outh, w here I w as doing three show s daily in the op en air.

It w as really a cleverly m ad e

prop, but I felt so guilty abou t the fact that it w asn 't re a l that I had no sooner produced it than I v anished it in a b re a k a w a y box.

I rea lise now I might h av e sa v ed m yself the trouble, b e c a u s e it w as produced an d v anished so quickly nobod y knew w hat it w a s all a b o u t !

It

is only just recen tly that I h av e le a rn ed correctly to m an ipu late a prop rab b it.

I w a s taught it b y a m em ber of the Institute of M agicians.

MAGICAL

SOCIETIES

Incidentally,

I

strongly

ad v ise every m a g icia n to join a m a g ica l

so ciety if not a lre a d y a m em ber. out the country.

T hese so cieties a re in existen ce through­

They a re in v ariab ly founded b y p eop le w ho h av e their

heart an d soul in the scie n ce of m agic. It is your opportunity to co n tact an d e x ch a n g e id eas with p eop le who a re versed in every b ra n ch of m agic.

In

the p articu lar society I b elo n g to th ere is not the slightest tra ce of snobbery.

14

M usic-hall perform ers who h av e literally travelled the world with their a ct a re not too proud to discuss m a g ic w ith the veriest b eg in n er.

If you a re

not a lre a d y a m em ber, p ossibly the most v a lu a b le tip in this book, a s far a s you a re con cern ed , is to join a m a g ica l society.

CLARIFICATION T here m ay b e som e point in this book I h a v e raised w hich h a s not b e e n d ealt with fully or is not too cle a r. an d I shall b e h ap p y to clarify.

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If so, w rite m e, c a re of the publisher,