Starting In Magic With Maskelyne
In writing this work I have borne in mind throughout the needs of the young man who, from becoming interested in magic in a very small way, has now decided to go deeper into the subject with a view to producing an entertainment for pleasure or profit. Let me say at the very beginning that there is a definite profit in magic, for to-day clubs and societies will pay for magic-entertainments of only half an hour’s duration.
My long experience gained in giving theatrical performances throughout Britain and abroad hasshown me that there is room for magicians with a modern outlook—young men who, understanding the art of conjuring, are able to turn their knowledge into channels that are acceptable to the present-day patrons of variety-theatres or other entertainment. With this conclusion in view I have discussed magic from every possible standpoint likely to be of use to the beginner and the young man with some experience of the subject. Such information, allied with constant practice, will form the basis of a very successful career in magic.
It was only constant practice which brought me success, for it must be remembered that while my family grew up in magic, and have in fact been the leading magicians through three generations, I was not born to conjuring. It will come as a surprise to my readers to learn that I graduated to magic from farming. Indeed, I would have remained a farmer but for my father's keenness for me to follow in his footsteps, and his repeated assertion that there was room in the profession for young men with a new outlook. I know now that his opinion was founded on a very sound knowledge of his art.
Soon I discovered that the high road to success was—practice. Not for many months was I allowed to appear before an audience, but my constant practising gave me a confidence which, in face of any hitch, technical or otherwise, could not have been shaken. Throughout this volume I stress the fact that there is scarcely a new illusion in the world. The most baffling and successful of illusions are founded on simple principles of trickery. It is purely showmanship which makes the magic a success, and this applies whether you possess lavish scenery, or are working before a drawing-room audience, or in front of two hundred people at a concert. While this book is absolutely comprehensive, there may be one or two points which the painstaking reader would like enlarged upon for his own personal requirements. Therefore I shall be happy to answer such queries through the post. You have only to write to me, care of the publishers, and I will do my utmost to assist you.
STARTING IN MAGIC
Types of entertainer—Do not imitate—Conjuring
for boys, youths, and grown-ups—Nervousness—
Persuasiveness and ready wit—The time-factor—How
to develop personality.
How many types of entertainer are there? The most popular we have is the drawing-room entertainer, who performs at parties and often makes quite a lot of money without much overhead expense. Next comes the concert-artiste, who is able to give a slightly more elaborate performance and, in consequence, commands a higher figure for his services. Thirdly, there is the entertainer who gives a magical show on the stage proper. These types of entertainer have their place in the scheme of magic, and although I am chiefly a stage magician, I am not going to recommend my particular branch of the art more than the other two. The ambitious young man can, indeed, prepare for all three and therefore have more than one egg in his basket. Alternatively, he can concentrate upon one and develop his show to a point of perfection that would make him a leading figure in his own particular line.
He must make his choice at the commencement and then go right ahead with patience and determination to climb up the ladder of success. It is useless for him to dodge from one thing to another and perhaps end up by being never better than mediocre. Do not be in a hurry to make your decision, because you have plenty of time. Just read through this book carefully, practise hard, and consider the whole position with special attention to your own particular circumstances.
One very important point to remember at this juncture is that it will not pay you to imitate anyone else. I have had people say to me many a time: “You ought to copy the way Carl Hertz did that trick,” or “Why don’t you do it the way Thurston used to?”
To the well-meaning folk who say these things I invariably reply: “Why should I copy Hertz or Thurston? I have my own style and, while I do my best to improve it at every performance, I do not propose to copy anyone else. My style has brought about my success, so why should I change it?”
There are a thousand and one ways of putting over the simplest trick, a thousand and one different kinds of patter, a thousand and one methods of entering or leaving a stage and making the audience enthusiastic. I must emphasize again, therefore, that you must not imitate other people, but have your own style, your own method of presenting a show, and your own ‘signature tune,’ as it were! Incidentally, as an illustration to my point, what would we think of the manufacturer who copied another firm’s trade-mark, or a dance-band leader who put different words to another leader’s ‘signature tune’?
Now it is natural that my readers are of different ages, and for that reason I am going to say a few words about conjuring for boys, conjuring for youths, and conjuring for adults. In the first instance, a boy should concentrate on the simpler tricks, avoiding those with cards whenever possible, for reasons which are explained in Chapter V. He should make himself proficient with tricks with handkerchiefs, box-tricks, and tricks with glasses, bottles, paper, balls, and bowls. There is a large number of simple tricks from which any bright boy can make up a neat little drawing-room entertainment, and he would be well advised to work with these and keep his ambition in check until he has gained more experience.
JASPER MASKELYNE
Before Magic Edition
PDF | 301 Pages
Jasper Maskelyne, the famous illusionist, presents a practical book that enables the curious to become expert entertainers in the art of magic. A guide filled magic effects you can perform with cards, coins, handkerchiefs, pieces of paper, rope and other common objects are described in detail. Chapters are also provided on stage management, thought-reading, disappearing tricks, apparatus, chemical tricks, entertaining in dress-clothes, jugglery and ventriloquism, and the art of make-up.
Coming from the famous Maskelyne family of magicians, Jasper also shares some excellent advice on rehearsing, structuring, writing, and booking a magical performance.
Naturally the simpler tricks are better known than the more elaborate, but this fact is unlikely to make his show any less successful. It is the method of presentation that counts, and the boy who cultivates showmanship can put up a better show with a tenshilling box of tricks than the man who has a poor stage-presence and attempts to put over more elaborate illusions. Coming to conjuring for youths, I would suggest that tricks with candles, coins, cards, and rope are the best for young men who are just passing out of their 'teens. A youth can still perform the simpler tricks and be a success, but he must develop his show along slightly broader lines, and be prepared to raise real gasps of astonishment with tricks that require long hours of practice and a certain amount of preparation.
Finally we arrive at conjuring for grown-ups, and here we have the sophisticated show that will stand close scrutiny and which must have the hall-mark of professionalism stamped upon it. In this case any good tricks may be used, and the performer can so arrange his programmes that he does not repeat himself too often. The adult can do tricks with card, coin, handkerchief, paper, rope, box, cigarette, match, egg, and bottle as the fancy takes him. He has passed through the early stages of training, and is confident, breezy, polished, and ready for all comers—the gullible and the sceptical.
Turning to the broad lines of magic, we must face the fact that many a newcomer to magic is bound to be nervous when he gives his first shows. In the privacy of his own room he has practised and practised before a mirror until he thinks he is word perfect and convincing; he feels that he is ready to demonstrate any trick in his repertoire to a hall filled with people, and he laughs when anyone hints that he might show signs of nervousness. “What?” he cries. “Me nervous? Don’t you believe it.” Nevertheless, when he steps forward to give his show he cannot help getting that dryness in the mouth, that shaking of the limbs, and that locking of the tongue. It attacks many a man—performer, speaker, or lecturer—who faces an audience and realizes that the attention of every one is upon him and him alone. There are people who are born to stage-work, people who could address ten thousand people without turning a hair or stuttering over a single word; but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. The young magician must be prepared to be nervous when he starts his magical career and, being prepared, must seek to overcome that nervousness. The successful magician must have a confidence in his own ability above the average, and he can acquire this if he first makes up his mind to believe that all audiences are composed of people who want to be hoaxed, and second, looks upon the heads over the footlights as cabbages. All he can see, anyway, is a mass of white, ghostly faces, so that to think of these as a vast field of cabbages is not beyond him at all. And to think so will help him to overcome any fears and prevent him from bungling his tricks!
When he first starts, the young conjurer might do well to talk aloud and perform his tricks to himself. In other words, he should try to forget the fact that hundreds (or dozens) of eyes are watching his every movement. It is exactly the same with acting, publicspeaking, or singing. The performer must keep his mind off the people in front of the stage, or he is irrevocably lost.
This advice applies to the boy who is showing his prowess at conjuring to members of his family just as much as it does to the entertainer who is performing on the music-hall stage. Indeed, it is more important for the former to forget his audience than for the latter. You have heard the expression “No man is hero to his own valet.” Similarly, if he can make members of his own family think he is a fairly good performer, then he will have a number of publicity agents who will be worth their weight in gold to him.
Do not be nervous, do not be self-conscious, do not think you might fail, and do not get the idea that those watching you want to catch you out. You can take it from me that practically every member of the audience watching a magical show likes to be baffled over a trick; they merely lose their interest if they think they see how it is done. If you can make yourself believe this great secret about the magic-business, then you have gone a very long way towards an early success at the game. Having overcome your nervousness, there is the problem of cultivating a persuasive tongue and a ready wit. It is possible for a magician to buy his patter, every word of it, learn it by heart, and then speak it like the lines given to an actor in a play; but that is not good enough. You can get away with this kind of thing at a small entertainment where most of those present are your friends or relatives, but your show simply will not go down before a strange audience. I must tell you that the modern audience expects to be amused as well as puzzled. The magician must be something of a comedian if he is to go one better than his colleagues, or even if he is going to be asked for again! Remember that one booking is useless to you. You want audiences to want you back again; but most definitely they will not if you are a ‘parrot’ magician.
I cannot tell you what to say in so many words, but I can indicate a general line. Directly you step on to the stage or platform with your familiar “Ladies and gentlemen-” you must cultivate a tone of voice that is at once compelling and arresting. Do not mumble the words, do not bark them, and do not growl them; make them sound warm, inviting, and friendly. Wrap those three familiar words around the whole audience and, in a sense, gather the people to you.
The next thing to remember is to banish that horrible little expression ‘er’ from your vocabulary. The magician who comes on to the stage and says, “Ladies and gentlemen—er—I—er-’’ goes a long way to having his confidence shattered, particularly if there are any amateur humorists among those present. The amateur humorist is the entertainer’s bugbear; he tries to divert the attention of the audience away from the stage to himself, and the entertainer must use all his persuasiveness, wit, and personality to combat him. Also he must anticipate him by expecting that he will be there.
Not long ago I was performing at a little miningtown in Yorkshire, and my so-called Oxford accent very nearly ruined my carefully prepared show. No sooner had I uttered my opening sentence than half a dozen amateur humorists in the gallery started to imitate me. Long years of experience had taught me to be ready for such things, so I advanced to the front of the stage, looked upward towards the gallery, and said, “Thank you very much for reminding me about that horrible Oxford accent of mine, gentlemen. I have tried to get rid of it for years, but somehow or other it will keep coming back. This being so, I am afraid you’ll have to put up with it, as I must. However, if you will give me your undivided attention for fifteen minutes or so, I’ll finish my performance, and then you can listen to the sweet voice of the lady who is to follow me!” This little speech had the desired effect. There was a good deal of laughter, the people downstairs ‘shushed’ the people upstairs, and the show went down very well indeed.
A similar thing happened in Lancashire a few years ago. As there was no sweet-voiced lady following me in the bill, however, I suggested that the interrupters should meet me in the bar afterwards, when I’d give them a special exhibition of pure Cockney! They were there—and they had a drink at my expense! Incidentally, they met a famous magician! It got around the town that I was a ‘good sport,’ and the theatre did good business—all through anticipating the amateur humorist and playing up to him instead of treating him as a fool.
Now the magician must also have something that other entertainers need not have—and that something is persuasiveness. He must persuade members of the audience that a box has nothing false about it, even when he knows all the time that it has a false lid, a false bottom, and false sides. Directly you see a person looking sceptical, you must pass the box to him. Of course you have to take a slight risk of exposure when you do this, but as the chances of detection are very slight in most cases, the risk is well worth taking. In any case, your anticipation will have provided you with a way out if you are caught!
The persuasive tongue, coupled with trained hands and a good appearance, is the magician’s stock-intrade. When he is dealing with members of the audience who have been invited on to the stage, he must persuade those people that they are there for the sole purpose of assisting him with his illusions and not, as is often the case, because he wishes to draw the attention of other members of the audience from what he is doing. Incidentally, it is a very good plan to have the most unbelieving and sceptical people in the audience on the stage. As you will learn later on, they will probably see less when side by side with the magician than they would do in their seats.
Again, it is often a good idea to get an invited member of the audience to hold something while a trick is being performed. In doing this you must persuade your assistant that he is performing a great service and not acting as a decoy.
Frank Van Hoven did not claim to be a great magician, but he got away with a great deal because he made full use of those whom he invited to step on to the stage. He was a master of that particular art. But on one point be certain: persuade your audience that those who come on to the stage are not to be made fools of. Another thing the magician, young or old, should always bear in mind is that even the most carefully pre-arranged show may not conform to schedule. This being so, it is not wise for a magician to hurry over tricks in order to get everything in. You will find at first that you will want to do as many tricks as you can, under the impression that the more tricks you attempt, the greater will be your success. This is by no means the case, and you will be well advised to cut out a trick altogether if circumstances chance to slow up your show and you are left with three tricks still to do and only a few minutes to do them in. Nowadays I have things worked out to such a degree of perfection that I seldom come up against this snag. It may not, however, be the case with those of you who are just beginning your career in the realm of magic.
I must add that it is fatal to hurry over a trick to such an extent that people say, “He didn't give us time to see how it was done! ” Of course you have no intention of letting them see how you do your tricks, but at the same time you must persuade them into thinking that you gave them every opportunity of following your movements. I cannot over-estimate the importance of persuasiveness where the magician is concerned. He persuades people that it is both trickery and pure magic at one and the same time. He says, in effect, “Look! This is a trick, but, hey presto, it is nothing short of a miracle, isn't it?” Finally, the young magician must develop his own personality. It is even possible for a stutterer to make capital out of his affliction on the stage, because he can raise laughs by making the audience think he is putting on his stutter. At all events, he must let his personality be very prominent. For myself, I have evening-dress—very well-fitting clothes; I make use of that so-called Oxford accent of mine; I stride across the stage in as commanding a manner as I can manage; and I even go so far as to make people notice my little fair moustache, which aids me considerably when I indulge in a little patter as I supposedly make a meal of razor-blades. I have said elsewhere that slickness is essential to the magician, but I feel I must amplify that statement by saying that heavily built people can be just as good magicians as those of slight build. It is just a question of showmanship and personality. I do not know whether you have ever seen Teddy Brown, the xylophonist, on the stage; if you have, you will be able to recognize the value of personality, because Mr Brown makes capital out of his extreme stoutness. In the same way, you can be as slick as the next person even if you are abnormally short, abnormally tall, excessively fat, or ridiculously thin. The secret of putting over a magical show lies in your personality. If you lack this elusive, and yet so valuable, attribute to success, then your tricks will have to be very much better than those of the man with personality. This will be because people’s eyes will be upon your handkerchiefs, boxes, bottles, coins, cards, and so forth all the time. Their attention will never wander for those precious seconds to you.
Magic is not merely a matter of telling people which card they chose, or showing them how to pour lemonade, tea, coffee, beer, and water out of one teapot. It is the whole show that counts, and, above all, the person who is presenting that show. If you stood in the lobby of a theatre after a magician had given a show, you would hear people saying, “He’s very clever, isn’t he?” or “I love the way he eats those razor-blades!” or “It’s really a wonderful show!” You very rarely hear people discussing a particular trick. They leave that until they get home. The first impression made on the audience by the clever magician with personality is one flattering to his manner. The tricks count, of course, but the personality of the magician counts much more. And so I leave you, at the end of the first chapter, to do several things before actually setting out as a magician. Firstly, you must decide whether to prepare for all types of entertainment—drawing-room, concert, and stage—or whether to concentrate upon one only; secondly, you must overcome your natural nervousness or, to be more precise, stage-fright; thirdly, you must cultivate a ready wit; and finally, you must develop strongly your own personality.
