Water Wizardry Part 5

After the disc has been properly fitted to the bowl wipe it thoroughly dry and place it, upside down, on the tray on which a couple of wooden matches have previously been placed; there is then no risk of the disc adhering to the tray. The empty bowl is placed, upside down, over the faked bowl, and with a bag of rice on the tray, you are ready to do the trick.

Pick up the empty bowl and show it to the audience. Fill it about half full with rice and stand it on the table. Place the faked bowl on the top of it and, holding the hands round the bowls, get them exactly "together"--an easy thing to do because the bowls are the same size.

Keeping the hands in the same position round the bowls pick up both bowls together and reverse them, so that the faked bowl is now underneath. Obviously, there must be some excuse for doing this; that will be provided for in the "patter." The rice naturally falls on to the top of the celluloid disc, and when the top bowl is lifted the rice seems to have increased in quant.i.ty.

Hold the empty bowl in both hands and scoop off some of the rice, letting it fall on to the tray. Repeat the operation, taking a little more rice away. In taking still a little more rice away get a finger nail under the edge of the disc, and in apparently scooping off a little more rice lift the disc under the bowl and place it on the tray; as the disc with the rice on it is placed over the loose rice which fell on the tray in the first instance it is not noticed. The latter part of this "move" must be done fairly quickly, especially if one is performing at close quarters, and the empty bowl is at once placed on the top of the other bowl which now contains only water. To show the final effect is, therefore, an easy matter. The top bowl is lifted with the right hand, the other with the left hand, and the water is poured from bowl to bowl.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_Celluloid Fake._

_Bowl "double filled" with rice_

_Fake_

_Removing Fake with rice_

Fig. 8]

Now for the "variations" of the trick. The weak point of the trick is at the beginning; only one bowl is shown to be empty. Is it not possible that some of the very attentive members of your audience will notice this fact and will say to themselves: "He showed us only one empty bowl--wonder what's in the other?" Of course, people ought not to think in this way, and some conjurers believe that they do not, but my experience tells me that there are always some persons in every audience who do not miss much when it comes to judging a trick and trying to find out the method of the conjurer.

Theoretically, when the conjurer picks up the faked bowl and holds it upside down he convinces the audience that the bowl is empty. How can there be anything in a bowl which is held upside down? Still, I think you will admit that if you can show the interiors of both bowls at the beginning of the performance you make it a much "stronger" trick than if you show only one bowl and let the state of the other be taken for granted. Besides, being an enthusiastic magician you will naturally want to make your performance as nearly perfect as possible, and therefore you will want to begin this trick by showing "two empty bowls." How are you to do it?

Obviously, one bowl has to be exchanged for the faked bowl, and that means that the faked bowl has to be hidden at the beginning of the trick. Here is a simple way of getting over that difficulty.

Have a fairly large bag of rice. Place the faked bowl near the back of the tray and the bag of rice in front of it; the bag can be shaped round the bowl. You will also need a "servante" at the back of your table; this can be either a small shelf or, better still, a bag with the mouth slightly stiffened with a strip of whalebone. The "servante" is hidden from the audience by the tablecloth, which hangs down in front of the table.

Proceed in this way. At the beginning of the trick stand on the left-hand side of your table. Pick up a bowl in each hand, show the bowls to the audience, put the one in the left hand on the table and apparently put the other on the table behind the bag of rice; of course, you really drop it into the bag or place it on the shelf at the back of the table. Continue the movement of the arm until your right hand is resting against the faked bowl which is hidden behind the bag of rice.

At the same moment pick up the bag of rice with the left hand. The audience see two bowls on the table and naturally think that they are the two bowls which you have just shown to them. One of the bowls has not left their sight, and if you make the "change" skilfully no one will suspect you of having made it.

If you use this method of exchanging one ordinary bowl for the faked bowl you should have a very small tray and a very small table; otherwise, you have no excuse for apparently putting one bowl behind the bag of rice. Why should you not put it at the side of the bag if there is room for it there? Inquisitive people ask themselves these questions sometimes. If you have a very small tray you naturally have to put the second bowl down on the only vacant spot on it--behind the bag of rice--but at the same moment you lift the bag.

Directly you have picked up the bag of rice with the left hand you pa.s.s it to the right, pick up the empty bowl with the left hand and pour some rice into it. Take care to let the audience see that rice, and nothing but rice, goes into the bowl. Then put the bag down, pick up the faked bowl, and present the rest of the trick in the way described.

This method is perfectly safe if you are performing on a small platform or stage, so that your table is raised, but it is not practical in a small room with the audience close to the table. If you wish to do the trick under those difficult conditions I suggest that you use very small bowls and have a box of rice in place of the bag. The exact size of the box will depend on the size of the bowls.

Dip both bowls (having first shown them to be empty) into the box and scoop up as much rice as you can get into them. Pour the rice back into the box. Do this two or three times, and while you are apparently doing the same thing for the third time bury the bowl which you have been holding in your right hand in the box of rice and bring up in its place the faked bowl, which was hidden in the box before the commencement of the trick. You must take care to remember the position of the faked bowl in the box.

In exchanging one bowl for another in this way your hand must not pause in its movement down into the box and up again. To make quite sure of getting the movement right practise in front of a looking-gla.s.s. First, dip the two bowls into the box of rice and scoop up the rice into both bowls. Remember just how your hands moved when you did that. Now start again, but this time exchange the bowl in your right hand for the faked bowl.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_PLAIN BOWL_

_Escape Hole_

_Air Hole_

_Water_

_Plaster_

_FAKED BOWL_

Fig. 9]

Now tilt the rice back into the box, and the audience should be convinced that you have two empty bowls in your hands because both bowls are now upside down. Put the faked bowl, upside down, on the table. Take a little rice from the box with the right hand and let it fall into the empty bowl; continue doing this until you have filled the bowl. Then pick up the faked bowl and continue the trick in the way already described. You will find it convenient to close the lid of the box and to use the top of it as your table.

If bra.s.s bowls are used no celluloid disc is required, and it is not necessary to exchange one bowl for another; the secret of the trick lies in the preparation of one of the bowls, and yet, at the beginning of the trick, both bowls can be held with their interiors facing the audience. Thus, the second method is altogether different from the first.

The shape of the two bra.s.s bowls is shown in the ill.u.s.tration. The faked bowl has an inner lining fitted to it, with sufficient s.p.a.ce between the lining and the bowl itself to hold a considerable quant.i.ty of water. The lining is of highly polished bra.s.s, like the rest of the bowl, and if it is kept "on the move" it can safely be shown to the audience. People think that the lining is really the interior of the bowl, and the fact that they can see inside both bowls helps to convince them that the bowls are unprepared.

It will be obvious that the interior of the faked bowl is really much smaller than that of the "plain" bowl; if, therefore, the latter bowl is filled with rice and the faked bowl placed on the top and both bowls are turned over together the quant.i.ty of rice appears to have increased because it overflows. (The edge of the faked bowl is made to fit into the edge of the other bowl, and thus the task of inverting the bowls is simplified; they cannot slide apart.)

Near the brim of the faked bowl there is a small air hole, and there is another hole in the centre of the bottom of the bowl. To fill the s.p.a.ce between the inner lining and the bowl itself with water and to prevent the water from falling out until you wish it to appear, proceed in this way.

Place the bowl in water and let it remain there until no more air bubbles rise to the surface. Move the bowl once or twice in the water to make sure that the s.p.a.ce is properly filled. Lift the bowl out of the water by the brim, but just before you get the brim clear of the water put a finger on the air hole there; then the water will not run out of the air hole at the bottom of the bowl.

Keep the finger jammed down tightly on the air hole in the brim of the bowl, wipe the outside of the bowl thoroughly dry and place a small piece of adhesive rubber plaster over the air hole in the bottom of the bowl. You can then turn the bowl upside down without any fear that the water will escape through the air hole in the brim. Wipe the inside of the bowl thoroughly dry and you are ready to start the trick.

Place the faked bowl, upside down, on the table and the other bowl over it. (You will understand, of course, that the bowls should be in this position on the table when you are about to present the trick.)

Pick up the plain bowl with the left hand and the faked bowl with the right, and show the interiors of both bowls to the audience. Pour rice into the plain bowl until it is nearly full, and put the faked bowl on the top of it. Invert the two bowls together; when you separate them the quant.i.ty of rice will have apparently increased, because the interior of the faked bowl is really much smaller than that of the plain bowl.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Extracting rice from faked bowl._

Fig. 10]

As there is no celluloid disc to get rid of there is no need to use the empty bowl as a scoop with which to level the rice; in fact, it will be inadvisable to use it. By using the bowl as a scoop one would merely level the rice, whereas it is really necessary to get nearly all the rice out of the faked bowl. Begin by levelling the rice with the left hand while you hold the other bowl in front of it; just before you replace the empty bowl bend the left fingers slightly and thus scoop out as much of the rice as you can possibly get out in this way. You must not let the audience see that you are really trying to empty the bowl, and no harm is done if you leave a little rice in it.

Replace the empty bowl on the top of the faked bowl, and invert both bowls together; just before putting them on the table remove with the left thumbnail the piece of rubber plaster which has covered the air hole in the bottom of the faked bowl. (If you are performing in a hall with part of the audience in a gallery, so that they can look down on to the top of the bowls, it is as well to disguise the little piece of rubber plaster with a touch of gold paint.)

Directly the rubber plaster is removed the water will start to run out into the bottom bowl, and here we come to one of the disadvantages of this method. To my mind it is only a very trifling disadvantage, but I know that some conjurers regard it almost as a serious defect. The water runs out of the air hole slowly, and therefore it is necessary to "patter" for about a minute while the water is dropping into the lower bowl. (The exact time will depend on the size of the bowl.)

Some conjurers do not talk at all during their performance; therefore this method of doing the trick does not appeal to them. Some conjurers who do talk during their performances are chary of pattering for a whole minute without doing anything; they think that to do this looks as though they were "holding up" the trick. Until you have pattered for a whole minute without doing anything you do not realise what a very long time one minute can seem to be; you must remember that, to some members of the audience, at any rate, you appear to be talking for no reason whatever.

Well, I have presented this trick at St. George's Hall and at private performances and, as I have said, I prefer this method to the one with the china bowls. I admit, however, that a drawing-room conjurer may find the preparation of the trick a little tiresome. I have known a conjurer to prepare the faked bowl--fill it with water and seal it--before setting out on his journey to give his performance, but I should not care to risk doing that myself. If the air hole should get uncovered there would be a tragedy! The question therefore arises--How are you to prepare for the trick in a drawing-room?

The simplest plan is to take a small pail--about as large as a child's seaside pail--with you. Remember, the bowl has to be placed in the water. Carry your own pail in your bag, and then all you have to ask for is a large jug of water. Now, to continue with the presentation of the trick.

When the water has trickled through into the lower bowl pick up the top one--the faked bowl--with the left hand, take the other bowl with the right hand and pour some of the water into the faked bowl. There will be more than enough water to fill this bowl, and so if you wish you can pour some into a gla.s.s bowl on table. You will notice that in this form of the trick both the rice and the water increase.

I give some suggestions for "patter" which, of course, can be shortened considerably if the conjurer is using china bowls. Some "silent"

conjurers dash through the trick in about half a minute, but it is as well to let your audience see what you are doing. If you are going to use bra.s.s bowls you should rehea.r.s.e the trick very carefully, so that you may be able to fill in the time while the water is running from one bowl to another.

"I will try and show you how to make a rice pudding--a new kind of rice pudding. You cook it in two bowls, so as to give the rice room to swell.

Even then it isn't swell rice. Swell rice is the kind which is used at weddings. A man doesn't mind how much of this (_pouring rice into bowl_) he has thrown in his face on his wedding day, but he does object to cold rice pudding more than five times a week after his wedding day. And he often gets it! Believe me, he does. You will notice that by this method of cooking (_lift the bowls, wave them in the air and finally invert them_), the rice is cooked entirely by friction. No fire needed; therefore no coal bill; therefore, the coal merchant goes broke. You see what new methods lead to. I don't know if the rice is done yet; excuse me for a moment while I listen to it. There is no sadder sight in this world than an underdone rice pudding. Yes, I think it is done; anyhow we'll chance it. (_Lift bowl, showing quant.i.ty of rice increased._) You see, by this method your rice does not swell in the cooking; the more you cook the more rice you get; there's far too much here. (_Level rice off and replace bowl; if bra.s.s bowls are used invert them._)