The Magic Art (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1920 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV Working Up An Act WE now come to an entirely different phase in the art of conjuring, and strangely enough, it is one that has been almost completely ignored by Writers in the past. So far, I have explained the artifices and accessories, as well as individual tricks, employed in the practice of magic. In the present section I shall take up the.task of arrangement and presentation of various groups of tricks, with suggestions for blending them into a finished product of conjuring. It is to be understood that arrangement and presentation only will be considered here, as space forbids the description of each and every trick. This "working up" of a complete act is the stumbling block of the average entertainer; its importance in magical entertaining may be said to be sufficient to insure his success or failure, and considerable time, study and experiment will be spent before a satisfactory arrangement is found. Every amateur should have at least one set act--that is, an act which he can make ready and present on short notice, if need be, and under almost any condition. There is a feeling of great personal gratification to the amateur so equipped. An act of a half hour's duration will be found best adapted for this purpose, and if it is cleverly arranged it can be cut to suit any occasion, from a ten or fifteen minute "turn" up to the full half hour, without in any way breaking the original sequence. The act, "Fun, Deviltry and Magic," which follows, will serve such a purpose admirably, and I shall make further comment on this subject after a description of the complete act. Fun, Deviltry And Magic--A Thirty-Minute Act I call this a thirty-minute act, but it will be understood that much depends upon the patter and rapidity of execution as to the preci...