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The CHAPTER TWELVE
There are two conditions that affect considerably the possible methods by means of which a restoration effect may be accomplished. These are
whether or not the entire object is destroyed and
whether or not an identifying mark is placed upon the subject.
One fact is eminently obvious. I have stated this before substantially in another work. Nothing that has been destroyed can be restored completely.
If the entire object should be destroyed, it is naturally essential that a new object be substituted or that a means at hand to restore the old one in such a manner that the repair is invisible. Of course, you can give the appearance of an object being destroyed without actually damaging it by putting it in some kind of a container, from which you secretly extract it, after which the container is destroyed, and, by inference, the original subject.
On the other hand, if the damage to the subject is merely local—severed, say, at one place or broken in one area—there are several additional expedients.
As before, the original object may be destroyed with a duplicate taking its place at the denouement. Or a duplicate may be substituted for the original prior to the destruction. In this case the duplicate is destroyed and the original, usually marked in some manner, is ultimately shown.
Also, you may pretend to destroy the object without doing so. This pretense may be in the form of a tearing noise which gives the impression of destruction, or a pair of scissors that seem to cut but which do not. Or some method of blocking out a portion of the object in such a manner that a piece seems to be removed. You may even apply imitation marks of destruction, marks that are ultimately removable to disclose the undamaged original. Or you may destroy the subject by implication,. as mentioned before, by destroying something into which the subject seems to have been placed.
In addition to these, where a portion only of the subject is damaged, the location of the damage may be disguised so that it may be moved ultimately, with a new portion showing as the restored whole while the damaged portion is concealed in some manner. This is done frequently in rope restoration.
Or localized damage may be repaired in such a manner that the subject appears to be fully restored.
Thus, the methods of handling this problem narrow down to six basic expedients. The first is pretense. You may pretend to destroy the object. Or you may pretend to restore it. In either case you do not do what you seem to do.
The second stratagem relies upon substitution. You may substitute a duplicate object, either before or after the destruction. Or you may substitute a new portion prior or subsequent to the essential act. Here either the substituted whole or portion may be the ones destroyed, or the substitution may take the place of the damaged original, wholly or partially as the case may be.
Third, you may resort to disguise. You may disguise the damage in such a manner that the subject seems to be whole. Of you may disguise the location of the damage so that the object is whole and unbroken, actually, at that portion exhibited while the real damage is concealed.
It is hardly necessary. I believe, to again remind you that these methods may apply, with some restrictions, whether the subject is animate or inanimate. And, as in previous effects discussed, the destruction or restoration may take place while the subject is covered or uncovered.
Let's take up the matter of the destruction of a human being.
Suppose we want an effect where the destruction is total. Obviously, unless an unlimited supply of assistants is available and unless the magician has the further advantage of an absolutely unbeatable legal staff, you can't destroy the original subject. It follows, then, that we must simulate destruction or substitute an inanimate duplicate.
The Cremation Illusion supplies a good example of implied destruction in one version. Here the "container" into which the subject is placed is destroyed, meanwhile the subject has made a timely escape. In another version a substitute form for the living figure is utilized. This is burned.
Using these methods, the form of destruction is immaterial. You may burn or crush or grind to bits or indulge in any other form of sadism consistent with the method.
Pretending to restore a living human, naturally, is out.
The old Decapitation Trick is an example of local damage to a human. Here substitution of the severed part, while the real portion is hidden, was the method.
Sawing Through a Woman , while essentially a penetration effect, may be considered also as a restoration. Naturally, one pretends to cut the woman. You may pretend to cut by substituting portions, the feet, of another woman. Or you may sever a duplicate portion, such as the shell used with the buzz saw variation.
Really, this is beginning to sound like a bloody business.
To spare the finer sensibilities of the more sensitive element, let's confine our discussion to the effect as performed with inanimate objects.
Undoubtedly the first restoration was accomplished through substitution. An excellent example from modern repertoires is The Torn and Restored Newspapers . Fundamentally, two duplicate copies of a sheet of newspaper are procured. One is destroyed and the other is ultimately revealed in its place. It is through the various methods of substitution that the numerous versions of this trick obtain their identities.
Most of these versions depend upon the duplicate sheet being folded into a small flat packet that is affixed to the back of the original sheet. After the original is torn and re-torn repeatedly, the pieces are folded into a small parcel similar to the duplicate in size. Finally, the performer holds a parcel consisting of two packets back to back—the torn one in front and the whole one in back. The parcels are reversed and the whole sheet is unfolded. The torn parcel, secured to the back of this sheet, is hidden behind the spread out duplicate. Metal strips of newspaper—covered tin are usually fastened between the sheets to hold the folded secret parcel flat. The strip is merely bent over onto the secret packet.
Some variations of the newspaper trick stress secret pockets to accommodate the parcel of torn pieces. This permits both sides of the restored sheet to be shown.
This method has been applied not only to newspaper sheets but also to paper napkins, tissue squares and other materials. In the familiar napkin trick, instead of pasting the duplicates together, both packets are wadded together and shown as one.
Many sleight-of-hand moves and many mechanical devices have been used to exchange the destroyed remnants for the whole duplicates. This has been done with paper strips, as well as squares; with bank notes; with cards, strips of cloth, pieces of cord, rope and string; and with innumerable other things.
Where things of value have been employed, such as rings, watches and other jewelry, or where it is necessary to exhibit the identical object at the end of the trick, substitution of duplicates prior to destruction is almost invariably utilized.
But pretended destruction, such as burning paper money, is often used, too. Probably the most frequently used stratagem in connection with the burned bill trick is the placing of the bill in an envelope and the subsequent burning of the envelope, and presumably the bill. Usually some variation of the slit envelope is used. This permits the performer to steal the bill prior to setting the envelope afire. Some performers even allow the bill to remain in the envelope, half of it protruding through the slit onto the fingers, while the envelope is burning and before the flame has reached the currency. The portion remaining in the envelope is extracted just before the flame reaches it. Of course, the envelope covers all of this.
Pretended restoration consists chiefly in the exhibition of the damaged original, apparently restored whole, but actually un-restored.
Probably the most illuminating example of this is the principle first brought out in a trick invented by Joseph J. Kolar in 1939, called Kolar's Magic Shears . It's more recent descendent, really a simplification of the original trick, is called Clippo .
Rubber cement is spread thinly in the center of a narrow strip of paper. After the cement has dried, the cemented area is powdered to keep the rubber coated surfaces from adhering to each other when folded together. When the strip is folded at the center, two areas of rubber cement facing each other, and cut through both thicknesses of paper in one cut, by snipping off the fold itself, it will be found that the two halves will adhere together at their edges, just as if they had never been cut. The strip appears to be intact. This is not the case, however, as the strip is, of course, in two pieces, being merely held together by the adhesive. This may be repeatedly cut with the same ultimate result, as long as the rubber coated areas remain.
Cement has been used for rope restorations, as well. Kellar used to perform a string trick during which a length of cord was cut in two and later restored. Prior to performance the two ends were coated with adhesive in the form of wax, rope cement or similar. After the string was cut in two, the two cemented ends were brought together, the ends being substituted for the two ends created when the cord was severed. By rolling these ends together, thus causing the cemented ends to adhere, the string could be shown apparently restored. Almost the same application is used with rope, in some methods.
In both of the cases cited the restoration is not real. It is mere pretense, as anyone who might test will discover. Yet, in the proper hands, presented with the proper technique, this is an effective device.
Rope tricks supply the greatest number of examples of the application of disguising the location of the damage while another portion is exhibited as the restored area. The old Turban Trick principle, applied to rope, is an illustration. The performer holds an end of the rope in each hand and, while still holding these ends, brings up the center to be cut. Actually the center is brought inside the hand and held, while a length close to the end is substituted. Apparently the rope is cut in the center but in reality a length is cut off near one end. This length is tied around the center of the remaining portion, giving the appearance of two halves being tied together. Later this false knot is disposed of, and the shorter length is exhibited as the original rope restored.
For purposes of suggesting new tricks utilizing the same principle, it might be cited that practically any material of sufficient flexibility, and relatively narrow as compared to its length, may be substituted. Offhand I can think of thin chain, paper tape, ribbon.
Two tricks come to mind as examples of substituting a new portion to replace a portion destroyed.
The first of these is a paper tape trick brought out some years ago called Papers of Satan . Approximately a third of a length of tape is folded back on itself and stuck together by applying rubber cement to the edges while the two thicknesses are pressed together tightly. The tape is apparently torn in two. But actually the single thickness is torn from the double thickness. The double part is folded back on itself behind the extended single half. Then the single half is torn again. This is repeated until the torn section is in small pieces and the doubled packet is quite small. The packet of small pieces is disposed of secretly and the intact doubled section is unfolded, including peeling off the cemented extra half. Thus the strip is apparently restored. And it is approximately in its original length. Here a new portion is substituted for a destroyed section.
Almost the same thing has been done with dollar bills. A single bill is folded in half and cemented at its edges, as in the paper tape trick. A corresponding half of another bill is attached to the folded bill. It is cemented, using rubber cement, to the creased center in such a way that it gives the appearance of an ordinary bill. The fingers cover the point of joining. The single half is torn from the doubled section. The doubled section is folded back on itself and the single section is torn again. This operation is repeated as in the tape trick. And its final climax is accomplished in a similar manner.
There is a type of rope manufactured that consists of a double casing woven over the usual core. This double casing is really turned back on itself. When a length of this rope is cut in two, an apparent restoration may be accomplished by sliding the outer casing back over the inner casing until a rope of approximately the original length is created. Of course, the cut off half is destroyed or otherwise disposed of.
Now going back to the matter of pretending to destroy an object. This pretense has been accomplished in numerous ways. In Snappy , a trick wherein a rubber band is snapped around a playing card, a rather dull, loose pair of scissors are used. The scissors cut the card but do not cut the rubber.
In Wizzo , a trick wherein a piece of string, laid in a folded paper tube, is apparently cut when the paper is cut in two, the string is maneuvered around the scissors in such a manner that the cord does not encounter the scissors.
In Kolar's Straw and String Trick a slit in the straw, through which the string is threaded, permits the string to be drawn aside when the straw is cut in halves.
In the old match in handkerchief trick, a duplicate match, concealed in the hem of the handkerchief under which the original match is placed, is broken, giving the impression that the original is snapped.
The Knife Through Card Trick utilizes a knife whose blade has been cut in two. The blade sections are held in alignment by means of a wire loop sufficiently deep to admit the width of a card. The card actually passes through the opening between the knife sections.
A half-dollar is held in the fingers of a hand holding a dinner plate. The magician apparently takes the edge of the plate in his mouth and bites out a chunk. The sound of the breaking plate is secured by snapping the half dollar against the plate. The appearance of destruction is accomplished by slipping a cloth covered metal fake over the plate's edge.
Petrie-Lewis make a trick called The Fairy Ribbon . A folded piece of ribbon is cut through both thicknesses, at the fold. The small section cut off is seen to drop. But the ribbon is instantly restored. Here the scissors are specially made so that they will not cut the ribbon. But at the time the apparent cut is made a small section, a duplicate of the piece that seems to be cut off, falls. The scissors ejects this extra section.
There still is the matter of doing the damage to an extra section in lieu of a portion of the original object. The familiar burned handkerchief trick makes this clear. A small section of fabric, similar to that from which the handkerchief is made, is placed in a thumb tip. The thumb and fingers take the handkerchief at its center. This is placed in the fist, apparently with the center section protruding above. Actually, the center of the handkerchief is concealed within the hand. The thumb tip is left in the same hand, and the small section is pulled up into view. This is the portion that is cut off or burned. The remainder is pushed back into the thumb tip. And the handkerchief is exhibited as whole.
You are not restricted to the use of the thumb tip in bringing ill these duplicate sections. Petrie-Lewis utilize a pull, similar to a handkerchief pull, to dispose of an extra loop of ribbon used in The Enchanted Ribbon . In this case the original ribbon center is concealed in the hand, with the pull. The extra section is brought above the fist and is cut. After the cutting the extra section is released and is taken away by the pull.
This use of the extra section, either in the form of a loop or a short section, introduced and disposed of through sleight-of-hand or by mechanical means, appears frequently in many rope and ribbon tricks.
A familiar burned ribbon trick, featured in many oriental acts, is that in which two lengths of ribbon are severed, burned and restored. Each length or ribbon is folded in half and an extra pair of short lengths is cemented to the folded centers, connecting them. In this way, with both ends of each length on the same side, the double extra center section gives the appearance of two continuous lengths of ribbon held side by side.
In the beginning of the trick the tapes are held together, unfolded, as a pair of single lengths. The extra cemented pieces in the center are concealed between the tapes. As he is about to do the trick, the magician apparently gives an end of each ribbon to an assistant on either side of the stage. Actually he folds each ribbon back on itself. Thus each assistant is holding both ends of the same ribbon. The double extra center section is cut. The four ends are shown and held far apart, in pairs. All ends at the center are brought above the performer's hands and he sets fire to them, meanwhile managing to have the ends in the assistants' hands dropped. Apparently the ends are given back to the assistants. Actually each assistant gets one end of each ribbon. They are now, both, in continuous lengths extending across the stage. And in this manner they are revealed. In some versions the reversal of the ends is accomplished by means of getting an end from each assistant, after which a single knot is tied in the tape and an opposite end is returned. This is the familiar maneuver used in The Grandmother's Necklace Trick .
Joe Berg employed a clever principle to accomplish the substitution of an additional length to replace a half destroyed in a paper strip trick he called The None-Such Ribbon Trick . He used crepe paper strips. In a manner similar to that described in connection with the paper strip trick previously used as an illustration, the paper was torn in half. One half was folded back onto itself and a second tear was made in the other half. This was repeated until the pieces were quite small. Then, concealing the torn pieces or disposing of them through sleight-of-hand, the remaining length of crepe paper was pulled through the thumb and forefinger. This stretched it to the original length of the original strip.
Now let's see if these principles really cover the methods utilized in restorations generally. Hathaway's silk or necktie restoration, and its variations, using a cabinet, is definitely a substitution of a duplicate prior to cutting. The restored string trick, utilizing a reel for exchanging a cut and tied length for a whole One, is substitution.
Practically all torn, or burned, and restored card tricks employ the principle of substitution. One mechanical card, a torn-off corner of which may be folded back on a spring lever, employs a substitute duplicate corner which is palmed prior to the apparent removal of the corner and which is shown in lieu of the folded-back real corner. At the end, the folded-back real corner is allowed to spring back in place to show a pretended restoration.
Loops of necktie sections, selected to be near matches to neckties apparently borrowed at random, have been employed as duplicate pieces for severing borrowed cravats. The performer merely requests the loan of a necktie that has an appearance similar to loops he has in his possession. Four or five different colored patterns usually supply a variety for one of which a near match can usually be found.
The Sun and Moon Trick is an out-and-out case of substitution. So are restorations employing cigarette papers, magazine pages and, as discussed before, newspapers. Practically all of the ribbon, tape or paper strip tricks depend upon the use of duplicates, either entire or in part.
The Tarbell Rope Trick makes use of the principles of substitute section, and disguised location of damage. The Grant Rope Trick depends upon disguised location, as do scores of other rope restorations.
There are many, many objects that, as yet, have not been generally employed in restorations. With the general basic principles available, almost anything that may come to the mind of the magician may be destroyed and restored, whether the object be of great value or not. All that is necessary to do is to consider the object and its limitations in view of the possible methods available. Frequently these factors leave no choice as to methods.
The problem then finally resolves itself into evolving the most appropriate application of the specific principle. This problem may be in the form of the necessary sleight-of-hand moves, moves which for the most part are better worked out to suit the individual style and training of the performer.
Or, if sleight-of-hand is impossible due to the nature of the object used or because of other factors, the problem, then, might become one of developing a type of apparatus to fit the need, or of adapting an available piece to the specific trick.
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