This trick has been titled by my audiences. It is as popular an effect with
them as anything I do. They always ask for "The Glass Trick." It will be
found equally effective as an opening trick close-up, on the night club
floor, or on the stage. In fact it can be shown under any, and all,
conditions. Basically the trick is not new but the changes made in it have
enhanced its audience appeal to an enormous extent.
The magician enters, holding in one hand two men's size silk
handkerchiefs by their corners. One of the handkerchiefs is red and the
other is white. Those colors are not essential, but the handkerchiefs
must be of different colors. He announces that he wants one of these
handkerchiefs chosen--the one selected will be the one used in the trick.
The handkerchief not chosen is pulled away from the other and thrown
over his arm. He picks up a highball glass with his empty hand and
pushes the chosen handkerchief down into the glass. It will fill about half
the glass. The magician then takes the other handkerchief and pushes it
into the glass, as he explains, to act as a stopper. He then calls attention
to the fact that the selected handkerchief is in the glass and cannot
come out the bottom because of the glass and the other handkerchief
closes the mouth of the glass. He takes the glass between the palms of
his two hands. One hand covers the bottom of the glass and the other
the mouth of the glass. The fingers of the hands are held straight out so
that every one plainly can see the glass and both handkerchiefs. He
waves the glass a very little and the chosen handkerchief instantly
disappears. Instantly the glass may be handed for examination. Not only
will it be found intact, but the second handkerchief will be wedged in the
mouth of the glass like a stopper.
To prepare for the trick, all that is needed is a length of braided silk
cord. It probably can be found in a store selling material for ladies'
dresses, but I know that such cord also is carried in upholsterers' shops.
It needs to be quite strong and mine is about an eighth inch in diameter.
Incidentally, this silk cord is much more flexible, and therefore better,
than fish line. A one inch loop is made at one end and the cords at the
end of the loop bound with thread. This fastening of the loop must be
most secure. That loop is for the handkerchief as will be explained later.
I also make the same size and kind of loop at the other end, for I slip it
on to the strap of my wrist watch. The length of the cord depends upon
the length of one's arms and the width of one's back. The cord must be
just long enough to go from the fingers of one hand to the opposite
wrist-up one sleeve across the back and down the other sleeve when the
arms are bent and the elbows held flat at the sides.
When the magician walks on the stage, the ends of both handkerchiefs
are through the loop of the cord. This not only makes it easy and natural
to hold the cord but it takes away the fumbling which would be required
to thread the loop with a handkerchief in front of an audience. When the
choice of handkerchief is made, the left hand (I hold the handkerchiefs
in my right) takes hold of the bottom corner of the other handkerchief.
The right hand is raised, seemingly the better to show the chosen
handkerchief, and the left band pulls the other handkerchief free. That
silk is immediately thrown over the right arm. The left band then takes
the top corner of the chosen handkerchief and the right hand--loop and
all--moves to the centre of the silk. Apparently, this is done merely
because it is easier to push the handkerchief into the glass when it is
held by the centre, and this is quite true, but at the same time the loop
is put in the position where it will do the most good.
The glass is picked up by the left band. In night clubs, I pick up a glass
from one of the tables. The ends of the handkerchief are dropped first
into the glass and the rest of the silk pushed down on top. The
handkerchief is pushed down until it is a bundle filling the bottom half of
the glass. The glass is then taken by the right hand while the left takes
the second handkerchief again. That silk is pushed down on top of the
first. There is nothing special to know about putting in the second
handkerchief. Do it just as you ordinarily would push a handkerchief into
a glass.
The glass is held between the two palms. The pressure is made with the
base of the fingers rather than the heel of the palms. A slight forward
movement of the arms and the chosen handkerchief will be jerked, past
the second handkerchief and up the right sleeve. In doing this move, the
heel of the right hand is lifted out about a quarter inch. Instead of jerking
the second handkerchief out, as would seem to be the natural thing to
happen, all that pulling the silk out by the cord does is to wedge the
other handkerchief into the mouth of the glass. When the glass is
handed out for examination the remaining handkerchief is a ball of silk
which stays in position corking the mouth of the glass.
It is perfectly possible to do the trick with a milk, or cream bottle, or with
a comparatively small necked glass vase. In either case the selected
handkerchief will slide out past the other handkerchief without the least
difficulty. Personally I have always preferred using a high ball glass,
because it seems to be more convincing to an audience. However, for
certain acts a bottle or vase may be found more effective.
The fact that the handkerchief vanishes instantly while the attention of
the audience is focused on it, and the added fact that a glass with both
ends closed surrounds the handkerchief, makes the effect particularly
appealing to audiences. That it is so striking a trick, and yet is a short
one, makes it an excellent trick with which to open a magic program.
The best patter to use with the trick is a mere explanation of what is
happening. The trick is strong enough so that the little fairy story plot is
not needed.
