PREFACE - Clayton Rawson, using his alias, The Great Merlini, has here put together a book of magic that really is easy to per­form — and fun to do. His long experience as a writer and editor has enabled him to explain the tricks in clear, non­technical language. He also stresses something too often over­looked — that the best magic should be entertaining as well as mystifying, and that this depends upon dramatic presenta­tion. He takes pains to explain in detail how the beginner can achieve this at the start.

INTRODUCTION - A fairy tale on the printed page excites a child's wonder and stretches his imagination. Drama is added when it is read or told by a good storyteller. Magic adds an extra dimension. A magic trick, well presented, is a fairy tale come alive. The magician is himself a storyteller and the wonders he relates appear to happen. This is why all children are fascinated by magic.

1. MATCH MAGIC - The performer reads the minds of the spectators and dis­covers which one of several match folders was selected be­hind his back.

Collect several match folders bearing different designs and place them on a table.

"I have discovered something" you say, "which will put the telephone company out of business. I have found out how to know what people are thinking before they tell me. Let's try it. When my back is turned I want someone to select one of these match folders, open it, tear out a match, close the folder, and put it back with the others."

2. WITH COINS - A coin becomes invisible. When pushed into one ear it reap­pears in the other, visible again.

Hold any small coin on the right fingertips. Bend your left arm, putting the hand near the left ear. Place the coin on the left elbow, cover it with the right fingers, and rub it with a circular motion.

"Did you know that if you rub a coin against your elbow like this, it becomes smaller and smaller?' As you say this, lift your fingers slightly and allow the coin to drop to the floor as though accidentally.

3. WITH STRING - A length of string visibly penetrates the performer's thumb.

Loop a length of string over the left thumb as in fig. 8A. Note how the position of the right thumb keeps the string separated. Reach down with the middle finger of the left hand and pull up the lower strand (also fig. 8A). Bring the right hand up and over to the left hand and put the opening above the right thumb over the left thumb (fig. 8B).

4. ROPE + KNOT - Rope and knot magic is sure-fire entertainment for an audience of Scouts or Mariners who are learning to tie knots. Since some of these tricks are quick ones that take little time to perform, learn several of them and present them in se­quence. The first half dozen tricks that follow have been so arranged that they make up an interesting and surprising routine.

5. TRICKS WITH EVERYTHING - The most astonishing tricks are those in which the magic happens, not under cover, but in full view. The Rubber Band Illusion is one of these. A rubber band visibly penetrates the performer's fingers. It looks like real magic.

Place a rubber band around the first two fingers of the right hand. Put a second rubber band over the first joint of the forefinger, give it a twist, and put it over the second finger, twist it again, put it over the third finger, give it an­other twist, and put it over the fourth finger, with the result shown in fig. 21A

6. CARD TRICKS - The spectator merely thinks of a card and the performer finds it.

Deal out three piles of five cards each. Ask someone to choose any pile, look at the cards in it, and mentally select one. Sandwich the spectator's cards between the other two piles. Now, from this pile of fifteen cards, deal off five cards in a row. Deal another card onto each of these five cards, working from left to right, and then a third card on each pile.

7. SLEIGHT OF HAND - The basic plot of many card tricks is a simple one. A chosen card is buried in the deck and the magician, who seems to have no clue as to its name or location, manages, apparently by some extrasensory perception, to find it.

The magician sometimes does this by providing himself with a secret clue — a key or locator card. Here is the method in its simplest form.

1. Secretly get a look at, and remember, the bottom card of the deck. This is your key card.

8. CARD MIRACLES - Some of the most astonishing effects in card magic are those which utilize the principle of secret prearrangement of the cards. Here are several that can make your reputation as a magician.

A spectator deals himself a number of cards as directed by the audience and gets the four Aces.

The advance secret preparation consists in placing the four Aces on top of the deck and then putting eight other cards above them, so that the Aces are the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth cards down from the top of the face­down deck.

9. READ MINDS - The performer proves (by magician's logic) that he can distinguish between colors without seeing them.

Display several wax crayons of the sort that children use with coloring books. "Magic," you begin, "is sometimes very useful. When I'm driving my car I never need to look at a traffic light to know whether it is red, yellow, or green. I just guess — and I'm always right. I'll show you."

Put your hands behind your back, and turn away from the audience. "Select one of the crayons and give it to me behind my back." When this has been done, face the audience again.

10. PARTY STUNTS - A party stunt with not one but three surprise endings.

You need four strips of paper each about two inches wide and about eight feet long. Adding machine tape is perfect. Number each strip lightly with pencil near one end so that you will be able to tell them apart later. Prepare them as follows:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - The Great Merlini is a man of mystery in more ways than one. A fictional character in a series of mystery novels and short stories, he is a magician-detective who uses his knowl­edge of conjuring to solve impossible crimes. In real life he is Clayton Rawson, a writer, an editor of mystery fiction, a founder of Mystery Writers of America, and a member of the Society of American Magicians.

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