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Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring
·
Professor Hoffmann
669
When
he
steps
upon
the
stage
he
should,
for
the
time
being,
persuade
himself
that
his
fictitious
power
is
a
reality,
and
that
the
wand
he
holds
is
not
only
the
emblem,
but
the
actual
implement
of
his
power.
Every
time
he
pronounces
the
mystic
“Pass!”
or
touches
an
object
with
his
wand
to
effect
some
pretended
transformation,
he
should
force
himself
to
forget
the
commonplace
expedients
by
which
the
result
is
really
attained,
and
to
believe
that
the
effect
is
produced
by
a
genuine
magical
process.
When
he
goes
through
the
motion
of
passing
a
coin
from
the
right
hand
to
the
left,
he
should
have
imagination
enough
to
persuade
himself,
for
the
moment,
that
the
coin
has
really
been
transferred
as
it
appears
to
be.
If
a
performer
has
sufficient
imaginative
faculty
to
do
this--if
he
can
so
enter
into
the
spirit
of
his
part,
as
himself
to
believe
in
the
marvels
he
professes,
he
will
achieve
an
almost
unlimited
mastery
over
the
imaginations
of
his
audience.
As
we
have
already
intimated,
each
individual
illusion
should
have
its
appropriate
words
and
gestures--in
technical
language,
its
“patter,”
or
“boniment”--carefully
arranged
and
rehearsed,
so
as
to
produce
the
maximum
of
effect.
These
are,
in
truth,
the
very
life
of
the
trick.
How
much
depends
on
mise
en
scène
is
forcibly
illustrated
by
the
account
which
we
quoted
in
the
last
chapter
from
the
life
of
Robert-Houdin,
of
his
exhibition
in
Algeria
of
the
“Light
and
Heavy
Chest.”
We
will
borrow
from
the
same
high
authority
another
illustration,
purposely
selecting
one
of
the
simplest
of
card
tricks,
the
well-known
feat
of
picking
out
a
chosen
card
from
the
pack,
placed
in
a
person’s
pocket.
The
trick
has
already
been
described
in
outline,
but
we
will
recapitulate
its
effect
in
a
few
words.
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