Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

[M] The numbers 1, 2, 3, in the centre of the various rings in Figs. 240– 244, indicate whether the ring in question is a “single” or forms part of the group of two or of three, as the case may be. The feat may either end here, the rings, still linked, being gathered together and carried off by the assistant, or the performer may link all one by one into either of the key rings, and then shake them out and scatter them on the floor in the manner already described as to the eight rings. The performance may be elaborated to any extent, the two key rings giving a wonderful facility of combination, but whatever be the passes adopted they should not be too numerous, as the trick, however skilfully worked, consists only of repetitions of the same primary elements, and the interest of the spectators will quickly diminish. The performer should, in manipulating the rings, study neatness and lightness, rather than rapidity. The effect should be as though the rings melted into and out of one another, and the smallest appearance of force or exertion should be avoided. It has a very good effect in disengaging the rings one from another, to hold them together for a moment or two after they are actually disconnected, and then holding them parallel to each other, to draw them very slowly apart. The precise moment of their separation is thus left uncertain, the illusion being thereby materially heightened. A single ring may in this way be drawn along a chain of three or four, the effect being as if the disengaged ring passed through the whole length of the chain.