The truth is:
ILLUSTRATIONS
Genuine economy Should rightly
be measured by how much more
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alone, therefore, Florsheim Sfioes
are a value because you are buying finer shoes in the
first place, and spending less in the long run. That's
just one reason why more men wear Florsheim
Shoes than all other quality makes combined.
PRESIDENT
THE FLORSHEIM SHOE COMPANY
FLORSHEIM SHOES
START A.T JJI)5
For very little more than the cost of many shoes
of lesser quality you may enjoy the style, fit,
ami famous longer wear that have made Florsheim
quality America's standard of fine shoe value.
THE FLORSHEIM SHOE COMPANY CHICAGO 6 MRS or FINE shoes ro E D OHI
Confessions of a
what goes on during
often amazes Mr. Magic as much
as it does his audience!
By JOHN MULHOLLAND
BY BUD SIMPSON
rey.?vffi km fv 'y -ti
a show
Left: The Blazer, 31722;
plain toe blacker;
Perfecto brawn calf upper;
in tan, 31723; in black, 21693.
Right: The Blazer, 37046;
overlay front strap slip-on;
Perfecto brown upper; in tan.
31047; in black, 21046.
Most Florsheim styles 24r"
To the magician's amaze
ment, his shirttail came
out along with the vari
colored handkerchiefs.
AUDIENCES never forgive a magician
xTLwho fails. So, even when something
goes drastically wrong, he must keep
the spectators from being aware of his
difficulties.
Years ago, one of my feats was to produce 100
varicolored silk handkerchiefs seemingly from
nowhere. Since the method I used is no longer
in vogue, I can tell you that I did the trick by
hiding the silks in the waistband of my trousers.
At this particular show, I was amazing the
audience by pulling out silk after silk when to
my amazement a hfiavy white linen cloth ap
peared. You're right, it was my shirttail! Think
ing quickly, I turned my back to the audience,
waved the colored silks above my head, and
feverishly crammed my shirttail back in place.
I am sure no one knew what was going on. But
I am equally certain that, when I was sticking
the shirttail back in, many people believed I had
an uncontrollable itch.
Luckily for us magicians, audiences tend to
think that anything we do and anything that hap
pens to us on stage is intentional. Before a per
formance at a New England university, I start
ed down the stairs from the stage and stepped
on a pencil someone had dropped by accident.
The pencil rolled and I shot up in the air and
down the stairs. Oddly, I landed upright and
bounced down several steps on my heels. After
the show, the university's director of athletics
rushed backstage and burst out: "The way you
went down those steps was one of the best acro
batic feats I've ever seen!"
Also, audiences usually believe that whatever
anyone does during a magic show is at the re
quest of the performer. At a party in a private
home, I did a trick in which a piece of cloth was
consumed by flames. In previous shows, I had
scorched my fingers in burning all the cloth, so
I decided to squeeze out the flame when there
was only a tiny piece of it left and sneak the
remainder into my jacket pocket.
But unfortunately I had not done a thorough
Jjf
job of putting out the fire. Several tricks later,
the smoldering cloth in my pocket burst into
flame. However, I was unaware of it until my
host's butler walked up to me, bowed, and with
a "Pardon me, sir," poured a pitcherful of ice
water into my pocket! Since I had been stand
ing in such a way that only the butler could see
the flame burst from my pocket, the audience
did not connect the liquid with the earlier burn
ing trick. Possibly, they thought a magician had
to be refueled in the middle of every show.
At another show this time in New York's
huge Music Hall, two stagehands stumbled and
spilled my paraphernalia all over the acres of
stage just as the curtain was going up. Fortu
nately, during that performance, I was appearing
as a Chinese magician and was wearing an Im
perial Hanchu gown and was carrying a gong.
At this show, however, I didn't merely strike the
gong a few times I played a lengthy gong solo!
And to kill more time, the gong playing was in
terspersed with a great deal of oriental bowing
that was not in the original "script."
While the gong playing and bowing were go
ing on, my excellent assistant was able to sight
and pick up my first trick. While I performed
that feat, he scurried about like a frightened
cat and found the next piece of equipment that
I needed for my act.
Since everything eventually was found, I was
able to finish my performance. But it took twice
the scheduled time, and I fear it completely dis
organized the to-the-second programming cus
tomarily followed at the Music Hall.
The most fantastic occurrences during magic
shows often come about through coincidence.
Once, in Chicago, I did a trick that ended up
bewildering me quite as much as it did the
spectators.
The trick involved having a member of the
audience choose a name from the telephone direc
tory by several chance steps. After that was
done, I had someone open a sealed envelope that
had been in plain sight all during the show. In
side the envelope was a card on which was writ
ten the name chosen from the book. I can't reveal
how the trick is done, but I can assure you that
it is quite immaterial to me what name is picked
from the telephone book.
At any rate, all I knew about the man from
the audience on this occasion was that he had
said he came from a distant city and knew little
about Chicago. After he had selected a name
from the phone book, I'asked him to read it
aloud. But instead of reading it, he yelled,
"That's the darndest trick I've ever seen !" I had
no idea what he meant until he told the audience
that the name he had chosen was that of a per
son having the identical first name, initial, and
last name as his own!
I stopped the trick at that point and left the
envelope where it was. My planned feat of magic
could never top the unplanned one.
Another coincidence occurred during a press
interview. A newspaperman contended that ma
gicians need special, tricky objects for every
thing they do. He then challenged me to do some
tricks with a coin he took from his pocket. Al
though any magician is able to do tricks with
any coin, the coin the newsman produced per
mitted me to do several minor miracles. This was
because the coin was an 1892 Chicago World's
Fair commemorative half dollar and, strictly by
chance, I had in my pocket a duplicate of that
rare coin. It was uncanny the way that "one"
coin traveled around the room from here to there
and back again!
Which reminds me of a ?1 bill I once borrowed
from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. during a show. Be
fore I accepted the money, I asked Mr. Rocke
feller to initial the dollar. I then held up the bill
and asked, "These are the initials you wrote?"
After he agreed that they were, I asked, "And
therefore this is the dollar you gave to me?"
"No it is not," Mr. Rockefeller answered.
"That is the dollar I permitted you to borrow."
FROM earliest childhood, I have had pets; so,
when I got into magic, I naturally used ani
mals in my shows. I found that people like to
see tricks performed with rabbits, guinea pigs,
birds, and any breed of dog. However, dogs sel
dom are used because they are apt to bark when
excited by audience approval. We magicians want
quiet creatures; I even retired my pet canary
because of its inclination to sing once the spot
light was focused on it
People frequently ask me how I pull a rabbit
out of a hat. The answer is: put one hand inside
the hat, grasp the rabbit by the loose skin at
the back of its neck (never by the ears), and
lift it straight up and out of the hat. How do I
sneak the rabbit into the hat in the first place?
That requires A rather lengthy explanation
and the Editor tells me that he will give me no
more space.
Family Weekly, October 20, 1M1