131 Magic Tricks For Amateurs ( 1958 ) Free PDF book with Illustrations by Will Dexter

Practice and Keep your Secret





THE FIRST magic book I ever read was called The Modern Conjurer. It’s an old book, with lots and lots of pictures in it. I learned more magic from those pictures than I’ve ever learned since. The Chinese have a proverb: “One picture is worth a thousand words.” That’s very true, especially of magic. And so the artist and I have compiled this book of pictorial magic for you, believing that if you study it carefully, and learn the tricks in it, you’ll become a good conjurer. Some of the tricks are new.Some are good old ones which have entertained and amused audiences for many, many years. Some are easy, and some are a little more difficult. But all of them need practice, however easy they seem. That’s the very first secret of magic —. And the next most important secret is —! Don’t ever tell anyone how a trick is done.You’ve had to learn the way to do it; let other people do likewise! If you learn how to do only one single trick out of all this book, bear in mind those two important principles:. . andWhen you feel that you can present several of these tricks with confidence and assurance, then look around for other books on magic.Learn all you can from books. And then make friends with other conjurers and exchange your information. But remember — only swop tricks with conjurers! Everybody else must think that these things are done by magic! Good luck — and happy conjuring!Some of the tricksThat wonderful wand 11 This is a magic wand 12 Who’s knocking, it must be spirits 13 Big wands from tiny purse 14 Presto! It’s gone 15 The ghostly pencil 16 The power of money 17 The lazy match 18 Where there’s smoke 19 The phoenix match 20 The anti-gravity matches 21 The ghostly matchboxes 22 A light from your pocket 23 Sweet — and hot! 24 The vapor of the Yogi 25 The floating candle 26 The feast of candles! 27 A double-headed coin! 28 Who puts that stamp on the ceiling? 29 Where does the money go? 30 Who has the money? 3 1 t Page Through the fourth dimension! 32 Your coin, Sir! 33 Guess which! 34 A valuable coin sleight 35 I -2-3! Gone 36 The acrobatic coin 37 Robbers and sheep 38 The homing coins 40 Coin passing 42 Bank balance 44 Or — How to spend your money — and yet keep it 45 The melting coin 46 Cash — with care 47 Into thin air! 48 Out of thin air! 49 Penny in the bun 50 The banknote machine 51 The secrets of palming 52 Remembers these card magic terms 54 The false shuffle 55 Card control 56 X marks the spot! 58 Another card force 59 The glide 60