chas carter - forward to magic and magicians

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Foreword to Magic and MagiciansBy Chas. J. Carter

I like this piece a lot, even though it is not flattering tomagicians in general. However, Carter's cinicobservations help us discover many of our failings. Thepiece might be a bit dated (it is from 1903) however,there is much of value in it.Marko.

A student of magic should first begin by becoming a grammarian; infact, if he studies the art of legerdemain at all, either for amusement orbusiness, it is absolutely essential that he be educated. Ignorance willat once stamp him as an incompetent, more particularly so in the roleof magician, than in attempting to delineate another character or playany other part in theatricals. Obviously a magician is supposed toknow a great deal, and the majority generally do--so much, verily, thatfour-fifths of the 85,000,000 alive to-day are starving. But then thissubject can be mooted. A beginner should have courage. It is a verydifficult road to travel, and the bleached bones and empty skulls of the"dead ones" along the way are disheartening--very. But "dead ones"are to be met everywhere, in every business. "Dead ones disintegratequickest as magicians--and agents. This following requires a good,well-informed, intelligent man. The magician of to-day is a juggler.After learning the "front and back hand pamm," as it is inelegantlycharacterized in "slickers"' lingo, the modern "Fakir of Ava" procuresa letterhead, studies a magical manufacturer's catalogue, and between,times--when he is not shaving some one, or engaged on his milk route,or shoeing horses or some other honest, useful trade--he stands beforea mirror, combs his hair prettily, tries to grow a moustache (andsucceeds in raising an eyebrow on his upper lip instead, and the Lordonly knows what on his lower lip), waxes that which is uncharitableenough to grow, and, truer than he realizes, looks like the devil.

Such foolish "tricks" will get you nothing. No more so will theprecious hours and days you waste in trying to emulate some asinine,

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tow-headed freak, who tells you that the "front and back hand pamm"that he does is a wonderful feat and requires months to learn. It doesnot and when I tell you that these things are feats which any ordinaryboy can learn, and, moreover do them better than most of the so-calledmagicians, both in and out "the woods," and that by knowing themyou never will be able to get one more dollar for your performance, itwill not he difficult to see that time thus invested is vain.

Do you think that one of these abortive arrangements--self-styledmagicians--could entertain an audience with his "front and back handpamm" for two hours or a part thereof? In the first place, these thingscannot be seen on a big stage by people in the gallery or far back inthe theater, and if some could see them, they would leave the theaterin disgust. And, again, you must know that when a magician not onlyholds but entertains, amuses and instructs his audience for two hoursor more each evening during a week with no other vehicles but hispersonality, wit, vitality, energy and magic as a subterfuge, he is atonce an artist and one worthy to be called a magician. Such an onewas the late Herrman, and such an one is the present Kellar. If yourambition is vaudeville, stay on your milk route.

Be a magician if you begin, or give it a wide berth entirely. The mostimportant points that have been neglected by other writers on thissubject I shall touch, and if faithfully adhered to will bring betterresults than would studying the "front and back pamm." Learnarithmetic well. This is necessary if you want to do a mind-readingact; and cube root and rapid calculations and also it will not be bad toknow when you are counting up the hundreds of dollars each nightthat you draw (on paper) into the "opree house" and the manager tellsyou it was a fine show, sorry for poor business, etc., and you would domuch better if you would return when the creamery boys are paid off,as "they are sporty and don't care nothin' for thirty-five cents."

Learn how to write correctly. This is useful in writing for dates,signing checks or making out telegrams to mother for money to bringProfessor Butterine and party home. Then when you are old and needa little dust to help buy some sausage for winter, you can write atreatise on conjuring or a story of your life, and some good kindpublisher will look with compassion on your efforts and reward youwith some few $$$$ of the kind that magicians do not catch in the air.Learn to spell properly. You will have to write your own press noticessometimes, and those flowery adjectives describing the "learnedprofessor" will leave a bad taste in the mouths of the editors if spelledincorrectly. In setting type, which you have to do occasionally in orderto get your bills printed, spelling is not unhandy.

Now, in all seriousness, learn grammar. Do not, as you value your



future as a magician, attempt to make your appearance unless you cantalk intelligently. Not a patter. This will not do. You must know howto use words, and the more words you use the greater magician youbecome. For, after all, that is all magic is--appearance, words. Showme an educated man who aspires to become a magician, and I willshow you a successful one. But educated men do not aspire to becomemagicians There is too much need of educated men in more useful andmore lucrative and less hazardous and precarious walks of life. But ifyou start with the craft, learn how to talk. Talk glibly, withearnestness, unction and sang-froid Attach to these attributes an easeof manner and graceful carriage, and--more important still--be funny.All this can be learned, even the knack of being funny.

Years ago, in one of the magician books published by ProfessorHoffman, I read that if a magician was naturally funny it was a goodthing to introduce it in his work, as it was good to make one'sprogramme more interesting and entertaining. Professor Hoffmanfurther thought that if a man was not, by nature, funny, he should nottry to be so. I differ with the learned professor. If all of us waited forsome one to come along who was born a funny man we should waittill another Nero should burn another Rome and sing his songs andthrum his lute atween. The funny people are sometimes more funny bybeing born with a keen appreciation of the ridiculous But the reallyfunny magicians are made so from practice. There is no magicianliving who was born with an appreciation of the ludicrous. If so hewould not have become a magician. It is only after one has been amagician for a great many years that he at length becomes consciouslyalive to the ridiculousness of many things, particularly to the absurdityof being a magician. But if you practice being funny you will seem soto a great many in time. Time mellows all. It looks so strange to youafter a while that you cannot keep from becoming funny even beforeyou try it. Put in humor at every point. It will appear natural andfitting. You will learn the little tricks of being able to tickle people'srisibilities in a short time, and when you are able to do this you willsay to all the world--I am a magician! Though you have fine stagesettings and all that, with good advertising paper and a fine manager,you will sink by the way if you do not make people laugh. Sacrificeyour tricks, your grace, your pretty face, your secrets even, and makepeople laugh, for when they laugh, you are sure they are pleased. Ifthey do not laugh there is a question. Costume for a magician is a veryimportant adjunct. Some wear the regulation dress-suit, with thenecessary secret pockets in the coat; others a swallow-tail coat withknee breeches and a colored garter just below the knee. I have neverbeen able to discover just for what purpose this garter is worn, but Ipresume it is an insignia of rank. Judging from the dexterity displayedby the majority of those who wear it, the deserve something for being



so rank. But a ball and chain would be more appropriate andbecoming. When a dress-suit is worn a clean shirt-front is expected toaccompany this dress by most of the audience charitable enough notonly to attend a necromancer's performance, but to pay for thispenance as well; and even great magicians who do "the front and backhand pamm" are not exempt from thus attiring themselves, thoughthey may immediately tire their auditors. Again, other conjurers wear.a yellow ribbon diagonally across their breasts ostensibly to prove thatthey belong to the magicians' union, or the French Order ofWould-Bes when they really wear this ribbon (which is sometimes abanana-peel) to hide the face of a dirty shirt. Others wear a celluloidfront, which can be dipped in the fish-bowl before using in lieu ofwashing, thus saving laundry bills. But these are economies whichbring to mind all too unpleasant reminiscences. An Adonis dress andmake-up is very pretty, stylish and never-to-be-forgotten.

I have cherished a hand-bill of "The great world-renounded ProfessorPenny," who, as the dodger goes on to state, "will appear in tights eachevening to prove that he has nothing concealed in his sleeves." And itmight have read nothing concealed in his tights either for I know if ithad not been a cold night when I saw him, and if the audience had notbeen so large, and his underwear and tights so thick, without the aid ofan X-ray I could have seen through him as easily as the audience sawthrough his "marvelous tricks."

Then there is the clown-suit adapted for magicians who do not, willnot, or cannot talk and wish to perform "hanky pank" silently. This isthe proper suit for most all whom I have had the misfortune to seework. Put any magician in a clown-suit and he fills it properly. Itwould be cruelty to animals to omit the dunce-cap. But after all, if onecan talk, a dress suit is correct. And a good talker can easily explainwhy the trousers get under his heels when he walks, or show thenecessity of too small a vest and even a soiled shirt Then, a dress-suitcan be bought cheaper than any other apparel, as I shall show. Whenyou are settled beyond all earthly entreaties upon your future, and areconvinced that the omnipotent has cut you out to be something great,and you feel the desire "to be and do" (not do us, you think), and yourlunacy has attained a mild form, such as is expressed in a wish tobecome a magician--go to a second-hand store, ask to see a dresssuit--tell the vendor that you are a waiter--he will not doubt you--askfor one that fits large so you can carry the tray high, that the disheswon't get knocked off--pay $8 and begin your career of fooling thepublic, or attempting to. However clever you become, howeverwonderful the tricks you do, there is a certain set of the public you cannever fool--that set is known as managers. No magician has ever beenknown to fool a manager; he might have thought he did, but you may



take my word for it, he did not. Next to magicians, the managers aresecond in wisdom. They can scent a magician equally as far and wellas a magician can per-cent the manager. And all will tell you that theymade money on Professor Cinch, the great magician, by not having toopen the doors on the night he was billed, and the revival meeting andthe Ladies' Guild got all the people except those who were in SedCrapeel's store, "swapping yarns and drinking hard cider b'gosh."Revere the managers and be kind to the Salvation Army. You maywant to use their band in front of the "town hall to-night." Almost asimportant as securing dates for your show is a magician's wand. Amagician without a wand is as inappropriate as a massage rubber witha full evening-dress in a turkish bath.

A wand in the hands of one who can talk and use some comic sayingsis potent beyond al traditional fame of its powers. The smart oneswitnessing a magical conjuring performance will say to one another:"Oh, that stick is only for show. Has nothing to do with the work theperformer is doing." They are mistaken. It has all to do with the tricks.It is used, true enough, to pretend that one must have this wand inorder to cause things to appear and disappear; but the real object of thewand is to mislead the people who are there to be misled. While youare explaining, by gesticulation with the wand in your right hand howthis and this is done, you are getting a baby elephant out of your backpocket with your left hand. All these things will be explained a littlelater on in the work--just why the wand is used and the many greattricks which can be accomplished with its aid. The amount of moneyone wishes to spend for one is wholly a matter of taste. The writergenerally uses a broken umbrella-stick or a lead-pencil or anythingwhich is hand at the time, as these things get lost very quickly andthey would cost a great deal to buy all the time, if care was notexercised in the first place in buying them. One dollar buys a goodwand and one sure to last. In the chapter which will follow this I shalltry to write more on this subject and shall to the best of my capabilitiesexplain the great and diverse uses a wand may be put to by aprestidigitateur. For the delectation of the old and the a amazement ofthe young, do not forget that a wand must be had and wieldedmysteriously and often, and when doing tricks with cards, with coins,with apparatus, a wand is indispensable. A wand will make the onewho handles it, properly, a wander(er).Always do tricks with live articles, such as geese, rabbits, guinea-pigs,chickens and pigeons. All audiences like to see this kind of tricks,because they are surprising and, when well done, intensely mystifying.This live stock is also valuable if your business is bad and continuesso, for a fire can be made near any water-tank on the railroad and agoose can be cooked and supped on. You will be surprised to find how



long a cooked goose will last when business is bad. This is oneinstance where it is profitable to "cook your own goose" But more onthis subject anon.



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