Elliott, Bruce: Classic Secrets of Magic
Illustrated by Stanley Jaks
©1953, Harper & Row Publishers, Galahad Books
Hardcover, 266 pages
ISBN-13: 9780883650950
ISBN-10: 0883650959

1st of 3 copies

Comments: Excellent instruction in magic, including many "classics" such as Paddle tricks, Egg Bag, and Cups & Balls. Bruce Elliot's writing is thorough and not just the "here's another trick" type. Lots of line drawings. Recommended.

Contents:

ix Preface: Introduction to the book by Bruce Elliot, September 1952

1 Chapter 1: The Spectator's Card is Revealed!
2 Wrong Card Tranforms to Selection
4 Card Through the Handkerchief (Dai Vernon & Wallace Galvin)
8 Card on the Ceiling (Jay Marshall)


13 Chapter 2: Corncobs
13 Corncob Pipes (Lee Noble): smoke pours from empty pipes in increasingly unbelievable ways (chemical trick)


19 Chapter 3: Water Water Everywhere
19 The Rice Bowls: rice to double rice to water, fully explained
24 Brahmin Bowls: more advanced version (commercial product)
24 Al Baker's Bowls: another improvement
26 Jardine Ellis Wineglass Production
28 Wineglass Producion: Wally Dean's approach


32 Chapter 4: The Very Peripatetic Paddle
32 Table Knife Paddle
35 Match and Arrow
35 Business Card Turnover (Francis Carlyle)
36 Dr. Sack's Dice: a full routine with a pair of dice


47 Chapter 5: Those Four Aces
47 Simple Four Ace Trick: Aces assemble to one pile
50 Wally Dean's Follow Up: Aces travel to top of deck
52 Collins Ace Trick (Stanley Collins): Aces clearly shown to be in four different piles before assembling
55 Peng Peng (Conradi) One Ace vanishes while packet is in spectator's hand
56 Ending for Collins Ace: reproducing the Aces
58 Gimmicked Four Aces: with gimmicked cards
60 Slow Motion Ace Trick (Cy Enfield): another Four Ace trick


70 Chapter 6: Miser's Dream Come True
70 T. Nelson Downs: intro
71 Wally Dean's Miser's Dream: starts with wine glass intro
79 Al Flosso: brief description
79 Gimmicks: coin dropper


82 Chapter 7: The Egg Bag, Well Done
82 Simplest Presentation: overview and general approach
84 About the Bag: seems to describe a Tarbelll style bag as opposed to Malini
86 Special Moves: twisting the bag, stepping on it, other convincers
86 Stringed Egg Bag: for a clean vanish
88 Using an Egg-shell
90 Roy Benson's Egg Multiplication: many eggs appear in the bag


93 Chapter 8: The Two Covers and the Four Objects
93 Chink-A-Chink: coins assemble under two playing cards
100 Four Card Version (Clyde F. Cairy): four cards, coins, a newspaper, and two smaller magazines


109 Chapter 9: Billiards, Magic Style
109 Multiplying Billiard Balls (Walter B. Gibson): with a standard set and a handkerchief
118 Jack Chanin Move: for vanishing the balls
127 Advanced Routine (Walter B. Gibson): adds color changes and a fifth ball


136 Chapter 10: Razor Sharp
136 Razor Blade Swallowing (Lee Noble): razors become attached to thread in the mouth


144 Chapter 11: The Ambitious Card
144 Bruce Elliot's Routine: multi-phased routine in which the card always comes to the top


159 Chapter 12: The Eternal Cups & Balls
159 The Basic Routine: for any set of cups with a two in the hand and one in the pocket climax
169 Dixie Cup Version (Dr. Franklin V. Taylor): cleverly gimmicked cups
175 Charlie Miller Routine for Coffee Cups: with coffee or tea cups and rolled up dollars
182 Dealer Cups and Balls (Joe Berg, Ande Furlong): another routine for standard commercial cups, a sponge ball, cork balls and jumbo final loads
187 Cup Through Cup Illusion (Johnny Paul)
189 Benson Bowl Routine (Roy Benson): a one cup and ball routine (not a chop cup) using a larger bowl sized cup and sponge balls and a wand


199 In Conclusion: essay on presentation of magic


203 Appendix: List of best-liked effects of magic and twenty most performed effects by American magicians


207 Glossary

209 Index