THE GAY DECEIVERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 3 January 1931, Page 2

THE GAY DECEIVERS

SOCIETY OF MAGICIANS A NOVEL CONVENTION THE SPELL OF “SPOOFING” Of the holding of conferences and conventions there is no end, but it is very noticeable that they usually coincide with some season or circumstance which may lighten the labours of the heroes who are the chosen representatives of their kind. But all the usual rules, rites, motions and amendments are wanting from the most novel convention in Auckland these holidays—that of the New Zealand Society of Magicians (states the “llerakl”). It is not a case of combining for defence again a common enemy, for they are all amateurs, anil in so small a country the art they cultivate has little commercial value. No. The real reason why the same group of men has kept its little society in being for ten years, and has now celebrated a birthday by a rally, is that magic is a disease. THE MYSTIC MICROBES And here ifc should be remembered that there arc no female members, which proves, of course, that women are not the more curious sex. It would appear that here and there a youth begins to dabble in magic through curiosity and example. Who knows but that in hia subconscious self he is the successor of those who once ruled their race through witchcraft, and other light-fingered gentry who believed that it was better to fool the people all the time than themselves suffering a horrible fate?

But one must not stray into the realms of theory. Not. any theory of magic. The curious youth succeeds in some simple trick, and he gets applause and, like all men, rather likes the fickle jade. But he must have patience, a great persistence, and also some special naturual dexterity with his fingers. He applies himself to the cultivation of the conjuring art with a touch of that capacity for taking pains which achieves great things in the world, and before he realises it, lie is captured for life. And who says it is a useless hobby? It is a great proof of personal discipline. SOCIABLE ART One should imagine, however, that magicians, no matter how good fellows, would instinctively walk alone, keeping their own particular tricks to themselves and avoiding the criticism of their kind. But it is not so. Under the strong spell of the art they get together to perform under the gaze of eyes that know too much about it for any audience, to endeavour by mystifying each other by a new method of delusion, sometimes to exchange ideas, but chiefly to enjoy the charm of being all frauds together and cultivating the social instincts. Thev all talk about the calamity of “getting the bird” from an audience—they admit the satisfaction of a “good hand” from an audience —and it naturally follows that no performer among themselves suffers from chilly silence. The youth of 17 ia whom the fascination of the game is just breaking out is applauded for what he can do at his age. The old hand receives an ovation because he is as good as ever and has succeeded in “putting over” a new one.

On Saturday evening this strange brotherhood started upon an orgy of magic which continued long into the night, and the only regret the few outsiders present had was that their brains got into such a whirl that laid the foundations of dreams in which the daisies played leap-frog on the lawn, the peas on their stakes carried out platoon drill down the garden, and pound notes became new year’s bills before one’ troubled eyes. THE MAGIC WAND It was fitting, of course, i that the magic wand presented to the president should suddenly be broken over the knee of the man performing the civil duty, the wand in due course turning up in the president’s pocket. Beside one sat a serious gentleman who casually tied knots in a handkerchief and casually blew them out with his breath. But these were merely trifles. The stage had its succession of new tricks that kept the audience guessing. Friends quietly told each other how t’o improve their technique or the effect. The performers did not simply say “What do you think of this?” They did the turn in full dress, so to speak, because the society must hear the “line of patter,” and a “new ope” in the talk always ‘got a hand.” There was the grave performer, the cheerful soul, the perfectly silent manipulator, and the real comedian, and it so happened that the most humorous “line of talk” was supplied by a young Chinese member (not a. make-up Chinese), who for the evening left out magic in favour of lightning sketches. THE GULLIBLE PUBLIC An American visitor, who expressed astonishment at the degree of skill displayed by this little group of deceivers in a small country offering no lucrative opportunities, was in the professional class, though his tricks were just part of a showman’s stock-in-trade. His repertoire may not have been extensive, as he said, but he certainly was an accomplished deceiver with what he had. As a members of the great public it was interesting to hear him discuss the gullibility of the public.Perlmps he did not know any of the public were present. Anyway we, the public, appear to be awful fools. He succeeded in deceiving even this audience, but when he said he would explain his disappearing coin trick if they could not think it out there were cries of “No.” Apparently the code of the order is that a master should never tell. In regard to tricks one learned that their descriptions by spectators who have no knowledge of the art are nearly always wrong, as well as the idea of the method. Much more than in schools of law do descriptions of magic incidents vary and fall short of first-class evidence.