Designer: Guy Jarrett
This illusion uses a cleverly designed rope to accomplish the purpose. The magician has two volunteers to tie him to a large vertical board standing on the stage, his back to the audience. As soon as the volunteers are happy with their knots, the magician walks around the board and checks their knots himself, obviously having escaped.
Jarrett described his illusion in Jarrett Magic.
Designer: Richard A. Boehlke
Richard Boehlke (Herr Bolke) was an acrobat and magician who created the illusion “Creo” shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. The magician places a solid steel plate on the platform showing traps are not used. Three rods, a female head of plaster, a wig, a long cloak and a tray of theatrical make-up are placed together to form the shape of a woman. Next, the lifeless eyes of the plaster head open, the face becomes animated and begins to smile. The cloak is removed and a living, breathing woman steps down. Many imitated the effect using methods of their own creation including Thurston, Dante, Nicola, Maruice Rooklyn, Mark Wilson, and Harry Blackstone Jr. Thurston renamed his version “The Vampire,” which was also the name of the marketed version by Thayer and Owen.
Guy Jarrett described the effect in his book Jarrett Magic. A description in the book, Greater Magic, and in the Thayer and Hull blueprint plans, were all based on Thurston’s method, which Jarrett criticized as inferior to Boehlke’s original.
Designer: Guy Jarrett
The Curtained Cabinet without a Base was the first illusion Jarrett ever built, Jarrett likely constructing it in 1908 during his San Francisco sideshow days according to The Complete Jarrett.
The curtained cabinet was actually a pipe frame on castors with tight curtains around the sides and top only. The front had a window shade that could be moved up or down. The curtain bottoms were all several feet off the floor. The illusion is shown empty and the front shade is drawn. When it is let up, an assistant is shown to be lying across two iron stands. The assistant is lowered and the cabinet is revolved as it is removed showing there was no place to hide, the bottom being visible the entire time and the roof only being 1 inch thick.
Designer: Guy Jarrett
Jarrett developed the Bottle Box and sold it to The Great Raymond and also Howard Thurston, though there are no other indications except in Jarrett’s own writings that Raymond or Thurston ever used the effect.
A box resembling a 24 qt. bottle beer case is carried in by two assistants and placed on a table, the top of which is covered by a 3 inch drape hanging down around all sides. The box dimensions are 26 x 20 x 14 inches. The table has one center post that is 3 inches wide that branches into a foot at the bottom.
The lid of the box is opened and 36 quart bottles removed. Many are opened and poured out and all are jangled, showing they are real bottles. Next, four 6 inch flower boxes with large bouquets are removed, followed by a couple of dishes of fruit, two 9 inch glass fish bowls, and under cover of a cloth, and 18 inch fish bowl. The lid is then closed and the magician opens a Japanese umbrella obscuring the top of the box. Upon removal, an assistant is then shown standing on the lid of the box. The box is then removed from the table and the cover of the table is “accidentally” pulled off showing the table top is actually only 1 inch thick and completely unprepared.
Designer: Guy Jarrett
Bangkok Bungalow was a routine (rather than one specific illusion) used in the Howard Thurston show. It was created by Jarrett in 1908, originally allowing Jarrett to be the assistant. It was performed as part of the Thurston show until at least 1922.
The magician’s assistant stands atop a thin pedestal. The magician covers the assistant with a cloth and instantly the assistant vanishes. A raised platform with curtained walls is brought onto the stage. The curtains are lowered to form the walls and instantly the assistant appears inside the cabinet. The assistant is standing next to a small dollhouse. The magician closes the curtains again and the assistant’s head can be seen above the top. The assistant ducks back down and one of the curtains are removed. The dollhouse is removed and placed in the wings. A second and third curtain are removed and the audience can see a “bulge” in the final curtain, making them think the assistant is still hiding behind it. However, the final curtain is drawn and the audience can see the assistant has vanished once again. Immediately with no time delay, the assistant appears in the middle of the audience.
Jarrett developed the pedestal, “cabinet” base, and dollhouse for this routine. The dollhouse was created after Jarrett experimented with his “Sheet Metal Box” – a box measuring 16 x 27 x 30 inches. Jarrett claimed this box was “almost as lousy as the doll house” (not Jarrett’s dollhouse, but the standard dollhouse illusion) but that it allowed him to find out how small a space he could fit into (Jarrett Magic).
Photos: Detailed line drawing is from Will Goldston’s Annual of Magic, 1915-1916. The line drawing (labeled 21) is from a Burling Hull’s advertisement. The illustrative photos are from Jarrett Magic. The house pictured by itself is in Mike Caveney’s collection.
Sources: Steinmeyer, Jim, The Complete Jarrett, Hahne, California, 2001.
Designer: Guy Jarrett (with original idea possibly by Will Goldston)
On stage is a small pedestal (much too small to conceal a person). The performer stands on the pedestal, is quickly covered with a cloth, and instantly disappears. He may then reappear in another part of the venue.
Guy Jarrett is typically cited as the inventor of the Pedestal illusion (the illusion even retaining the name “Jarrett”), but in November 1905, several years before Jarrett began his career in magic, Will Goldston published a description of Valadon’s “Well I’m…” in The Magician Monthly. It was a disappearance of a lady atop a table. Goldston explained an alternate method in an addendum to the effect. It was this addendum that was an exact predecessor to Jarrett’s famous Pedestal, although Goldston called it a “vastly inferior method.” However, Goldston often copied his descriptions and methods from professional illusions featured by Maskelyne and Devant without giving proper credit so it is unclear whether Goldston’s method was even his own. It was not uncommon for Jarrett to use known methods and illusions and improve them for his own purposes. Jarrett stated (in Jarrett Magic) that he used the illusion in the Thurston show in 1908. Howard Thurston used the illusion in his “Tubes of Tubal.” It was also used in Thurston’s show as the first part of the Bangkok Bungalow routine (using Jarrett as an assistant). Jarrett used the pedestal in no less than 5 different effects.
Sources: Steinmeyer, Jim, The Complete Jarrett, Hahne, California, 2001.
Designer: Kevin James
Kevin James produced multiple versions of his original concept, the “Snow Animator.” While Kevin did not invent the famous “Snowstorm in China” effect that has been used for many years, he did invent the new way to animate the pieces of “snow.”
The magician soaks pieces of a napkin in a bowl of water. He wrings out the water and rubs his hands together. Suddenly, dry confetti pieces burst from his hands raining down on the stage and front rows of the audience. The variation that Kevin has added to the classic “Snowstorm in China” effect is the fact the effect can be done without the use of a fan, also allowing the “snow” to go higher and farther than the traditional method.
Version 1: Bar Stool
Version 2: Bar Stool
Version 3: Christmas Present
Version 4: Napkin Holder and Table
Version 5 (with Jason Baney): Folding Chair
Un-numbered version: Speaker Animator
Kevin has also produced variations on his animator that fit into other objects and props.
Designer: Guy Jarrett
A wire “egg” form is placed on the ground. An assistant steps into half of the egg and the top is placed above her. The assistant must curl up to fit inside. The egg is then placed on a table and covered with two half-shells of canvas. A two-inch blade is sawed down through the center of the egg until it reaches the table, having sawed through the assistant. The canvas covers are removed and the assistant is shown unharmed.
Sources: Steinmeyer, Jim, The Complete Jarrett, Hahne, California, 2001.
