The Magic 36
by William S. Houghton

This book derives its peculiar title from the fact that it contains 36 items. The text begins on page 5 and runs to page 71, making a total of 66 pages of more than average size; and there are 15 satisfactory line drawings. The book is well printed, but the use of thin paper gives it a rather emaciated appearance. The cover is yellow cloth, on which is pasted a paper label bearing the title. On the whole, The Magic 36 does not make a very favorable "first impression" for a book that sells at two dollars and a half.

However, it improves rapidly upon closer acquaintance.

The author has something to say, and says it well. He clearly has a fondness for mental feats, and the inclusion of seventeen pseudo-psychic tests gives the book much of the flavor of The Jinx, of pleasant memories. Because tricks of this kind are difficult (and sometimes impossible) to describe concisely, we shall be able to note specifically only a few of them. Especially noteworthy are variations, by Ted Reuber and William McCaffrey, on the card-and-telephone tests of Al Baker and Audley Walsh; Thought Vision, in which the performer reproduces (on a slate) a word or picture secretly selected by a spectator; the Blue Pencil Book Test, which consists of discovering a word chosen by a spectator making a pencil mark in a book that he opens and holds behind his back; The Foolproof Number Prediction, a very fine method for forcing an "addition" on an audience (but the explanation of this trick must be read with unusual care, for there has obviously been confusion in numbering the diagrams that illustrate this feat); and The Amazing Card Prediction, an ingenious trick which demands no sleight of-hand but should produce a very profound impression. This short list by no means does justice to the fine collection of mental tests that Mr. Houghton has brought together in this book.

Of the other types of magic found here, we may mention Herman Weber's production of a basket of artificial flowers, a mechanical trick; four methods of disposing of the "thumb tip," and also one for getting hold of it secretly; new ideas by William McCaffrey on the presentation of the "Squash" glass-of-liquid; The Coin in The Bottle, again by Mr. McCaffrey; a version of The Twentieth Century Handkerchief Trick that makes subtle use of the mirror-glass; The Fingertip Handkerchief Vanish; a comedy Thumb Tie; several good shell-coin ideas; a simple but excellent billiard ball manipulation, multiplication, and vanish; slate-writing, with unprepared slates; and several tricks with ropes.

The author has been less anxious to introduce strikingly new tricks than to discuss improved ways of performing tricks that are already pretty well known. He has done a good job. We learn from the foreword that this is Mr. Houghton's "first attempt at magical authorship." We predict that it will not be his last. He gives evidence of having thought long, hard, and fruitfully about many phases of conjuring. He writes interestingly and to the point, and has the knack of explaining tricks with unusual clarity. We can use more books on magic by Mr. Houghton.