An
Off-Beat Rabbit Arrival
Somewhere
around the early sixties I had a notion for
producing a rabbit. It seemed quite logical
and I didn't think it would be much trouble
to make up. At the time, I had several Netherland
Dwarf rabbits which you know are the smallest
breed and, therefore, of great interest to the
magical fraternity. It was one of the smallest
of the rabbits I managed to breed (weight about
3 pounds) which I finally used to get this caper
to work. This was how I figured it should look
like.
The
magician takes a champagne bottle out of an
ice-bucket. He upends the bucket as if he is
looking for the ice ... no ice. Looking at the
label on the bottle he goes to put it back into
the icebucket, then he has second thoughts about
what he read on the label. As he looks at it
again, a rabbit's ears show over the top of
the bucket. Finally, its head pops up into view.
The magician takes it out and strokes it before
laying it aside.
A large
bottle had to be made or picked up at some auction
sale at a magic society. The rabbit would be
inside the bottle. When the magus went to put
the bottle back into the bucket, and thought
better of it, and took it out to look at the
label a second time ... that's when the rabbit
was dropped into the bucket. Whilst he was looking
at the label this time, the rabbit would get
out of its holder and, like all rabbits do,
would look around ... that's when its ears would
pop up and he would look over the champagne
bucket.
The next
problem was how to contain the bun inside the
bottle. That depended greatly on the bottle,
so the search began. it was right under my nose.
In my
six months in the U.S.A. in 1960 I had gathered
as a gift a "Rat-Bottle". Now this was a funny
Rat-Bottle - it was like the top bit cut off
a bottle just below the rounded shoulder, except
it was made in metal. The top bit was closed
off enough to put a drink into. Now we could
even pour from the champagne bottle. The idea
was to stick this fake bottle top over a Mason
jar which contained a white rat. Then you could
break open the bottle by bashing it with a hammer,
release the rat and gain its undying hatred
for smashing a glass jar around its ears.
The next
hunt was for a tin container which could be
soldered onto this top bit where the glass jar
went. I found it in the form of two nesting
cylinders which came up at a Magic Circle auction
under the guise of Organ Pipes. I soldered the
big outside one onto the Rat-Bottle Bit, and
soldered the lid of a paint tin onto the inside
cylinder. With a pair of tin shears I cut down
the inside cylinder so that it just nested enough
into the big one not to rattle around too much.
The next
question was, if I put the rabbit's backside
into the inside cylinder, and pushed him up
inside the big cylinder, how could I stop this
inside bit from dropping out? Memories of the
old Passe bottles prompted me and I drilled
a hole in the outside cylinder which was big
enough to stick my thumb into and hold the inside
cylinder, plus the bun, in position.
Right
now, for the "do-it-your selfers", may I say
this boring is a helluva business. If you have
ever watched helplessly whilst a tin bottle
whirrs around at a vast rate of knots on the
end of an electric drill, you'll know what I
mean. Anchor everything, including yourself,
and send your family out to visit relatives.
Bore
plenty of small holes all over the shoulder
of the bottle so the rabbit can breathe. I saw
a magician once produce a dead rabbit out of
a Dove-pan which held thoughtlessly crammed
it into and I've been haunted by the memory
ever since.
Forgive
me at this point if I break off to talk about
using living creatures in your act. if you use
any animal or bird in your act, PLEASE remember
they are living things like you. If, because
they can't complain, they are being used by
you to earn fees or, if you are an amateur,
to enable you to obtain pleasure by performing
your tricks, respect them.
They
should be well-housed. They should have plenty
of food and drink. Their health is intimately
your concern. You MUST treat them as pets. You
must fondle them and love them and make them
feel that you are a friend and not just an impersonal
oaf who slaps them into boxes and other contraptions,
according to whim.
Of course,
there are accidents. I KNOW they've all got
to die some day but, realize this, if there
is a God in Heaven and by your stupidity or
callousness you cause the injury or death of
any one of your creatures, you aren't fit to
call yourself a human being.
Sorry
for all that but it's a thing that gets right
up my nose, Back to the miracles.
Spray
the bottle a shiny DARK GREEN ... not black.
If it doesn't seem a dark enough green, a little
trick is to then give it a mist spray of black
and the two will merge till you get a really
dark colour with a greenish bottle tinge. Leave
it out in the air for at least a week. This
gets rid of all the paint smell which will make
a bunny very sick if he gets a whiff of it.
Slip him in and out of the bottle till he gets
used to it and make sure you give him some little
tit-bit every time so that he realizes it's
a rewarding experience. This, allied with gentle
handling, will save you having a scratching
wild beast inside your bottle. And DON'T bang
it about once it's inside.
The bucket,
plus the bottle inside, is on your table. Take
out the bottle, upend the bucket and take care
to have your thumb holding in the bun container.
Look at the bottle label and go to put it back
into the ice -bucket. The moment it's inside,
release the bun container, take it out again
and, picking up a glass, pour out a drink.
By now,
the ears will have shown above the lip of the
ice-bucket. If you don't have an inquisitive
rabbit and that doesn't happen ... which is
very unlikely ... you could go to put the bottle
back into the bucket. Just as you do so you
see the contents, lay aside the bottle and remove
the rabbit.
Another
thing here. DON'T put him on a rickety table
otherwise the audience will sit petrified for
fear that he will fall off. I saw this happen
once and some of them actually called out to
the performer. It should never occur because
as "The Great One", you are supposed to be in
command of all situations.
On a
similar theme, if you place any prop on your
table, do take care it doesn't fall off. I remember
a Zombie Ball being placed on a table because
the magician had lost the stand under all the
junk. It fell with the sort of dull thud that
told me there was going to be one helluva dent
in the thing.
I'm sorry,
but I thought this was funny.
TAKE CARE!
Years
ago, a magician did the Billiard Balls and lit
a cigarette so that he could blow clouds of
smoke and produce the balls from the smoke.
At the end of the trick, the cigarette was placed
in a saucer on his table ... and he dumped the
celluloid balls on top of it in the same saucer.
The result was spectacular, expensive and completely
unexpected ... to the performer.
Tubes
roll. It's no good going to great lengths to
show the correct end of a Ghost Tube to the
assembly, dragging yards of thin momme silk
out, and then putting it on a table where it
rolls off, exposing the fake end to everyone.
A good wheeze is to put a thumb-tack onto the
table to prevent this. Further, if you rehearse
at home, bear in mind your bedroom floor may
be level but a lot of stages have a rake which
may mean your table is tilted forward ... and
you don't know it.
I've
done a lot of these things myself. I'm not proud
of it, but I did try to learn from my mistakes.
And now I feel I've earned the right to explode
into semi-silent mirth when It happens to others.
O.K., so I'm a rotten swine, but I still love
watch Magic Competitions.
May I
have a word on that too. So many folks do a
good act in their own sphere. They know it backwards.
All the creaks have been ironed out. It may
not be a world-beater, but at least it's semipolished.
Come entering for a competition... WOW!! They
go mad. They do a new, unrehearsed act of some
weird stuff which doesn't even suit their style.
And spend the rest of the Convention apologising
to their mates or making excuses for it. I've
done that too.
D E X T E R I T Y 1
It was
the scene of the prize presentation after the
Magic Competition. The winner had done fantastic
things with flicking and catching cards; the
billiard balls had rolled all over his hands;
his dexterity was most impressive. The principal
judge handed him the cup ... and he promptly
dropped it ! This will be concluded right here.
I'm getting wicked and evil and I mustn't.
