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Foreword - In life there are two kinds of people: those who lead the parade and those who follow the leader. Every one of us secretly yearns to stand out from the crowd and win the admiration of our friends and family but too few of us have any idea as to how to attain this goal. Entertainment is one of the surest and most rewarding ways to popularity.

01. Square Trick - Can you form a perfect square with these matches by moving only one match?

Take care to arrange the matches exactly as shown in the picture.

Gently move the top match, and as you see you will have formed a square in the center of the arrangement!

02. Walking Man - Can you make a walking man out of the numbers given below by making just two straight strokes with a pencil?

Write the numbers 11 0 3 0 on a piece of paper.

This one is easy! Using one stroke, make the letter H out of the ll. With the second stroke, make the letter B out of the 3.

03. Straw + Bottle Trick - Can you pick up an empty pop bottle with a straw without touching the bottle?

Materials: A dry straw and a short stubby pop bottle.

Bend straw a little less than one-third its length, with both ends pointing upward.

04. Miracle Match - Can you by your magic power restore a broken match to its original condition?

Use a large handkerchief with a wide hem. Insert a match all the way into the hem, so that it can't been seen. This is done beforehand and the handkerchief placed in your pocket.

05. Weeping Coin - Can you make a silver coin weep?

The secret of this trick is to get the piece of wet cotton behind your ear without being observed.

Your friends will be watching the coin and will not notice that you are picking up the wet cotton with the hand that is over your ear.

06. Match + Penny Trick - Can you remove the penny with your fingers without causing the match that is slanted to fall away from the upright match?

Stand the cover of the match box on its side, with the scratching surface up. Sharpen the untreated end of a wooden match, and stick it in the upper side of the cover, fairly close to the end.

07. Balancing Handkerchief - Can you balance a handkerchief on the tips of your fingers and make it rise and fall at your command?

Insert a soda straw into the hem of a handkerchief. This and the following step should be prepared ahead.

08. Matchless Matchbox - Can you make a coin appear in an empty match box?

Two steps of this trick must be completed beforehand. First, open the drawer of the match box far enough so that you can wedge a coin between the cover and the end of the drawer. The second step is to slide the drawer in part way until the coin is covered.

09. String + Ice-Cube - Can you snare an ice cube with a piece of string and lift the cube from the glass?

Float an ice cube in a glass of water. Take a string and tie a loop in one end, then invite your friends to try their luck. They will fail, because looping the ice cube is just about impossible.

10. Amazing Sugar Cube - Can you make a pencil mark that has been placed on a cube of sugar pass mysteriously through water and onto the hand?

On any one side of the cube of sugar draw a heart, a number, or a cross with heavy strokes.

 Pick up the cube and press your thumb firmly against the drawing. The mark will come off the sugar and show on your thumb.

11. Dollar Bill + Bottle - Can you remove a dollar bill from under a bottle without touching or upsetting the bottle?

Place the bottle upside down on the bill, either on a table or the bare floor.

Roll up the bill carefully, touching only the edges of the bill so that your fingers do not come in contact with the bottle.

12. Magician’s Assistant - Can you remove a coin from under a cup without touching the cup?

Place one coin on a table, put the cup over the coin, and tell your friends that you are going to remove the coin without touching the cup.

With the second coin, which you have kept concealed in your hand, tap the table from the underside just under the cup, saying, "Here is that coin."

13. Last Match - In this game, can you figure out how to make sure that your opponent always picks the last match?

Arrange fifteen matches side by side on a table. Tell one of your friends that you can always make him pick up the last match, each of you alternating in picking up one, two or three matches at a time. It doesn't matter who starts.

14. Magic Crayon - Can you tell the color of a crayon without seeing it, simply by feeling it?

Hold your hands behind your back, and have someone choose a crayon of any color and place it in your palm.

Grasp crayon in one hand and run thumbnail of other hand over end of crayon.

15. Altering Glass Trick - Can you rearrange all these glasses ¡n alternating order-a filled one next to an empty one-by moving or touching only one glass?

The glasses must be arranged in a row in the order shown. Now pick up the fourth glass from the left and pour its contents into the first glass on the left.

16. Magic Coin - Can you make a coin disappear by rubbing it into your arm?

Spin a coin on the table, and announce that it is a magic coin, and that you can make it disappear by rubbing it into your arm.

17. Glass + Match Trick - Can you remove one of the glasses without making the match fall?

Wedge one of the matches between the two glasses.

Use the second match to light the head of the first match. As soon as the head lights, blow out the flame. Let cool for a few seconds.

18. Triangle Trick - Can you make four triangles, all of the same size, with six matches?

Materials: Six matches.

Lay three matches flat on the table in the form of a triangle.

19. Matchstick Trick - Can you make ten out of nine matches? Keep up the patter as your friends struggle to do this trick.

Say, "I'll make ten out of these nine matches."

20. Mastermind - Could you tell which of these cards was touched while you were out of the room?

This trick is lots of fun, and is especially good after dinner while a group is still sitting around the table. Place some cards on the table, and then ask somebody to touch one of them while you are out of the room.

21. Match Box Trick - Do you want to make your friends believe you have some strange power? You will have to prepare a small box of matches beforehand, then you can do the trick on the spur of the moment.

 Break or cut one of the matches so that it is just long enough to wedge across the drawer of the matchbox (this must fit snugly as the trick depends on this wedge match.)

22. Vanishing Coin - Can you make a coin vanish into thin air?

The secret of this trick is to put a small amount of soft soap on a corner of the handkerchief while no one is watching.

23. Match-Eating - Have you ever seen a bandana that eats matches?

The secret of this trick is to get a small rubber band around the fingers of your left hand while no one is looking. Keep hand closed and no one will notice it.

24. Singing Fork - Can you make a fork sing?

This is a perfect trick to do at the dinner table or after refreshments at a party.

As illustration shows, grasp fork in center of handle, and keep it close to but not touching the table.

25. Unbroken Line - Can you make the drawing below in one unbroken line?

This trick is simple; there are many ways it can be done. Several persons can try it at the same time.

Do not put the numbers on the diagram. They were put in simply to show you one way the trick can be done.

26. Hanging Cup - Can you cut the string in two without making the cup fall?

Tie the string to the handle of the cup as shown and let someone hold the upper end of the string. Then state that you are going to cut the string in two and that because of your magic powers the cup will not fall.

27. Three Glasses - Can you place all the glasses in an upright position after making three moves?
 
This is an excellent but very teasing trick. You will be able to keep it going a long time if you work it right. Explain that each person gets three moves, and that after these moves, all of the glasses should be standing in an upright position.

28. Seven Coins - Can you move seven coins from one point to another on the diagram below without duplicating any moves?

Make a diagram, as shown, on a piece of paper. The numbers are used for practice only. In showing the trick, leave the numbers off, so that no one can keep track of your various moves.

29. Obedient Coin - Can you remove a dime from under a glass without touching it?

Place a dime or other coin on the tablecloth between the two matches, as shown. Then set the glass upside down on the matches.

The trick is to scratch the tablecloth with the nail of your first finger, near the glass and directly in front of the dime. With rapid, short scratches, draw the fingernail away from the glass and toward yourself.

30. Two Dickie Birds - Do you know how to play the Dickie Bird Game?

This is a cute trick with which you can amuse younger children. You recite a rhyme with it, which goes as follows:

Two little dickie birds sitting on a pole, One named Peter, and the other named Paul. Fly away, Peter. Fly away, Paul. Come back, Peter. Come back, Paul.

31. Rising Water - Can you make water go up into a glass?

Place some water in a saucer, and ask a friend if he can make the water go up into the glass without touching the saucer. When he says it's impossible, show him how it can be done.

32. Mind-Reading Trick - Can you guess what was secretly written on a piece of paper?

In the center of the paper, draw a circle not more than one and a half inches across. Hand this to someone in your audience, and tell him to write a short question inside the circle.

33. Bill + Bottle Trick - Can you remove the dollar bill without touching or knocking down the bottles?

Balance one bottle on top of the other with the bill between as shown. Be sure the bottles are perfectly dry.

Grasp the bill tightly between the thumb and fingers of your left hand. Then with a sharp quick blow strike the bill hard with the forefinger of your right hand, as shown.

34. Two Corners - Can you take away one corner of a square and thus produce five corners?

Hold up the piece of paper and say, "See, it now has four corners. Let's give it five!"

Simply cut off one corner, and you will find you have "two for one," or a total of five corners.

35. Five Plus Six - Can you add five matches to six matches and make nine?

Place six matches on the table so that they form a row as shown. Lay the other five ¡n a pile. Tell your friends to add these five to the other six, without moving the row. and make nine.

36. Pyramid Trick - Can you lift a pyramid of three matches with a fourth match?

Slit the untreated end of the first match, and whittle the untreated end of the second match to a flat wedge. Force the wedge of the second match into the slit in the first match. You will now have an inverted V.

37. String Trick - Can you join two pieces of string in your mouth?

Hold the string up before your friends and knot the two ends together.

Twist the string in one full turn with your hands. This is the part that requires practice. It is important to get just the right twist.

38. Fire Under Water Trick - Can you light a match and burn it under water? Your patter is particularly important in this trick.

Simply strike the match on the bottom of the glass and keep it under the glass while it burns. Your friends can't deny that it is burning under water!

39. Glass + Plate Trick - Would you like to astound your friends with a neat balancing trick?

This trick looks difficult to onlookers because they see it from the front and believe you are doing an extraordinary feat of balancing. It is a good trick to do between other tricks, since it can be done on the spur of the moment.

40. Magic Purse - Can you make an egg come out of an empty purse?

This is a good trick to perform after dinner while your friends are still at the table. You will need a confederate (someone who knows the trick) sitting next to you.

41. Random House - Questions and Answer Books

For ages 6-10:
Question and Answer Book of Nature
Question and Answer Book of Science
Question and Answer Book of Space
Question and Answer Book About the Human Body

THE END