Thurston, Howard: 400 Tricks You Can Do
©1940 Howard Thurston, Blue Ribbon Books;
©1948 New Revised Edition, Garden City Books
Hardcover, 240 pages
Comments: Howard Thurston had published 100 Tricks You Can Do in 1912, 200 Tricks You Can Do; 300 Tricks You Can Do; and 200 More Tricks You Can Do. I'm not sure of the exact content and overlap of all of these, but 400 Tricks You Can Do seems to be a combination of the 200 Tricks and 200 More Tricks books. I believe the New Revised Edition has the same content, but has arranged all the chapters in alphabetical order, while the original edition printed the book in two parts, 200 Tricks You Can Do and 200 More Tricks You Can Do.
Contents (New Revised Edition):
v Introduction
1 Ball Tricks
1 The Appearing Ball
2 The Vanishing Ball
2 The Diminishing Ball
3 The Self Rolling Ball
3 The Aerial Ball
3 Balanced Golf Balls
4 The Mysterious Ball
4 The Ball Tube
5 The Three Paper Balls
6 The Balls and the Hats
8 The Floating Paper Ball
8 Red, White and Blue
9 Multiplying Paper Balls
10 The Three Marble Trick
11 Card Tricks
11 The "One Way" Pack
12 The Pencil Mark Pack
12 Pointed Cards
13 The Double Card
13 The Short Card
14 The Bent Corner
14 False Shuffling (Three Methods)
15 Cut to the Card
16 The Spelling Trick
17 The Wise Queen
18 Finding a Chosen Card
19 The X Ray Card Case
19 The Color Changing Pack
20 The Color Changing Card
21 The Three Jacks
21 Card at Any Number
22 The Card in the Pocket
23 The Turn Up Card
23 The Burglars
24 Kings and Queens
25 Mental Telepathy
26 Long Distance Telepathy
27 Magnetic Cards (Five Methods)
29 The Vanishing Card
29 The Automatic Rising Card
30 The Card on the Hand
30 The Spirit Card
31 The Aces from the Pocket
32 The Reversing Card
33 The Traveling Ace
33 Maltese Crosses
34 A Mysterious Coincidence
35 A Card Thrugh the Plate
35 An Easy Four Ace Trick
37 The Paddle Trick
38 A Mysterious Card Trick
39 Card and Coin Trick
39 The Mysterious Joker
40 Card Chnging Under Foot
40 United Kings and Queens
41 The Circle of Cards
42 The Rosette
42 The Card Finder
42 Rising Card from Case
43 Revealing the Card
44 Two Packets
44 Red and Black
44 The Elusive Card
46 Cards to Cigarettes
46 Forcing a Card
47 The Card in the Watch
47 A Surprise
49 Checker Tricks
49 The Magic Knock out
50 Three in a Row
50 Making Kings
51 The Mystic Nine
52 The Magnetic Checker
52 The Color Changing Checker
52 Moving the Checkers
53 Eleven or Twelve?
53 Nine or Ten?
54 Right and Left
55 The Vanishing Checker
55 A Trick with a Checkerboard
56 Picking Out The Black
56 Changing Checkers
58 Cigar and Cigarette Tricks
58 Disappearing Cigar Band
58 Cigar Balanced on Hat
58 The Revolving Cigar
59 The Reversing Cigarette
59 The Magnetic Cigar
59 The Invsible Cigarette
60 The Automatic Cigarette
61 Stretching a Cigarette
62 The Tippy Cigarette
62 The Cigarett in the Hand
62 Cigarettes in the Case
63 The Rising Cigarette
64 The Nameless Cigarette
64 The Anti Gravity Cigarette
65 The Smoke Trick
65 Self Smoking Cigarette
67 Coin Tricks
67 Match Box Coin Vanish
67 Coin in Ball of Wool
68 Ring and Vanishing Coin
68 The "Wisenheimer" Coin Trick
69 Three Appearing Coins
69 The Fade Away Coin
70 The Whirl Away Coin
70 The Changing Coin
71 The Multiplying Coins
71 Odd and Even
71 The Coin on the Door
72 A Coin Box
73 Where Is the Coin?
73 Catching Three Coins
74 Coin Vanishes From Hands
74 Heads and Tails
74 The Marked Coin
75 Coin, Cards and Rings
75 Coin Through the Table
76 Heads or Tails
76 The Coin in the Knot
77 Vanishing Coin from Handkerchief
77 The Missing Coin
78 Coin, Glass and Plate
78 A Coin Joke
79 A Quick Coin Vanish
79 The Talking Coin
79 Box and Coin Trick
80 The Coin Through the Sleeve
80 The Coin at the Elbow
81 An Appearing Coin
81 A Balanced Coin
81 The Coin on the Forehead
81 The Bouncing Coin
82 An Obedient Coin
82 Traveling Coin
82 Coin and Pins
83 Coins from Elbow
83 A Coin Disappearance
84 Five Coin Problem
84 Coin from Glass
85 A Coin Catch
85 Vanishing Money
86 Coin from Tumbler
86 Coin Through Table
86 Coin from Candle
87 Snatching the Coin
87 A Quick Coin Vanish
88 Coin, Tube and Paper
89 The Paper and the Coin
89 Guessing the Date
89 Heads Up!
90 Coin Through Handkerchief
90 Tack in the Ceiling
91 Coins, Plate and Glass
92 The Hidden Coin
92 Coin on the Wrist
93 Odd or Even?
93 The Four Coin Trick
95 Cork Tricks
95 The Bouncing Cork
95 Upright Corks
95 Two Corks
95 Cork and Bottle
96 Adhesive Corks
96 Removing the Cork
97 The Improved Multiplying Corks
99 Dice and Domino Tricks
99 The Magnetic Dice
99 Naming the Total
100 The End Numbers
100 The Incomplete Game
100 Sixteen Dominoes
101 Totalling Three Dice
101 Dice in Cup
103 Egg Tricks
103 The Balanced Egg (Three Methods)
103 Spinning an Egg
104 The Floating Egg
104 Eggs, Spools and Glasses
105 Egg to Confetti
106 Hand Tricks
106 The Mummified Finger
107 The Extended Finger
108 The Removable Thumb
109 The Detachable Finger
109 Stretching the Thumb
110 Eleven Fingers
111 Flexible Hands
111 Clapping the Hands
112 Tough Knuckles
112 An Illusion of Touch
113 Handkerchief Tricks
113 The Balanced Handkerchief
114 The Doubling Knot
114 The Appearing Knot
115 Nonburning Handkerchief
115 The Flyaway Knot
116 The Draw-away Knot
117 United and Untied
117 Match in Handkerchief
117 The Disappearing Handkerchief
118 The Fadeaway Knot Trick
119 The Hypnotized Handkerchief
120 The Flying Handkerchief
120 The Perfect Dissolving Knot
121 A Sudden Knot
122 An Escape
123 Handkerchief on the String
124 Liquid Tricks
124 Ink to Water
125 Water to Ink
125 Water to Wine
125 Wine to Water
125 Two Goblets
126 Wine and Water (Without Chemicals)
127 The Dry Bowl
127 Gravity Defied
128 The Dry Hand
128 Disappearing Water
129 Glass of Water from Pocket
129 The Whirling Glass
131 Match Box Tricks
131 The Vanishing Matches
131 Monte with Match Boxes
132 Cutting Through a Match Box
132 Appearing Matches
133 Matches Through the Table
134 The Adhesive Match Box
134 The Diminishing Match Box
135 Ribbon from the Match
136 Match Tricks
136 Four Triangles
136 Penetrating Matches
137 The Missing Light
137 Mystic Safety Matches
137 One at a Time
138 Balancing a Match
138 Burnout Matches
138 The Match Square
139 Lighted Match from Pocket
140 Selflighting Match
140 The Multiplying Match
141 The Standing Match
141 Shooting the Match
142 Six and Eleven
142 Red and Blue
142 Appearing Paper Matches
143 Cross to Square
144 Match to Cigarette
145 Miscellaneous Tricks
145 The Jumping Ruler
145 The Changing Spools
146 The Flower in Buttonhole
146 The Three Beads
147 A Difficult Job
147 The Mystic Propellor
147 Pin Through the Head
148 Pin Through Finger
148 The Turnover Key
148 The Vanishing Candle
149 The Rubber Cube
150 Number Tricks
150 Totalling Twenty
150 Telling the Total
151 Nine Fingers
152 The Grand Total
152 Cross Them Out
153 The Magic Number
153 The Favorite Number
154 The Thirty One Trick
156 Optical Tricks
156 Which Is Larger?
156 The Coin in the Glass
157 Mystic Circles
158 A Missing Coin
158 Drawing with a Mirror
158 Seeing Through Solid
159 A Ghost
159 Strange Lines
160 The Snake and the Bird
161 Both Sides
162 Paper Tricks
162 The Torn and Restored Cigarette Paper
163 The Restored Paper Napkin
164 The Celebrity Trick
164 The Tough Napkin
165 The Paper Bridge
165 The Marked Paper
166 Three Paper Slips
166 Traveling Tissue Paper
167 The Shower of Paper
168 Production of Paper Money
168 A Generous Offer
168 Blow Them Away
169 A Paper Tearing Trick
170 It Looks Easy
170 From the Ashes
170 Penny Through Paper
171 Out of Sight
172 The Magic Blow
172 A Paper Snake
172 Transposed Paper Slips
173 The Paper Ribbon Trick
173 The Message on the Card
174 What's on the Paper?
174 Three Cards
175 Penetrating Paper
176 The Paper Bag
176 The Paper Ladder
178 Pencil Tricks
178 The Magnetic Pencil
178 The Vanishing Pencil
179 Turnabout Pencil
179 Naming the Suit
180 Pencil from Pocketbook
180 Breaking the Pencil
180 Pencil Under Handkerchief
181 Rising Ring on Pencil
181 The Rising Pencil
182 The Fountain Pencil
183 Ring Tricks
183 The Phantom Ring
184 The Improved Phantom Ring
184 Ring Tied on String
184 The Ring on the Finger
185 The Ring and String
185 The Released Rings
186 The Vanishing Ring
186 The Ring in the Egg
187 The Ring from the String
188 The Cardboard Ring Trick
188 Instantaneous Appearance of Six Rings
189 The Dropping Ring
190 Spirit Tricks
190 Two Messages
191 Pocket Spirit Slates
192 Single Spirit Slate
192 The Spirit Bell
193 The Spirit Cloth
193 Choosing a Question
194 The Spirit Answer
195 Spirit Table Lifting
195 One Hand Table Lifting
196 An Easy Slate Message
196 A Spirit Question
196 Strange Manifestations
197 A Spirit Gong
197 Strange Telepathy
198 Mysterious Answers
198 Mind Reading
199 The Mystic Ring
200 A Clever Slate Writing Trick
200 The Taped Slates
201 The Three Spirit Slates
202 The Spirit Name
203 The Spirit Hand
203 Contact Telepathy
204 Reading Sealed Messages
204 Improved Envelope Test
205 The Great Rope Tie
206 String Tricks
206 The Removable String
206 A Restored String
207 Scissors and String
207 String and Ice Cube
207 Cut the Center
208 On and Off Loop
209 Sugar Tricks
209 Floating Sugar
209 Burning Sugar
209 The Cloud of Sugar
210 The Mystic Letter
211 Traveling Lumps of Sugar
212 Sugar Through Table
214 Table Tricks
214 The Magnetic Knife
214 The Obedient Spoon
215 The Jumping Candle Flame
215 Vanishing Salt
215 The Enchanted Seed
216 The Orange to the Apple
216 The Vanishing Knife
217 Swallowing a Knife
217 Five Knife Trick
218 The Bridge of Knives
218 Blowing Through a Bottle
218 The Ribbon from the Orange
219 Bottle and Straw
219 Knife from the Glass
220 Thimble Tricks
220 A Vanishing Thimble
220 Colorchanging Thimble
221 The Jumping Thimble
221 Thimble from Paper
222 Thimble Through Handkerchief
223 Complete Penetration
224 The Floating Thimble
224 Handkerchief Through Thimble
225 Magnetic Thimbles
225 The Telltale Thimbles
226 Red, White and Blue
227 Tumbler Tricks
227 The Overfull Tumbler
227 A Two Tumbler Trick
228 Pouring Smoke
228 Non-breakable Glass
229 A Surprising Detection
229 Lifting Six Glasses
229 The Non-falling Glass
230 The Magnetic Tumbler
230 The Mystic Pointer
230 The Top of the Tumbler
231 Glass Balanced on Plate
231 The Balanced Tumbler
232 The Traveling Glass
233 The Glass and the Hat
234 Watch Tricks
234 The Stop Watch
234 Number Six
235 Telling the Time
235 The Mystic Alarm Clock
236 The Watch from the Handkerchief
236 Down the Sleeve
236 Tap the Dial
2nd of 3 copies
| Owner | Bryan-Keith Taylor |
|---|---|
| Location | Magic Library (Home) |
| Read | |
| Index | 5532 |
| Added Date | Jul 01, 2017 03:06:49 |
| Modified Date | Apr 06, 2026 14:24:08 |
| Book Condition | Fair |
|---|
Thurston, Howard
(1869-1936)
Born in Columbus, Ohio, the first magician Thurston saw was Alexander Herrmann, the “King of Magic.” Thurston resolved to match the style of his idol, but he briefly studied for the ministry before finally becoming a full-time magician.He first toured the United States with a small act. Then a European vaudeville tour started him on the road to magical fame. Thurston’s financial success in Europe let him build an illusion show which he took around the world. He visited Australia, India, and the Orient, polishing his skills and developing a stage presence that served him well. Thurston returned to the United States to succeed the then-reigning magician, Harry Kellar.
Wrote: Howard Thurston's Card Tricks (1903), 200 Tricks You Can Do (1926), 200 More Tricks You Can Do (1927) [ both books published together as 400 Tricks You Can Do in 1939].
Video Footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6f4a2l_w3Y&mode=related&search=
------------------------------------
Howard Thurston
Born July 20, 1869
Columbus, Ohio, United States
Died April 13, 1936 (aged 66)
Miami, Florida, United States
Occupation Magician
Howard Thurston (July 20, 1869 – April 13, 1936) was a stage magician from Columbus, Ohio, United States. As a child, he ran away to join the circus, where his future partner Harry Kellar also performed. Thurston was deeply impressed after he attended magician Alexander Herrmann's magic show and was determined to equal his work. Alexander Herrmann was a French magician and was known as "Herrmann the Great". Thurston eventually became the most famous magician of his time. Thurston's traveling magic show was the biggest one of all; it was so large that it needed eight train cars to transport his road show.[1]
Early life
Howard Thurston was born June 24, 1867, in Columbus, Ohio. He was the middle son of William and Margaret Thurston. His father William Henry Thurston was a wheelwright and carriage maker who served briefly as a private during the Civil War in the Third Ohio Regiment. His mother Margaret (Cloude), was the daughter of an Ohio farmer.[2] He attended Mount Hermon School for Boys in Northfield, Massachusetts, class of 1893. Among his fellow students were Lee de Forest, "The Father of American Radio," and musical humorist Charles Ross Taggart, "The Old Country Fiddler."[3]
When he was a child, Thurston practiced sleight of hand, but his mother viewed this as "devil's work".[4]: 113 She later sent Thurston away to undertake Bible studies.[4]: 113 Eventually, Thurston saw one of Alexander Hermann's shows, which led to Thurston's decision to begin his career as a magician.[4]: 113
Career
Thurston said, "The historian of magic can trace an unbroken line of succession from the Fakir of Ava in 1830 to my own entertainment."
The King of Cards
Howard Thurston in 1905
He is still famous for his work with playing cards. According to legend, a Mexican magician appeared at a magic shop owned by Otto Maurer in New York City. The enigmatic magician demonstrated how he could make cards disappear, one by one, at his fingertips.[5]
Maurer showed Thurston the move, which he would later feature in his act. He added the "Rising Cards" trick from Professor Hoffman's Modern Magic, the book from which Thurston had learned the rudiments of magic. For this trick, he would walk into the audience and ask several people to choose cards from a deck of cards. The deck was shuffled and placed into a clear glass. Thurston would then call for the chosen cards. One by one the cards would rise up to the top of the deck.
Thurston arranged an impromptu audition with Leon Herrmann, nephew of Alexander Herrmann. His performance fooled Leon. From that point on he called himself "The man that fooled Herrmann" and used the publicity to get booked into top vaudeville houses in the U.S. and Europe, billing himself as the King of Cards.[6]
Levitation illusion
Thurston became well known for performing a floating lady illusion known as the "Levitation of Princess Karnac". The illusion was originally performed by John Nevil Maskelyne and most famously by Harry Kellar.[7][8]
Magic historian Jim Steinmeyer has written that "In Thurston's hands, the Levitation of Princess Karnac became a masterpiece. The beautiful trick was perfectly suited to Thurston's lyrical baritone."[9] By 1908, the levitation illusion was sought by famous magicians. It was duplicated by Charles Joseph Carter on a world tour and had interested the magician Chung Ling Soo.[9]
Later years
Thurston continued presenting the Thurston–Kellar Show following the retirement of Kellar. He continued presenting for about thirty-five years until, on March 30, 1936, he suffered a stroke from a cerebral hemorrhage. He died on April 13 at his Oceanside apartment in Miami Beach, Florida. His death was attributed to pneumonia.[10][11][12] He is entombed at Green Lawn Abbey, a mausoleum in Columbus, Ohio,[13] which opened again to the public in 2021 after more than fifty years.[14]
Legacy
Thurston is quoted as a subject matter expert in Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People. He appears in Part Two, Chapter One ("Do This and You'll Be Welcome Anywhere"), on pages 67–68 of the original text.[15]
A poster for Thurston can be seen in many episodes of the TV show The Magicians hanging on the wall of the protagonists student house, known as 'the physical kids' dorm, so named because the magic they perform is physical, as opposed to say, psychic, or illusion based magic. The poster's placement in the show would lead viewers to believe that Thurston was possibly a student of the school, and thus his performances used "real" magic.
Publications
Thurston performing a levitation illusion.
Articles
Revealing the Mysteries of Magic, an exposure of the methods of the Egyptian conjuror Tahra Bey. The Day (January, 1926)
Thurston, Howard. The Truth About Indian Magic. Popular Mechanics (April, 1927)
Thurston, Howard. Magic and How It Is Made. Popular Mechanics (October, 1927)
Books
Howard Thurston's Tricks With Cards (1903)
50 New Card Tricks (1905)
Thurston's Easy Pocket Tricks: The A-B-C of Magic (1915)
The Mishaps of Magicians (1927)
Fooling Millions (1928)
Tales of Magic and Mystery (1928)
My Life of Magic (1929)
400 Tricks You Can Do (1940)
References
Sevilla, Julio. "Howard Thurston (1869-1936)". All about magicians.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
Steinmeyer, Jim (2011). "The Last Great Magician in the World: Howard Thurston versus Houdini & the battles of the American wizards". New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group.
Boyce, Adam R. The Man from Vermont: Charlie Taggart, the Old Country Fiddler. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626192119. Google Books. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
Randi, James (1992). Conjuring. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08634-2. OCLC 26162991.
Steinmeyer, Jim (2004). Hiding the Elephant. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-7867-1401-8.
"Howard Thurston (1869–1936)." www.all-about-magicians.com. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
Pritchard, William Thomas. (1958). This is Magic: Secrets of the Conjurer's Craft. Citadel Press. p. 98 "In America, the Maskelyne Levitation was staged by Harry Kellar, who entitled it "The Levitation of Princess Karnac." Later, the illusion passed to Howard Thurston, who brought it back to England when he toured this country."
Price, David. (1985). Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater. Cornwall Books. p. 147. ISBN 978-0845347386
Steinmeyer, Jim. (2006). The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer. Da Capo Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0786717705
"Leading American Illusionist Had Vast Repertoire, but Liked Card Tricks Best. Headed Last Big Show of Kind Played Before Royalty. Studied for Ministry". New York Times. April 14, 1936. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
"Thurston Dies Of Pneumonia At Miami Beach". Washington Post. April 14, 1936. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
"Thurston, Peer of Magic, Dies in Miami". Chicago Tribune. April 14, 1936. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
Myers, David; Walker, Elise Meyers. (2015). Wicked Columbus, Ohio. The History Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1626199224
Hasson, Audrey (8 February 2021). "Green Lawn Abbey opens to the public for first time in 50+ years". WCMH-TV. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
Carnegie, Dale (2015-01-01). How to win friends and influence people. Magdalene Press. ISBN 9781897384558. OCLC 936559159.
Further reading
Steinmeyer, Jim (2011). The Last Greatest Magician in the World: Howard Thurston Versus Houdini & the Battles of the American Wizards. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group. ISBN 978-1-58542-845-8. OCLC 646111788.
Thurston, Grace; William L. Rhode; Charles Holzmueller (2006). My Magic Husband: Howard Thurston Unmasked. [United States]: Phil Temple Publication. OCLC 70700027.
Worthington, Thomas Chew. (1938). Recollections of Howard Thurston: Conjurer, Illusionist and Author. (With an introduction by Henry Ridgely Evans). Baltimore.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Howard Thurston.
"Howard Thurston". Magician. Find a Grave. Apr 22, 1999. Retrieved Aug 17, 2011.
"ThurstonMasterMagician.com - The #1 Source For Howard Thurston Information."
Howard Thurston - Master Magician on YouTube
Howard Thurston Encyclopædia Britannica
"Digital Howard" Classic Schemes
Howard Thurston at IMDb
Howard Thurston posters, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
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