Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27
READY-MADE INTERRs pTIONS.
An Effective Trick Employed Not
Alone in Political Speaking.


THAT dodge of ready-made Interruptions
isn't confined to politics. said a theatrical
manager who had listened TO an old cam
paigner's remarks. 1T has been used on
the stage with great success. Old man
Blitz, the conjurer-I mean the Blitz whose
right name was Schwartzmann-used to carry
around fellow whose sole duty was to ex-
pose his tricks. The scheme proved hit
and really one of the foundations of
Bitz's fame and fortune.
The way he worked it was quite ingeni-
GUS At about the middle of his program
he would undertake to shift a cannon ball
from one silk hat to another The hats
were placed at opposite ends of long table,
and while the trick in progress the in
terrupter, who seated in the audience
in the role Of a spectator, would suddenly
raise a shout of Lift the CLOTH Bitz
would stop IN apparent confusion, and after
a wordy alteration. during which the other
would insist on his point, he would snatch
up the cover angrily and disclose boy in
the act of passing cannon ball through
trap in the table top. Now are you salts
fled? he would exclaim, letting the cloth
drop again. You ought to have sense
enough to know that every trick has its
mocha niSm.'
Up to that point it seemed to be a clear
victory for the interrupter. and the audi
ence would generally howl in derision. At
that BlttZ would pretend TO get furious.
Ill do that trick, anyhow. just to spite
YOU he would exclam. and, taking a
pie of glass vases, he would place the hats
on top. thus raising them clear of the table.
Then he would lift the CLOTH and, 10 and be-
hold the boy had vanished into thin air!
With the cover still elevated and held in
place by pins the feat of shifting the ball
would be triumphantly performed. and,
needless to say. the spectators would shout
themselves black in the face. The trick
was nothing but a piece of clever palming,
and the disappearance of the bogus confed-
crate effected by a simple arrange
ment of inclined mirrors; but, all the same.
IL was a very effective piece of work and
never failed to make a profound impression
on the audience. BlitZ had a dozen varia-
tons of the interruption scheme, some
much better than the one | have described,
and. while they would be a trifie too obv-
for the up-to-date theatergoer of the
present. they never missed fire in the I'M
sophisticated early days.
Fake Interruptions in a Straightforward
conjuring performance have the double
intimidating any real skeptics in the house.
who might otherwise prove troublesome.
After man hears some other fellow get
badly wurSted In encounter with the
magician he will hesitate to put in an oar
himself, no matter how certain he may be
that he sees through the Illusion. In his
younger days Hermann used ready-made
Interruptions to some slight extent, but
afterward discarded them as being too dan
gerous. AS far he ever went was to
get an usher to call out: He's got it up his
sleeve or Look under that box!' OF
course. the article in question wouldn't be
there. and Hermann would get round of
applause. while the usher retired. apparent
ly crestfalen."