Pages from four little beans ramsay

FOUR LITTLE BEANS (A COMEDY TRICK)

BY

JOHN RAMSAY Edited, with Notes, by VICTOR FARELLI

X.

FOUR LITTLE BEAMS (A COMEDY TRICK)

Carefully Explained by

JOHN RAMSAY Edited, with Notes, by

VICTOR FARELLI.

Twelve Sketches by the Author.

All Rights Reserved.

Made and Printed at OBSERVER PRINTING WORKS, 33 Burns Statue Square, Ayr-

.

Dedicated to the Memory of My Brother

JAMES MILLAR RAMSAY The Best Friend I Ever Had.

CONTENTS Page

FOREWORD

4

ROUGH OUTLINE OF THE EFFECT

5

REQUIREMENTS

.'

THE ROUTINE I.

Initial Position On the Table Moistening the Beans Position

7 7 8 10

DISPOSAL OF THE BEANS

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

III.

7

PRELIMINARY

1.

2.

3.

4.

II.

6

,

Behind the Right Ear Behind the Left Ear Into the Right Eye Into the Left Eye Position

10 11 12 13 13

REAPPEARANCE

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

From the Left Eye From the Right Eye From the Right Ear From the Left Ear All Clear!

_

13 14 14 15 15

AFTERWORD BY THE EDITOR

17

THE RAMSAY TRILOGY

19

FOREWORD Unless I am mistaken, the routine explained in this modest little volume is the first sleight of hand trick I learned. I was then at school—over sixty years ago—and as I have been performing it constantly ever since, I have had, obviously, a lot of practice !

Although I have always done the trick fairly well, I have added, quite recently, a number of improvements which make it, I think, a routine not unworthy of the attention of any close-work magician.

Broadly speaking, it is similar in effect to the Chinese Marble Trick described by Edwin Sachs in his famous work, Sleight of Hand. (Pages 66-68 in the Paul Fleming edition). But as the basic 'move' explained by Sachs—namely, pushing up a marble into view on top of the closed fist—is not used in any stage in the routine, the conjurers in the audience are completely thrown off the scent, and, in the majority of cases, they have not the faintest idea of how the trick is really worked. This is due to the fact that they are on the lookout for a sleight that is never employed by me.

Needless to mention, the only originality claimed is for certain subtleties that I have introduced in the working of this trick which, old as it is, seems to be very little known among present-day magicians.

For those of my readers who disapprove of 'conjuring for conjurers,' I wish to emphasize that this routine with Four Little Beans is always enthusiastically received by an audience of laymen, be they young or old.

It is essentially a comedy effect, and it is certainly the easiest of all my close-work tricks. Its success depends, to a great extent, on the entertainer's ability as an actor and comedian.

Ayr, 1st September, 1952.