Everyone says today’s audiences will not sit for the pacing of magic and illusions of the past. To some extent, I agree, but I think many of the subtleties of the past are being lost. There was a lot of very creative, high-impact, long routines in some of the magic of the past.

Harry Blackstone Jr. could take 12- 15 minutes doing Zig-Zag, and it was totally entertaining. He would lead the audience into a possible solution for the effect, then he would snatch it away by sliding the middle over. Touching of the breathing woman’s middle eliminated the fake middle theory. When you realize how Robert Harbin had to work on cruise ships and get time out of a prop, you begin to understand the fine points and reasons for this type of presentation. You simply could not load a ship down with illusions whose presentations lasted only a minute or two.

I will concede that passing out the props for examination before trick and after is a bit much for today’s audiences. But a story that tugs at the emotions or otherwise involves the audience will still their interest.

I remember when I was in 4th grade. A magician named John Frye came to the elementary school and gave a performance. I would eventually buy his props from his estate and find he was once a performing partner with my mentor, Horace Marshall.

I don’t remember a lot of the effects he did but I did remember his closing effect: Abbott’s Canvas-Covered Box. I still can envision every detail of his presentation after all these years.

He enlisted the help of four sixth grade boys to build the box while he presented the rest of the show. When they were done, they examined everything very thoroughly. (There is no way they could have found the gimmick. Many years later when I purchased this exact prop, it took me over 2 hours to find the gimmick and I knew where to look!)

As the boys completed building the box, he got another young man on stage and put him in a pair of Hamburg 8 cuffs. He gave the boy the key to get himself out. But every time he got close to getting out, Mr. Frye would jostle the boy’s hands a bit. Then boy would be unable to get out. Since I had read about Houdini and the Bean Giant cuffs, I thought that was what was being used.

So Mr. Frye locked the handcuffs on his assistant, put her in a bag, locked the trunk, and laced the canvas cover over the trunk. The canvas cover had also been thoroughly examined. The four boys held a tent by the four corners over the box. Much like the old Sid Lorraine illustration in the Abbott’s catalog, a count of “One, Two, Three!” and the exchange was made. Through the curtain, Mr. Frye’s face was replaced by his assistant’s. The lacing was examined as the tent was removed. Of course, Mr. Frye was found inside the box.

But what made it so memorable was the total examination of all the props and the audience members on stage, not how fast it could be done. The audience became involved instead of just watching a person perform an effect.

There was another touch that was used by Bill Neff and Jimmy Stewart, when they worked together. Using the tent curtain, Bill’s head and hand would stick out through the curtain. A spectator grabbed his hand, and on the count of three, he was to pull Bill out of the cabinet. When he was pulled out it was the assistant, Jimmy Stewart). A few others used to use this touch, too.

But today, this illusion has fallen out of favor with many performers. Everyone wants to do the fastest sub trunk and be faster than the Pendragons. Jonathan and Charlotte were impressive with their speed, but I think something is being lost with the faster presentation. Think about it: How much audience involvement was usually found in the Pendragon’s presentation? I know on television things are cut for time. But even just examining the trunk, there was not the involvement of the audience, like Mr. Frye or others.

Dennis Haney (Denny & Lee) does a great job with it. He quips constantly while lacing up the box. The lacing of the box is the slow part of the trick. But with Denny’s presentation, it never drags. The little bits of business make this a great routine and entertainment.

Denny influenced Scott Alexander (a former assistant of Denny’s) to do it. Bob Higa of Chicago has done it for years. But very few people do it anymore. Duane Laflin did it this year at the Get-Together but it was a faster presentation that I really feel lost some of the impact of the illusion.

The Canvas-Covered Box, like the Zig Zag, is most effective when done as a talking routine. It sets up the illusion by removing possible solutions and involves the audience emotionally, which makes the effect stay strong in their memory. I think for a performer looking to add a high impact “new” illusion to do for real people, the canvas covered box can fit the bill. But it will take some work to develop an effective presentation.

The bottom line is a quick routine may play tighter in a show but will the audience really remember it as well as if it were played slower.

Don’t waste your magic. Involve the audience.