Encyclopedia of the Three Shell Game - Chanin

8/16/2019 Encyclopedia of the Three Shell Game - Chanin

1/84

E N C Y C L O P E D I A O F T H E

3 SHELL GAME

C O M P L E T E L Y E X P O S E D , R E V I S E D A N D E N L A R G E D

N EW A N D L A T E S T R O U T I N E S

by

P R O F U S E L Y I L L U S T R A T E D ,

C O M P R E H E N S I V E L Y D E S C R I B E D

E QU A L T O P E R S O N A L I N S T R U C T I O N S

A S E R I E S O F L E S S O N S O N T H E 3 S H E L L G A M E


2/84

PR I NT I NG


3/84

All Chanin

f

Routine;? a r e ^ ^ A

' A u d i e n c e - T e s t e d a s

a s P e r f o r m e d

' ^ "" by C hanin

Copyrighted

12-'48

by Chanin

Phi la . , Pa . , U.S .A.


4/84

BOOKS THAT WILL LIVE FOREVER

BY

C H A N I N

HELLO SUCKER

The original book on the 3-shel l game

J. C. SILK

Color change supreme

SEVEN-IN-ONE (CARD ROUTINE)

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SEV EN-IN-ONE

' BALL-O-TUBE MYSTERY

J. C. CIGAR MAGIC

Cigar Manipulat ions

J. C. ROPE TRICKS

Three in One

J. C. COIN ROUTINES

Handle with Gloves

J. C. GRAND FINALE

Silks at your finger t ips

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SLEEVING

SLEEVE MAGIC


5/84

/

/

/

/

/ /

/

/

This book i s dedica ted to my very

good f r i end , the l a t e Pau l Ros in i , be t t e r

known a s " T i ny W al t z " Ros i n i .

I l e a r n t he mos t i mpor t an t b r anch

of m ag ic , m isd i re c t io n , by watch ing P au l

do a f ew shows and observ ing the meth-

ods which he employed in accompl i sh ing

the m i r a c le s and fo r which he w as so

well known.

Thi s ded ica t ion i s in apprec ia t ion

| | of the he lpful sugges t ions tha t Paul Rosini j

was good enough to share wi th me.


6/84

FORWARD

Page 4

c e o B x o e a x s c e c a x Q z x ^ ^

JACK CHANIN, the author of this book has devoted

much t ime in i t s prepara t ion and has kept the var ious

m ov es to him self . F o r the p as t two y ea rs , I have watched

him figuring out and pract is ing new moves with the Wal-

nut Shells and the Pea. He finally decided to put them in-

to book form and the resul t is now before you.

Jack Chanin has fooled profess ional workers many

times and I can assure you that if you follow the i l lus-

t ra t ions careful ly, you wil l be able to do the same.

P h i la . , P a. - 1934. J i l ^ X t ^ r ^ "

In 1934, Jack published a book called "Hello Sucker"

descr ib ing in de ta i l the innermost worki r fs of tha t myster-

ious and usual ly cost ly past ime of a t tempting to locate

the elusive pea under one of the three English walnut

shel l s . This work was rece ived enthus ias t ica l ly by the

fraterni ty and wel l i t might be, for Mr. Chanin had de-

voted seven y e a r s to the se ar ch f o r novel mo ves and the

development of his own ideas on the subject .

Being a subscriber to the theory that one good i l -

lus trat ion is the equivalent of a thousand printed words ,

Jacks told the story with a multi tude of sketches, which

made i t a l l ext remely s imple to grasp.

As might be expected, in the pas t th i r teen years ,

there have been many improvements and new bi ts of

business which Jack has added to his fund of knowledge

on the Shel l Game. The t ime has come, therefore , to em-

body this addi t ional materia l in the earl ier work - the

resul t , which you hold in your hands, being a revised

and considerably enlarged edi t ion containing al l the or-

iginal information plus new moves, new tr icks and new

rout ines .

I have had the pleasure of looking over the proofs

and of be ing comple te ly bewi l te red by Jack ' s performance

of the contents . I was impressed by both. All the nec

essary da ta appears on the fol lowing pages . Now, i t ' s

-up to you,

FORWARD, JUNIOR

J. G. T., Jr .


7/84

S T U D I O D F M A G I C •

4tt PE RRY 8LD G. 15X0 CH EST NU T ST. FHIL A 2 PA.

M E M B E R O F

H o u d i n i C l u b

o f P h i l a d e l p h i a

•

S o c i e t y o f

A m e r i c a n M a g i c i a n s

•

I n f e r n a f i o n a l

B r o t h e r h o o d o f

M a g i c i a n s

•

D e l l O D e l l -

F r i e n d s o f M a g i c C l u b

•

Y o g i C l u b

o f P h i l a d e l p h i a

•

M a g i c i a n s A l l i a n c e

o f E as te r n Sta te s

•

A . S . V . A .

. W i n n e r o f

" C e r t i f i c a t e o f A w a r d "

f r o m P h il a d e l p h i a C o u n c i l

o f D e f e n s e

W i n n e r o f

" C e r t i f i c a t e o f H o n o r "

f r o m

Showtime M a g a z i n e

•

M e m b e r o f

. U n i t e d E n t e r t a i n e r s

C l u b o f P h i l a d e l p h i a

•

M e m b e r o f

T h e M a g i c D e a l e r s '

A s s o c i a t i o n

•

The Magic ians

G u i l d

of Amer ica

T w i c e W i n n e r o f t h e H o u d i n i C l u b o f P h i l a d e l p h i a A w a r d

R M . 6 1 8 W I T H E R S P O O N B L D G .

I S O S. J U N I P E R AT S A N S O M

P H I L A . 7 . P A .

Dear Paul :

I have f inal ly got ten around to

answer ing your l e t t e r .

I have been t ied up quite a bit

fin ish ing the Book on Sleev ing. I t

was a very successful book and i t has

rece ived very good comments and

pra i se f rom a l l who have read the book .

The las t t ime that we met in St .

Louis , you asked me about the severa l

new moves that I have worked with the

She ll Gam e. As you re m e m b e r , I

promised to send the informat ion on

to you just as soon as I had the chance.

I am sending you the complete

manuscr ip t , and i l lus t ra t ions and a l l ,

so that you can see for yourself the

many new and c lever ideas .

I know that you are thoroughly

famil ia r wi th the or ig ina l rout ines of

the Three She l l Game f rom my f i r s t

book. I have now combined the f i rs t

and the new materia l in this new book.

Paul , I have taken plenty of t ime

to t e s t t he ma te r i a l de sc r ibed he re .

O l d e st M A G I C S H O P i n P h i l a d e l p h i a


8/84

a x / i a sa a x v G t t

Since you a l ready know the fundamenta l

moves, e tc . , I know that i t wi l l be no t rouble for

you to learn the newest methods , and rout ines .

I now give to you the cream of the crop.

I hope tha t a f te r reading th i s , you wi l l wr i te

and te l l me what you think of the la tes t methods

before I turn th i s over to the pr in ter .

I am going to cal l this the ENCYCLOPEDIA

of A ud ien ce - te ste d R ou t ine s of the 3 SHE LL G AME.

I know that this is not an Encyclopedia of the SHELL

GAME, as there are hundreds of moves , but they

a r e no t p r ac t i ca l f o r en t e r t a i nm en t pu r p os es , s i nce

they a re used by chea te r s .

(From the pr iva te f i les of Chanin)


9/84

t x a o a x x x c x ® ^ ^

Dear Jack:

I am re turn ing the manuscr ip t fo r the

Three Shel l Game.

I have found many f ine rout ines that I did

not even know w er e po ss ib le . I s n ' t th er e anything

e ls e that you do but foo l with the Sh ell G am e? It

seems tha t way.

There i s only one cr i t ic i sm tha t I can make,

and that is that I was very disappointed when I came

to the las t page, as I wanted to see more of your f ine

i l lu s t ra ted rou t ines . Your explana t ions a r e sh or t

and to the point.

Yes , you have cer ta in ly taken the Three

Shell Game out of the carnival class and put i t into

Society, where i t belongs.

I have made notes of what I want to use my-

self for table work.

I know that the purchaser of this book, a

copy of which should be in every Magician 's Library,

will not be disappointed.

Hoping to have a Magical Session with you

shor t ly .

Magica l ly yours ,

PAUL "Tiny Wal tz" ROSINI

June, 1848 - Chicago, 111.


10/84


11/84

Today, when the Magician is required to do

so much table work and to come into such close con-

tac t wi th his audience , I fee l tha t there i s a rea l p lace

fo r the Shel l Gam e. So, in placing th is be fo re you,

you not only get my original ideas, but the new ones

developed through the years .

Now, my f r iends , I p lace before the world

of Magic, every last bit of knowledge of this old and

neve r - to -be - fo rgo t t en mas t e rp i ece , t ha t t h rough the

pas t four teen years , have ga ined me thousands of

f r i ends . I am sure you can mas te r these moves as

well as I , and then i t wil l also gain thousands of

f r i ends for you .

In closing, may I say that up to the t ime of

the first edit ion of Hello Sucker in 1934, there were

never to my knowledge , any useful informat ion pub-

lish ed on the 3 Shell Gam e, due to the lack of p ro p er

explanat ions and i l lus t ra t ions .

In the original Hel lo Sucker , and this re-

v i sed and en la rged book a re the f i r s t o r ig ina l i l lus -

t ra t ions to expose the Shel l Game, which were

worked out and posed by myself .

Hundreds of those were made but only the

b es t w er e se lec ted . Many of th es e have been copied.

I t is impossible to learn without having good i l lus-

t ra t ions of the proper hand posi t ion.

You may res t assured tha t you are ge t t ing

the cor rec t , o r ig ina l and prac t i ca l up- to-da te i l lus

t ra t ions which wi l l enable you to learn th is mas ter -

piece in the shor tes t poss ible t ime.


12/84

This book was not wri t ten for the purpose of

gambl ing , the re fore , compl ica ted maneuvers and

skuldudgery as prac t iced by cheaters , i s comple te ly

e l im ina ted . T he re f or e , i t w as n ec es sa ry to spend

years to d iscover new moves and rout ines .

It ha s been a lot of fu n fo r m e working out

these new moves and rout ines described in this book,

and tes t ing them on many audiences that have had

the p leasure of work ing for , f rom bankers to br ick-

l aye r s .

It is only through experience that you can

get the t rue enter ta ining value of this new, modern,

up- to-da te , easy- to- lea rn She l l Game.

However , you may res t assured tha t you

are ge t t ing the correc t , or ig ina l and prac t ica l , up-

to-da te ideas and methods for an up- to-da te audi -

ence.

"CHANIN"


13/84

Pas t Pres ident of the Houdini

Club of Philadelphia

P R E S E N T S

THE

FAMOUS

" THREE

SHELL GAME"


14/84

CHAP TER 1 I N O T E S

PO INT ON SH ELL S |

1) I do no t w ant to spen d a lo t of |

t im e and sp ac e tel l in g you abou t the |

h is t o ry of the 3 Shel l G am e. F r o m |

my r e s e a r c h no one se em s to know § •

ju st how or w he re i t got s t a r t e d . I |

have been told by o ld - t im e rs , tha t |

they have see n th is gam e w orked §

with d i f fer en t ob jec ts , such a s oy- |

s t e r she l l s , tops f r o m bo t t l e s , th im - §

b le s , half po tato es with a sp ac e |

gouged ou t. |

2) And w hile I hav e tr ie d al l of |

the m , be l iev e m e, i t is not w orth |

the tim e tha t you could spe nd on |

lear nin g to hold those d i f f er en t ob- |

je c ts , as th er e i s nothing to co m - |

p a re wi th the re g u la r th re e half |

shel ls , i f they are f ixed as descr ibed |

in th is boo k. |

3) A She ll is b e st m ad e by l ining |

the in si d e w ith a li tt le bit of putty or |

p la s t e r of p a r is or wood cem ent . The gj

l ining m us t be done ca re fu l ly a s i t |

i s of the ut m os t im po rta nc e. I t is I

b e st to f i l l in n e a r the back of the |

sh el l and the f r o n t . |

4) Th e p u rp o se of l ining the |

sh el ls is to help the pea to m ake i t s |

esc ap e when the sh el l is m oved. No |

o th e r p r e p a r a t i o n s a r e n e c e s s a r y a s |

i t is b e st when the ins ide is a l i t t le i

rough instead of smooth.


15/84

N O T E S | 5) P a u l , a lth ou gh th e n a t u r a l s h e ll

| that is s l igh t ly p re p a re d upon the in-

| s ide to al low the pea to co m e out m o re

§ f r e e ly i s qui te a l l r igh t , I have disco v-

ered a way to get a shel l that is per-

fe ctio n i ts el f . T h is is one of the thin gs

tha t have b een foo ling lots of tho se who

know the game.

6) In the move called YOU HOLD

IT, somet imes a s l ight movement of

the shell can be detected as the pea

m ak es i ts esc ap e. I t is dete cted by

the finger of the party holding the

she l l . The she l l m ak es a v er y s l ight

jum p a s the pea co m es out. Now, if

you prepare the she l l s as I expla in

here, you will f ind that this will not

happen.

7) You wil l not ice in the i l lus tra-

tion J the shape of the bottom of the

sh ell . W hen the sh ell is in th is sh ap e,

i t rocks a l i t t le and that is exact ly what

you want i t to do. When the spectator

places his f inger on a shel l shaped l ike

this , the back of the shell automatically

lif ts up a l i t t le before you even touch

it . Now, when you execute the move,

the pea makes i t s escape very eas i ly

and the spectator can feel nothing as

th e re i s nothing to fe el . A sh ell of

this type is easy to prepare and al l

you need is a fi le . H ow ever, d on ' t

f i le i t too much.


16/84

8) If you t ake t ime enough look- | N O T E S

ing ove r som e En glish w alnu ts, you |

wil l f ind some shells already shaped |

that way by m oth er n at ur e. A sh ell |

of this kind is very important if you 8

a r e looking fo r p er fe ct io n and I |

know you a r e o r you would not hav e |

this book. How ever, th er e a r e m ary s

m ag ician s who don ' t c a re to take |

t im e and tro ub le to m ak e thing s of |

th is kind. |

9) Now, sin ce the sh e ll s of th is |

type a r e of such an ins ign ifica nt |

p ri c e , I fe el s u r e you would do ju st |

a s w ell to p u rc h as e this type sh ell |

f ro m your de aler Then you w il l |

know beyond the shadow of a doubt §

that they are r ig h t in ev ery r e s p e c t |

So, be su re you buy the or ig in al §

CHANIN SHELLS wherever you buy J

this book.

CHAPTER 2

THE CORRECT PEA

1) The correct pea and the pro-

per texture of rubber is the most

im po rtan t thing. Some peop le wil l

tell you to get a rubber sponge of

the type sold in the Dime Stores:

others wil l te l l you to use rubber

cu t f rom a p r in t e r ' s ro l l , o r e r a s -

e r s f rom penc i l s , e t c .

2) Almost everyone will have a

different idea as to the best type of


17/84

t z x a s a o i a j x c B X ^ ^

N O T E S

ru bb er to us e . H ow ever , I be l ieve tha t

I have done this t r ic k ev ery bi t a s much,

if not m o re , than anyon e of my ac qu ain -

tances in magica l c i rc les , and tha t cov-

e r s a lo t of ground. T h e re fo re , I t ru ly

believe that I know what I am talking

about when I te l l you the correct tex -

ture of rubber to use , f rom exper ience .

3) Use any rubber of a very soft

f ine t ex ture , f requent ly ca l l ed " foam"

rub be r . Co lo r i s im m ate r i a l , a s

eventual ly , the pea turns dark f rom

handling.

CHAPTER 3

HOW TO MAKE A PEA

It is best to cut it into a small-

cube and then, t r imming the ends off ,

i t wil l give you a small round pea.

It is not important that the pea be

per fec t ly round .

CHAPTER 4

THE SIZE OF THE PEA

The size of the pea has a lot to do

wi th the correc t manipula t ions .

The i l lus trat ion "C", Page 16,

shows severa l s i zes tha t a re su i t ab le

for the average person .

I f your f ingers a re narrow, you

should use a smaller pea, but if you


18/84

N O T E S

Hello Sucker

I

§

' V / H l C H

O M E .


19/84

N O T E S

have f ingers tha t a re s tubby, where

you have more f lesh to cover , you

can use one a l i t t l e l a rger .

However , the she l l s must be la rge

enough to cover the pea adequately.

All of this works according to the

size of your hands and your f ingers .

After a dozen t r ies , you can de-

termine exact ly what you want .

I t . i s not impor tant to use a la rge

pe a. I t i s only im p o rta n t to do a

clean job.

Jus t remember tha t these l i t t l e

de ta i l s a re wha t l eads to pe r fec t ion .

So now that you know all that there

is to know about the pea, we will pro-

ceed to the next s tage of the game.

CHAPTER 5

WORKING SURFACE

1) Several sheets of newspaper is

the b es t su rf ac e to wo rk on. Ta ble

cloths , or any surface that is not too

sm ooth. A few ex pe r im en ts , and you

wil l know exact ly what surface to use.

After ge t t ing the proper exper ience ,

you should be able to do i t on glass or

any surface a t a l l .

2) In Night Clubs, many places do

not u se ta b le clo th s. If you fin d i t

diff icul t to do on a marble table , you


20/84

may use a menu ins tead of news-

paper .

3) A board 12" by 15" covered black I

on one side and red on the other side

gives i t a pr of es s io n al touch. Th e

reason for us ing d i f fe ren t co lors i s

so tha t there wi l l be cont ras t be-

tween the shells , the cover, and the

table top.

4) Don't try to display any ability.

If you do, the customer will become

cagey and will not want to play.

5) But don' t worry, when i t is al l

over , they wil l real ize jus t how

clever you are .

N O T E S

CHAPTER 6

Paul :

THE 3 SHELL GAME

(Basical ly Important)

1) The f i r s t im po rtan t s te p in do -

ing the 3 Shell Game is to learn the

fundam enta l m oves . P ra c t i c e them

fai th ful ly unt i l they have bec om e

perfec t and the more compl ica ted

moves wi l l come easy.

2) Re m em ber tha t m isd i rec t ion

plays a most impor tant par t in th is

famous game. However, do not make

these ges tures too pronounced or

too often. 'Never look at the shell


21/84

a g x t t o a a e o ^ ^

N O T E S

that contains the pea, look at one of

the others and the specta tors wi l l

follow your gaze, and they will (al l

su c k e rs "do) b ite ?

3) The moves in the 3 Shell Game

should be performed s lowly and de-

l ib er ate ly . The sh el ls should not be

juggled around any. m or e than i s n ec-

essary , and whenever a move i s made,

always move each shel l in exact ly the

same manner , so as to misd i rec t the

onlookers .

4 ) To repea t , misd i rec t ion p lays a

paramount pa r t in th i s g rea t game.

Somet imes a s l ight ,hes i tancy in your

| speech while handling an empty shell

a ids in misdi rec t ion. Your eyes a lso

help. Look at the shell under which

you are not going to hide the pea.

CHAPTER 7

FUNDAMENTAL

(Master Move)

To lea rn the She l l Game cor rec t ly ,

i t wi l l be necessary for you to learn

the Master Move.

By tha t I mean where you ext rac t

the pea without anyone seeing how it

i s accompl ished, a lso place i t back

under any shel l .

This i s the Fundamenta l hand

po s i t ion. To neg lec t th is m ove would


22/84

r e s u l t in g iving aw ay th e s e c r e t of | N O T E S

th i s Mas te rp iece .

You must s tudy the exact posi-

t ion of each and every finger unti l

you unders tand i t perfec t ly , s ince

99% of all the moves done with the

Shel l Game are based on th is par-

t i cu la r move desc r ibed as c lea r ly

as poss ible in s ix i l lus t ra t ions .

The l as t 3 f in ge rs m us t be cur led ;

as i l lus t ra ted , and they must a lso

r e s t on the table . F ig ur e 5 shows

exactly how the pea is held between

the thumb and second f inger .

F i g u r e

1

shows how f ingers a re

curled. Shel l has been el iminated

for c lar i ty .

Figure 3, dotted l ine, shows the

pea ins ide the shel l . F ig u re 4 shows

the pea is just about to leave the

shel l .

IMPORTANT - The second f in-

ge r neve r s epa ra t e s f rom your t hum^

but by pushing the shell far enough

forward, the pea wil l rol l into the

proper p lace where you can pinch i t

as in Figure 5.

I t i s bes t to se t up a smal l mir-

r o r on a sl igh t ang le, so th at you can

see exact ly what your specta tors

would see.


23/84

a i x c sa sQ Q X i ^ ^

N O T E S

The rest of the book will be of

absolutely no value at a l l , unless you

thoroughly unders tnad the posi t ions of

the hand.

If a l i t t le s tudy is given here , less

p ra c t ic e w i ll be needed la t e r . No

mat ter what o ther knowledge you may

gain as you study this book, i t wil l be

ut ter ly use less to you unless you have

this Master Move down to perfec t ion.

I cannot s t ress th is too s t rongly

as I want you to learn to do the Shells

m as t e r fu l l y . Study i l l u s t r a t i o ns 1 to

6.

Do not t i re your audience

with the She l l G am e. B e

sure that you know when

you have done enough.


24/84

p a g e 2 2 FU

N D A M E N T A L S

a x s s c K e o s o s o s s a s c ^ ^

N O T E S

1

r

i

C O R R E C T F I N G E R .

POSITION

•

H O L D I N G S H E L L

SECOND FINGEPx CLOSE-

T O T H U M B A L W A Y S

# M

3

i

R IG H T H A N D C O V t f t S

PE-A — T O 5E CPiETLy

R E M O V E P t A , S L I D E -

S H E L L F O f H W A h D


25/84

• F U N D A M E N T A L S P ag e 23

N O T E S

ftErM OVING P E r A -

/

T O

J K E T U f t N , D P * A W H A N D

& A C K , P U T T I N G A B I T

O F P R E t f U f t E - O N P E A

N O T I C E : T H A T T H E P E - A

D O E S N O T C O M E O U T A T

T H E - C E N T E r P i , & U T A

T P J F L E T O L E F T O W I N G

T O A S W I N G O F - S H E r L L

D O N O T C H A N G E F I N G E K

P 0 5 I T I 0 N A T A N Y T I M E


26/84

CHA PTER 8 | N O T E S

RED, WHITE

&

BLUE

Paul :

I have a set of shells painted

di f fe ren t co lors . One re d shel l , one

W hite sh ell and one blue sh ell . I

place the pea under one of these

shel ls , cal l ing at tent ion to the color

of the shell.

Now, I move the shel ls around

and show that the pea has gone from

one color sh el l to an oth er . T his

gets away from the gambling idea

and shows the t r ick to be purely

slight of hand, making a good num-

ber with which to f inish a rout ine.

I t makes a wonder fu l gamble rs

expose, showing beyond a doubt that

the operator of the old shel l game

is jus t about as c rooked as a pre tze l

and at the same t ime you get credi t

for being a very ski l l ful manipulator .

Try this out and you wil l be sur-

p r i se d a t the re su l t s . If you wish

you may use she l l s numbered 1 - 2 -

3. Then ask the spectator under

which number he would l ike to have

the pea ap pe ar . In th is ca se , the

cus tomer i s a lways r igh t .


27/84

N O T E S | CHAPTER 9

YOU HOLD IT

I call this routine YOU HOLD

IT . It i s , w ithout a qu esti on , one of .

the f ines t foo le rs .

Any person would be will ing to

bet h is mother- in- law tha t the pea

is under the shel l because he had

his finger on i t and has seen nothing

or fel t anything out of the ordinary

so as to suspect any t r ickery .

Yet, when they l if t the shell and

find that the pea is gone, you could

knock them over with a f e a th e r .

Th at i s how su rp r i se d they a re .

Many per formers a re in the hab i t o f

making d i f f e re n t i t em s appea r under

the shel ls such as , money or a large

sponge or a m ar b le , e tc . I do not

think that this type of finale should

be used for the Shell Game. Notli ing

but three half walnut shells and a pea

should be . employed in th is c la ss ic a l

m a s t e r p i e c e •


28/84

5P€CTATOPi HOLD5 IT-

P U S H 5

H

t L L -F Oh W A R D

I V E MOV I NG P Er A

HE- ND 5 H L L 5

M O V E D - F Of t WA f t D


29/84

Y O U - H O L D I T / P a g e -27

O X O K ea eO S X P eO a ^ ^

N O T E S

S

L I D E - P T A U N D E-P »

S H E L L A F - T E P i S H O W I N G

L I F T 5 H E L L ^ L IG HTL Y

AND DfKAW B A C K A 5

IF SLIPPING PEA UNDE-fc


30/84

P a j e Z s O V t P l T H E T O P

a o x j o ^ o o o a ^ m G o x f f i ^ ^

N O T E S

P t C K i U P

CHAPTER 10

OVER THE TOP

You wil l cal l this rout ine a

honey. I s t rongly urge you to learn

this move by a l l m ea n s . You can

fool 95 people out of a hundred

with it .

I t is only after you have the

p leasure o f see ing so many faces

smil ing with enjoyment of the en-

t e r t a inment tha t you wi l l r ea l i ze

the fun to be had with only three

half walnut shel ls .

This , in i t se l f , should bols ter

your en thus iasm to l ea rn th i s .

M G H T S H E L L K A I ^ D

5 U G H T I _ y O V E P i

L E - F - T S H E - L L


31/84

O V t P , T H E T O P Page 29

N O T E S

B O T H S H E L L S M O V E D

T O L E F T — PE-A

S L ID E S I N R I G H T

R I G H T M O V E D F O R W A R D

A N D PEA C O M E O U T

P E A IS 5 L I D U N D E -R

3 R D. 5 H E L L


32/84

CHAPTER 11 § N O T E S

DOUBLE PE A |

P au l: • |

H er e is one that you w ill alwa ys |

u se once you try i t out . F o r th is |

ef fe ct , you u se two p e a s (duplicates). |

Have the du plic ate pea in yo ur A

right hand t rouser pocket and in the $

co u rs e of p er fo rm in g one of the |

m ov es pre vio usly explained, get $

p o ss es si o n of the pe a in the poc ket. |

A fte r showing a sh ell em pty, |

sneak this pea und erneath i t , un - |

known to the sp ec ta to r. Now, p la ce |

the f i r s t pe a und er a sh el l and at ;5

once , s t e a l i t out a s you m ove the |

sh el l a s a l re ad y explained. |

Now, m ove the em pty sh el l |

around, keeping the pea that you juste

s tole , conc ealed. N ever m ove the s

sh ell tha t con tains the second pe a |

that you had in the pock et a t f i r s t . f

Now, when you l if t this shell up

and expose this pea, the spectator

wil l be myst i f ied, because you have i j

ne ve r touched this sh el l . v

You are now, of course, in a

po sit ion to re p e a t the tr ic k . D on 't i*

re p ea t m o re than th re e or fou r t ime s is

and you have one that will even fool

an exp ert g am bler or one who thinks £


33/84

N O T E S

a o sx Q g x c x eo ea B ^ ^

he knows all about the shell game.

Of co ur se , you re a l i z e th e r e a r e

many combinat ions that you may use

with the double pea effect , that I wil l

leave for you to f igure out for yourse l f .

Avoid overdoing this effect so as

not to be caugnt with two p ea s . D is -

pose of one pea to the pocket.

CHAPTER 12

BACK HAND TRICK

There i s a very c lever move in

this rout ine. However, i t must be so

thoroughly unders tood tha t prac t ice

wi l l be necessa ry to ga in pe r fec t ion .

Misd i rec t ion mus t be used when

the shell is kicked by looking at the

people and saying something s ince

the back of the hand picks this up

•without any cover.

This is not dangerous at a l l i f i t

i s re h e ar se d enough. T im ing i s im -

po rta n t . Th e sh el ls a r e kicked 1, 2,

3, without any hesitat ion.

The pick up takes a spl i t second.

W atch yo ur an gl es . A fte r you get

caught se v er a l t im es , you w i ll le ar n

to do i t bet ter .

The seven moves i l lus t ra ted , ex-

plain i t thoroughly.


34/84

P a g e

3 2

b a c k h a n d

k i c k

N O T E S

v f c

5 HE LL 5 5I DEWI 5E

K tl C K »

K i l C K i


35/84

B A C K - H A N D K I C K w a

WHEPIE 15 I T ?

W H E N N O T F O U N D

U N D E l K S E L E C T E D

5 H E L L — T U P \N H A N D

A 5 .IN F I G X A 5 .


36/84

CH APTER 13

N O T E S

VARIATION

Here is a variat ion of showing

the sh ell emp ty. Just g ra sp i t with

the f i rs t f inger and thumb of r ight

hand, move shel l forward about 2

inches with f i rs t f inger , and you

raise the end of the shell while the

pea remains in back of i t .

As you work it down, pull i t

back towards yourself , and the pea

will go in.

This move is only good with the

aud ience in fr o n t of you. W atch i t .

(See I l lus trat ions for proper hold) .

Has te makes was te

Watch it

Timing

Misdi rec t ion

Make Pe r fec t i on . . .


37/84

U N D E R T H E F I N G E R N A I L

P £ K e 3 6

N O T E S

8


38/84

CHAPTER 14

WHICH ONE, BUB?

"To make it easy for you to*

locate the pea, I will use only two

ins tea d of th re e s h e l l s . " (Now, you

say this: "I will ask you now to

point to the one that you think the

pea i s under . " )

With the right hand, move the

lef t sh el l to the le f t . P ick up the

middfe shel l , cover pea, and move

i t tow ard s the le f t . Pic k up r ig h t

hand shell , pull i t about one inch to-

w ard s yo urs e l f , and load sh el l . A s

you pass the remark , " I ' l l on ly use

two this time," you pick up the shell]?

between the f i rs t and second f ingers

with hand f la t on the table , as i l lus-

trated (Fig. 1).

As you move shel l towards the

left , the pea will follow the dotted

line, and as i t reaches to the end of

the hand, you turn the hand com-

pletely over showing that the shell

is em pty (Fig. 2). In the p r o c e s s of

turning hand with palms up, the pea

remains hidden under the f leshy

p a rt . (Fig . 2).

You t ry th i s severa l t imes , and

you will quickly get the idea of how

to move your hand so that the pea

w ill not be se en . Now, tu rn hand

N O T E S


39/84

N O T E S

over again so tha t the pa lm res ts on

the table; move the hand towards the

r ight unt i l the pea rol l s to the base

of your thum b. Fol low a rr o w s fo r

co r r ec t move . P l ac e f i r s t f i nge r of

your lef t hand on the shel l as you

move the r ight hand out ; lef t hand

acts as a shield while you s teal the

pea in the crotch of your thumb. All

of these movements blend in without

any suspic ious movements (F ig . 3) .

At this point , you can st i l l let

sp ec ta to r tur n the sh el l over and

see for himself that there is nothing

t h e r e .

This method was devised to con-

vince the onlooker that he would be

r ight by picking the center she l l .

W hen he p la c e s the f in g er on one

of the two, you take the remaining

shell , and, if you pull i t towards your-

se lf , you re lo ad the pe a. When he

turns h is she l l over and sees tha t the

pea i s no t th e r e , say , "S o s o r r y ,

you should have taken th is one ."

This is a good rout ine, and you

should make very good use of i t .

Be an Ar t i s t

No t j u s t a T r i cks t e r


40/84

Page 38 W H O ONE BUB?

N O T E S


41/84

OPEN HAND SHIFT ROUTINE

This i s very c lever , and, s ince

your f ingers a re opened wide , there

can ' t be any poss ibi l i ty of t r ickery .

However , i f you watch the i l lus t ra-

t ions, you will quickly see how the

t r i cke ry t akes p l ace .

After the pea has been moved to

the palm of the hand, as in Fig. 2, a

person is asked to point and keep his

f inger on the shel l that he thinks the

pea i s under .

Let 's suppose the one on the

right was selected, then the one on

the le f t w as se le c ted . I put my se c -

ond f inger on the middle shel l , hold-

ing i t down as I pull my right hand

towards mysel f , br inging the pea to

the opening of second and third fin-

ge r s .

The lef t hand acts as a shield

• when your f i n g e rs se p a ra te to ca tch

the pea. (See Figs . 3 and 4) .

VARIATION.. . .SUCKER MOVE:

When the pea is in posi t ion, Fig.

2, the f i rs t shel l is pul led away,

spectator holding i t ; a lso the second

shel l i s pul led away, specta tor hold-

ing i t . Now, w hile holding th e th ird


42/84

shel l be tween th i rd and four th f in-

gers , holding palm f la t on table ,

tu rn the hand with the p alm up

showing tha t th is sh el l is em pty,

whi le the pea remains hidden under

the back of the hand.

N O T E S

The move i s now re v e rs e d . The

hand i s pul led towards yourse l f ,

while the pea runs along the third

f ingers where i t i s loaded in to the

shel l and lef t on the table .

Since th is w as shown em pty and

the palm of the hand is seen, there

is no quest ion in their minds that

the pea must be under one of the

other two.

Here i s where you play the par t

a s a g re at m agician . A fter one of

the two shel ls was turned over and

proved to be empty, there is only

one explanat ion the pea m u st be

under the second person 's she l l .

You admit that the pea is under

the shell , but to show something out

of the ordinary , I pre tend to remove

the pea by pinching the pea out of

the sh el l . But , hold you r f i n g er s

a t leas t f ive inches away f rom the

she l l aga in holding the im ag in -

ary pea above the shel l that you

have previously shown to be empty,

dropping the pea in there .


43/84

N O T E S Since your shel l was shown empty

f i rs t , the second shel l shown empty,

the pea must have been in the third

one.

When the three specta tors f ind

that the pea is not in there , you ask

one of them to turn over the shell

tha t you had. You w i ll be su rp r i se d

a t the resu l t s .

A l i t t le act ing here wil l help your

reputa t ion.

There a re many combina t ions

which can be worked wi th your im-

aginary removal of the pea .


44/84

Page 42 OPE N H A N D S H I F T

STARTING

M O V E T O f c l G H T A N D

F O I K W A f c D — T H E N

K E L f c A S E r S H E L L S

L I F T H A N D A N D C L O S E -

S L I G H T L Y , R E T A I N I N G

P E A A S I N F I G . +

N O T E S


45/84


46/84


47/84

N O T E S

All th re e sh el l s a r e now em pty.

Ask person to point to one of the

sh el l s , and te l l h im " I sha l l m ove

the pea in v is ib ly ." Make a few

p a s s e s with the le f t hand, and ask

the sp ec tato r to tu rn the sh el l o ve r .

And, to his s u rp r is e , the pea i s no

longer th er e . B ut ye t , a secon d

ago, you had shown h im th at the

pea was under there .

I t se em s to the spe cta to r tha t

you have never touched the shell and

the pea has escaped.

As you turn the shel l over with

the opening down, you do this with

the r ig ht hand, a t the sa m e t im e,

load ing the pe a into the sh el l .

T h is m us t be done w hile looking

up at the aud ience saying ,

" W e ' l l e l im inate th is one , m aking

i t eas ier for you to locate the

pea under one of the other two

s h e l l s . "

From now on, you are on

your own, as there are endless

poss ibi l i t ies wi th th is move.

CHAPTER 17

LOOK FOLKS, NO HANDS

Leave the shel ls on the table

and ask spectator to cover the pea


48/84

with ce nte r sh el l . Ta ke your hanky,

hold i t by opposi te corners , one in

each hand, lay i t on a straight l ine

wi th the sh el l s . Pu sh a l l the th re e

she l l s a t the same t ime forward by

using the hanky which is held by

both hands (See Fig. 1).

You w ill f ind th at the pe a w ill

com e out and re m ai n under the

hanky. You can push the sh el ls

forward so tha t the pea wi l l come

clear to the opposite side of the

hanky. (See F ig . 2).

Here, you can pick i t up with

the r ight hand, second f inger and

thum b. T hi s is a c lev er mo ve, but

you mus t impress your audience

that you use your handkerchief in-

s tead of your f ingers to prove tha t

every thing is above bo ar d. T hi s is

very convincing, and they will be

willing to bet.

After get t ing possess ion of the

pea, you ask the spectator to turn

over the one on your right, but , of

co u rse , i t i s empty. As you tu rn

it back with your right hand, you

load the pea, and ask the spectator

to put his f inger on that shell and

hold it.

T h is i s tru ly convincing and they

w ill be w ill ing to be t th at the p ea i s

s t i l l under the center one.

N O T E S


49/84

LOOK FOLKS,NO HANDS

Page 47

asKaeoBjaoaaxcsxoB^^

N O T E S


50/84

CHAPTER 18 I N O T E S

EENY , MEE NY, MINEY, MO g

In th is ro u tin e, th re e shells ' , one |

pe a, and a playing c a rd or a b u si- |

n es s ca rd a r e used . |

The th re e sh el l s and pea a r e |

l ined up in a ro w , a s cl o se to the 1

o p er at o r a s p o ss ib le. (See F ig . 1). |

T h is show s the m ethod of holding |

the playing ca rd . T hi s posi t ion |

m us t be the sam e a s i l lu s t ra ted . |

Th e pea is co vere d with the ce nte r |

she l l by a sp ec tato r . |

The edge of the c ar d is in se rte d |

un de r the sh el l abo ut half way, |

Then the sh el l is pushed f o r - i

w ard about s ix inch es , the sa m e is £

done with the sh ell on the le ft- h an d |

s id e, and then the m iddle sh ell . s

Th e m idd le sh ell i s m oved only j|

about th re e inch es . §

You now place the card on top

of the first shell and pull i t back so

that they are again on an even l ine. j j j '

T he s a m e i s done with the sh el l on jx

the lef t-h an d sid e. ij

Up un ti l now, nothing ha s take n &

plac e . At th is point , you ask the o n - |

look er to look und er the sh el l and »


51/84

cs aacBxsK^^

N O T E S { y ou s a y to h im " D o y ou th in k t he p e a

i s under h e r e ? " You wi l l ge t many

an sw er s . If he pi ck s the one on the

right-hand s ide, kick i t over with the

card and say "No, I am sorry , you

a re w ron g . " The s am e app l i e s to

the she l l on the le f t -h an d s ide . Th e

idea is to leave the shel ls on the

right or lef t , with the openings up.

You will f ind that people tend to

be a l i t t le s low and hesitant as to

which shel l the pea is under and this

b re ak s up the cont inui ty . You mu st

take i t for granted tha t the r ight or

lef t i s ment ioned.

O ft t im es , I do not wai t fo r an

answer , bu t su rmise t ha t someone

in the back mentioned the one on

the r ig h t or le f t . A s w e go along,

you wi l l s ee the reason for th i s

maneuve r .

We wil l suppose that the r ight

and le f t she l l s were ment ioned, and

they are turned over wi th the open-

ing s up and le f t in that po si t ion .

At this point , you ask the on-

looker to l i f t the center shel l and

se e tha t the pe a i s s t i l l th er e . I t

is best to le t the on-looker pick up

£the shel l himself .

I a lway s ask som eon e on my

ri g h t or l e f t to l i f t the sh el l . If you


52/84

N O T E S

Page 50

csxoxe^ososososcsaxB^^

ask som eon e in the ce n te r , he would

obstruct your operat ion, which againi

tends to lose your audiences ' a t ten-

t ion.

All of these things must be taken:

into considerat ion i f you are to do a

good enter ta ining job.

Now, le t ' s suppose tha t the ce n-

ter she l l was ment ioned. . . I ask the

party to l i f t i t and see, while say-

ing , "No , i t ' s s t i l l he re . "

Again, move the center shel l ,

but this t ime, l i f t ing the shel l high,

inser t the card be tween the shel l

and the pea so that the pea wil l re-

main on the table .

You wil l note that as you push

the sh e l l fo r w ard , you can gr as p

the pea between the second f inger

and thumb (See Fig. 1).

After grasping the pea , come

back to the shel l on the r ight-hand

side, kick i t over , and say, "Not

h e r e . " B r ing the r igh t hand over

the shel l , drop the pea ins ide and

turn this shel l over with the second

fin g er and thum b. (Do not chan ge

fin g er po si t ion ) . Com e back to the

lef t hand, kick that shel l over , and

say , "You see , i t ' s no t he re e i the r"

and turn that shell over again with

f ingers he lp ing .


53/84


54/84

Page 52

ca»


55/84

EENY.MEENY.MINEY.MOpage

5


56/84

CH APT ER 19

MONTE CARLO

(What are the odds?)

Paul :

This i s good for audience par-

t icip atio n. You get everyb ody doing

something because he wants to see

ju st how clev er he is . T his is done

by us ing the lay-out descr ibed e lse-

where , or by dis t r ibut ing Stage

Money, and having him bet on the

one he thinks the pea is under .

I needn' t te l l you the laughter

and fun i t w il l c re a te with th is

when they lay thier money on the

shel l (?) and they axe so sure that

the pea is und er th er e . Y et , i t

turns up e lsewhere .

N O T E S

See how long they can hold on

to the ir money. Have a bil l fold

made up to hold the Stage Money

and two sets of shel ls and several

pea s . Th is adds a p ro fess ion a l

touch and makes i t more effect ive.

Paul , I know this sounds im-

possible, but this is how it may be

acc om plish ed . Get the sh el ls with

n u m b er s 1, 2, and 3 pain ted on

them . T el l sp ec ta t or s tha t you pay

odds according to the numbers on


57/84

aoett ttoxsio®^^

N O T E S

the she l l s . F o r exam ple , the sp ec ta -

tor p laces $1.00 on shel l numbered

3, and the pea is found under that

shel l .

Then the p e r fo rm er m us t pay h im-

$ 3.00 out of the m oney co lle cte d on the

be t s p laced on she l l s numbered 1, 2,

and 3. You w ill have to fi g u re out fo r

yourself the shel l to place the pea un-

der as this depends on the size of the

be t s made .

Manipulate shel ls so that the pea

end s up und er the sh el l with the le a s t

mo ney un der i t , and bel iev e m e, in a

short t ime, you wil l col lect a l l of

the i r money.

A gag that I often use is to have

a lol l ipop in my pocket and present

i t to the g re a t es t lo se r , saying 'S t o p

crying, you ' re s t i l l ge t t ing something

for your money."

CHAPTER 20

THE FINGE R SLIDE ROUTINE

T hi s nee ds no explanat ion a s the

Figures i l lus t ra ted wi l l expla in the

method of shif t ing the pea to different

po s t ion s , a f t e r the pea w as s to len a s

shown in Figs. 1,2, and 3. It is best to

use CHANIN'S SEE-SAW SHELL. A

lengthy descript ion of this has been

I given and th e re i s no nee d to re p e a t

i t again.


58/84

page56THE - Fl N G f c f t S L I D E

txxoiaGiaza oixi^^

SPE C T A T O R HAS J U 5 T

C O V E R E D T H E PEA &

KEEPS FINGER ON SHELL

P E R F O R M E R ' S H A N D

B A C K O F S H E L L A N D

F L A T O N T H E TABL Er

N O T E S

M O V E S H E L L FO RW A RD

PEA COME-S OUT AND

SL IDES UNDER F INGER*


59/84

T H E F I N G E R S L I D E S

N O T E S

CAN BE SHIFTED TO ANY

FINGEIY POSITION

P E A DP»OP$ TO TA B L E

S L I D E - S H E L L B A C K

T O P 1 E T U P . N P E A ^ m h k


60/84

P a g e 5 8

IXOB CiaBKIX^^

LAY-OUT

»

A sam ple of the La y-O ut is

shown here with the different odds

so as to make i t eas ier for the

sp ec ta to rs to se e what they ar e

get t ing for their money.

This is very good to go with

MONTE CARLO.

A Lay-Out of this type could

be made out of fe l t or pasteboard,

a s they can be ea si ly folded and

packed away.

N O T E S


61/84

W

I

N

R

v

c

\

>

P

Y

e

M

^ •

V

E

C

H

T

M

P

Y

S

T

w

o

o

O

l

v

y

N

O

B

L

N

K

S

P

Y

T

e

o

n

e

| 9 J


62/84

CHAPTER 21

HE'S JUST TOO SLOW

»

H e r e ' s a rou t ine tha t i s fu l l of

l i t t le sucker gags , which a lmost

make a fool out of the operator (?) .

W ith le f t hand pick up f i r s t

she l l , r ead ing f rom le f t to r igh t ,

cover the pea, but ins tead, catch i t

be tween second and th i rd f ingers

as i l lus t ra ted in F igure 6a (See

Back Hand Kick, Page 33).

Li f t the she l l and show i t f rom

left to r ight , so that everybody can

se e tha t i t i s em pty. Do the s am e

with the second shel l , and the same

with the th ird sh el l . In a l l of the se

ins tances , the spec ta tors can see

the pea between the second and

th i rd f i nge r s .

As you lay down the las t shel l ,

you make a l i t t le ro ta t ing mot ion as

if t rying to get the pea under there .

Do not over-do th is .

Go back to f i rs t shel l , pul l i t

back towards yourse l f , load the pea

into i t . Move the secon d sh el l a

l i t t le , and a lso the th i rd sh e l l . T h is

is to make i t look l ike a give away

and the spec ta tors a re sure tha t i t

is under #3, the one on your r ight .

N O T E S


63/84

N O T E S

Then that shel l is turned over and

to the i r surpr ise , the pea i s not there .

You ask someone to turn over the

fi rs t shel l , and you say, "I told you

in the beginning, I had the pea under

the one he re . "

This is a good laugh getter, but

i t m us t be done sm ar t ly . Just a l i t t le

speed i s necessary whi le showing

f i rs t , second, and th i rd she l l s wi th

the pe a between f i n g er s . And i t

gives the audience the idea that you

weren ' t qui te fas t enough.

To load the pea in the shell , see

F igs . 6

A

and B, and Fig. 7, of the

B ack Hand K ick. (Pag e 33).

CHAPTER 22

STICK-EM

Paul , you can rea l ly s t ick them

with this one, but as I am not one

who bel ieves in the use of gimmicks

or fakes , un less abso lu te ly necessa ry ,

you can take this for what i t i s worth.

I am s imply plac ing i t in here because

I know that i t wil l fool them and there

are a lot of different ways to use i t .

However, I will give you my way of

doing it , and, if you like it , and de-

cide to use i t , you may f igure out

some ways of your own.


64/84

T ak e a s m a l l m a g ne t, s uc h a s i s | N O T E S

us ed in tho se funny l i t t le m agn et ic |

dogs tha t a r e so po pu lar , and pla ce |

this magnet on the inside of a box • |

of pa pe r m atc he s . J

N ext, tak e a st e e l BB sho t or a |

p ie c e of n a il abo ut the s iz e of a J

m atc h hea d, cut a l i t t le s l i t in a |

ru b b er pea , and in se r t th is p iec e of |

n ai l or BB sho t in i t and then tak e J

some rubber cement and c lose i t up J

We a r e now rea dy fo r the t r i ck . $

Exchange the or ig ina l pea for the |

g imm ick pe a . T urn sh el l s over so J

the opening i s up and ask sp ec ta to r |

w hich sh el l he would l ike to hav e |

you dro p the pe a in. |

Suppose he su gg es ts you dro p i t |

in the ce n te r sh ell . You do so and |

then a f te r making some remark

about a m atc h box containing m ag ic |

po w de r, you p la ce it on top of th e |

sh el l cov ering the pe a. As soon a s |

you do th is , the pe a jum ps out of the J

sh el l and s t ic k s to the m atch box, |

al l unknown to the spectator, of

J

cour se . 1

Now, li f t up the box along w ith |

the sh el l about th re e or fou r inc he s |

off the tab le usin g the ri g h t hand . J

Next , place the lef t hand under the J

she l l , gra spin g sa m e and quickly J

turn i t mouth down on the table.


65/84

axxa xxxozoi^^

N O T E S

As fa r a s the spec ta tor i s con-

cerned, the pea is s t i l l under the shel l ,

but i t actual ly is under the match box.

Now, pick up an oth er em pty sh el l

and place the match box over top and

turn the whole thing over and place

on the table.

Hold the shell down to table with

right hand and pull or s l ide out the

m atch box with othe r hand. T h is

leaves the pea under she l l #2.

Repea t the same moves wi th

sh ell #3. Ju st to m ak e i t al l look the

sam e . F ro m he re on, D ea r R ead e r ,

i t ' s up to you.

Due to lack of space, i t ' s im-

pos s ib l e fo r me to desc r ibe t he va r -

ious effects that may be obtained by

use of the gimmick pea.

CHAPTER 23

VARIATIONS

By placing magnet ins ide of a

cigaret te or a c igar , in the act of

picking up the shel l with the r ight

hand, second f inger and thumb, the

end of the c igare t te wi l l na tura l ly

touch the sh el l . I t w il l ca u se the

pea to jump up, and i t wil l enable

you to show the shel l empty.


66/84

CHAPTER 24

CHANIN'S FAVORITE

MASTER MOVE

The one I am about to give you

now, I real ly hate to part with as i t

has been my favor i te move wi th the

sh el ls fo r a long t im e. I fe el tha t

regardless of the t ime spent on i t ,

you wi l l never regre t i t .

Let us suppose you have jus t

f in ished the move ca l led "Over the

Top" and by chance , the specta tor

picks the shel l with the pea under i t .

You tak e ho ld of the sh el l in the

or thodox manner and push i t forward

unt i l the pea i s underneath the sec-

ond and th i r d f i n g er s (F ig s . 1, 2, & 3).

Now, keeping hold of the shell,

turn i t with the opening up, at same

tim e turnin g ov er the hand, so that th e

palm of hand is shown empty, (Fig.

2.) Say, "No thing h e r e ." Then tur n

the shell mouth down again and pull

back turning over hand once more so

that pea is back under shell and you

a r e in the sam e pos i t ion a s you w er e

when you s tar ted .

This move is al l done with one

motion and i f you fol low instruct ions

clos ely with sh el ls in hand, I am sure

you wil l experience no diff icul ty in

accompl i sh ing th i s mas te r move .

N O T E S


67/84

N O T E S

Show nothing under the second

she l l in the same manner and remark

that i t is also empty and so, of course,

you say, "The pea must be under the

th i rd she l l . "

Now, make pretense of taking pea

out of this shell top and go through

som e funny bu s ines s , such as d ro p-

ping th is in vis ible pe a or handing i t

to someone in the audience to hold.

Now, state that you will put it

under ei ther of the shells they wish.

Say, "Would you l ike to have me

place i t under th is one?" , holding

hand over empty shel l , or , "In this

one?" , holding hand over she l l wi th

pea in it .

Keep your hand here and the au-

dience will , nine t imes out of ten,

tel l you to put i t under that shell .

Al l tha t remains i s to make pre -

tense of dropping the pea through the

shell and l if t ing the shell showing pea

undernea th .

The audience gets quite a kick out

of this invis ible pea business . How-

ever, should they say to put i t under

the empty shell , you pretend to do so

and show the other two shells empty

by the mas te r move .

Now, pre tend to take pea f rom

empty shel l and toss over to the shel l


68/84

that actual ly contains the pea.

With this knowledge in mind,

you can p er fo rm a lo t of sm a r t ga gs ;

N ev er get ex cited doing any of th e se

m oves re g ar d le ss of wha t may happen

Remember i n t h i s pa r t i cu l a r

t r ick, you have complete control of

the l i t t le pea at a l l t imes and you

are the comple te mas ter of i t .

With th is mas ter move, you can

show that there is nothing under any

of the shells .

Af ter showing the three shel l s

empty, have specta tor reach in to the

air and catch an invis ible pea, and

then toss i t into the proper shel l .

When specta tor turns over the she l l ,

everybody wi l l be surpr ised to f ind

that the pe a is actua l ly th e re . (See

Il lus trat ions for MASTER MOVE).

Do not ove rdo th is m ove. You

must save i t for when you are in a

tough spot. I u rg e you to le a rn to do

th i s co r rec t l y fo r t he bes t r e su l t s .

After exposing this move to ex-

p e r ts , a t the i r re q u es t , I have' been

told tha t th is i s the f ines t cont r ibu-

tion to the art of the SHELL GAME.

N O T E S

After us ing th is , you wi l l agree

tha t t he comment s we re mer i t ed .

(See i l lus trat ions 1, 2, & 3).


69/84

CUANIN SFAVORIT Epageev

zo ixixaBxxceoB^^

N O T E S


70/84

CHAPTER 25

N O T E S

HOW TO DRESS AND

PRESENT THE SHELL GAME

If you wish to dramatize your

Shell Game Act, have a derby hat , a

cigar, ( if you do not smoke, use a

ru b b er c iga r or an im itat ion l i t

c igar) , a moustache, ( the best type

are the ones tha t f i t in the nos t r i l s

with a bent piec e of w ire ), a check ed i

vest , a br ight colored bow t ie , (use

the ones with the cl ips), a s t ick pin

in the shirt , a watch chain, and a

large diamond r ing on one hand.

The idea is to make yourself look

as much l ike an oldt ime carnival

man as poss ible .

A ll of th is can be put, on in fr o n t

of the audience, while you are te l l -

ing them tha t your grea t -grandfa the i

was once an operator of this famous

Three Shel l Game.

Have a sm al l m ir r o r handy, the

kind that comes with a folding stand.

K eep looking in to it w hile you smo oth

your m ous tach e , ad ju s t your bow t ie

and etc . Th is m ak es a g re at show.

All that i t takes is jus t a l i t t le act-

ing ab il i ty. I am s u r e tha t you can

do i t . T his p ro ce d u re w ill not take

more than a half minute.

See how bow tie is make for

quick w o rk . (See P ag e 70 ) .


71/84

N O T E S

P a g e 70 w ill als o show you how

the vest is made up so that i t i s not

neces sa ry t o r emove your coa t ,

while putt ing on vest .

I f possible , get an old t ime watch.

You should be able to pick up one of

the se in the j e w e le r ' s d i s t r i c t . I t

doesn ' t have to be a running watch.

A watch w inder . T his i s a sm al l

piece of apparatus that can be held

in the hand. A s you p re te n d to wind

the watch, i t makes a c r ickety noise

that is very loud, and funny. A bit

of comedy here and there when doing

the Shel l Game should be used.

If you still don't know how an old

t im e ca rn iva l m an looked , jus t im -

agine an old t ime bar tender wi th a

handlebar mous tache , and his ha i r

par ted in the center , checked ves t ,

etc.

A different type of get-up is that

of a Western Gambler as seen in the

W es te rn M ovies . A sh or t s t r in g bow

tie , wide hat , checked vest , a short

jacket , e tc .

I have outl ined this method of

dress ing whi le doing the Shel l Game

so a s to m ake i t in ter es t in g. I have

used th i s ge t -up wi th grea t success .

However , when you are working

in a Night Club and working in ta i ls


72/84

i f

N O T E S

W e c a r r y

a complete l ine

of mater ia ls need to

accompl ish the

ef fe c ts in th is

Book.


73/84

ceeewK8»aa»eaoacagcgoBMC839»»a^

N O T E S

or tux, you will f ind no difficulty in

making people play the Shel l Game, as

your appearance wi l l he lp to take th is

out of a cheating class.

Now, you go ahead and you do the

Shel l Gam e. Not m o re than 5 m inu tes

should be used for th is ac t . Of course ,

this out l ine only appl ies when you are

working in a pr ivate place and you do

not have to work according to schedule .

You wi l l be surpr i sed how success -

ful an act you can make this .

"Ladies and Gent lemen, now tha t

I am dressed as I th ink my grea t -

grandfa ther looked, wi th your per-

miss ion, I should l ike to do the Three

Shel l Game for you.

"Now Children, i f you wil l gather

around closely, I am going to make

your d re a m s com e t r u e . I am going

to make a r ich man or woman out of

you in no t im e. All tha t you have to

do is to lay a few dol lars on the shel l

tha t you think the pe a is un d er . If

you are r ight , I wil l double your bet ."

$1.00 gives you $2.0 0; $5 .00 gives

you $10.00; and $ 10.00 g iv es you $ 20.00.

Ju st im ag ine how r ic h you can ge t if

you lay a $ 100.00 b i n on the sh e ll . W atch

it , watch i t . Nothing un de r th is one,

nothing un de r tha t one. Now, you know

w here the pea i s . P la c e your be t s ,

e tc . , e tc .


74/84

Some of my students have been

successful in making a l i t t le ext ra ,

as there is a lways some one at the

table who wants to buy you a drink.

Since too much drinking will take

the edge off your skill , i t is best to

say , "Mind i f I d r ink th i s l a te r?"

You can col lect for the drink from

the bar tender as the dr ink i s gen-

era l ly put on the cus tomer ' s b i l l .

Of course, a subst i tute of ginger

ale instead of a highball has been

used as the wai ter usual ly knows

what i t ' s a l l about when the perfor-

m er as k s fo r h is ' 'favor i te d r in k ' .

The house doesn ' t mind because they:

s t i l l ge t the i r regula r pe rcen tage .

On the other hand, you could say, |

"Mind i f I take this in c igaret tes , I

could use a few packs ."

N O T E S

FINALE

"Oh, Oh, my lease has jus t ex-

p ire d . I se e the Law, and be l ieve

me, I mus t go ."

P ick up your p arap han el ia and

put them into your hat or e lse your

pocket, and make your exit with

the se pa r t ing wo rds : "S o long folk s ,

se e you nex t Spring u n le ss the

She r i f f s ee s me f i r s t . "


75/84

N O T E S I CHAPTER 26

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE

SMART ALECK, ETC.

There wi l l be many occas ions

where a person l ikes to show off how

much he knows. I t is best to be pre-

pa red fo r tha t em ergen cy . I wi l l

out l ine a few methods tha t take care

of situations of that kind.

1.) One of them is known as the

B ack Hand Kick. If the pe rso n s im -

ply mentions the r ight shel l by point-

ing to it , you can kick it with the back

of your r ight hand, as you move i t .

Then s ay , "You look fo r i t your se l f , "

Of course, by this t ime, the pea has

been removed .

2.) A second method to use is

ent i t led , "Y o u Hold I t " When the

person mentions , by point ing to the

shel l that the pea is under , you ask

him to put his f inger on i t . Say, * A ll

r ig h t , you hold your f in g er on i t w hile

I check on the other two to see whether

or no t you a r e r i g h t . " N a tura l ly , you

remove the pea with r ight hand and

with right and left hands you pick up

the two remaining shel l s by l i f t ing

them off the tab le without tu rn in g the

she l l s .

Say, "N ot h er e , not h e re . Then i t

must be in the she l l he ld by your f in-

g e r . " I w il l leav e i t up to you to


76/84

Page 74

ceosss sxceeKKKKe eeexcKex

f in i sh f rom here on .

3.) The Finger Slide is also good

to prove tha t the specta tor i s wrong.

Shee I l lus t ra t ions for fu l l explana- .

t ion . P ra c t i ca l ly each rou t ine ha s

an out.

4.) My fa v o r i t e i s the one d e s-

cr ibed in the one ca l led "Chanin ' s

Fa vo r i t e M as t e r M ove . " I f ee l

that this is one of the cleverest

m ov es in the Shel l G am e. (See F ig s .

1, 2, & 3 - Page 64).

5 . ) There a re many move me-

thods of taking care of the wise guy.

I have selected a half dozen of the

be s t . T his la s t one i s des igned fo r

the person who fee ls tha t he i s

shrewd enough to beat this game by

placing his hands over 2 of the

shel l s and saying, "The pea i s un-

der the remain ing one ."

H e re ' s the ex act method used to

show that he, the spectator , is

wrong . Le t ' s suppose tha t the spec-

tator is r ight , the pea is under the

m iddle she l l . By us ing Cha nin ' s

Master Move to show that the spec-

tator is wrong, I leave the shel l on

the table , as I make a s l ight , suspi -

c ious move indica t ing tha t there

m ight be so m ething w rong or tha t m y

s t a t emen t was i ncor rec t .

N O T E S

As a ru le , th e sp ec ta to r wi l l le t


77/84

N O T E S

go of one of the shells to turn over

tha t she l l to make sure tha t he was

r ight .

You pick up the shell that the

spec ta tor has re leased , load ing the

pea and exposing the shel l , saying,

"S ee , you w ere w ro n g . " I t was h e r e

a l l t he t ime . "

Of course, i f the pea was under the

right or lef t hand shel l and the center

shel l is empty, you have nothing to

w or ry about . S imply ask som eon e to

turn the shel l over or do i t yourse l f ,

proving tha t the specta tor was wrong.

The idea is not to get exci ted,

because you were in a t ight spot . With

ju st a l i t t le rea so n in g , you can get out

of this or any t rouble .

6 .) N eve r say , " I ' l l be t you $ $

tha t you a r e w ro n g ." Nev er us e the

w ord s , " I ' l l be t y ou ." Ignore the

pe s t . M ake your r e m a r k s to the

audien ce in ge ne ra l . T hi s w i ll be

your best way out .

CHAPTER 27

Paul :

I hope that you have enjoyed

going through the mater ia l tha t I

have se lec ted f rom the £i le of ideas

tha t I have tes ted for th is book.


78/84

The ones tha t I have descr ibed

here , were the ones tha t appealed

to m e. A s through tes t in g, I have

disc ov ere d tha t they a r e the be st . '

I could have writ ten twenty

more pages , but I feel that i t would

be nothing but a lot of words.

In plain words, I could have

padded this book great ly, but I am

not interes ted in quant i ty, only

qual i ty. I am only in te re s te d in the

easy - to -do , p rac t i ca l ma te r i a l .

I have been very careful in i l -

lus trat ing the things that are the

most compl ica ted to unders tand, so

as to make i t eas ier to learn .

You will notice that I have used

the l a rge type and smal l pa ragraphs

as an added convenience to the ones

who will read this book.

Th e be st way to le ar n the Shel l

Game is to learn one complete

rout ine or opera t ion. This must be

done enough so that i t remains in

your mind f i rmly.

The second thing is to carry a

set of shells and a pea in your

pocket so that you will be ready to

do i t at the sl ightest invitat ion. This

gives except ional ly good pract i ce .

N O T E S


79/84

N O T E S

I am sure that i f this advice is

followed through, i t wil l be worth

more than the price of the book.

Now, Dear Reader , that you know

the secre t of how the Three Shel l

Game works , is this going to be

another mas te rp iece tha t you wi l l

do t o m o r r o w ? F o r y o u r i n f o r m a -

t ion , in Magic , "Tomorrow never

c o m e s .

You can do the Three Shel l

Game in exact ly 5 minutes and I

do n ' t m ean 5 ho ur s . Jus t 5 m inu tes .

See Page 22 , en t i t l ed "Funda-

menta ls" ( inc luding Page 23) , con-

ta ining 6 i l lus t ra t ions tha t show the

exact , t rue , method of learning the

Three She l l Game.

But, if you want to learn this in

i t s ent i re ty , you wi l l have to mem-

or i ze the d i f f e ren t va r i a t i on s de s -

cr ibed in this book.

Natural ly, that wil l take a l i t t le

t im e . Some p ra c t i c e wi l l be nec -

essa ry as your hand and f ingers

must ge t used to the di f ferent pos i -

t ions tha t they wi l l be requi red to

go through.

"Reading th is book may have

enter ta ined you, but prac t ic ing what

you have read , wi l l pay you ."

J. C.


80/84

FOR SALE

You can purchase from the Dealer who sold you this

book a complete l ine of Walnut Shells , Stage Money,

Board Table , Colored Shel ls Lay-out , and al l the

n ec es sa ry th ings de scr ib ed in th is book to m ake

your 3 SHELL GAME ACT Complete .

1) Shells with painted numbers 1,

2, and 3 on th em , and one P e a $ 1.00 p er se t

2) Shells - red, white, and blue,

and P e a (CHANIN m ake) $ 1.00 p e r s e t

3) Board - red and black,

Size 12 x 15 $ 5.00

4) L ay -o ut S ize s $ 3.50

5) N eck tie f o r quick chan ge $ 2.50

6) Old tim e wa tch and cha in $15.00

7) Stage Money - o n e 's and

f iv e 's $ 1.00 p er 100

8) W atch W inde r $ .35

9) Extra Peas , not less than

th re e sold $ .35 (for th ree )


81/84

N O T E S


82/84

N O T E S


83/84

COLOR CH NGE


84/84

C I G R

M N I P U L T I O N S

ClCiMi.

Encyclopedia of the Three Shell Game - Chanin

Documents

Transcript of Encyclopedia of the Three Shell Game - Chanin