The Holmes Production

By Richard Robinson The magician walks onto the stage. He is holding a large sheet of colored paper which is shown on both sides. The paper is formed into a cone. He makes a mysterious gesture over the cone and suddenly it is filled with red roses which cascade out of the cone in magical abundance. This effect is based on a clever method of hiding a load and then invisibly introducing it into a paper cone which appears to have been the invention of early 20th Century magic dealer Donald Holmes. After Holmes committed it to print it was promptly forgotten, which is remarkable considering that Holmes had provided a very workable solution to secretly loading a paper cone, a problem that magicians have struggled with since De Kolta first tipped a cone forward to show it was magically filled with flowers. Props A rectangle of stiff paper measuring about 18 by 24 inches / 45 x 60 cm. The construction paper used by school children is ideal and available at most art supply stores in a variety of colors. The paper must have enough substance to hold the cone shape once it is formed and not to become distorted when the load is introduced. Newsprint or other paper of that nature will not work. A quantity of compressible objects for the production. Silk handkerchiefs, spring flowers or other items of this kind can be used. In this instance, spring flowers are used. The flowers are held in place by a long strip of cardboard which is wrapped around them in a complete circle. An elastic band is then used to secure the cardboard holder and the compressed flowers within it. A loop of thread. The exact diameter of the loop will depend on your body dimensions. After you've read the handling, you can work out the general size and then adjust it more exactly after practice. While the photograph shows the cardboard holder covered with green paper to match the leaves the flowers so that it is not noticed as it falls out of the cone. The thread is run under the top of the cardboard and then tied into a loop. This leaves the cardboard holder hanging from the loop.

The strip of green card and a red rubber band used to contain the spring flowers. The cardboard strip is wrapped around the package of compressed flowers. The rubber band is looped around the strip to secure the package. The loop of line is run under the top of the cardboard strip. The load is lowered into the side pocket of the jacket. The arm then goes through the loop.

Setup The load is placed in the left outside jacket pocket. The left arm goes through the loop of thread. Since, as magicians sometimes like to say, this is but the work of a moment, you can have the load in place and then, just before performing the effect, get your arm through the loop as you pick up the sheet of paper. Handling

The loop arm hold the paper at the top. In moving the paper up, the load is pulled out of the pocket and swings behind the paper. The cone is wrapped around the load. The hand inside the cone positions the load at the bottom of the cone. The hand at the point of the cone holds the load and presses it to release the flowers. An interior view of the compressed load. The flowers blossom up out of the cone.

Performance Hold the top edge of the paper with the left hand. The top edge of the paper should be just below shoulder height. Since the load is still in the pocket at this point, you must make the thread loop large enough in diameter to allow this amount of movement. Turn the paper forward and back, showing it for what it is. The right hand can come in and participate in this display. For all practical purposes the thread is hidden by the twisting and turning of the paper and at the same time the hands and paper are seen to be unprepared. Now twist the paper into a cone. This must be done neatly and without hesitation. Practice making the cone until you don't have to think about it. The left hand holds the top (18 inch side) of the paper, left of center and raises it up to the top of your head. This action, pulls the load out pocket and leaves it hanging from the arm behind the paper. The right hand goes behind the paper and moves down to the lower left corner. The right hand is palm forward, the right thumb going under the bottom edge of the paper, the right finger tips pressing against the paper from behind. The right hand rotates up and forward, turning the bottom edge as it does so until the right thumb and lower left corner of the paper (with the front side of this corner now facing you) are about even with the middle (top to bottom) of the paper. The left hand now brings the top left corner back and down. Without stopping the left hand warps the top left corner around the turn made by the right hand. The result is the pointed end of the cone with the right arm inside the cone. During this process the load has arrived inside of the newly formed cone without the audience being the wiser. Now all that remains is to give the cone a mystic pass and a tap or two as you tilt it forward to shake the load out of it. There is some work involved in releasing the load and depending on the objects you plan to produce you'll have to practice releasing the load neatly while it is inside the cone. This is an important point since the load must be held securely enough to survive being pulled out of the pocket and landing in the cone, but must be able to be released without the audience wondering what you're doing which would quite spoil the magic. In the case of the spring flower load described, a slight squeeze through the sides of the cone against the ends of the cardboard holder will release the flowers. Performance Notes At some time in his or her magical career nearly every magician becomes enchanted with the idea of duplicating Buatier DeKolta's Flowers From The Paper Cone. On delving into the mechanics most magicians soon decide that there is just too much work involved to produce the effect. In fact, the elegance and simplicity of what the audience sees is matched by the elegance and simplicity of the method ... although it is a method that could hardly be described as self working. Donald Holmes' loading method provides an excellent and relatively easy approach to introducing the first load into the cone. The trick is to secure the load so that it does not release prematurely. In using spring flowers on the stage, it is a good idea to obtain a quantity of these props in the same color, preferably red with green leaves so that the audience is at least given the opportunity to believe that flowers are appearing magically from the empty cone.