Conjuring Credits

The Origins of Wonder

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Man Who Was Not There, The

This was Tony Shiels's first contribution to Bascom Jones's Magick (No. 86, October 19, 1973, p. 427). The effect is that of the magician disappearing from a Polaroid photo taken by a reporter and posted to himself. The secret was addressing the envelope with disappearing ink and immediately posting a duplicate envelope with second photo. It is mentioned that “the method is simply an extension of George Arrowsmith's clever 'Remote Control Vanish'.” The actual title is “Vanishing by Remote Control”, and the effect was published in the Dec. 13, 1958 issue of Abra (Vol. 26 No. 672, p. 339). The solution appeared in the following week's issue (No. 673, p. 360). The method was, again, disappearing ink. The effect was the vanish of several stamps sealed inside a posted envelope.