The magical vanishing bird cage

One of the most classic and mystical tricks ever invented in the history of magic is the vanishing bird cage trick. There were many versions of the vanishing birdcage, but Clarence Slyter has made a decisive improvement on it.

Slyter uses the arm pull. But he has a heavy spring-loaded reel strapped to his left wrist. Before he is ready to disappear, the wire is long enough to easily attach him to the cage. When the cage is in his hands, he opens his arms wide enough to release the reel latch. This picks up the excess thread until it is short enough to make it disappear in the normal way. A latch on the cable itself, which enters the reel, prevents the cable from being pulled under the force of the leak. Reels are made that are strong enough to pull the cage up your sleeve or under your clothing when it comes loose.

We can’t overlook the elastic pull used to fade a bandana. This is a pear-shaped container used with a piece of elastic string. When the handkerchief is placed in the container, it can be made to disappear simply by letting go of the container. The elastic keeps it out of sight. The elastic pull has been used to vanish coins, decks of cards, color changing reels, watches, pencils, wooden cigars, fake cigarettes, balls, eggs. Often you will find the gum attached to some strange looking thing that acts as a support for the object to be vanished. But fading depends on the tensile power in the stretched elastic, as anyone who has stood in front of an audience and found that age has finally caught up with elasticity can verify.

A variation of the cable pull has been used for The Chimney Vanish. The handkerchief is hooked into a catgut loop, as it is pulled into the cylinder. The cylinder is held between the palms. The scarf is clearly visible through the glass. A moment is there. The next one, it’s gone.

A spring-loaded reel, sometimes called a Flash Pull, has been used for this trick. The real one has a strong spring. The cable can be pulled to the required distance. The performer presses a latch on the reel. This holds the cable in position until you are done. A slight tug on the cable releases the latch. So the spring tension tends to pull the string. When you drop the item, it’s gone in an instant.

The conventional square cage is not the only object that has been vanished by a tug at the sleeve. There have been round cages, lamps and other large objects, all collapsible, that have gone up the sleeve propelled by the tug of the arm. The exact reverse of the old decanter trick, spiderweb, and many other looks can be applied to similar fades. Thus, the adaptations of the various gravity applications, or the rotating panel, can also be reversed.