Illusion Main Category
Long Description
Designer: Guy Jarrett
The magician shows a mirror on top of a platform base of octagonal (or hexagonal) shape. The sides are covered and a curtain hangs in front. The magician stands inside and the curtain is removed showing he has vanished. The mirror is rotated to show he isn't behind it. The audience suspects he is hiding behind the curtain which has been removed, but the curtain is swung back in place revealing an "old time girl" standing on the platform. The magician reappears at the back. Jarrett described his effect in Jarrett Magic.1 It was a variation of Herrmann's effect, Vanity Fair.2
Sources
- Jarrett, Guy, with Jim Steinmeyer. The Complete Jarrett. Hahne, California, 2001. (An annotated edition of Jarrett's 1936 Jarrett Magic.)
- Evans, Henry Ridgely. The Old and the New Magic. Open Court, Chicago, 1906, p. 233: "One of Herrmann's best illusions, though not invented by him, was his vanishing lady, known as 'Vanity Fair' ..." Full text at the Internet Archive.