🃏🌴 Packet Trick Paradise #7: The Little King Who Wasn't There

A paranormal packet trick set to the poem "Antigonish" by Hughes Mearns and based on a routine by Roy Walton.

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

In this edition of Packet Trick Paradise, I’ll be sharing a new trick of mine based on a famous piece of poetry called “Antigonish” by Hughes Mearns, an American educator and poet. The poem is more often called “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There” , which is actually the title of a musical version of the poem that was a big hit for the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1939. You might recognise it because it has been used in many song, books, TV shows and movies. Here’s the poem in full:

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today,
I wish, I wish he’d go away…

When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me.
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…

Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today,
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…

Mearns was inspired to write the poem after hearing stories of a ghostly presence in the small Canadian city of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This is why the poem has such an odd-sounding title.

A photograph of Hughes Mearns. Photo Credit: Univeristy of Chicago Divinity Scool/Ruseletter.

The trick itself was inspired by “Poetry in Motion” by Roy Walton. This routine, in turn, was based on a similar one by Bob Neale. Both first saw print in the pages of the underground magic zine The Crimp written and published by Jerry Sadowitz. “Poetry in Motion” was later included in The Complete Walton Vol. 3 (2016, pages 204-206), which is where I learned it.

Roy Walton’s trick uses a modified version of the first verse of Mearns’s poem as a script. However, I wanted to create a version of the routine long enough to allow me to recite all three verses of the original poem (although I’m not entirely sure the first published version of “Antigonish” did have more than one verse). I’ve designed the mechanics of “The Little King Who Wasn’t There” to synchronise with the words of “Antigonish” and provide an amusing and engaging piece of close-up magic, sure to captivate any audience.

Here’s the effect:

You display four blank-faced playing cards, explaining that they’re “factory misprints”. You tell your audience you will recite one of your favourite poems, “Antigonish” by Hughes Mearns, and illustrate it by manipulating the four blank cards.

As you recite the poem, one of the cards visually transforms into the King of Clubs. It disappears and then reappears before turning into the Three of Clubs.

Finally, all four blank-faced cards change into the King of Clubs!