Jap

[Mullins, Bill]

It can be, and many vintage ones are.  Far too many magician's props are
over-decorated, with "mystical" oriental symbols.  There is some debate
amongst conjurors if the current use of such decorations reaches back to
the magicians of the turn of the century who portrayed
Japanese/Chinese/etc (William Robinson, for example, performed as Chung
Ling Soo:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/078671512X/qid=1117147170/
sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-2089597-8571342?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 ) and
otherwise traded on Oriental Mysticism, or if it just looks cheesy.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Arnold M. Zwicky
> Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 5:35 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Jap
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Jap
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
> On May 26, 2005, at 1:32 PM, Bill Mullins wrote:
>
> > A standard prop for magicians is the "Jap Box", for production of
> > various small items.  Magicians are aware that this is at
> best a dated
> > name for the prop, but no one has come up with a substitute
> that has
> > been accepted.
>
> would this be, by any chance, a lacquered or varnished box?
> that is, a japanned box?
>
> arnold
>