Chapter 43 second quarter

Bailey is used to this kind of scene, with a calm demeanor and ease of use.He was about to walk out of the backstage, but when he walked halfway, he suddenly turned back, walked towards Zhang Xian, and stretched out his hand to shake Zhang Xian's hand.Zhang Xian stood up very politely, shook hands with Bailey, and Bailey said to Zhang Xian in half-baked Chinese: "I wish you good luck!" Zhang Xian replied in English with a smile: "You too!" After Bailey left, it was soon Zhang Xian's turn to perform. The Wallace Theater is full of seats, and as far as you can see, there are rows of dignitaries, social celebrities, socialites, and ladies with colorful makeup. They are all dressed up in a grand manner, just like participating in a grand court music. meeting.It's no wonder that the International Magic Conference hosted by Sir Hunter was originally aimed at the upper classes of Western countries, not ordinary people. Therefore, these audiences are well-known and will not dress casually.

In the Western world in the 1920s, especially the United Kingdom, clothing was a symbol of a person's status, and he could not be sloppy at all. There are twenty preliminaries sitting in the front row. They are all celebrities and gentlemen. Many of them have traveled around the world and are knowledgeable and well-informed. People with taste and insight, their judgment on magic is also very simple, that is, first of all, the effect of the performance should surprise me enough, secondly, it should make me unable to figure out what is going on, and finally, whether the magic is rare or not.

Bottom line: magic must be able to entertain the public.This sentence is also the philosophy of Sir Hunter. The magic industry cannot be lonely and self-admired. Magic is an art of entertaining the audience. It must make the audience happy, surprised, fearful, or admirable. If you don’t know how to entertain the audience, no magician can be more superb The magic trick didn't work either. Zhang Xian said that magic is a miracle, which is similar to Sir Hunter's theory. Isn't magic just to accomplish something we can't imagine?Let the miracle happen in front of the audience, isn't this what the audience wants?

Layers of curtains were drawn on the stage.After each magician performs, they will pull up the curtain and move the props to prepare for the next performance.The audience and judges in the audience used this intermission to comment on the last magic trick and waited for the start of the next trick. No one felt tired, but they were all in good spirits and high spirits. Although it was just the preliminaries of the World Magic Conference, the magic performances were all world-class. In normal times, if you want to see so many top magic performances at once, you will not be able to imagine things.With such an opportunity that only comes once every five years, who wants to leave half a step away?

As soon as the lights on the stage came on, a handsome gentleman walked onto the stage, and the lights focused on him. He is the host of the group C preliminaries, and also the master of ceremonies for the British royal family. Seeing the master of ceremonies coming to the stage, the audience and judges immediately fell silent when they knew that the next magic show was about to begin. The master of ceremonies stood by the microphone, bowed slightly to the audience, and said: "Gentlemen and ladies, the following is the 17th contestant in Group C of the World Magic Conference to bring you a wonderful magic show. He is Zhang Xian from China. !welcome!"

"Oh!" There was still a burst of discussion immediately from the audience, and the applause was sparse and not enthusiastic. Some people whispered: "Chinese? Couldn't it be another big brazier from under the long robe?" "If that's the case, you can only OUT!" "Will the Chinese bring new tricks?" "The Chinese have long been semi-barbarians. They only imitate the things of their ancestors. I'm afraid there will be nothing new!" "Perhaps, Chinese people have accepted Western culture very quickly in recent years. Let's see!"

"I wish!" These spectators talked a lot. They didn't know in advance who would participate in the C group competition. This was also a measure of Sir Hunter's secrecy to prevent people from deliberately touting, suppressing, and harassing the contestants. The curtain opened slowly, and the lights on the stage were bright. Wearing a gray robe, Zhang Xian stood firmly on the stage with his hands behind his back. With a mysterious smile on his face, he clasped his fists to the judges and the audience. There is nothing on the stage except for a large black vat of water, and the background has not even been changed.There is no music, no assistants in fancy clothes, no changing of lights, only one tank and one person, so monotonous that it seems to be performing a pantomime.

Zhang Xian stood still for a moment without moving, but the audience buzzed louder and louder. The judges frowned, and their patience was disappearing. If Zhang Xian didn't perform after a while, he would be kicked out of the stage. . The master of ceremonies also felt strange, standing on the steps by the side of the stage, sizing up Zhang Xian, without the judges speaking, he would step forward to persuade Zhang Xian to go down. Just as the master of ceremonies was about to come up, the melodious music sounded, it was a song "Moonlight Night on the Spring River", this piece was originally a pipa solo, called "Sunset Xiaogu" Also known as "Xiangyang Pipa", "Xiangyang Night Moon" and "Xiangyang Song").Around 1925, this piece was first adapted into national orchestral music.

The section used by Zhang Xian is the ninth section of the climax of the whole song, "Ai Nai Returning to the Boat". Foreigners have not heard much of this piece of music, they just think the tune is melodious and melodious, extremely beautiful, full of oriental mysterious and beautiful artistic conception, sweeping away the melancholy just now.As soon as the music started, Zhang Xian also started to move along with the music, and the audience and judges in the audience fell silent. Zhang Xian breathed a sigh of relief. Zhao Chengxu really fulfilled his mission. Before the opening, he communicated with the staff responsible for the sound of the conference and completed the work of playing the record.

Zhao Chengxu was standing in front of the record player in the background, wiping the cold sweat off his forehead. When the music finally sounded, he took a long breath and almost sat down on the ground.It turned out that some staff members of the conference deliberately made things difficult for Zhang Xian and the others. They said that the record player was suddenly damaged and could not play any sound.It wasn't until Zhang Xian appeared on the stage and waited for the music that Zhao Chengxu found that the power outlet had been unplugged by the British, and he plugged in the power by himself, and it went smoothly.

It was a very simple job, but the Chinese were able to realize it with such twists and turns. On the surface, Zhang Xian, who performed brilliantly, had so many difficulties and obstacles to overcome behind him! In response to the sound of the music, Zhang Xian conjured up several handfuls of silk flowers and threw them into the vat. This was nothing unusual, it was just a bit of excitement at the beginning. Zhang Xian made a gesture of invitation, and Li Yi, who had been waiting on the side of the stage for a long time, jumped and ran out, did a few somersaults on the stage, and stopped in front of Zhang Xian, the two of them made their official debut . The applause in the audience was sparse, and many audience members had already snorted coldly, discussing with each other to expel Zhang Xian as soon as possible. Zhang Xian and Li Yi came to the vat, Li Yi touched the vat, pulled out a chair from the vat, and put it aside. There was a sneer of "Oh" from the audience in the audience. Regardless of these, Zhang Xian and Li Yi quickly took out four or five items from the tank, including a chair, a sledgehammer, a dark curtain, a wooden lid, and two top hats used by British magicians. I was impatient, and was about to shout OUT, but Zhang Xian and Li Yi on the stage exerted force in their hands, and a large red vat with exactly the same shape was suddenly lifted out, holding back the word OUT, and replaced it with OH~ ! Two cylinders of the same size?The other shouldn't be able to fit in?How could it be suddenly raised from a tank? Sir Hunter and several other judges couldn't help but take a long breath. They underestimated Zhang Xian just now, and always thought that the things Zhang Xian and Li Yi brought out were boring and unknown. A big tank, no matter how they look back, they can't remember what Zhang Xian did before, how could such a thing happen? The audience thought almost the same as the judges, and they were all a little surprised. They finally calmed down and saw what Zhang Xian would do in the future. Zhang Xian and Li Yi expected to surprise the audience. Li Yi made strange faces, pretending to be impossible, and showed the audience with Zhang Xian whether the tank could be put back. The conclusion was naturally absolute. impossible. Li Yi rolled the big red vat to one side and put it away. There were five steps between the two vats.Li Yi rushed back and gesticulated with Zhang Xian and said something. What he meant on stage was that Li Yi didn't believe this would happen. Zhang Xian signaled Li Yi to get into the big black vat, and Li Yi listened to Zhang Xian's instructions, stepped on a stool and stepped into the big black vat, tested the height, and jumped into it. Zhang Xian held the wooden cover to cover it, but Li Yi made a funny face on purpose, his head popped up and down, he was very naughty, and Zhang Xian didn't want to cover it all at once. After several rounds, Zhang Xian finally covered the lid, and Li Yi never showed his face again. Several old men in the judges' table had a brief chat with each other, and finally a gentleman with a white beard next to Sir Hunter leaned over and said to Sir Hunter: "Sir Hunter, this Chinese man has conjured a big vat, but it's a big deal. Interesting, if he wants to get people out of the tank, this kind of magic is already very common! If he wants to do this, we will OUT him." Sir Hunter nodded without comment. Zhang Xian guessed what the judges were thinking. After he put the lid on, he picked up the big hammer from the side, weighed it in his hand, and walked around the big tank. In front of the judges, he suddenly smashed the hammer. go down! With a "click", the big tank was smashed! There was a sigh from the judges' seat and the audience, which was something they didn't expect. Zhang Xian didn't stop, and kept swinging the sledgehammer. After a few hammerings, the big vat was smashed, and the large pieces were dumped on the ground, but Li Yi was nowhere to be seen.