2 8 MAGIC WORDS In Literature: • "You appear on the stage with a napkin on one hand and a serviette grasped between the five fingers of the other. And waving it above your head you then with a series of intonations such as 'hoopla' or 'abracadabra' man age to make the first . . ." -- Clement Freud, "Welcome to Just a Minute!" (1977) Hopla Yado Yado Bido Bido Pif Paf Plouf Tic Toc Rah Rah Rah Tralala (see also hoopla and pif paf poof) In Literature: • Raymond Federman, Take It or Leave It (1976) Hottentot Tatertot In Literature: • Bart King, The Big Book of Boy Stuff (2004) Houdini Lives Facts: This magic phrase refers to the great magician Harry Houdini. In Literature: • "It helps to know the magic word if you want to get into the Famous Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I tried 'Abracadabra,' and it worked, but by the time I left, I was wiser. The real magic word, or words, to be more precise, are, and you have to yell them, 'Houdini Lives!'" -- RoadtripAmerica.com (2005) Hour In Literature: • "'Hour' is a magical word: of all the units of time it is the most imponderable. Either it is interminable, or so fleeting. One finds it difficult to believe there are a full two dozen in a day." -- Thomas M. Disch, Neighboring Lives (1980)