T 41 Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Di-Ay Origins: Ta-ra-ra-boom-di-ay is a bawdy song written in 1891 by Henry J. Sayers and made famous by singer Lottie Collins. Facts: This magic word is featured in the role-playing campaign The Ripper Game, "combining various genres of horror and mysticism from late Victorian England" and played in Chicago, Illinois from 1996 to 1997.8 One of the characters in the game, Frederick Bailey Deeming, uses the magic word Tara- ra-boom-di-ay. He is described as "A lunatic murderer who aimed to be Jack the Ripper. He was a rough, tanned fellow -- nevertheless well-dressed in a shabby genteel. A bit foreign-looking, [he had] dark hair and a mustache. He was encountered by the company in Nether-London, where he demanded Hamilton's notes of the party. When they resisted, he all but slaughtered the company after using the magic word: 'Ta-ra-ra-boom-di-ay.'"9 Common Magician's Applications: Animation. For example, the phrase Ta-ra-ra-boom-di-ay was used by magician William Larsen Sr. in a handkerchief routine he devised. He would say: "Many of you wonder how I accomplish these things [with the handkerchief]. Actually, I have an invisible assistant, Fatima. Hers is the power that permits miracles." Larsen would tie the handkerchief to create the form of a body, with a knotted head and two legs made from twisted corners. When Fatima began to magically animate the handkerchief, Larsen would recite the following verse: Fatima was a dancer gay. For fifty cents she'd dance this way. But if one dollar you would pay, She'd do the ta ra ra boom de aye. On the last line of the stanza, the handkerchief figure would kick her leg like a Vaudeville dancer.10 Variations and Incantations: • Ta rah rah boom dee re -- Steve Martin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1996) • Ta-ra-la-boom-de-ay • Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay • Ta ra ra boom de-aye -- William Larsen Sr., quoted in Self-Working Handkerchief Magic by Karl Fulves (1988) 8 John H. Kim, Darkshire.net (2005) 9 Ibid. 10 Karl Fulves, Self-Working Handkerchief Magic (1988)