A magician dressed in the Japanese style performs various tricks in this short subject directed by Gaston Velle. It is extensively tinted.
This was the bread and butter of Georges Melies, and everyone wanted in on his market. Looking at this, you can see why Melies was head and shoulders above the competition at this point. His editing is cleaner, his background sets better, and his flair as a stage performer was excellent.
Eventually, Segundo de Chomon would figure out how to do what Melies did, and with larger budgets, swamp him; the public would move on to films which were more than tricks, and with a different grammar. For the moment, though, this was what movies were, and this is a good, if not amazing example.