Pichel sniffs part of a smoke ring back into his nose, cutting the ring in half. He an also sniff the whole ring back and expel it again through his mouth as a full-fledged smoke ring.
The "halo" ring is difficult because rings as large as this one are not easy to blow. After blowing the ring, Pichel puts his head under it, eyes his creation with astonishment.
On one puff he can blow 27 sizable rings in succession. At the drop of a match he blows rings, like those shown here, before night-club audiences and luncheon groups. He can make smoke rings sink to the floor, merge into a figure 8, form a halo for his head.

Before each stunt he takes practice puffs, smokes an average of 20 cigars a day and often gets sick. His chief dread is that he will be asked to perform in a drafty room where air currents twist his smoke rings out of shape. To guard against air curents, he prefers to work in a Pliofilm tent.

Pichel's technique is to curl his tongue, then puff hard for a large smoke ring, gently for a small one.  By shaping his lips he controls the direction of the puff. "My lips" he says, "are remarkably developed."
Photo 1: Into a large ashtray settles a ring blown by Pichel. He stands motionless so that air currents won't waft the ring away from target.
Photo 2: Hat trick. He blows a small ring that "hits' table and enlarges.  The he puts hat through expanding ring.
Photo 3: Defying the law of physics which causes smoke to rise, Pichel with a mighty puff makes ring sink to the floor.