It is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, as well as the work of Tex Avery.

The original idea for the short was a magician who incorporated a rabbit into his act who suffered from stage fright.

Alec refuses to cooperate with the act until he is given the carrot, and cleverly turns the hats against Presto in a variety of ways that lead to escalating degrees of humiliation, such as letting him catch his finger in a mousetrap, hit himself in the eye with an egg, his hand being closed against a podium drawer, gets his head sucked into a ventilation shaft, gets poked in the eye by his own hand, and gets hit between his legs by a ladder; each of these mishaps is interpreted by the audience as being part of the act.

Fed up with Alec's behavior, Presto storms backstage after him, but releases a set of hanging stage props and gets his foot caught in a rigging rope.

Realizing this, Alec uses the hats' magic to save Presto, earning the audience's wild approval for the both of them.

Looney Tunes cartoons directed by Tex Avery were a major influence, with Alec being easily compared to Bugs Bunny.

Additionally, Presto's body (from the neck down) is Skinner's lawyer, and the carrot was one of the many food props from that film.

[6] Jake Coyle of the Associated Press found Presto to be "a delightful and cartoonish appetizer" which kept the tradition of short pre feature films alive.

[8] James Sanford of the Kalamazoo Gazette called the short a superb and hilarious curtain raiser, describing it as a Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes version of The Prestige.