More Simple Coins

I love the simple coins routine, the bold method of being one behind really makes this practical. This is a different beginning and a different ending. You don't take out the coins from your pocket to begin with, no you produce them from exactly the place where you pretend to put them a few seconds later. Only to pull them from those places and then one of them turns invisible, touches the other ones and they all vanish.

The ending in this version is the preferred ending when doing walk around magic. The standard ending is better suited for a stand up performance in a parlour type setting. The great addition in the beginning 2H1P phase is by the Austrian magician Daniel Philipp. By placing the coins on your arm you get rid of the table and weirdly it makes the click pass a bit more convincing.

The Cannibal Coin

I'm a little late this week, sorry about that.

The good old Two in Hands One in the Pocket. As you can see that basic plot can be twisted quite a bit with the right premise. I opted for not going to my pockets. So it feels like a different trick. The main structure remains, the coins jumps back two times and on the third time the hand is empty. But instead on making it a vanish I decided that all the coins should be in the other hand. Technically this is no different from the usual handling but it makes sense within the established premise of one coin trying to eat the others.

I decided to use an odd coin to illustrate the premise, but that also means a tiny, minute change in the usual handling. But it makes a real difference. People get a kick out of the story. And using a coin with a hole really  makes sense when talking about eating other coins. As far out and dumb the premise I felt to go all the way. So I had the coin eat the others. And making them go back is a lot of fun.

The moves are rather simple and all of them can be found in Modern Coin Magic. Once again I'm thankful to J.B. Bobo for creating such a vast and rich compendium of coin knowledge. The cannibal plot and premise of course is by Lynn Searles.

Nuts and Bolt

Getting rid of a table has drawbacks but frees your mind to recreate routines you love in a new way. Doc Eason was a really early influence on my magic. On the third DVD on Bar magic the very first routine is called: "All Screwed Up". Technically a variant of Two in the Hands One in the Pocket. But instead of using sponges or coins he used nuts. Great thinking. And using those props the finish of the nuts screwed to the bolt it automatic.

I took away the table and suddenly a whole bunch of problems arise. So that is when Dan Sylvester came to the rescue. His Sylvester Pitch is such a great move and it works nearly surrounded. Naturally the structure changed a bit.

My patter sucks, simply because my German patter is not usable here. It consists of puns. You cannot translate them. So in the video I am basically just saying what comes to my mind. Who cares!

Three Buttons in the Hand

So we all know the standard two in the hands one in the pocket routine. Usually it goes like this: Sponge balls are being used. Each sponge ball is picked up one by one and placed one by one into the other hand. Almost always the "tricky business" happens during the handling of the second ball. And while that allows for all sort of subtleties I tended to look for something else. Then I realized that one of the coin moves I've been doing for ages works great here. Surprisingly the routine becomes easier that way.

By picking up all of the "coins" at once and then dropping them in the hand and then tossing one out, the spectator is forced to make up his mind about the number of coins in the magicians hand. So if the spectator deduces the two are left the conviction is even stronger. At least that is what I think.

The moves seems to be consistent all three times which makes the vanish of the objects near the end a real surprise. I decided to use buttons, as coins and sponge balls are so common in magicians routines. Also it allows me for that rather nice ending which "kills" the audience for some iffy reason. I do have a stand up routine with "big" buttons that end the same way, so applying this to the 2H1P routine was a no-brainer. But I have never seen someone else doing that.

The final "vanish" in the cloth is a pretty old bold vanish. The first two are obvious and standard procedure, but the last one comes from the good old "Modern Coin Magic" by J.B. Bobo. (Honestly I think that the titel of the book is kind of outdated by now.) It's the Bluff Vanish at page 59. It's much more deceptive than most magicians give it credit for.