Ball, Wand and Coin

It's a weird routine I guess. But it is rather satisfying to do. Not that this matters to any audience, but the routine is short enough to be squeezed into any manipulation act. It's rather practical, the angles are not that bad and it has the potential to be enhanced drastically. The piece of silk in the end could be vanished transforming back into the coin. That coin could change into a jumbo coin, the wand could grow and all of that shit. In terms of move there is nothing new to add. The Flip Stick vanish by Flip Hallema, a Bobo Switch and Spell Bound moves. But the main thing is this new background. You like it? Was expensive as golden shit. Now I got it.

Simple Coins

This coin routine is really, really simple. Hence the name. Simple in both effect and method. Three coins vanish and then come back. The first vanish actually is the most simple vanish one can think of. It's a spin on the Bluff Vanish from Bobo's book. It's so much fun to do. The angles on the routine are very, very good. And the sounds are genuine and misleading. Just the way we like it. And you don't need a table. making this an anytime, anywhere routine.

Near the end one of the coins jumps back to the pocket. The one behind principle makes this a piece of cake. The method requires this little extra effect. But it also serves a function. The spectator could have chosen any number. Therefore it seems like a different outcome was possible. That creates the illusion that the magic happens at the moment it is perceived. And that would only be possible if really three coins were used. The routine is by Jim Abrahams and I know for a fact that this routine will be in his upcoming book that he is currently working on.

The main principle is a nice cancel for any coin routines that are one ahead. Mix the method and deception will follow. In fact the end, could be a great get ready for a one ahead routine. Or vice versa. Depending on which routine is stronger.

Simple Matrix

There is nothing unusual about this. The standard one ahead. But the ending might be of interest. As it is the only, I repeat, the only justification for using a playing card. Seriously, why a playing card. Always the same. I see magicians use the playing cards simply because they are there. You know what else is there? The purse. Using the purse is not only motivated and logical, it has so many advantages. Sound, and no "floating".

Back to the routine. Having one quarter of the card not changing in the end gives you a reason to openly ditch it. Along with other stuff. I used this ending many times and it was my perfect lead in to the six coin routine that I do.

The used sleights are standard and I don't think I need to point out the one true source. *cough* Bobo *cough*

The last coin vanish is bold but somehow it seems like an increased difficulty for you, but it makes you job much easier. Have fun.

The Button Story

Going on with this notions box theme here is something with buttons. The main "sleight" is the Bold Coin Vanish from Modern Coin Magic. A underused sleight I think. Although the term "sleight" doesn't really do it justice. It's just a bold thing you do. You can reverse the "sleight" of course. That way you get loaded instead getting rid of the coins. Must be pretty cryptic reading these lines I suppose. Watch the video! The buttons going back in the box sequence is the actual reversal of the bold vanish. Pick up two, put in one. So you can choose which buttons end up in the hand in the end.

A similar routine I have seen years ago by Jay Sankey. A whole punch of paper clips are picked up one by one and in the hand they link. Cute little trick.

But you can do more of course. What about a standard Spell Bound routine? The most simple one would be copper coins turning to gold coins, which are drop in a cup. Near the end the cup is turned over and all the gold coins have become copper again. You don't see that routine very often. And here is why: In most "warm" lighting conditions the difference between copper and gold is not great. The lack of visibility of the trick is it's downfall. The standard structure is flawless I think.

Long story shot: Have buttons change into coins one by one. Logical? Check! Visible? Check! Great scope? Check!

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.

Shrinking Coin

Basically just two Bobo Switches and a false transfer. But in terms of effect this is cute. Any regular size is boring. Growing and shrinking stuff makes it funny... or at least interesting. I've done this for normal people often enough to know that they love it. Why is that so? The premise. It is not just a vanish and a reappearance. The object is actually transformed. It is shrunken down and stays that way. Try it with different objects. Coins are great, but if you do this with SD cards... Starting with a big SD card, then a standard size one, then finally a micro SD card all of that becomes unique magic. You can talk about the fact that even though the technology gets smaller and smaller somehow the amount of stuff you can save on the card remain the same. Or even gets bigger.

The philosophical implication of the card being so small it is practically gone and what it means about the value of storage and data really should get an interesting plot going.

Or think toys. A toy car shrinking more and more. Suitable props should be cheap.

All I'm saying that the plot of an object shrinking really is intriguing as it flies off in so many directions.

Growing Coin

Plucking a coin from an ear is one of those goodies, that is too underestimated. When I started that sequence of putting the coin in one ear and pulling it out the other it got me good reactions. Soon thereafter the mouth and nose bit followed. Having a beard the production from the beard was inevitable.

But how do you finish such a one coin routine? Well by the standard final load. Most often its a large coin. And that was the case for years. But when I got an even larger coin I was thinking about making big coin even bigger. The method I use actually works in the real world. It is very obvious in the video. But in real life your eyes would follow the coin in the air. The routine used to be much, much more complex. Here is a version from seven years ago:



Now the routine is much more streamlined and it is much better on the angles. The final appearance of the giant coin actually is a nice show stopper. Especially for kids who dog that sort of stuff. In fact doing this for kids I usually point out another weird connection. If I put the coin in my hand, it comes out somebody else's ear. And then I have a short sequence of plucking the coin from the kids head. Try it, it's killer material for the youngsters.

In term of method there is nothing special. Just stuff from Bobo.

Coins to Pocket

I've been playing around with the idea of coins going to the pockets. And there seems only one way to do it correctly, by showing that all pockets are empty to begin with. Otherwise there is no point. So this is a trick that only a few magicians will ever do. Most of the time the pockets are not empty. Too bad. It's a nice premise.

This particular version works with almost all the tricks in the book. Two ahead, a feint, a ruse and a subtlety, but no extra coins. In terms of sleights there is nothing special. Shuttles, FT's and palms. This routine is all about construction. Picture it from a layman's point of view. Four coins are jumping invisibly from the hands to called out pockets. This is strong stuff.

Coins Through Table

Okay, let's get the basic out of the way. There are tons of ways to accomplish the effect. And it is hard to say which version is the best. Judging from a working performers point of view a few criteria must be met. No setup, reset, angles, anywhere, anytime, deceptive and the possibility to do a big finish.

The routine has no setup at all. You get out the little purse and everything needed is in there and ends up back in there. So there is no reset, as the reset is instant. The angles are great on this one. In fact it can be done surrounded. There is no need to lap or ditch in between. That rules out most version I have come across.

Having performed this hundreds of times, I KNOW that it is deceptive and the audience has no clue about the modus operandi.

The only problem might be the sound. But really? This is a no brainer! The background noise usually cancels out any possible "wrong" sound. And even if, the audience has nothing to compare it to.

The basic routine was developed by studying Milton Kort's Coins Through the Table (Modern Coin Magic page 276) His version uses a glass to substitute the hand in most phases. And as much as I liked it, it is done a little too often for my personal taste. So here we go into the before mentioned possibility to do a big finish. Oh, wait, let me leave it at that. I didn't include that in the video. For a good reason. I don't want it out there. I don't want others to do it, unless they earn the gift, by encrypting my vague ramblings here and make it their own. To those: You got a reputation maker on your hands. To the rest: You don't deserve it.

And to those who say: "What about the last coin? It's so weak!"
The first two coins should condition the audience that you really put the coin on the table. If you fail at that, this is not for you. I've done the routine for years. And dude, that last coin is almost the strongest, if I wouldn't go into the "big finish".

Oh, yeah. Happy Easter

Three Coin Routine

So there is a whole bunch of stuff in there. Spliced together from various sources, which have already been freakish "frankensteinian" creatures on there own. We got the production of three coins. The first one from the elbow, the second one from behind the ear. Whenever I do that routine with children in the room I produce the coin from their ear. Depending on the angle I either use the production from back palm or the production from Downs palm. Both can be found in Modern Coin Magic. (page 3 and 5) The first vanish of the third coin is nothing but a clever bluff that works as the spectators make wrong assumptions about the amount of coins. (Bluff Vanish page 59) The whole reason for the vanish is the next phase, which is Three Fly.

Troy Hooser has reworked the classic Three Fly into a routine he calls Redirection Coins Across. You find that routine in Destroyers (page 37 et seq.) written by Joshua Jay. Basically it changes the "travel" of the coins from the side to side aspect to a front and back aspect. So the whole bit becomes much more three dimensional. Clever thinking by Troy Hooser. In the video it doesn't show up that well, therefore the hands seem awfully close to each other in the sequence. The last coin uses a subtlety by German magician/mentalist Marc Gettmann who is an awesome coin worker. The standard vanish of the last coin starts from French Drop position and ends up in Ramsay Subtlety position. Marc changed it, so don't have to turn your wrist. Leading into the third part is a simple repeated coins phase. That serves the purpose of getting rid of "extras" by adding more effects and length to the routine.

The starting point for this part was ExTROYdinary also by Troy Hooser. (page 29) But his version uses a shell. I got rid of that, not because it wasn't freaking brilliant, but because I'm so lazy to take care of my props, so I rather modify the routine, so I can be rough with my props or even lose them. It also makes use of the "Flying Shuttle Pass" which is a really, really good addition by Jay Sankey on the classic Shuttle Pass.

There are a few reasons I didn't do Three Fly as the last phase. First: It's not that strong, compared to three vanish and reproductions in a row. What, what, what I hear you say. Try it, and you know what I mean. Second: The thought of perhaps more than three coins in play will come up. So I wanted to end this by just using three coins allowing for maximum exposure of the empty hands. This would not be the case if I would do Three Fly to close the routine. Third: I end clean. Fourth: Reset.

Also the routine is modular, which almost always is a good thing. I can close it very quickly and if I want to I can even make it longer by adding a one coin routine, an exposé routine (you'll see what that is, when it comes up in my schedule) or a spell bound routine. (See last week.)

Poker Spellbound

A standard spellbound routine. Three poker chips in this case one by one change into a coin. David Roth's Wild Coin routine #1 and #2 come to mind when you see this. (Coin Magic by Richard Kaufman) That routine has the coin be dropped in a cup. This wouldn't be possible in this case as the sound it would make would totally take away the presumed illusion. So I decided to be all open about it. And then I got me thinking about premises. What if magic actually happened and I fail to see that. So this is what I ended up with.

Finger Tips Coins Across aka Three Fly was the main inspiration to use that particular handling. Not being restricted to tables and to do a coin trick at chest height is always a good thing. I drew influence from Troy Hoosers coin work. The book Destroyers should be anybody read if you wanna know about direction and coin magic.

The first change is simple, the second one automatic if you a standard ungimmicked Three Fly. Same with the next two changes. The third change is a classic Spellbound change, while the last one is merely the good ol' Bobo Switch.

Placing the coins up to my eyes is not only a personal thing, it's also darn practical and funny. That way you don't need a table nor any receptical at all. Here is a suggested continuation of the effect, if you own a coin holder. Change the three poker chips into three coins. A shuttle pass will do it and it would significantly broaden the effect. As the last change will be off beat it's execution should be not really a problem.

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.

The Six Coin Routine

Before I get into all the sources for this routine let me point out what I think makes this a good routine. The first point would be the use of six coins instead of just three coins. If you really think about it, it is just three coins across. But the addition of three more coins makes it seem much bigger than it really is. The main reason is that the effect is perceived differently. It is not just three coins going into the other hand one by one, it is the whole balance changing. Form 3/3 to 2/4 to 1/5 to None/6. It somehow feels bigger, as the whole layout is bigger. A drawback to this of course is the amount table space that is used. So I be honest saying that I uses this in my street show. It's not that great for table hopping.

The second point is the finish in the spectators hand. Common it seems, but not really. Most magicians I met told me that they fear that sort of action. Well with 5(6) coins there is no excuse.

The third point would be the simple fact that you start very clean, with no extra coin hidden. That allows for ultra clean handling. You can even say "Make sure to notice that I got nothing in my hands." That is a great advantage to cancel the thought of extra coins in play. Of course the method is switched on the last coin allowing for the last coin to be seen before it vanishes, creating time misdirection to post-hide the method that was really employed.

Right after the "Across" part the routine continues with the "Bar Bet" style trick of taking out a coin from the spectators hand before the spectator closes it. This is a crowd-pleaser if you have the correct performing style with the right power claim. In this case it would be the "jester" and "trickery". The jester can actually challenge the audience without pissing them off, while trickey needs to be the obvious power claim, to make the routine believable.

Now most of the palms and click passes come straight from "Modern Coin Magic" by J.B. Bobo. But the routine itself draws heavy inspiration by Eddie Fechters 6-4-5 Coin trick, published in "Fechter - The Magic of Eddie Fechter" by Jerry Mentzer (page 153). I highly suggest checking out this one. Ending the "Across" part in the spectators hand is of course derived from sponge ball magic's most important book: "The Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic" by Frank Garcia.
The entire last routine somehow remains a bit unclear. It is published in "Magic For Dummies" by David Pogue (page 68) with an in depth explanation why the trick works, but this is not where I got it from. When I was six or seven years old (still being in first grade) I was in Prague in former Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) And there was a street performer there. An old man. And he did what I consider "magic failure worthy" nowadays. He explained the magic he performed for a few korunas. And that trick was part of his explanation. He used just five coins if I recall correctly but it stuck with me.
The cool part about this trick is the simple fact that you can actually repeat it. And it gets better each time.

Btw: if you wonder if this routine is actually doable in front of real spectators...

Chinese Money Mystery by J.B. Bobo

Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo 1952



Page 154 et seq.



Personal Comment: J.B. Bobo doesn't credit anybody with this. And he usually does throughout the book. He also says when he is not the originator. So I assume he made it up. I would like to say that this is a gem, and that it is seen not enough these days. I wish I could say that the effect has a heavy impact with any audience. That the scope of the trick makes the people believe that all 8 coins traveled, instead of just three of them. And I wish I could say that it is rather easy to do... but this is a lousy card trick. Where are the cards? Answer me that!



Difficulty 3/5

Coin Production from Two Cards

Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo 1952



Page 88 et seq.



Personal Comment: Good trick, a gem rarely seen nowadays. Imagine this in a Cannibal Card Routine. Instead of a coin, you can have a piece of a card being regurgitated. I always liked this, so I had to include this. There is nobody credited, but J.B. Bobo says it was published in "The Sphinx some years back" the book is old, so it is even more years. If somebody knows the source I'll change it accordingly.



Difficulty 1/5