1. The invisible coin

A coin becomes invisible. When pushed into one ear it reappears in the other, visible again.

Hold any small coin on the right fingertips. Bend your left arm, putting the hand near the left ear. Place the coin on the left elbow, cover it with the right fingers, and rub it with a circular motion.

"Did you know that if you rub a coin against your elbow like this, it becomes smaller and smaller?" As you say this, lift your fingers slightly and allow the coin to drop to the floor as 
though accidentally.

"It ll never work if I do that." Bend down and pick up the coin with the fingers of the left hand. Pretend to transfer the coin from the left to the right hand, but actually retain it in the left fingers. You simply place the left fingers on the right palm, close the right hand, and return immediately to your original position, left hand near the ear, right hand on the elbow. Don't feel guilty about this action and don't do it too fast; that will only create suspicion. Just do it naturally.

Continue rubbing the right fingers against the elbow. Meanwhile, the left fingers secretly push the coin into your  left ear. "This rubbing gradually wears the coin away until it becomes very thin."

Pretend to take the now invisible coin from the elbow and place it on the left palm. "This is probably the thinnest coin  you ever saw!" Both hands at this point are seen to be empty.

Pick up the phantom coin. "With a really thin coin like this I can do a remarkable thing. If I push it into my right ear like this, it passes right through my head — there isn't anything much there to stop it — and comes out of my left ear."

Reach into your left ear and bring out the coin which has become visible again.

A variation: Instead of leaving the coin in your ear, push it into your collar, thus accomplishing a complete vanish. Finish by showing that the coin has been rubbed into invisibility and then give it to someone as a souvenir. "Don't try to spend it for candy. They'll give you invisible candy, and that — you cart even taste."

2. the vanishing coin

A coin vanish that can be used in several ways.

Place a penny on the back of the left fist. Cover it with the right fingers, begin to rub it against the fist, and then, accidentally let it fall to the floor. As you go to get it, put your left foot beside it. Bend down and pick up the coin with your right hand. As you straighten up, let your hand pass close to your right ankle, and allow the coin to slide off the fingers into your trouser cuff. Don't push it in; just drop it without pausing as your hand goes past. The spectators won't see this. If an action seems important they watch it carefully. But here they believe the coin was dropped accidentally, so they pay little attention to the way it is picked up.

Place the fingers on the back of the fist again and continue rubbing. "If I do this just right, the coin will pass through my hand." After a moment lift the fingers slowly, showing that the coin has gone. Then turn the left hand over, open it, and find nothing. "I must have rubbed it a little too hard. I lose a lot of money that way."

A variation: Hold a quarter concealed in you r left hand at the start. And finish by saying, "The nice thing about this trick is that when the penny goes through the hand it becomes larger. Twenty-five times larger. I make a lot of money this way."

3. enny-to-dime

A penny placed in a spectator's hand changes to a dime.

Take several coins from your pocket and place them on your left palm. Pick up a dime, slide it with the thumb to the base of the right third and fourth fingers and close them over it. (This'method of holding a coin concealed in the hand is called the finger palm and is shown in fig. 3A.) Now pick up one or two more coins in the usual manner, say, "We won't need these," and put them back in your pocket. But retain the dime in the finger palm.

Remaining in your left hand you should have a penny, either a quarter or a fifty-cent piece, and one or two other coins. Arrange these on the hand so that they can all be seen, but see that the largest coin is behind and slightly overlaps the penny (fig. 3B). Name each coin and ask a spectator to add them. "I have fifty cents, a penny, and two nickels. How much is that altogether?"

figure 3



When the spectator gives the answer, ask, "And if I take away a penny, what does that leave?"

As you say this you apparently pick up the penny with the thumb and first two fingers of your right hand. When your hand is above the penny, momentarily hiding it, your fingers push it back under the larger coin.

The child replies, "Sixty cents," and you say, "Very good. Now hold out your hand."

Place the tips of your right fingers (which the spectator thinks hold the penny) on his hand and open the third and fourth fingers, allowing the concealed dime to fall onto his palm. At the same time say, "Now close your hand tightly." Take your hand away just as he does this. He will feel the dime but think that he has the penny. Put all the other coins back in your pocket.

"Hold the penny tightly. 'm going to try to make it disappear at the count of three. Are you ready? It's still there? Good. One. Two. Three. Go! Do you still feel itP You do? Are you sure? That's funny. This has always worked before. Let me see it." He opens his hand and finds that the penny has changed to a dime.

There is one drawback to this trick —the child always wants you to do it again. It's usually not wise to repeat the same trick immediately. So you proceed to do the trick that follows, making the dime disappear.

4. Into thin air

A coin vanishes into thin air — then mysteriously reappears.

Display a coin on the left palm. Pick it up with the right hand and hold it about a foot above the left hand. "Watch what happens when I say 'Go!'"

Bring the coin down, touch the left palm with it, and count, "One." Raise-the coin again, higher this time, bring it back to the palm, counting, "Two." Lift it once more, place it, without hesitating, on the top of your head and leave it there. Immediately bring the now empty hand down to the left palm, close the left fingers, and count, "Three." As you remove your right hand, turn it palm up so that it is seen to be empty.

Snap your fingers and say, "Go!" Then frown and add, "No, it's still there. [ll try again." Snap your fingers twice. "Go! That's better." Open the hand slowly showing that the coin has vanished.

Then say, "I wonder if we can make it reappear?" Ask the child to hold his hands in front of him, side by side, pronounce any magic spell you like, and tilt your head. The missing coin drops from nowhere into the child's hands.

5. the penetrating coin

A half dollar visibly penetrates a borrowed handkerchief.

Hold a half dollar upright between the finger tips and thumb of the left hand. You may use your own handkerchief but the trick is more effective if you use one belonging to a spectator. Lay the handkerchief over the left hand, adjusting it so that the coin is at its center. Then grasp the coin through the handkerchief momentarily between the right thumb and forefinger. Push the left thumb upward slightly making a small fold in the cloth behind the coin at its base (fig. 4A).

Let someone feel the coin through the cloth. Then, to further convince him everything is honest, grasp the front edge of the handkerchief with the right hand and lift it up and back onto the arm. Lower the left hand at the same time so that the coin points downward. This partially exposes the coin so that everyone can see that it is still there (fig. 4B).

The right fingers, which still hold the front edge of the handkerchief, now also grasp the rear edge which is lying on the arm, and then carry both edges forward and down, covering the coin. The coin appears to be fairly covered, but it is actually behind and outside of the handkerchief.

Grasp the handkerchief a few inches below the coin and twist it, drawing the cloth tightly around the coin. Grip the handkerchief with the second, third, and fourth fingers of the right hand, and press the thumb and forefinger against opposite edges of the coin (fig. 4C).

"Most magic takes place under cover, where you can't see it. This time it happens in full view. Watch! When I squeeze the coin, it passes right through the center of the handkerchief!"

Keep your left forefinger under the coin but lift your left thumb. Squeeze the edges of the coin with the right fingers, slowly pushing it into view. The illusion that it is being pushed right through the cloth is perfect.

"Of course," you add, "that ruins the handkerchief, but if I blow on it gently, the hole mends itself." Toss the handkerchief to its owner so that he can see for himself.

6. Coin through table

Solid passes through solid again. A surprising, quick trick to be done at the dinner table.

You have two half dollars in your pocket. Both hands go below the edge of the table and the right hand goes into the pocket for the coins. As the right hand comes out; secretly drop one coin into the left hand and bring the other up into view. Lean forward, give the coin to someone, and ask that it be examined to make sure that it is genuine and quite solid. As he is doing this, extend your left hand under the table, place the second coin on your knee, and leave it there.

Take the first coin back from the spectator and place it on

figure 4


the table directly in front of you, five or six inches from the edge of the table. Show both hands, front and back, so that it is obvious that they are empty. Say, "Watch!" Cover the coin with the right fingers, pull it back to the table edge, pick it up, move the hand forward, and slap it down on the table. Press down on it and rub it against the table with a circular motion.

While this is going on, put your left hand under the table, pick up the coin from the knee, and hold it on the fingers, the hand palm up. Say, "This doesn't seem to be working." Lift the right hand and show the coin, then slide it back and leave it five or six inches from the table edge as before.

Press your right forefinger against the center of the tabletop in two or three places as you say, "I'm sure there's a soft spot here somewhere. Oh yes, here it is."

Cover the coin again, slide it to the edge of the table, and pretend to pick it up, but this time let it drop into your lap instead. Immediately move your right hand forward and slap it down on the table as before; at the same time, your left hand slaps the coin it holds up against the underside of the table. The sound of the coin hitting the table seems to indicate that it is still under the right hand.

Go through the pressing and rubbing motions as before, then suddenly say, "There it goes!" Lift your right hand, showing that the coin has gone. Pause a moment, then bring the left hand up and drop the coin on the table.

7. The evaporating coin

The magician announces a very special trick, one that is seldom seen because it is so difficult. He shows a half dollar and states that he intends to make it disappear under the strictest possible test conditions. He gives the coin to someone to examine while he removes his coat and rolls up his left shirt sleeve. He asks the spectator to testify that the coin is a regulation and quite solid fifty-cent piece, then holds out his hand and asks that it be placed in the center of his palm.

Then he spreads out a handkerchief (preferably borrowed) and lays it carefully over the coin and the hand. All this is done slowly so that the audience will be quite satisfied that no sleight of hand is possible. To emphasize this further he asks a spectator to reach in under the handkerchief and feel the coin to be sure that it is still there. Two or three other spectators are asked to do the same.

Then, still in slow motion and without any sign of a suspicious move, he says dramatically, "Watch! One, twe, three — go!" He pulls the handkerchief away slowly. His hand is empty; the coin has gone. The handkerchief is tossed to the audience. "I'm not sure,' the performer says, "how that's done myself."

Does it sound difficult? It's supposed to. That's part of the misdirection. It's actually very easy. This trick illustrates perfectly that in magic it is not so much what you do as how you do it. The half dollar vanishes into thin air because the last spectator to reach under the handkerchief to assure himself that the coin was there is your confederate. He simply takes it away.

It is the selling job you do that is important. If you are dead serious about everything you say and do and convince the audience that they are about to witness a miracle — that's what they'll see.

8. Ultiplying money

The magician gives a spectator a pencil to use as a magic wand and shows several coins whose total is added. When the child waves his wand over the coins and then recounts them, he finds that the total has increased. This is repeated twice more.

Conceal a fifty-cent piece in your right hand before the trick begins. Ask a child if he would like to do some magic. Reach under your coat, drop the half dollar into the armhole of your left sleeve, and bring a pencil from your pocket. Raise the left arm a bit so that when the half dollar slides down the sleeve it will stop at the elbow.

Give the pencil to the spectator, then reach into your right pocket and bring out several coins. Hold them on the palm of your right hand a bit above the spectator's eye level. Spread the coins with your left fingers as though counting them and place a quarter on the third joint of the third finger (fig. 5A).

Close the fingers half-way, and dump the coins into the left hand. The curled third finger prevents the quarter from falling with the other coins (fig. 5A). Spread the coins on the left palm, and again push one coin — a nickel perhaps — on to the third joint of the third finger (fig. 5B). Show the coins and ask the spectator how much money you have. When he announces the total, dump the coins back into the right hand and close it. This time retain the nickel in the left hand.

Tell the child to wave his wand three times over your closed hand. Then open it and have him recount the coins. The total has increased by twenty cents.

"You did that very well. Would you like to try it again?" The answer is always, "Yes."

Dump the coins back into the left hand again. The wand is waved again and this time the total increases by five cents.

Transfer the coins to the right hand and have the wand waved again. As this is being done, drop your left hand to your side and let the half dollar in your sleeve slide down and fall into your curled fingers.

Open the right hand. This time the value of the coins has not increased. "Well," you say, "I sometimes have that trouble, too. I don't think you waved the wand hard enough. Try it again." Dump the coins back into the left hand. The wand is waved — harder this time — and the total jumps by fifty cents!

"That's the way to do it! You've made so much money for me that you deserve a commission." Give the child a coin to keep.

figure 5

9. Invisible flight

A borrowed and marked half dollar is held in the performer's fist. His hand is covered with a handkerchief which is fas-tened around the wrist with a rubber band so that coin and hand are completely enclosed. In spite of all these precautions, the coin leaves the hand and travels invisibly through the air, and reappears in a hat on the other side of the room.

Borrow a hat (or use your own), and ask a spectator to make sure there is nothing in it. Then place it on the opposite side of the room.

Borrow a half dollar. If none of the small fry present are that well-to-do, lend them one of yours. Also hand out a soft pencil and ask that the coin be marked.

While the marking is being done, obtain another fifty-cent piece from your pocket and hold it finger-palmed in your right hand (fig. 3A). Take the marked coin in your left hand, close it, and say, "This marked coin is going to leave my hand and fly across the room into the empty hat. Would you like to see it go visibly or invisibly?"

They almost always want to see it go visibly, which is the reply you want. But if not, you say, "Let's do it both ways. When it goes visibly, it looks like this." Simply open your hand, pick up the coin with the right hand, walk across the room to the hat, and place the coin in it. Secretly leave the second coin there at the same time.

"That really isn't much of a trick, is it? Let's do it the hard way — invisibly." Reach into the hat and remove only one coin, the unmarked duplicate. No one can tell at a little distance whether it is marked or not, and in any case you immediately place it in the left hand and close the fingers over it.

Bring out a handkerchief and throw it over the fist. As you cover your hand, turn it palm down. Grasp the outside edge of the handkerchief between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand, which you hold palm up. Pull the edge of the handkerchief in toward you and up against the wrist. As the right hand passes beneath the left, let the coin drop into invisible flight 2] the right hand (fig. 6). (In the photo the near edge of the handkerchief has been lifted to show what happens underneath. )

Ask a spectator to hold the handkerchief around your wrist so that your hand is completely enclosed. Put your right hand into your pocket and bring out a rubber band. Give it to the spectator and ask him to put it over your wrist around the handkerchief.

The trick, as far as you are concerned, is finished. Pretend to pluck an invisible coin from your right hand and throw it toward the hat. Ask the spectator to pull the handkerchief off your hand. Both handkerchief and hand are empty. Don't go near the hat yourself; have someone else go to it and remove the marked coin.

figure 6


10. Tricky transposition

Two coins, each covered by a handkerchief and each held by a different spectator, change places on command.

Begin by showing two coins, such as a penny and a nickel, on the palm of the left hand. Unknown to the audience, your right hand holds a nickel, which is concealed in the fingerpalm position (fig. 3A).

Throw a handkerchief over your left hand. Pick up the handkerchief at the center with your right hand, grasping the two coins through the cloth. What you do now is strictly for comedy, so speak very seriously.

"I am going to show you one of the most difficult feats in all magic. Watch!" Point your left fingers at the handkerchief and wiggle them in a hypnotic gesture. "When I do this, the penny changes into a nickel." Reach under the handkerchief and bring out the nickel. "And the nickel changes into a penny!" Bring out the penny. "Isn't that wonderful? Nobody has ever figured out how it works.

"And now I'll do something even harder." Take the four corners of the handkerchief with the left hand and let the center drop. Pick up the penny with the right hand. Place this hand in the bag formed by the handkerchief (fig. 7). But instead of leaving the penny inside, as you appear to do, drop the finger-palmed nickel instead, and push the penny into the finger-palm position.

Bring the right hand out, hold it under the bag, and grasp the coin from the outside through the cloth. Drop the four corners of the handkerchief and turn to a spectator. "I want you to hold the penny just like this. Hold it up high so everyone can watch it." This instruction is really given so that he won't open the handkerchief and look inside.


Now hold another handkerchief by the corners, pick up the nickel, and tell another spectator, "I want you to hold the nickel." Put it into the bag, but this time leave the penny and retain the nickel. Give this handkerchief to the second spectator to hold.

Reach into your pocket with your right hand, leave the finger-palmed nickel there, and bring out a pencil. The trick is now done and all that remains is to dramatize it.

"Your coin," you ask the second spectator, "is worth how much more than the other?" He replies, "Four cents."

"That's correct,' you say, "but when I wave this magic wand (the pencil) over your coin, four cents will leave your nickel, fly across the room, and join the penny. If you watch very closely — you won't see a thing. Ready? Go!"

Each spectator removes his coin, and they find that the penny and nickel have changed places.

figure 7