Coin magic is a general term for magical performances employing one or more coins which are manipulated to deceive and baffle the audience.[1] Because coins are small, much coin magic is considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. Though stage conjurers generally do not use coin effects, magicians sometimes perform coin manipulations on stage using large coins. In another type of performance setting, a close-up coin magician (or 'coin worker') will use a large video projector so the audience can scrutinize the magic. Coin magic is generally considered harder to master than other close-up techniques such as card magic, and is one of the least performed forms of conjuring. Coin magic requires great skill and grace to perform convincingly, and this takes a lot of practice to acquire.
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The Basic Elements of Coin Magic
Coin effects include productions, vanishes, transformations, transpositions, teleportations, penetrations, restorations, levitations and mental magic — some are combined in a single routine. A simple effect might involve borrowing a coin, making it vanish, concealing the coin, then reproducing it again unexpectedly and returning it to the owner. More complex effects may involve multiple coins, substituting or switching coins and other objects or props can be employed (i.e. handkerchiefs, glasses) as well as the coins. However, the power of most coin magic lies in its simplicity and the solidity of the object; the basic skills of sleight of hand and misdirection [initiation of trains of thought] often appear most magical without complex equipment. Almost any audience will be amazed by the simplest mystery, such as passing a coin through a table.
Sleights and Tricks
Well known coin routines and plots:
- Miser's Dream - Grabbing coin after coin from thin air.
- Coins Across - Coin after coin teleportation.
- Shadow Coins - A bare-hand Chink-a-Chink using coins.
- French drop - A grabbing coin vanish.
- Matrix - A coin assembly using cards.
- Coins Through Table - Coins (or a coin) penetrate through a table.
- Coin Bite - Taking a bite out of a coin.
A sampling of coin sleights and moves:
- The Muscle Pass - Making a coin fall up from your hand.
- Controlled Flip - Making a coin land on a specific side.
- Palming - A form of concealment.
- Sleeving - A form of concealment.
- Lapping - A form of concealment/ditching.
Coin Magicians
Some magicians widely known for coin magic include:
- Thomas Nelson Downs (considered, along with J.B. Bobo, one of the magicians key to the development and teaching of modern coin magic)
- J.B. Bobo (author of Modern Coin Magic, a core reference and starting point for coin magicians)
- David Roth (most important developer of coin magic in the twentieth century and inventor of the standard plots common in current coin magic)
- Larry Jennings
- Michael Ammar (one of the most prolific publishers and teachers, an experienced all around magician, including coin work)
- Dean Dill (well-known coin magician and inventor who has appeared on television and also works as a barber)
- Geoff Latta
- Troy Hooser (low-key restaurant performer that has created or contributed to a number of extremely popular routines that are performed in a close-up environment where the magician is standing)
- Shoot Ogawa (Last Vegas restaurant performer known for highly stylized, high-difficulty, impressive coin magic)
- Apollo Robbins (contemporary of Shoot Ogawa and co-contributor to a number coin teaching materials)
- Curtis Kam (well known performer, teacher and seasoned restaurant performer)
- David Stone (extremely talented performer and teacher of fast-paced, flashy coin magic)
- Chris Kenner
- Homer Liwag
- Dai Vernon
- John Born
Performance
Although some coin magic depends on the use of a gimmick (e.g. modified coins, oversized coins or trick coins), such gimmicks do not entirely automate a magical effect. Producing a memorable mystery requires significant skill in presenting the effect and utilizing misdirection to distract the audience from the secret of the gimmick. A performer who relies entirely on special equipment may not impress an audience. Many people are more impressed by an effect which depends (or seems to depend) entirely on skillful manipulation and misdirection than by an effect which appears to depend to some extent on specially made props. A performer who has mastered the basic skills can nonetheless use gimmicks to powerful effect without it being obvious to the audience. Some magicians prefer not to use gimmicks at all, though most well-known coin magicians do utilize simple coin gimmicks.
Coin Magic in Literature
Canadian novelist Robertson Davies devotes a good part of his Deptford Trilogy to the art of coin magic. All three novels follow in part or wholly the career of a fictitious magician, Magnus Eisengrim, who was abducted as a boy by a traveling circus and learned his craft while concealed in a papier-mâché automaton. The descriptions of coin magic throughout are remarkable for their clarity. The final novel in the series in particular World of Wonders details his life and career, and is considered by many[who?] to be one of the best literary depictions of a coin magic virtuoso.
In the Neil Gaiman novel American Gods, the main character, Shadow, is an experienced coin magician, and many different tricks and aspects of coin magic are discussed in the book.
In the Dean Koontz novel From the Corner of His Eye, a police officer uses coin magic to interrogate suspects.
Thieves, wizards, and jesters, in historical and fantasy literature are often depicted as being skilled in legerdemain, and are often depicted doing standard coin magic. Rolling a coin across the knuckles is a popular image. Silk in David Eddings's Belgariad, and Mat Cauthon and Thom Merrilin in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, do this frequently. Also, Vila Restal in the BBC science fiction television program Blake's 7 mixed his skills as a thief with such tricks.
Notes
- ^ Wilson, Mark (1988) [1975]. Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic. Courage Books. ISBN 0894716239.Money Magic, pp. 175-221.
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