Before attempting tricks with coin, it will be necessary for the student to practise certain sleights and passes which more especially belong to this particular branch of the magic art, though the sleight-of-hand used in “coin tricks” is more or less applicable to most other small objects. The principles which we have given for card tricks will not here be of any direct assistance to the student; but the readiness of hand and eye which he will have acquired, if he has diligently put in practice the instructions already given, will be of great value to him as a preliminary training, and it may safely be predicted that any person who is a first-rate performer with cards will find little difficulty in any other branch of the art.
The first faculty which the novice must seek to acquire is that of “palming”—i.e., secretly holding an object in the open hand by the contraction of the palm. To acquire this power, take a half-crown, florin, or penny (these being the most convenient in point of size), and lay it on the palm of the open hand. (See Fig. 59.) Now close the hand very slightly, and if you have placed the coin on the right spot (which a few trials will quickly indicate), the contraction of the palm around its edges will hold it securely (see Fig. 60), and you may move the hand and arm in any direction without fear of dropping it. You should next accustom yourself to use the hand and fingers easily and naturally, while still holding the coin as described. A very little practice will enable you to do this. You must bear in mind while practising always to keep the inside of the palm either downwards or towards your own body, as any reverse movement would expose the concealed coin. When you are able to hold the coin comfortably in the right hand, practise in like manner with the left, after which you may substitute for the coin a watch, an egg, or a small lemon—all these being articles of frequent use in conjuring.
Being thoroughly master of this first lesson, you may proceed to the study of the various “passes.” All of the passes have the same object—viz., the apparent transfer of an article from one hand to the other, though such article really remains in the hand which it has apparently just quitted. As the same movement frequently repeated would cause suspicion, and possibly detection, it is desirable to acquire different ways of effecting this object. For facility of subsequent reference, we shall denote the different passes described by numbers.I
I It should be here mentioned that the term “palming,” which we have so far used as meaning simply the act of holding any article, is also employed to signify the act of placing any article in the palm by one or other of the various passes. The context will readily indicate in which of the two senses the term is used in any given passage.
It is hardly necessary to remark that the diagrams, save where the letterpress indicates the contrary, represent the hands of the performer as seen by himself.
Pass 1.—Take the coin in the right hand, between the second and third fingers and the thumb (see Fig. 61), letting it, however, really be supported by the fingers, and only steadied by the thumb. Now move the thumb out of the way, and close the second and third fingers, with the coin balanced on them, into the palm. (See Fig. 62.) If the coin was placed right in the first instance, you will find that this motion puts it precisely in the position above described as the proper one for palming; and on again extending the fingers, the coin is left palmed, as in Fig. 60. When you can do this easily with the hand at rest, you must practise doing the same thing with the right hand in motion toward the left, which should meet it open, but should close the moment that the fingers of the right hand touch its palm, as though upon the coin, which you have by this movement feigned to transfer to it. The left hand must thenceforward remain closed, as if holding the coin, and the right hand hang loosely open, as if empty.
In the case of an article of larger size than a coin—as, for instance, a watch or an egg—you need not take the article with the fingers, but may let it simply lie on the palm of the right hand, slightly closing that hand as you move it towards the left. The greater extent of surface in this case will give you plenty of hold, without the necessity of pressing the article into the palm. Remember that, in any case, the two hands must work in harmony, as in the genuine act of passing an article from the one hand to the other. The left hand must therefore rise to meet the right, but should not begin its journey until the right hand begins its own. Nothing looks more awkward or unnatural than to see the left hand extended with open palm, before the right hand has begun to move towards it.
After the pass is made, a judicious use of the wand will materially assist in concealing the fact that the object still remains in the right hand. For this purpose the performer should, before commencing the pass, carelessly place the wand under either arm, as though merely to leave his hands free. Immediately that the pass is made the right hand should, with a sort of back-handed movement, which under the circumstances is perfectly natural, grasp the wand, draw it from under the arm, and thenceforth retain it till an opportunity occurs of disposing of the coin as may be necessary. The position of the fingers in the act of holding the wand is such as to effectually mask the concealed coin, while yet the hand appears perfectly easy and natural. The same expedient may be employed with equal advantage in the remaining passes.
Pass 2.—This is somewhat easier than Pass 1, and may sometimes be usefully substituted for it. Take the coin edgeways between the first and third fingers of the right hand, the sides of those fingers pressing against the edges of the coin, and the middle finger steadying it from behind. (See Fig. 63.) Carry the right hand towards the left, and at the same time move the thumb swiftly over the face of the coin till the top joint just passes its outer edge (see Fig. 64); then bend the thumb, and the coin will be found to be securely nipped between that joint and the junction of the thumb with the hand. (See Fig. 65.) As in the last case, the left hand must be closed the moment the right hand touches it; and the right must thenceforth be held with the thumb bent slightly inwards towards the palm, so that the coin may be shielded from the view of the spectators. This is an especially quick mode of palming, and if properly executed the illusion is perfect. It is said to be a special favourite of the elder Frikell.
Pass 3.—Hold the left hand palm upwards, with the coin in the position indicated in Fig. 59. Move the right hand towards the left, and let the fingers simulate the motion of picking up the coin, and instantly close. At the same moment slightly close the left hand, so as to contract the palm around the coin, as in Fig. 60, and drop the hand, letting it hang loosely by your side.
Pass 4. (Le Tourniquet).—This (sometimes known as the “French drop”) is an easy and yet most effective pass. Hold the left hand palm upwards, with the coin as shown in Fig. 66. Now move the right hand towards the left, passing the thumb of the right hand under, and the fingers over the coin, closing them just as they pass it. The effect is the same to the eye of the spectator as if you seized the coin with thumb and fingers, but, in reality, at the moment when the coin is covered by the fingers of the right hand, you let it drop quietly (see Fig. 67) into the palm of the left.
The right hand you should carry upwards and forwards after it leaves the left hand, following it with your eyes, and thereby drawing away the attention of the audience from the other hand. (See Fig. 68.) Do not be in too great a hurry to drop the left hand, but turn the palm slightly towards you, with the fingers a little bent, and, after a moment’s pause, let it fall gently to your side. The hollow made by the bent fingers will be sufficient to hold the coin.
This pass is available even for a sixpence or threepenny piece, which from their small size, cannot readily be palmed by the ordinary means. It is also very useful for “ball” conjuring.
Pass 5. (La Pincette).—This is a modification of the pass last described. The coin is held as in Fig. 69, between the thumb and first and second fingers of the left hand. You then make the movement of taking it between the same fingers of the other hand, which for that purpose makes a kind of “swoop” down upon it, the back of the hand being kept towards the spectators. At the moment when the coin is covered by the fingers of the right hand, it is allowed to slip gently down into the palm of the left, and the right is instantly elevated as if containing it.
Pass 6.—This pass is best adapted for use with three or four coins, as the chink of the coins against one another materially assists the illusion. Having to get rid of, say, four pence or florins, you take them in the right hand, as indicated in Fig. 70, viz., well back towards the wrist. Move the right hand sharply towards the left, with the fingers foremost, so that the finger-tips of the right hand may come smartly, at about right angles, against the palm of the left, at the same time slightly bending the fingers. The coins, instead of being shot forward (as to the eye and ear of the spectators they appear to be) into the left hand, are, in reality, retained in the hollow formed by the fingers of the right, as in Fig. 71. They are turned completely over as the hands come in contact, producing a loud chink. The left hand is, of course, closed, and the thumb of the right is allowed to sink gently on the coins, so that when the hand falls by your side, they may not make a second chink, and so betray their presence in the wrong hand.
Pass 7. (La Coulée).—This pass is best adapted for a coin of large diameter, like the French five-franc piece, and is but little used by English conjurors. If, however, the student has a very small hand (a serious disadvantage in conjuring generally), he may find it convenient to use the pass in question with a half-crown or penny. Take the coin in the right hand between the first and second fingers and the thumb, and in the act of apparently transferring it to the left hand, gently slide it with the ball of the thumb into the position shown in Fig. 72, where it is held by the pressure of the first and fourth fingers against its opposite edges, the hand remaining completely open.
Pass 8.—The peculiarity of this pass is, that it is made while holding the wand in the hand, a case in which none of the other passes are available. Holding the wand and coin in the right hand, as indicated in Fig. 73, you strike the edge of the coin sharply against the palm of the left hand, and instantly close that hand. The effect of the movement is to drive back the coin (which should be held very lightly) into the position shown in Fig. 74, in which, being behind the first three fingers, it is completely hidden. You should lose no time in relaxing the fingers of the right hand, and gently closing them around the coin, as their straightened position, if continued, might arouse suspicion. You must, however, be careful that, in doing so, you do not allow the coin to chink against the wand, as the sound would naturally draw attention to its whereabouts.
It must not be imagined that all of the passes above given are in turn used by every performer. Almost every conjuror has his favourite pass or passes, either selected from those above described, or invented by himself. Any mode by which a coin can be held in the hand without indicating its presence may be worked up into a pass. Thus, some performers will hold a coin by its edges between two of the fingers, or between the thumb and the side of the hand. Others, again, hold the coin flat against the first or second joint of the second or third finger, retaining it by slightly bending the finger. The novice should experiment till he ascertains which method best suits the conformation of his own hand. We have specified the hand to and from which each pass is generally used; but if the student desires to attain special excellence, he should practise until he is able to use each from left to right, as well as from right to left. In performing before a company of spectators, and standing with the left side towards them, it is well to use a pass which apparently transfers the coin from the right hand to the left, and vice versâ. The coin is thus left in the hand farthest away from the spectators, and the performer has the benefit of the cover of the body in dropping it into the pochette, or otherwise disposing of it.
The student will here, as in card conjuring, find great advantage in practising before a looking-glass, before which he should, in the first place, actually do that which he afterwards pretends to do, and carefully notice the positions and motions of his hands in the first case, which he should then do his best to simulate, that there may be as little difference as possible between the pretence and the reality. He should further accustom himself always to follow with his eyes the hand in which the object is supposed to be, this being the most certain means of leading the eyes and the minds of his audience in the same direction. When he is able to perform the passes neatly with a single florin or penny, he should then practise with coins of smaller size, with two coins at once, and afterwards with three or four.
A word of caution may here be desirable. These passes must by no means be regarded as being themselves tricks, but only as processes to be used in the performance of tricks. If the operator, after pretending to pass the coin, say, from the right hand to the left, and showing that it had vanished from the left hand, were to allow his audience to discover that it had all along remained in his right hand, they might admire the dexterity with which he had in this instance deceived their eyes, but they would henceforth guess half the secret of any trick in which palming was employed. If it is necessary immediately to reproduce the coin, the performer should do so by appearing to find it in the hair or whiskers of a spectator, or in any other place that may suit his purpose, remembering always to indicate beforehand that it has passed to such a place, thereby diverting the general attention from himself. As the coin is already in his hand, he has only to drop it to his finger-tips as the hand reaches the place he has named, in order, to all appearance, to take it from thence.
Having given this little piece of advice as to the hand in which the coin actually is, we must add a few words more as to the hand in which it is not. Whenever you have (apparently) placed any article either in the closed hand, or in some piece of apparatus from which it is afterwards to disappear, you should not, as a rule, show that the article has departed from the spot where you have apparently placed it, without interposing some magical process, however slight, which may colourably account for its disappearance. A mere nothing will suffice—a touch of the wand, the pronouncing of a magic formula, the pressure of a finger; but in some form or other the ceremony should never be omitted. Thus, to take a very simple example, we will suppose that by means of Pass 1 you have apparently placed in the left hand a coin, which really remains in the palm of the right. If you at once open the left hand, and show that the coin is not there, the spectators will naturally jump to the correct explanation, viz., that you did not, in reality, put the coin there at all. If, however, you delay opening the left hand for a minute or two, so as to let the audience get accustomed to the idea that the coin is therein, and then, before opening it, touch the hand mysteriously with your wand, or even simply, as you slowly open the left hand, rub the ball of the wrist with the second and third fingers of the hand which holds the coin (see Fig. 75), you not only give that hand an occupation apparently inconsistent with the fact of anything remaining concealed in it, but you suggest to the audience that the gesture in question is the cause of the disappearance of the coin. It is surprising what an effect even such a trifle as this has in misleading the judgment of a spectator. He knows perfectly well, in the abstract, that touching the closed hand with the wand, or rubbing it with a finger of the opposite hand, is not an adequate cause for the disappearance of the coin; but the fact being indisputable that the coin has disappeared, the mind unconsciously accepts the explanation which is thus indirectly offered. The advice here given becomes less important where, before the hand is opened, you are able to get rid of the object from that in which it originally appeared. Here the spectator is precluded from imagining that you retained it in the hand in which he first saw it, as that hand also is shown to be empty, and the absolute disappearance of the coin being a self-evident fact, you may leave the spectator to account for it in his own manner.
The various passes may be employed not only to cause the disappearance of an article, as above described, but to secretly exchange it for a substitute of similar appearance. These exchanges are of continual use in conjuring; indeed, we may almost say that three parts of its marvels depend on them. Such an exchange having been made, the substitute is left in sight of the audience, while the performer, having thus secretly gained possession of the original, disposes of it as may be necessary for the purpose of the trick. We proceed to describe various forms of changes, denoting them, as in the case of the passes, by numbers.
Change 1.—You desire, we will suppose, to exchange—or, in conjuror’s parlance, to “ring”—a florin, marked by the audience, for another. You have the latter, which we will call the “substitute,” ready palmed in your left hand, of course taking care to keep the palm turned away from the audience. Taking the marked florin in the right hand, you palm it in that hand by Pass 1, but instead of closing the left hand as the fingers of the right touch it, keep that hand loosely open, and show lying on its palm the substitute, which the audience take to be the original just placed there by your right hand.
Change 2.—This is the same as Change 1, save that you use with the right hand Pass 2 instead of Pass 1.
Change 3.—Here also you use Pass 2, but you have the substitute palmed in the right hand instead of the left. Taking up the marked florin with the same hand, you make with it Pass 2, at the same instant dropping the substitute from its palm into the left hand. This is a very neat and effective change. Some performers are expert enough to make this change by means of Pass 1 instead of Pass 2, the genuine coin taking the place of the substitute in the palm; but this demands dexterity of a more than average order.
Change 4.—For this change you must have the substitute palmed in the right hand, and take the marked coin between the thumb and second finger of the left. Then by Pass 4 appear to take it in the right hand, and at the proper moment exhibit the substitute, which you have already in that hand.
Change 5.—Have the substitute palmed in your right hand, and hold the marked coin openly on the palm of the left. Pick up the genuine coin with the right hand, at the same moment releasing the palmed substitute, which will accordingly fall into the left hand, the fingers of which should be held slightly hollowed, the better to conceal it. Show the marked coin in the right hand, and say, “You have seen me take up this coin visibly, I will make it return invisibly,” or make some other appropriate observation. Close the left hand, make Pass 1 or 2 with the right hand, with a motion towards the left, but without bringing the hands near together. The marked coin will, after the pass, be concealed in your right palm. Immediately opening your left hand, you show the substitute, which the audience believe to be the original which they have just seen.
There are many other changes; indeed, they are almost too numerous to describe. If you are able to palm and to make the various passes neatly, you will readily invent methods of “ringing” for yourself; in the meantime, you will find that the above will answer every necessary purpose, so far as coin tricks are concerned.