Magic Tricks With Coins

Children and adults alike enjoy magical shows. Magical presentations are among the most popular past times among people of all ages, especially those who are fond of seeing folks who are clever in manipulating objects or controlling natural events.

Magicians, one who is skilled in performing optical illusion or sleight of hand, are particularly clever in performing amazing tricks. These very same tricks astound people and keep them from coming back.

There are several ways by which you experience the joy of this entertainment. You can either visit a nearby circus which are either permanent or mobile, and or with your friends who are gifted with this wonderful craft.

Magic Tricks

The very core of magic display is the exhibition of tricks. All tricks are done by using objects which either take the form of an animal or are turn into something spectacular.

Humans can also become subjects for performing tricks although current federal laws limit the use of human subjects in the performance of magic tricks.

Although magic tricks make up the most magic exposition, there are those that perform magic using no other objects but themselves.

Famous magicians of yesteryears such as Harry Houdini or Doug Henning mostly make use of material accessories in the performance of their magic tricks.

They make use of illusions out of the material (hat, baton, handkerchief, flowers, paper, etc.) they use which aim to amaze and mystify audience.

Even more startling is the event when other famous magicians perceivably vanish structures such the Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal and the Space Shuttle. In a similar event, Harry Hudoini apparently made a huge elephant disappear in front of a large audience.

Modern Magic

Modern illusionists (magicians) are bolder compared with previous practitioners. Some worth mentioning are Jeff Sheridan, Franko B and the most famous David Blaine.

David Blaine rose to popularity due to the performance of outstanding, yet bold acts. He has performed levitation, animate dead insects, baffling illusions, among others.

Today’s magicians virtually abandoned the usual magic production: an illusionist pull a rabbit out of a black, empty hat, a glass of water disappear as it is maneuvered across a board, and pour coins from an empty bottle.

Current practice includes exhibition and outrageous production like being stuck in the ice for hours with no interruptions.

Aside from the aforementioned activities, the joy of magic is also incorporated in activities related to birthday parties, education programs, corporate events, and youth groups.



By: David Riewe

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You have to turn the Magic Trick into a Magical Effect. Make your audience believe that you just did the impossible – however simple you know the trick to be, the effect on your audience is what matters. They have to believe that you just produced a card out of thin air, made a coin enter a sealed can of Coke, restored a torn up newspaper – whatever the trick – if your audience don’t believe that you actually did it, you have failed.

One of the best ways is to weave a story around the magic trick. I once saw a famous magician slide a knot off a piece of rope and make it disappear. Very slick. He picked up the rope, tied a knot and then ran his hand down the length of the rope and the knot had vanished. 5 seconds in the middle of an hour long stage show. I forgot about the trick until some years later when a close-up performer did the same trick for me. He took 5 minutes over it; told a story about Harry Potter walking along a river bank and meeting an old sailor who challenged him to a knot tying contest … the effect was somewhat embellished but basically the same trick, and I remembered it – use it myself, now!

The point is; make it interesting rather than clever; better yet, make it amusing if you can. The public know that there is no such thing as Magic (well, OK – MOST of them know it … there are a few odd-balls out there!) and so they realise, at the back of their minds, that we are fooling them. No one likes to be fooled but they will forgive you if you amuse them, entertain them, at the same time.

You don’t have to be Tommy Cooper; it would not be a good thing if the entire Magic profession suddenly turned into comedians! Lighten your act; throw in a few jokes at appropriate points, perform some comical effects amid the more ‘serious’ ones. Above all, remember that you are an entertainer; try not to make your act a showcase for your own cleverness. Entertain and amuse your audience and they will want more. Prove to them how clever you are and they will clap but not care if they don’t see you again.

The Magic Trick is just the method. The Magical Effect is the performance of that method in an entertaining and convincing way. If you ‘do magic tricks’, you are a technician; perform Magical Effects and you are a Magician.



By: Andy Canning

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It is all about how you present yourself to the audience: your timing, your sense of humor and your ability to distract are very important. Get on stage and perform the worst that can happen is that people will laugh and your trick doesn’t work out the way you feel it should have. If people laugh just remind yourself that this is part of your performance and continue with the trick. Call yourself a professional and people will assume that you do this full time and have no other source of income. If you are, or consider yourself to be, a magician, are you an amateur, professional or semi-professional.

When performing your magic in front of people or an audience it is possible to misdirect well enough to create the proper illusion, the trick might not work the way you want but the people watching will not know. You can control the audience with a wide range of techniques.

If you change your routine for each performance you may find that you loose the angles you need to perform the illusion, so you have to be very careful about viewing angles. You can mystify the audience by doing magic and leave them mesmerized. The result to the audience is having the belief that some amazing thing just happened. Make sure when you complete the trick that the audience cannot examine anything after the trick has been shown, and so there’s the problem and worry of having to hide your tricks as soon as you finish each one.

When performing street magic it is usually street magic when you do it for a small group of people, in a bar or in your home or office. Buying close-up tricks or magic tricks for the street for your own personal use is one thing, but if you are buying them to perform on the street and become a profession street magician you will need to practice your craft. Some of the great magicians like David Blaine, stunned audiences with his exceptional skill of street magic. Doing street magic is sometimes known as naked magic, doing street magic doesn’t have props or stage hands it the basics of magic with maximum effect. The magician will use everyday objects to mystify the people on the street and keep them guessing on how he did it.

If you are doing tricks with cards practice in front of a mirror as fast or as slow as you can, trying to get a feel of how you move the cards in order to perfect the illusion. Many card magicians will perform some typical card tricks, and you can use the same cards to create the illusion that you have mental powers and use the cards to predict certain situations.

A variety of coin vanishing tricks are prevalent the world over. Some of the most popular coin tricks are the vanishing coin, eggcup and the broken pencil trick.

Everyone is familiar with the famous words of a magician, when children hear Hocus-pocus, abracadabra they become amazed and mystified with the man or women in the black tuxedo.



By: David Marc Fishman

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Is your dream to become a magician? Magic is something that has always fascinated me as an art form and also as a profession. But how do you become a magician, where do you start? This is probably the most common question that spectators ask when they meet a professional magician.

Well this is my personal story as I do not think there is set way of becoming a magician. For me, it all started with the amazement that magic generated in me whenever I watched magicians on TV or live shows. One of my older cousins also had an interest in magic and used to get catalogues from a magic dealer in France.

The description of the effects that you could accomplish (after purchasing the props or technical book / video) was fascinating and the publicity even made it sound like it was pretty easy. I did not know anything about magic but that was how it all started for me.

Back then, there was no such thing as internet - and there were only a handful of magic shops in France, charging a lot of money for the very special items they were selling on a real niche market. I first ordered a few magic tricks that I thought were a bit disappointing.

Then I got my first magic book, called “The Magic Book” by Harry Lorraine. The book had been translated into French which helped as my English was pretty basic at the time. I highly recommend this book if you can get hold of it as it contains a great variety of material and techniques. Basic coin magic and card magic is covered but also some mentalism (mind magic) effects and general magic with everyday objects.

As soon as I got the book, I started practicing very seriously, dedicating most of my spare time to the study of magic. I got my first pack of Bicycle Playing cards (made by the United States Playing Card Company or USPCC) and practiced most of the basic card techniques that are needed in order to perform the tricks that described in the magic literature.

Once you have mastered about half a dozen of important card techniques, you can then learn hundreds of card routines created over the years by our magic community. Of course, I must point out that you do not need hundreds of card routines in your repertoire.

The same applies to coin magic. Once you have learned the most important coin techniques, you can then learn the routines created by magicians. David Stone, David Roth, David Williamson are excellent coin magicians and I would highly recommend the material they have created.

The two most common formats for learning magic are books or dvd. So which format should you go for? Learning magic with DVDs is slightly easier and faster than from a book, and you can get a better idea of the timing for the performance of the effects. One of problems with DVDs though, is what we call the “clone effect”, or magicians copying exactly their source of knowledge even using the same patter as the inventor. Learning magic from a magic book on the other hand leaves more space for the imagination, and personalization of the effects.

I hope this will inspire you to start learning magic. It is great a hobby and can also become your profession if you are ready to spend the time practising.



By: Steven Smith

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Magic at its core is a game. A game with the audience’s mind and perception.

Magic tricks, performed by well rehearsed magicians, are games played on the mind that make a witness believe what the magician wants him or her to believe.

A talented magician will undoubtedly use many different kinds of mind games to maneuver an audience into a mind set that allows him to create illusions.

A good magician is an actor, an illusionist, a game player who diverts the audiences attention away from the real trick, that which is actually happening with impeccable timing and shrewdness.

The magician appears to be performing the impossible, right before your very eyes, but distraction is the really game he is playing with you. It is most important in his magic trick that he manipulate or influence the audience into believing what they think they see, by controlling their attention.

Misdirection and sleight of hand is the magician’s finest skill. Even the mechanical or scientific props that are necessary for some of his visual tricks are only as good as the magician’s performance and sleight of hand distractions that lead the audience to believe what they just witnessed.

Timing is also crucial to the Magician’s successful execution of the magic trick. Many times the timing and deception is used to trick the audience into believing the trick is taking place in real time when in fact, the deception actually had taken place a bit earlier.

Equipment designed to aid the magicians performance is certainly available. Although, some of what you see on stage really is only window dressing, just for “looks”, and has nothing to do with the trick you are seeing done.

Learning to play the visual mind games that magicians play is not all that difficult initially… perfecting such techniques to a higher level, however, does require hours and hours of practice. Practice techniques that are best done in front of a mirror in order to ensure a seamless execution of each move.

You can find video instructions on how exactly to perform magic tricks and play the magic games at various web sites.

You will be able to find hundreds of tricks that anyone (old or young, tall or short) can learn to do who has the will to practice enough in order to achieve a level of proficiency.

Once you get started practicing even the most simple of magic tricks, you’ll soon get hooked and forever enjoy learning more and more about the craft.



By: Tammy Foster

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Lets assume that you are a pretty good magician and have developed a great personality to use when performing a magic act for children’s parties. If you haven’t yet devolved a personality, stop here and go create one.

Watch some of the great children’s magicians and learn from them what kind of personality you need to create.

The old second hand tux and a top hat no longer will work. Children are pretty savvy these days… even the little ones.

Children don’t understand the cues in a live performance that are so common. Today’s kids have been raised in the age of television. Not a bad thing, except the laugh tracks tell the children when to laugh.

No laugh tracks and the children are left out in the cold. They are quick and will get up to speed in no time. But they need your help.

The same problem exists with applause. Children are not used to clapping. They don’t understand applause cues. Those wonderfully timed applause cues will leave you and your audience with a lot of uncomfortable silence.

What can be done?

Everything.

One of your most important tasks as a children’s magician is your opening. The beginning of your show must do these things:

1.Establish audience control….. Even in school children are taught to obey those in authority. For some reason, many magicians forget to establish authority early in the show. The result resembles a saloon brawl in the wild west.

2.Teach the children to react to applause cues. After you welcome everyone to the show, look out over the audience and say, “This looks like a really great crowd. Let’s see how loud you can clap. On the count of three ONE. . . TWO . . THREE . .Not bad!

Let’s try it again. On three . . .” After some byplay conclude by saying, “What do we do when we like the magic? (pause) What do we do when we LOVE the magic?” (pause and react strongly to the crowd).

If you want to start your career in magic as a children’s magician, think about it seriously. Kids are brutally honest. There is nothing tougher or more satisfying than have a great children’s magic show.

Being a children’s magician may not be the easiest way to become a part-time professional magician but it sure is a lot of fun.



By: Tammy Foster

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In addition to being a crowd pleaser, the art of magic offers other compensations. It develops quickness and a good use of your hands. It also will develop the necessary poise to address groups of people, since one of the most important things to a magician is a good line of patter to hold the audience’s interest while he is completing a trick. Amaze your friends with these three magic tricks.

The Balancing Handkerchief

Can you balance a handkerchief on the tips of your fingers and make it rise and fall at your command?

Insert a soda straw into the hem of a handkerchief. This and the following step should be prepared ahead.

Tie a knot at the corner of the handkerchief, and push straw up to the knot. Place the handkerchief carefully in your pocket, so you don’t break the straw. Now you are ready to show your friends the trick.

Take the handkerchief from your pocket, holding the knot in one hand. With the other hand, stroke the handkerchief downward two or three times. Still holding it by the knot, bring the other hand down, grasping the lower end of the straw between the tips of the thumb and forefinger. Release your hold on the knot, and it will look as if the handkerchief is balanced upright. Make this look difficult, as if you are making a great effort at balancing the handkerchief.

By a sliding movement of the forefinger and thumb, allow the handkerchief to come down slowly, saying “Down Billy.” Then say, “Up Billy.” You can do this several times. At the end, throw the handkerchief into the air, catching and crumpling it up before placing it back in your pocket. If you have two handkerchiefs prepared, you can satisfy the skeptic who says, “Bet you can’t do it again!”

Materials: A handkerchief with a wide hem, and a soda straw.

The Matchless Matchbox

Can you make a coin appear in an empty match box?

Two steps of this trick must be completed beforehand. First, open the drawer of the match box far enough so that you can wedge a coin between the cover and the end of the drawer. The second step is to slide the drawer in part way until the coin is covered.

When ready, hold up the apparently empty match box, half opened so that your friends can see inside, and say, “This box is matchless in more ways than one.”

Now close the box (the coin will drop into the drawer). After a few magic words, open the box again. To your friends’ surprise a coin has appeared!

Materials: A penny and a match box.

The String and Ice-Cube Trick

Can you snare an ice cube with a piece of string and lift the cube from the glass?

Float an ice cube in a glass of water. Take a string and tie a loop in one end, then invite your friends to try their luck. They will fail, because looping the ice cube is just about impossible.

When they give up, show how it can be done. Simply let the wet loop rest on the ice cube. Sprinkle a little salt on the ice. The surface will melt and then freeze again, with the string embedded in the ice cube. (It takes a little time for the surface to freeze again, so don’t be too hasty with this trick.)

Now lift the string carefully by the free end, and you can draw the ice cube out of the glass.

Materials: Salt shaker, string with a loop, cube of ice, and a glass of water.

You will be a hit at any party with these tricks up your sleeve!



By: Jimmy Cox

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Success doesn’t happen with the wave of a magic wand, so if you want to astound your friends with your magical powers, you will need to have the right magician supplies. Whether your specialty is cagey card tricks or elaborate illusions, you’ll need specific items to complete your act. In this article, we’ll detail a wide range of supplies and explain how they can help you become a master magician.

Ask anyone what a magician wears and they’re sure to include a collapsible top hat and a magic wand. These standard item can be picked up inexpensively at any illusion store. They can also be found in the costumes department of many toy stores.

A breakaway wand is a little more sophisticated. He selects an assistant and then waves and taps his wand. However, when he gives the wand to his assistant, the wand falls apart. This is a very basic item for any illusion show.

Silks are an essential part in any performer’s arsenal of magician supplies and can be found in a wide selection of colors and sizes. To work with the silks, you may want to buy mouth coils to perform a magic trick that’s a favorite with audiences.

He faces the audience and they notice something protruding from his mouth. When he pulls on it, a bright swath of fabric will appear. As he continues to tug, yards of silk will be pulled from his mouth. Silks can also be used with canes for impressive illusions.

An ‘appearing cane’ is a tool that displays silk that magically turns into a solid cane. The trick works in reverse with the ‘vanishing cane’, which is a cane that magically turns back into two colorful silks.

The invisible thread reel is one of the most ingenious inventions in the last decade. Using this undetectable device, he can astound audiences by making any object appear as if it is floating through the air. Close-up pads are a must for the serious magician.

These accessories act as a “stage” for close-up illusion. Close-up pads make card tricks, coin tricks and cups and ball routines easier to perform. Finally, magic wax is a staple for anyone in the illusion card game. Magicians’ wax allows you to do a myriad of card tricks without anyone discovering your secrets.

Whether you’re performing in front of a large audience or in your own back yard, magician supplies will help you look professional. However, illusions take practice, so don’t put an accessory into your act unless you’ve used it extensively and are sure of how it will work in your performance. The magic will appear to be effortless once you master these tricks of the trade.



By: MIKE SELVON

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Children love Magic Tricks. They especially love a show that is given specially for them on a birthday. Some Magicians are now doing kids shows that actually teach the children simple Magic Tricks.

Nothing dangerous, of course; some card tricks, a few rope tricks. No balloons and sharp pins, no coins that could be swallowed, no magical fire that flares from nowhere. Just a few simple Magic Tricks.

How can this be good for a child? Well, for a start, the more interests a child has, the more interesting a personality they will develop. Magic can become an involving interest; one that could lead to a paying hobby or perhaps a career.

Next, Magic involves memory; you have to remember how to do it, where the card is and how to control it, the patter or story that goes with the trick, and how to produce a dramatic conclusion. This is repeated for each magic trick learned, and an enthusiastic Magician, even a young one, will learn hundreds if not thousands of magic tricks!

There is also an amount of manual dexterity needed – sleight of hand is a skill that needs to be practiced. Some tricks need the hands to perform minor contortions that can take months to perfect. Magicians who start young enough will develop hands as supple and powerful as a pianist or classical guitarist. Many older Magicians, myself included, who didn’t start young enough, have given up doing certain tricks because their fingers are no longer capable of bending that way.

Perhaps the most important thing that Magic will do for your child is to introduce them, subtly, to the concept of scepticism. It will demonstrate to them that not everything is what it seems; that just because someone tells them that something is so – it may not be. That in the real world, w.y.s.i.w.y.g. is not necessarily the natural order of things.

Despite their serious side, Magic Tricks for kids are FUN and your children will love them.



By: Andy Canning

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This simple but effective bar trick will amaze and entertain anyone who sees it. And unlike most magic, you can repeat this trick as many times as you want without anyone discovering how it works.

Right, you’ll need nine coins, and an accomplice with a bottle of beer and a beer mat, or some other subtle reference point. Don’t worry, all will be explained.

It doesn’t matter what type of coins you use. Just collect nine coins that are in your pocket or lying around on the bar.

And the coins don’t all have to be the same. In fact, it will add more mystery to the trick if you use a variety of different coins, as some of the more inquiring people in your crowd will try looking for patterns of coin use that just don’t exist.

Take the nine coins and lay them on the table in a square, three rows of three.

The trick begins with you claiming that you can guess which coin someone touched last.

You can wrap this basic premise up any way you want, by claiming that you can see, hear, smell or even feel the psychic every surrounding the coin.

All that matters is that you make it entertaining and mysterious.

Once you’ve decided who will be choosing a coin, leave the room, perhaps to go to the bar or the toilet, and give them a few moments to make their choice.

After you return, take your time and consider each of the coins in turn. After a few seconds, point to the coin that was selected and wait for the looks of disbelief on the faces of your audience.

How did you do it?

Easy!

This is where your accomplice earns his free drink. When you leave the room, make sure that your accomplice knows what to do and is sitting in a place where you can subtly look at them without arousing suspicion.

As you leave the room, your accomplice should take a drink from his bottle and keep a close eye on the coin selected. Then, it’s just a case of subtly placing their bottle on a certain part of the beer mat or other reference point that will indicate the chosen coin.

Right in the middle indicates the middle coin. Each of the corners represents a corner coin and the middle of each side of the mat correlates to the remaining four coins.

As soon as you return, you’ll be able to tell at a glance with coin was selected. From that point until you reveal the answer it’s just a case of putting on a good show. Do whatever you have to in order to increase the suspense, for example, pretending to sense the psychic waves emitted by each of the coins etc.

Once you reveal the right coin, the buzz from your audience is amazing. They’ll be convinced that you somehow say the person making their choice, or that you noticed that one of the coins was moved etc. Just don’t be surprised if you have to do the trick again…and again, as they try to work out how you managed to outwit them. But they won’t.

With careful timing, subtle actions and a lot of theatrics, you can do this trick as many times as you want and nobody will ever suspect a thing.

And if you want to further reduce your chances of being found out, make sure that your accomplice subtly picks up or moves his bottle as soon as he knows you’ve seen it. Make sure that they act naturally and pretend to be as amazed as the rest of the crowd when you choose the right coin. But whatever happens, make sure that they don’t overdo it, as an over-reaction is just as much of a giveaway as an under-reaction.



By: Lucas Da Silva

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