by Steverino » Mar 15th, '06, 13:39
I don't think simple vanishes like that stand up as effects on their own generally, but need to be worked into a routine, such that you don't reveal that it's vanished until you've already ditched it, or swapped it in for something else, or whatever you're going to do. Make sure you're at least one step ahead of where people suspect something is.
You may have better luck doing something like
1) false move/french drop/whatever
2) casually display other hand empty using natural motions, ramsay/kaps subtlety, palming etc. Don't over-labour this, but just casually indicate that the hand is empty.
3) get a "duplicate" item from the pocket. or simply pretend to, while removing the one you already palmed.
4) place that into the hand, clearly showing the placing hand as empty
5) magical gesture, and reveal that the two items have melded into one
(just as as an idea in a basic form.)
By the time you reveal the vanish, the dirty hand is already clean, so you don't end up with heat on the hand containing the item. For small, easily handled objects, you may want to check out the spider vanish as an example of the psychology involved in showing the hand empty
You may want to keep things moving, or show that the item has appeared somewhere else quite rapidly, so people don't have time to think about what you might have done. Kind of like a flurry, with a series of false transfers and reveals from unlikely places.
This is the sort of thing I'm working on understanding better