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Derren Brown gives a lovely description of putting off the observer in Tricks Of The Mind. He takes simple coin vanish and builds the trick in such a way as to make it really difficult for the spectator to deconstruct afterwards.

Routining helps because the spec. doesn't have time to stop and think--- you keep hitting them with the next thing and the next thing...

To keep a single vanish at the speed of a routine, I use this move (I'm not sure of the name)... but I do the vanish, show my CLEAN hand empty- and then tap my front and back pockets with (seemingly) empty hands saying "if I kept doing that i'd run out of money fast..." When I hit my back pockets, I actually toss the coin behind my back from my dirty hand to the hand I showed empty. Then I hold out my NEW clean hand, and make the coin reappear-

If it's done smoothly, the spec. thinks you showed both of your hands clean-.. as well, they don't really have time to say "it's in your other hand" because you didn't stop for them... you kept going.

The key is to surround the trick with other things that either draw attention away or create a false memory. I have success with awkward looking palms which contain nothing and pre-routines involving the spek seeing what you want him to remember the second time round.

If the routine is too slim, the spek can desconstruct the trick. A bit of false memory, patter, irrelevance, misdirection and feigned amateurism works a treat.

Derren Brown does a lovely bad palm followed by a comic "well actually, it really has gone" line that works a treat.