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hey peeps. i can palm a coin...and i can perform a french drop...but when it comes to getting from french drop into palm I'm having difficulties.

i have just done the french drop..and the attention is on the hand that the specs think the coin is in. i hold my other hand very un-naturally and it looks suspicious. the problem is...when i perform the french drop i am about a coins length (2 p) away from my sweet spot where i normally palm the coin.

any tips on how to get tht extra distance? many thanks.

You can utilize the hand that really has the coin to gesture.....this will allow you to shake/reposition the coin as needed. I often grab for a pen, spoon, or anything I can grab in the hand as a "magic wand" the fact you grab something with an apparently empty hand works as a subtle convincer that it "Must be empty" and allows you to actively move the hand around to subtly shake and reposition the coin as needed.

I assume your talking about classic palm.

Try this: while guiding the specs to look at the closed hand, use your middle and ring finger to push it into the palm.

hope it helps.

The actual method which works best is as follows... we'll assume the coin starts in your left hand, and you perform a fake with your right hand:

1. Move right hand up to coin, which is in your left hand

2. Apparently take the coin with your right hand, performing a French drop with the left hand

3. The right moves up and away, and is followed by your eyes—after all, the coin is perceived to now have transferred from left to right

4. Lower the left hand to your side casually, and allow the coin to drop into fingertip rest

5. From the rest position, push the coin into classic palm

Using that method, you're sorted. Just remember to keep your focus on the hand you want the audience to THINK the coin is in.

If it's too dodgy to drop your hand to your side at this point, you could alternatively place the coin in a thumb pinch right after the French drop, which frees up your fingers, apparently showing the left hand empty. You can then drop the hand without suspicion in order to place the coin in classic palm.

Remember: Don't run if you're not being chased... there's no need to hurry the movements of the left hand... after all, if your performance is smooth, the spectator should THINK that the coin is in your right hand.

Can you tell me what a French drop is? I have looked in tons of books and can't find it. I saw it mentioned in, of all places, a mystery novel, and wondered what it is. Maybe it is something I can use. I'm trying to learn some coin tricks, but I think something is missing.

Have a look at http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic15560-0-asc-0.php

Any decent book on coins should explain it, I know it's in Mark Wilson's book and Bobo's.

Well, thanks for that. I have both those books and I've not yet seen anything called French drop. Guess I'll keep looking.

It's there on page 186 of Mark Wilson's Complete Course and page 37 of Bobo

Follow Seige's advice. Finger palm to classic is best than trying to hit the classic position from a french drop. Once it is in classic palm, you can do a changeover pass to show both hands empty.

Hey, thanks for the help! I'll look as soon as I get home. I guess I just didn't recognize it when I looked through the books. My study time is often fragmented-and it's all so NEW! So much to digest! I'll learn, though.
Thanks!

It all makes sense now--can't believe I didn't see that in those books! For one thing, I think I was looking for French dip-that would be a sandwich, I know, but that is what it was called in the novel--now I know what it is and how to do it!

yeah that was tough to achieve french drop to palm when I was younger,

It was recommended to me to finger palm as I lowered my hand to my side but usually I found this difficult to do especially being verticle to the ground.

What I usually do it spring the coin back into the center of the palm with a flick of the fingers. This can look really rough and takes much practice to fit it into a natural movement, but you can easily make it somersault into palming position the instant you perform the french drop.

Simply closing a fist and outstretching the forefinger towards the hand that "supposedly" has the coin in it is just as natural of an action as any.

Best of luck,

Kirk