Hi, I'm new here so I apologize if I do something I'm not supposed to. I hope it's okay to share with you a small close up effect that I've made myself, to get your feedback on it to be able to improve it? I claim no copyright, so if you like it or find the technique useful to build new effects on, go ahead.
Notes:
This effect is tailored for Swedish one krona coins, as I am from Sweden. With a bit of experimentation, you can probably make it work for other currencies as well. I think a US quarter could work fine, they're roughly the same as the Swedish one krona.
I should also state that I haven't actually performed this for anyone, other than my own mirror image. The effect is not impromptu.
Effect:
I pick up/borrow a Swedish one krona coin, and let spectators examine it if they want to. I then take/borrow a regular ballpoint pen, have someone disassemble it and pick out the internal ink chamber, which can also be examined. I then proceed to stick it straight through the solid center of the coin! The spectators can clearly see, from several angles, that the coin is penetrated straight through the center. They can even see me hold on to the pen/ink chamber with one hand, and use the other to let the coin spin freely around it the pen. I then pull the pen out of the coin, and hand them both out for examination.
Method:
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I discovered that the Norwegian 5 krone coin is almost exactly the same size as the Swedish one krona, maybe one mm larger diameter, and a tad thicker. The edges of both are reeded the same way. The difference is of course what is engraved on the coin, and more importantly, that the Norwegian coin has a small hole through the center. I suppose you can figure out the effect from here. I begin with the Norwegian coin palmed, then I switch them while the spectators examine the ballpoint pen. I quite simply stick the ink chamber through the hole, but I must of course make sure that the spectators cant see much more than the edge of the coin, or they will see that it has a different engraving. I simply cover most of the coin with my fingers, and let the spectators see only the edge and a slight glimpse of the faces. But depending on the lighting and distance to the audience, it will actually be possible to show it rather freely. If not, the spin is a good way of showing the coin more completely, since it will turn into a spinning blur where you cant make out any details. At this point though, I still want to try and cover the hole a bit or just show it briefly, since revealing it will detract from the "solid through solid" illusion, and also give the audience a good clue to how it's done.
I then need to switch the coins back. The Swedish coin is at this point palmed in my right hand. There are many ways to do this. One is to simply pull the coin off the pen, cover it with my hand and switch before I put it down on the table or hand it to the spectators. Another, slightly nicer one would be to hold the pen vertically with a loose fist in the right hand, back of the hand towards the audience, palmed coin inside. I let the Norwegian coin (which still has the pen through it) rest on the side of my index finger, then cover it with my index finger while simultaneously dropping the palmed coin, making it look like it simply slip off, with no hole visible. The attention will be towards the dropped coin (especially if I drop it into someones open hand), which gives me enough time to get rid of the Norwegian coin through palming, laping, or into my pockets.
Any feedback or thoughts on this effect would be dearly appreciated, how to improve it, make it more impressive or convincing, etc!
