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Hi all,

If there is anyone here who can offer me some advice about which learning source to choose from for coin sleights, it would be very much apreciated.

I've been a 'strictly' card magician up until now, and am getting embarrased when spectators say "Do a trick with money" or "Change this fiver into a tenner will ya mate?" and I can't do anything to satisfy these requests.

I would very much like to introduce this new field of close-up magic to my performances.

I don't want to run before I can crawl on this cos I hate to see good magic spoilt with a bad performance. I need to make sure that If I begin to incorporate coin / money tricks into my card routines, that the coin sleights i'll be using will have been taught to me by a professional.

It is with this need for a well-versed coin tutor that I write this today - If there is anyone with knowledge of or with coin sleight experience that can recomemend a suitable book, video, DVD, website, article, magazine or online lecture notes where they themselves have been taught, then I would be most grateful for your time and information.

Thank you.

Tyler M.

Do a quick search on this forum for coin dvds and you will find many resources, the review index may be of help. Just to get you started though, Micheal Ammar has 'Easy to Master Coin Miracles' and David Roth's 'Expert Coin Magic Made Easy' series takes some beating when it comes to getting you from absolute beginner to expert, I think that there are at least 19 volumes of this.

TylerMason wrote:"Change this fiver into a tenner will ya mate?"

Oh how simple laymen are...

TylerMason wrote:"Change this fiver into a tenner will ya mate?"

"If I could do that, do you think I'd be sitting here?"

Might I suggest you read this thread:

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic3381-0-0-asc-.php

Take care, Ian

am getting embarrased when spectators say "Do a trick with money"

Consider also that the specs should never be in control of which effects you do. Try to work a short routine together which has a definite ending which leaves them in no doubt that you've finished and more will not be forthcoming! It could be that they can't take more than one or two card tricks so that may be a clue - could you work in a prop based effect to give them a break from pasteboard miracles? Coins are an obviously different item to work with but bear in mind that your spec's astonishment at vanishes and appearances with them will also be short lived. Depending on what kind of magic you do or where you perform, you should limit your routine to perhaps 4 or 5 good effects and always leave them wanting more!

I will second Ian's VCD. Excellent material which, if studied, will make you comfortable with handling coins and can be used to put together some very nice routines.

Further study can be found in "Modern Coin Magic" by JB Bobo, which is considered the "Bible of coin magic" amongst most coin men.

For the bill switch, I highly recommend Ron Bauer's "Bar Bill Stunt," which is a no-TT bill switch with excellent story line.

Mike.

Hi again,

Many thanks for your advice and help guys. Im very grateful for these useful tips. Im glad to see that Im being steered in the right direction if im to begin adding coin / money sleights to my card magic.

NickJ - Thanks for the tip about David Roth's 'Expert Coin Magic Made Easy' ....I have looked into this and it appears to be a very comprehensive study of the topic. I shall start working my way through that series straight away. Thanks. Tyler M.

IanKendall - Your instructional video sounds perfect for my requirements, and good value for money too I might add. You've recieved well rated reviews and rest assured I will be purchasing a copy very soon. Thanks. Tyler M.

Mandrake - I appreciate your advice. Thank you. I can tell by your words that you yourself must be also a well experienced performer. I feel I have been letting magic down slightly by neglecting coin / money tricks for so long, thinking that I could get by purely with cards. But times are changing. No longer do spectators seem to just watch, but want to get more involved themselves. Do you find when your doing close-up table magic that spectators start pulling money out of their pockets or picking things up from the tables and begin to ask you to perform some kind of magic effect with what they've choosen for you to use? As a kind of 'test' as it were - to see if you really are in fact 'magic' - I feel it's a magicians duty to be prepared for such an occurance. Not to lose face in the spot light, and to be able to rise to the challenge. Or am I just getting lost in whole 'aiming to please' thing and forgetting that it's the performer who is in control. I guess It's just me wanting the specs to believe what were doing is real by showing that we can apply our magic talent to anything. (let's face it....if a person was really magic, then they would be more than willing to perform tricks with anything to hand, as a way of 'proving their power' if you know what I mean?) I guess it's this pressure Im putting on myself during performances thats making me strive to perfect anything I learn before it's shown. I guess thats why Im so determined to learn coin sleights properly from the best available source. Thank you for your help. I shall certainly take on board what you have said, and any further advice you may have in the future, as you are obviously a versatile practitioner of our art. Regards, Tyler M.

Michael Jay - Another fine recommendation. Many thanks mate. Im especially grateful for your JB Bobo reference. I have been researching the background into 'Modern Coin Magic' and have been particulary impressed by what I have read. I have also been making enquires into your 'Bar Bill Stunt' tip. I must say it has been receiving positive reviews and Im eager to find out more. Thank you for your time in helping me achieve my aim. Tyler M.

Finally with regards to any Bill Switch / Change effect - I have been passed a recommendation via word of mouth to a particular trick called 'Hypno Bill' - Is anyone familar with this trick and does anyone have any words to offer for it's quality of effect.

Thank you.

Tyler M.

You're certainly doing your homework before splashing out cash and that's always a good thing! There's no reason why you couldn't do a full act which consisted of card effects but they'd need to be varied and not all of the 'pick a card - whoops is that your card Sir?' type. On the other hand, 5 tricks all completely different isn't the answer either as it looks like you're either uncertain of what kind of magic to do or you're a smartypants just showing off!

Look at it from the spec's point of view and try to feel what they would like to see. You'd start with a good effect which you can do well to get things on the move but after that it all needs to flow nicely from one thing to another - even if the effects are only linked by patter or a joke of some kind. Dan Harlan introduces a deck of cards and promises to do a card trick but his audience are bored with that kind of thing and don't want anything of the kind. As the deck just happens to be held together with a rubber band, he changes his mind and does a few rubber band effects instead. All a big set-up of course but a neat way to move from one thing to another.

As you'll probably see elsewhere, I saw Paul Daniels in cabaret at the weekend and his club act hasn't changed a great deal since the late 1970's. All he needed were a couple of decks of cards, a box of tissues, a chop cup set, a marker pen, a wallet, and assorted citrus fruit. That's it. For 90 minutes or more that's all he needed - and it all fitted in his pockets and a small box used as a table! A succession of wonderfully linked effects is a good way to do magic but an integrated act of entertaining magic is even better. One of these days we'll get somewhere near to that standard!