Andy Coates Blog

Since birth, as humans each one of us through trial and errors as children have developed an unique sense which enables us to second guess what is going to happen next in most situations. Our brains tell us logically if we do this, a certain reaction should happen. E.g. if we out our hand in water it will get wet or if we pick up a coin and put it in our other hand it will still be there when we close it.Because of this trait when someone does something and an unexpected event follows we are almost immediately suspended in disbelief. The same goes for jokes, when someone tells a joke and you are hit with a completely unexpected punchline we laugh as our logic been knocked off course and as humans most of us enjoy this in an entertainment context. If you are looking for a quick fix magic trick this is not it, but if you want to discover how breaking down the trick and refining it AND the performance can make you seem like a magic god then read on!

So as promised in the title of the post I am going to teach you a little magic "how to make a coin disappear". When people will see this they will bow down at your feet, in the pub everyone will want to buy you a drink, women will worship you……….erm…well maybe not but you should have real good fun showing this to people.

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How to make a coin disappear

Once you finish the instructions here you will be disappointed, I know i was the first time I learned how to do a magic trick. The answer seems so simple but you must remember that your audience wont know the answer and will be thinking so hard to try and figure it out they will be missing the obvious. Also after reading this practice, you may think that practicing some thing so simple wont make a difference but its does just you wont notice it until you do it in context.

Here goes….

Sit yourself down at a table and place a reasonable size coin on the table in-front of you, slide the coin to the edge of the table and place the coin in your other hand and then close your fingers around it. Now practice doing this, make yourself aware of your movements, try doing this with the con, sliding it from in-front of you or from either side of you but always slide it to the edge of the table, pick it up and place it into your other hand and close your fingers around it. After you have done this maybe 50 times, yes I said 50! take a break, have a cup of tea, coffee, soda or just do something to take a break.

Now again after you have had a break from sitting at the table doing this seemingly pointless excersise find a mirror and repeat the whole process again but this time watching yourself in the mirror. What you did previous should have strengthened your motor-neuron connections which tell you how you would naturally pick up a coin from a table and place it in the other hand. This part is to help you see what others will be seeing. Continue to do this taking metal notes of what your movements are and where you are looking but most of all keep relaxed. Once you are comfortable with doing this and are aware of how many small movements you actually make just by picking up a coin and placing it in your hand then you are ready for the sleight!

I warned you earlier that you will be disappointed and here it is, do exactly as you were doing before sliding the coin to the edge of the table so you can get a grip of it, picking it up, placing it in your other hand and then closing your fist around it. Only this time when you slide the coin to the edge of the table let it drop off into your lap and continue as you did before, "picking" it up and placing "the coin" into your other hand and closing your fist around it. It may take a little getting used to but what you should be aiming for is letting the coin drop off into your lap without reacting and convincing yourself that you are still placing the coin in your other hand. Of course you know that you don't have the coin held in your fingertips anymore but your audience wont know that, if you can subconsciously convince yourself you can consciously convince them.

Again practice this sliding the coing, letting it drop in your lap but contunuing the actions as before. By now you should be pretty proficient at doing this and probably a little bored, take a break and forget about what you have been doing for five minutes to allow all the information to soak in your subconscious. What you have been doing is creating a performance, not simply placing a coin in your hand. Just as golfers refine their technique by analyzing what they do when they swing fro that ball you are also doing something similar although on a much smaller and less physical scale.

One last time sit down and do as before, sliding the coin to the edge of the table letting it drop…bla bla bla….your an intelligent person you've got the idea. As you are doing these actions, just before you go to put the "Coin" in your hand, show the fictitious coin held in the tips of your fingers to your fictitious audience. Now you may be thinking, "hey, wont they see that I diont have a coin held in my fingertips!" the answer is, only if you make them aware. By doing what you have been doing earlier and practicing the moves you will know know what it will look like to pick up a coin, show someone and place it in your hand. That have just seen you pick up a coin and their logic will say that there is no reason why that coin shouldn't be still in your hand and it will effectively fill in the blanks!

Take this for exmaple, the follownig pasasge has most of its letrets miexd up but you shloud still be able to clearely raed what it says as your brian will put evertynihg in the right place so it maeks locigal sesne.

The brain is a wonderful thinking and will do its best to make sense of anything it sees, oy you convincingly show someone a coin which you have just picked up but it is not their in your fingertips anymore that persons brain who is watching will try and make sense of it. If you continue to place this "coin" into your hand their brain will quickly focus on the action of you putting the coin in your hand and effectively fill in the blanks believing that you have just shown a coin in your fingertips as why would you put " nothing" in your hand! There is allot of reasoning behind this and because it is such a simple action the brain has good reason to believe that if you are carrying out an action of putting a coin in your hand logic and reasoning say you MUST be putting a coin in your hand and you must have just shown a coin. If you are confused read this last passage again and have a think about it.

If you have managed to digest this information and put these previous words into practice you are nearly ready to show your audience. You have done all the hard work and now you should be able to convince yourself and others that you have just paced a coin in your hand, now is where the fun begins. This is where people think you are making the coin disappear even though you done that bit way back. There are may ways to end this is probably the easiest to start with, hold you fist out which everyone thinks the coin is in and begin moving your fingers like youare squeezing and bending the coin in your hand. Slowly open your fingers to show it has gone. Now listen for the gasps, people will say, "where has it gone?" well, I'll leave that for you to decide!

Alternatively for a more kicker ending, if you are at a restaurant and at a table with a large white table cloth, previous to you performing the trick you could try and sneakily slide a duplicate coin of the same value which you will be using under the table cloth in-front of you. Later on when you perform the trick instead of opening you hand to show it empty, turn it over open your hand and slap it down on the table cloth where you had previously placed the coin. Upon removing you hand get a spectator to feel the table cloth and they will believe that you have managed to somehow make the coin penetrate the table cloth. This is a great ending and will amaze your audience, not only that the feeling you will get after performing such an amazing feat will be tremendous!

Just remember to walk before you can run, a little practice will go a long way, with no practice I can guarantee that you will fall on you ass first time! The most important thing to remember that the magic is not dropping the coin in your lap, the magic is the whole performance. The magic is showing people something which their will enjoy and believe is real and suspend their disbeliefs if only for a few moments.

For a more simpler way of making a coin disappear check out this post over at Tricks and Scams: How to make a coin disappear

If you enjoyed this post please feel free to buy me a gingerbread late! mmmm!