I stopped in at my favorite bar to find a couple of friends who know I do magic. One of them shoved a coin in my hand and asked me to do something with it. Not up to doing any decent magic, I merely palmed it in right hand with fake transfer to left hand and vanished it. Suddenly someone bumped my elbow and I felt the coin slip from my right hand and fall to the floor but with NO sound of the dropped coin. This bar has a concrete floor! Just as impressed with the vanish, I casually showed both hands as they sat there shaking their heads and laughing in wonder.

I sat down to chat with them. The entire time I wasn't able to concentrate on what was being said as I was wondering WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THAT COIN!?

Took a few minutes but it dawned on me that my pant cuff might of caught it! I casually reached down to find it safely tucked in there. Palming the coin in the right hand again, I took hold of my drink and mentioned that if you squeeze them hard enough, it can pay now and then. Squeezing the glass in my right hand I let the coin fall with a *clink*.

All great stories... Here is one of mine:

I was working at a magic shop out here and it was filled with magicians and a beautiful girl...And you all know how magicians react to beautiful girls - all trying to impress her with their current card trick ( I feel sorry for the ladies sometimes)

Well upon REQUEST I began performing a Jazzy sandwich routine for her. Yadda,Yadda,Yadda - for the finale I have her examine the two red aces to determine that there are only two cards. Se does and then places them on the countertop. I tell her to place her hand on top of the aces and... I swear this is true...

I did a TopShot that went in between the aces as her hand was coming down on the cards... IN BETWEEN! AS HER HAND WAS COMING DOWN! Nobody could see a thing but a lot of the magicians who were watching know that I am a little TopShot crazy and their faces went white before they started to freak.

She had NO idea and when she lifted her hand there was her card. I was so shocked that I couldn't even lie and tell the guys, "oh. Its just something that I'm working on."
It was just one of those moments when you feel like you could do anything.

This is a great thread - anyone have any more? I think it's worth pointing out that Dai Vernon enhanced his (considerable) reputation by taking advantage of lucky breaks with consummate artistry. One example is detailed by Ganson in the one of the Inner Secrets books. Derren Brown is another performer who knows how to ride his luck - the examples given in 'Absolute Magic' are just beautiful.

I have to agree with l2andall though that it's depressing when your spectator is less impressed that you are. I once told someone to think of a card while they were holding the deck, and then find that card without naming it. My friend spread though the deck and then smiled wryly. "Yeah, well done, you got it" he said, without much enthusiasm. Knowing that the deck contained every card except the Queen of Clubs I realised what had happened and tried to stress the impossibility of what I'd 'done'. Alas, he'd probably have been far more impressed by a hot-shot revelation. Since then whenever I do a trick like Invisible Deck or Blizzard I get the spectator to change their mind a few times. It's annoying, because people seem to think it's quite easy to verbally force someone to think of a particular card - but I can never do it when I try!

Anyway, sorry for the digression. I want more tales of the unexpected...

It's when you're doing Phil plus and someone names the 4 of hearts, then they get to chose the name and matching value of their card, then they really get their heads blown!!!
Paul

It's when you're doing Phil plus and someone names the 4 of hearts, then they get to chose the name and matching value of their card, then they really get their heads blown!!!
Paul

Paul - have you now answered every post I've made so far? It's very unsettling

I'm waiting for someone to name the 4 of hearts and have a name that's on the cards. That'll be something memorable.

Muah ha ha ha...

Best think of another incredible fluke to validate this post now,
er... so this one time at band camp...
Well, I was doing Barrie Richardsons impromptu any card at any number, outside of the shop, when someone demanded their card at number 10, no problem, but I thought it was a little strange the way they said 10. So I bambled on a little bit and decided to tell them their card was the 10 of hearts, and it was, and I then revealed it at the 10th place.
Paul

The other night I was hanging out with a bunch of friends, and there was this girl that I had just met. She didn't know I was a magician. Now occasionally I will try and use my skills to pick up girls, without them knowing I'm a magician. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to try it again.

Eventually I steered the conversation to mindreading (now it's just the two of us talking) and told her that we'd try an experiment. I did the very basic psychological number force, i.e. think of a number one through ten, and I guess 7. Right, of course.

For the next experiment, I told her that I wanted her to think of her favorite card. I named the Queen of Hearts, and that was the card she was thinking of. Normally I would've stopped there, but she wanted to me to do it again. So this time she was thinking of another card, and I guess the 7 of spades. Guess what card she was thinking of?

At this point, she was so amazed she could barely talk. I decided to try one more thing. I told her, "This only works with people I have a close connection to. HOwever, even though we've only known each other an hour, I think we already have a pretty good connection. Try thinking of someone that you know, not someone you see a lot or everyday, but someone that means something to you."

I was looking into her eyes, trying to figure out what she might be thinking of, and the name Janet came to me, almost as if it was a psychic revelation. It was one of the weirdest feelings I've ever had. I said, "Is it Janet?" and she screamed.

That was one of the freakiest things that has happened to me in a long time. I ended up telling her that I was a magician, but I honestly had no idea how that happened. I think that what I said before about us having a connection was right.

It's truly amazing what we still cannot explain.

I forgot to mention, we're now dating. It's only been a few days, but who knows? Maybe it's the start of something wonderful.