Hey guys,

Interested in hearing what people would say are the handful of sleights/ moves etc which are their go to or are what they think are the most useful/ necessary tools.

As an example, Ive seen some interesting posts discussing what people believe every card worker needs as a good foundation: i.e. a control, a force, a false count etc

I have also seen some posts talking about most used/ go to moves i.e. DL, TC

So in whichever way you would like to answer, what do you think are the foundations/ most useful/ your favourite coin moves/sleights etc.

Personally, I tend to use the FP as a holdout (probably because I only have basic skills as far as coin work goes, and so struggle to do a classic without having 'crab claw' hands!)

I also imagine having a good hold out, and a good switch would set you up for a lot?

I look forward to hearing others thoughts...

FingerPalm - Ramsey, Malini, Liwag variations desirable
Utility Pass - with switch and shuttle variations.
False Count - many to choose from
Basic Vanish - Schneider ( or simple roll over)

with those you can do 80% of all coin effects. Before moving to alternatives, practice these to automaticity. This includes eye contact somewhere else.
Make sure your hand positions/postures are exactly the same whether executing a sleight or not. Remember the "never happened" quality.

You will need Ditch and Steal too. Decide on what you will normally wear. A button short allows for a Ditch between the buttons in front where you hand is anyway.
If you plan on using pockets avoid jeans. They are too tight. You can do a lot of things with a wide belt. Keep it simple at first. That is a Six Pack

Later add other Palming methods to allow the hand to be shown from other angles and to allow finger flexibility. Thumb or Crimp, Classic, Purse, Palmer Clip, etc.
Also practice some sleights with the other hand/direction.

Get a C/S and Shell and practice the handling of those to automaticity. Then merge those with the Basic Six Pack.

Don't get too excited about fancy vanish techniques or flourishes just for skill demonstration. Look to the final results you want and work backwards. Learn a new technique as necessary.
Never let any sleight drive the effect or effect selection. You want them to remember the magic, not that you are a juggler.

Then choose 4-6 effects to master with story, transitions, acting ability and speech training. Go out and perform each a dozen times or more with real people.
Refine each effect based on what you learned. You will toss away at least one of these as impractical for your audiences.

Then you will be ready to explore new gaffs and props and rare sleights. Only now worry about expensive books or DVD sets.
If you must but something, get Fulves' Self Working Coin Magic for $8.00 . Focus on presentation rather than sleights

I would suggest getting a Boston Box before expensive coin sets.

Also, coins are a subset of small object magic. Many sleights can be used with other objects as well.
Don't get so focused on coins that you forget what will excite an audience. Impromptu is wonderful and coins don't always seem natural.
I guess I am asking, why do you wish to be a coin worker?

Hi Wez

I would work on your CP. Nothing wrong with FP but having a good CP frees up all your fingers. Then work on transfers eg CP to FP to TP back to CP etc etc. The hand has to look like its not doing anything. As far as go to moves (switches / shuttle pass etc) there are 100's of variations. Do the move for real then try and replicate it so it looks as natural as possible. The general public handle coins all the time and they instinctively know if something looks wonky. Roth's shuttle pass, Latta's HPC and Rubinstein's ROPS move are examples of sleights that don't look like anything is happening if you get my meaning.

Good luck and enjoy

Nev

This should give you the best foundation you need.
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/coin-m......umes-13/
That has all the sleights you will need. My new book, RUBINSTEIN COIN MAGIC, has additional work on those sleigjts, plus many others
https://youtu.be/QepKJY1qxHs

Great advice!

Agreed Eldini. Funsway is a bit of an encyclopaedia, and I'm absorbing the advice!! Likewise with Dr R

BW

Steve

Good info on here. I agree-a good classic palm is fantastic.
I really like the retention coin vanish. Fools those that may be aware of the FD or FP.

And FUNSWAY is right. A good pitch and ditch is important. I love Gregory Wilson's teachings and methods on this. So sneaky

Agreed here about funsway, he's an encyclopedia alright, and a heckuva nice fellow.

Learning the basics is important, things like a good classic palm, finger palm and retention vanish can take you far, but it all must be mixed with good misdirection, story and above all else, practice.

And 007, I really like Greg Wilson's work, that Pitch & Ditch is super sneaky. I also have a little pitch move called, "The Quick Pitch" that I've been doing for years in my offerings. It allows you to traffic coins right out in front of specs, and usually no ditching necessary.

Recently I have found some creative ways to get in and out of the Mutobe palm. The thing I find very useful with this palm is that spectators see your hand as being "absolutely" empty with this palm. If they burn your hands, they can't even imagine
you might be holding out something there. OF course you would use this along with normal coin sleights. I would suggest you play with this and think of some different ways of getting into this.

I just ordered your book. Looks awesome!

Enjoy!

Not a sleight, but for performers wearing a jacket whilst performing standing up (not sat at a table), my Secret Servante is essential IMO (maybe I'm a bit biased!) Lets you ditch, retrieve and switch multiple coins - no need to fumble in pockets!!! Attaches in seconds - https://simplymagic.co.uk/secretservante.html

For someone starting out in coin magic, I'd recommend one of the following:
- Al Schneider "Al Schneider Magic"
- Al Schneider "Al Schneider on Coins"
- Bill Tarr "Now You See It, Now You Don't"
- Futagawa "Introduction to Coin Magic"
- Galloway "Diverting Coin Magic"

I would suggest looking first at what effects you would like to perform, and what your performing environment would be and then learn the necessary sleights associated with those routines.

Really good advice on here from all parties. My only "piggyback" onto what Sean just said would be to start with a basic effect and then add in or take out to fit your style and your abilities. I love Gadabout Coins, and one of the things I love about it is you can utilize a classic palm, a thumb palm, or a finger palm --- it's up to you. You can use a ROV vanish and a clink pass --- or you can swap in something else. You can use a shuttle pass so that on one of the phases the coins are held in your right fist instead of your left --- or you can choose to leave that out. It's very flexible, but what is most important is that learning a rudimentary version will teach you about structure, and timing, and acting, and whether you work better at a fast pace or a more relaxed pace.

This probably goes without saying, but choosing the pace of your performance has less to do with your skillset and more to do with your character. All right, shup up, Joe....

Some of MB's videos he mentioned above contain some of the most fooling magic you can to for close up spectators. I had to try some of these routines to believe it. I was utterly surrounded once (super close all around) and using some of his subtle finger palm techniques, nobody even suspected a finger palm. Normally, you could not get away with this but again it was due to his routining and subtle variations of classic moves. Some of the most hidden miracles in coin magic, from a practical perspective, after trying almost everything, IMHO. Thanks Marion!!!

Hi countrymaven,

Are there any of Marion's tricks you can suggest that are particularly good for beginners?


Thanks,

Bob

Yes, Bob, I would suggest starting with MB's 'Short Pockets" which contains several effects. On this video, I like the first three the best. Look at his "active" finger palm where he holds a coin w his middle fingers but moves his fingers around. It is very subtle, but it works. Nobody will suspect you could be hiding a coin there. For example, I did the Karate Coin and hid the gimmick this way, very close up and nobody would even suspect I had another special coin .... hehe. I have studied all kinds of coin magic from everyone but keep coming back to using the practicality and deception of MB's moves!

Mastering the Gishman Pinch. Such a fantastic and useful sleight!

Thanks, countrymaven! Bob