throughout the experiment. At the exact instant your right hand releases his pulse it also releases the back palmed coin, which falls into the left hand as it passes underneath on its way down to his palm. There must be no hesitation as the left hand moves down underneath the spectator’s forearm. It merely passes underneath the right hand, catches the coin as it falls, and continues on down to the spectator’s palm. Then you gently press the coin against his down-turned palm, so that he is able to feel it. Following this you reveal the coin, which ties in with the patter, . . . “and also you are able to see it.”
The spectator’s right wrist masks the back palmed coin in your right hand, and because all the attention is on the left hand during the action the right is never suspected.
If there is one trick that goes over with the women, this is it. It affords possibility for much comedy and byplay, and is one hundred percent entertainment.
THE CRANIUM VANISH
WALLACE LEE’S VERSION
No, this is not a vanishing head trick but a trick where the top of the head is used as a hiding place for a vanished coin.
Since the coin must be secretly placed on top of the head the trick is only practical to perform before children whose eye level is lower than the top of the head.
Get a group of small-fry in front of you and show them a coin in your right hand. Tell the children that you will place the coin in your outstretched left hand three times, and on the third time you want one child to grab the coin. Keep your eyes on the left hand as you raise the right hand to the top of your head. Next time you raise the hand find the exact spot on top of your head where you can leave the coin. On the third time place the coin on this spot, bring the hand down and pretend to deposit the coin in the left hand. The child grabs, but the coin is gone.
To get the coin back, hold your hands at your sides and let the palms extend inward behind your back. With a backward movement of the head the coin will fall into the hands behind the back, and can now be produced from behind a child’s ear.
The only difficulty you might experience with this trick is that occasionally you might not catch the coin as it falls from your head. If this happens, feign surprise, look upward and pretend that the coin fell from the ceiling.
As Wallace Lee says: “Aren’t we devils?”
VANISH WITH THE AID OF A HANDKERCHIEF
Here is an oldie, the method of which can be used to vanish not only a coin but any other small article as well.
Spread a handkerchief over the palm up left hand so one corner will lie on the forearm. Show a half dollar in the right hand, then place it between the thumb and first and second fingers of the left hand, holding it vertically through the cloth, Fig. 1.
With the right thumb and forefinger, pick up the inner corner of the handkerchief and bring it forward over the coin, then turn the left hand palm downward so the handkerchief hangs down over the coin. Make some remark about showing the coin again as you return the hands to their former positions. The coin is again seen as in Fig. 1.
The right hand brings the inner corner over the coin once more and as the left hand turns over it releases the coin which falls onto the cupped right fingers, the handkerchief hiding this action from the audience, Fig. 2. The left hand pretends to hold the coin through the center of the handkerchief. Bring your right hand up with its palm toward the spectators, the forefinger pointing upward and the second, third, and fourth fingers curled slightly to conceal the coin from their view, Fig. 3. (This subtle concealment, when sparingly used, serves as a real convincer and can be used to good effect in many other tricks.) The right hand is brought up in this position as you caution the spectators to “Watch.”
Grasp one corner of the handkerchief with the right hand and release your grip on its corner with the other hand. The handkerchief floats down and hangs by one corner from the right hand. Done properly, this is a very pretty effect because the spectators expect the coin to fall to the floor. Immediately flick the handkerchief with the right hand and show the left hand empty. Grasp an opposite corner with the left hand, spread it out between the hands and show both sides of the handkerchief. The coin has vanished!
THE “HEADS AND TAILS” VANISH
H. ADRIAN SMITH
Effect: After showing several half dollars with the heads all uppermost, the performer places the stack on the fingers of his outstretched hand and closes the hand so that the coins are pressed into the palm. When the hand is opened, the coins are all found to have the tails uppermost. Repeating the process, the performer asks a spectator to guess whether the coins have the heads or the tails up. When the hand is opened, the coins are found to have disappeared and they are reproduced from behind the performer’s knee.
Method: Four or five well worn coins are used. After showing them to be heads up, square them and place the stack near the tips of the second and third fingers of the palm up left hand, which is held out flat with the fingers together, Fig. 1. Hold the right hand palm up, fingers together and the thumb parallel to the index finger and about an inch above it. Bring the right hand over to the left at a right angle, the fingers of the right going under those of the left and the right thumb about half an inch above the coins, Fig. 2. With the aid of the right hand, which is brought up rather smartly, close the fingers of the left hand, turning the stack over into the left palm. The instant the closing movement begins the right thumb is lowered onto the coins, holding them in place as the left fingers close, thus preventing the coins from making any noise. The right hand turns over in this process as though to press the fingers of the left hand firmly. Withdraw the right hand, then open the left hand, showing the coins in reverse order, tails up.
During the repetition, all moves are identical with the above except that at the exact moment the right hand fingers are under the left to close the left hand, the thumb of the right hand, which is directly above the stack, closes down upon the coins and grasps the whole stack between the first joint and base of the thumb, Fig. 3. The whole stack may thus be gripped quietly and with certainty. The closing of the left hand is carried out, this time minus the coins. The right hand moves away casually in a horizontal position, swinging in a short arc as it drops to the side. After the spectator ventures his guess, the left hand is opened and the coins have disappeared. The reproduction from behind the knee presents no problem requiring further explanation.
VANISH FOR SEVERAL COINS
Effect (a): Several coins are shown lying on the performer’s right hand. He dumps them into his left hand, the spectators hearing them as they fall. A moment later the left hand opens to show the coins gone.
Effect (b): Similar to the above except that the coins are thrown one at a time from the right hand into the left. The audience sees and hears each coin arrive, but when the left hand is opened it is empty.
Method (a): Place a stack of coins on the right palm. Tilt the fingers downward just enough for the coins to slide forward so that they will lie in an overlapping row with the outer edge of the forward coin at the second joint of the two middle