Magic at your fingertips? In your wallet with an everyday object? Visual and organic?
We are talking about coin magic. Right after card magic this is one of the most popular subjects in magic. Carrying a few coins is cheap, practical and allows for a number of different effects ranging from transpositions to vanishes and transformations. It takes some time to get the basics down but it is very fun to practice and you end up with an invaluable tool.
What coins you use is a personal choice. The most important thing to keep in mind is the size and preferably you will use a coin that is used in your country so people recognise it. Everyone has different hands so try on a few different coins and for some techniques bigger is better, for others the opposite is true. A good starting point is the american half dollar. If the coins in your country don’t feel right then don’t worry, using more “exotic” coins can make your magic more interesting and might allow you to introduce some story about them. Get creative!
Perhaps more than any other magic subject, coin magic requires time so you can understand how to “handle” the coins. There are several techniques employed, such as palms, that will vary from person to person. When learning keep in mind that everyone’s hand is different and you might have to position slightly different from what is taught.
He are our recommendations for Coin magic:
Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic – It’s is impossible not to mention Bobo’s when we are talking about coin magic literature. Modern Coin Magic probably is the single most important book in Coin Magic. You will find all relevant techniques and a wide range of beautiful effects. You can’t go wrong with this option, so if you are interested in coin magic, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Best of all? The PDF’s is available for free.
Coin magic by Richard Kaufman – By a trusted and knowledgeable magician, this book is contains great material to keep you going after reading Bobo’s. Here you will find a compilation of creative and useful effects and techniques from several different magicians.
Easy to master Money miracles by Michael Ammar – This option is great if you want to take the first few steps into coin magic. Taught by Ammar, who is an excellent teacher, you will learn the building blocks of the subject and open a world of possibilities.
Expert Coin Magic Made Easy by David Roth – Roth is considered to be the greatest alive (if not of all time) coin magician. His contributions to the subject are undeniably brilliant and impossible to ignore. This being said, there is no better person to teach you coin magic, taking you from the foundations to the “expert” level coin magic.