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How to Perform Sleight of Hand

As a kid, I was enthralled by magic. At my tenth birthday party I put on a magic show, not exactly a smashing success, but my first attempt to hold an audience's attention that now manifests itself in my work as a writer and television producer. Now and then I can still fool my nieces and nephews by pulling a coin from an ear.

Here are the steps to take to perform sleight of hand.

Instructions

    • 1

      Get a magic book. Magicians are notoriously closed mouthed. If they weren't they would be soon unemployed. There are however several worthy books with illustrated steps of sleight of hand techniques. Invest in one of these guides, or borrow one from the local library. It will probably smell like an ancient tome of arcane wisdom, so turn the yellowing pages carefully, because many tricks have not changed since the days of Babylon. Since you expected concrete advice in this posting, keep reading. I'll walk you through a couple of basic tricks

    • 2

      Go to a magic shop. A few still exist. There are many devices there that readily allow you to perform sleight of hand,with minimal skill with the aid of linking rings, marked cards, and silks. When I did children's photography for a living I'd get a group's attention with a couple of tricks.

      Here's one I still have. I'd show a red ball in my hand. Right before my audience's eyes a second would appear. I'd act surprised, take it away and another would materialize. I'd put the third ball in my pocket and toss the one in my hand to the audience. It would be normal.

      The key is there is one ball, with a slightly larger hollow half that rests around it. With one flick of the finger you display the shell side to the audience. When you supposedly put the second ball in your pocket, you allow your hand a chance to flip the shell back over the ball. Just do the trick twice. On the second try put the shell in your pocket and toss the ball to your audience. This trick does require sleight of hand manipulation, but can be learned readily.

    • 3

      Sleight of hand requires repetition. If you're serious about your craft and plan to do this for a family gathering or at a genuine magic show you'll need to practice for a few days to get adept at what you do. Don't burn yourself out, 10-15 minutes per trick per day for just a few days should suffice. You should be able to perform the action as automatically as touch typing.

      Here's a trick you can do that's a classic, employing a technique know as a French drop that you can do anywhere. It requires a coin, ideally a quarter or bigger. The performer holds the coin between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, with the back of the rest of the fingers facing the audience. Lefties should reverse hands. The performer encircles the coin with the fingers of the right hand and closes around it. The left hand tugs on the right sleeve.

      Extend the closed right hand out to an audience member. Tell her to hold it tightly, not to let is go. Say it's your last quarter and you need it to call a cab to get home. Ask if she's sure she hasn't lost it for you.

      Then open your right hand and show that the coin is gone. Quickly reach around to the subject's ear with your left hand and pull out the coin.

      The secret is the essence of simplicity. While you are supposedly grabbing the coin with your right hand, you are dropping it into your left palm and holding it there until you can pull it out of your subject's ear.

    • 4

      Employ misdirection Your patter is designed to take your audience's attention away from wherever your object really is, which is why after the French drop, you tug on your right sleeve. The faux location is reinforced when your subject grabs your right hand and holds it securely after the transfer had already been made.

    • 5

      Until you are very practiced don't repeat a trick in the same session, because you will get caught.

    • 6

      One last trick: This one is easy to do and involved hands, but no sleight of hand. Ideally you want a fair skinned person for this. Pick an audience member after you've done your French drop and offer to turn the tables. Say that you can pick up thought waves from a subject that tell you where a coin is. Have your subject face the rest of the audience standing with both arms at his side. Hold out the disappearing quarter. Tell him to put it in one hand when your back is turned. Turn your back and ask him to press the hand with the coin against his forehead. Tell him to concentrate on it until you get a mental image. Keep the patter going for at least 20-30 seconds. Now tell him to turn around and face you. Look at his two closed fists and pick out the coin.

      How? The fist held up to the subject's forehead will be paler in color than the other, because it takes more work to pump blood up to an extended limb.

      Enjoy your brush with magic. It's a lot of fun.


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