Last night's set from Quaker Steak & Lube

I went a little coin-heavy last night during my gig at Quaker Steak & Lube. I opened with a single coin Flurry using the black & gold Chinese coins. Then a slight variation on Catch-Up, a very nice Copper/Silver/Brass routine. I did throw in a single card effect to add some flavor, then wrapped up with Charming Chinese Challenge. Since CCC is more of a stand-up effects it plays big enough to involve the whole table and (hopefully) be a good closer.

Next week I'll be adding a social media coin effect using a borrowed coin and my coin bend.

I hope to craft a better ending soon. Maybe a Miser's Dream/Unlimited Coinage type effect.

Let me know what you think!

Triple Change!

Just enough time for a quickie before heading out for a gig!

This is my favorite sequence from Marion Boykin's Copper/Silver-Surprise! It's a fantastic routine that delivers hit after hit of strong magic. You can find it in his excellent Short Pockets download from VinnyMarini.com! I used it all Sunday night at my gig at Otto's Pub and Brewery here in State College, PA.

3 coins, 3 nations, 1 killer effect!

Posted by Ben Salinas on Saturday, May 2, 2015

Restaurant Coin Magic

I am now the Resident Magician at two local restaurants. One is a locally-owned brew pub, the other a national chain featuring wings and beer. I've been playing with different coin routines each night to see what kind of reactions I get and for ways to improve upon the routine for maximum deception, entertainment, and how easily it resets.

I'll try out a different coin routine each night and then post a review of how each piece went and any modifications I made to it.

Tonight I'll be using Craig Petty's Cartoon Coins from his DVD Flipped Out. Here's a clip from the DVD...

The Master in Action: J.B. Bobo!

J.B. Bobo, author of Modern Coin Magic and the guy who started it all. This is a clip from an OLD Stevens Magic Emporium video featuring a couple of the coin vanishes from his classic book. The quality is a bit lacking, but the vanishes look great! Don't ya wish you had that jacket?

Evanesce is now available as a download

That smexy new Eric Jones coin vanish that I mentioned

last month is now available as a download HERE from Murphy's Magic!

IBM Ring 352 Magic Swap Meet!

Calling all finger-flingers, card manipulators, coin conjurors, and general practitioners of the mystery arts:

IBM Ring 352 in State College, PA will be hosting a Swap Meet at our next official meeting this coming Friday, September 12 at the Center Region Council of Governments, 2643 Gateway Drive, State College, PA.

So if you have a box or drawer full of stuff you thought you had to buy, but then never used, bring it on down, stick a price on it, and maybe it will interest someone else. One man’s junk, etc.

You don't have to be a member to attend, all magicians are invited!

The doors will hopefully be unlocked by 6 PM

Hope to see you Friday!

Pop Haydn's Coins Across

Time-travelling magic man Pop Haydn has released a video of his Coins Across. This was shot behind the bar at the world-famous Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

I really enjoyed the fake explanation as the coin travels up one sleeve and down the other. His pace is slow and careful with no over-proving, which helps him to get lots of magic out of just a couple moves. It would be a huge mistake to judge this routine based on fancy aerial sleights or whether it fools YOU. Instead judge it based on the only thing that matters in performance art....the audience's reactions!

Rope guys have coin chops, too!

Generally, stage performers are terrible at sleight of hand. But, then again, most of us finger-flingers look like goofs trying to work a big illusion on a stage.

French FISM Stage Magic Champion Francis Tabary is clearly the exception. Here he demonstrates a pretty baffling vanish, not once, but THREE times in a row!

It's Impossible!

Channeling a little bit of Juan Tamariz and a little bit of Rene Levand, Spanish magician Miguel Angel Gea has created a whirlwind effect called It's Impossible! It's part Transposition, part Copper/Silver, part GadAbout Coins and all fun!

Like the classic Rene Levand 'Rojas Y Negras', the presentation just gets more impossible the more times you do it. The moves are easy so you can concentrate on the presentation and the gaffs needed are probably in your pocket right now. Miguelito has a pretty strong Spanish accent but the teaching is very clear and thorough.

For $5 you get some easy, astounding coin magic and you get to act a little "Tamariz-y" which is always fun. Definitely recommended!

Get it here!

Portal by Kainoa Harbottle

Coin Demi-God and all-around cool guy Kainoa Harbottle has released a new 1-coin "Flurry" routine called Portal and it's really wonderful.

Kainoa teaches a couple of great new moves, one of which is the Portal Move. It's a beautiful way to do a repeatable vanish and production of a coin that Shoot Ogawa did with a purse frame, but without the purse frame! The coin just winks out of existence as the coin is pushed into and pulled back out of the left hand. The move is totally different from Shoot's and is really beautiful work!

He also teaches his Wave Vanish. If you've seen his Penguin Magic lecture video (shame on you if you haven't!) then you've learned this move as part of his version of Geoff Latta's Quadra-Quick Coins Away. This is his attempt to compete with the 'YouTube' kind of magic (heavily-edited or only possible on a video), and the result is a casual wave and the coin is gone.

Kainoa also goes into great depth on the Drop Retention Vanish. A move that is easy to do, and easy to do poorly. His tips really help to make this move as amazing as it should be.

Kainoa then breaks down the entire routine step by step and explains a wonderful ending where the coin vanishes from one outstretched hand and VISIBLY appears in the other hand. You end with arms wide open in a perfect applause cue!

The teaching is, of course, wonderful. And the material is real-world, worker, use-it-every-day magic. The price is a pittance for all the great magic you get! Highly recommended!

Available as an Instant Download for $7.99 from Penguin Magic!

Tell 'em Ben sent ya!

New vanish from Eric Jones

Eric Jones posted a smexy new coin vanish he calls "Evanesce" on his FaceBook wall today. No news from Eric about when, or if, he will release it.

If you're on FaceBook you can check out the video HERE.

Think you know your Coin Magic? Prove it!

You think you're pretty coin magic savvy? Edge Palm and stack work are child's play to you. You sleep with a jumbo coin in Mutobe Palm. You did your first Reverse Matrix before you could spell your name. Yes, you can walk the walk, but can you TALK the TALK?

This is the first ever (as far as I know) Coin Magic Crossword Puzzle! This won't make your palms bleed, but it may cause you to scratch your head a few times and access some lost chunks of long-term memory.

But, don't worry I included an Answer Key.

So, grab a pencil, sit close to your magic bookshelf, pull up the Google homepage, and let's dig in!

Use the text links above to download a PDF version, or solve it on-line!