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!

Review of David Neighbor's "Defining the Edges of the Box"

I have just finished working my way through the first book in the new David Neighbors Project series; Defining the Edges of the Box. I wanted to get a review out to everyone before I dive back in for the next round.

The quick answer: if you are a coin magician you need this book!

This hardbound tome weighs in at an impressive 237 pages and represents just the FIRST of FIVE VOLUMES! The subtitle is a reference to the way David approaches coin magic and acts as a starting point for the trip into David’s head.

Like Ed Marlo was to card magic, David is to coin magic. His mind never seems to stop until he has created several solutions to a single problem. And these are not minor variation in the effect. Each solution is unique and approaches the plot from a totally different angle.

Author Mark Tams' writing is concise and yet marvelously thorough. It is a refreshing style and makes reading the effects easy and enjoyable. The book is broken into 3 distinct chapters.

The first chapter, Debut, features 43 complete routines that deal with productions and vanishes. Some routines feature other effects in the midst of the routine, not just the productions and vanishes. A few are variations of an earlier effect, but no 2 are alike and each has it’s own particular strengths and the handlings vary significantly. Some will challenge your skills, some will send you searching for a common gaff, some will send you to the shop to build a simple gaff, while one or two will make you want to ring up your favorite coin engineer for a rush order.

The most heavily used gaffs are an expanded shell and the rattle gimmick. Later effects make use of easy-to-make gaffs like a stack of coins, a hooked or magnetic coin, or a fan of 3 coins. A few require slightly more esoteric gaffs like a 2 Copper/1 Silver set or an Ultimate Wild Coin from Todd Lassen. But don’t let this dissuade you, rather reading these effects will strengthen your desire to own these gaffs.

Many of the routines can be performed in the hands. Some use a table, but you don’t need to be seated, which fits perfectly into our most common performing situation, standing.

Whenever a gaff is required Tams gives a very thorough description of the coin to assist newer coin guys and gals in procuring them and understanding their nature before committing to buying them. This really helps you to visualize how the routine plays and again makes you want the gaff even more!

The second chapter Under A Spell takes you through 12 routines based on the Spellbound plot. The chapter starts with a brief history of the Spellbound effect. Again the handlings and effects cover a wide range of presentations and handlings. No two effects are alike. This section also introduces a number of wonderful new sleights like the Visual Toss Change and the Visual Drop Change.

Chapter three, Through and Through, opens with a detailed history of the Coins Through The Table plot and really shows off David’s creativity and the lengths his mind goes to when exploring an effect. There are sitting versions and standing versions. There are versions that use a single shell and others that employ an arsenal of gimmicks. There are international versions, using coins from different countries. There are versions where the coins travel down through the table the back up again. There are versions done on a glass tabletop. And yes, there are even international versions that are done on a glass tabletop! Whew!

There truly is something for everyone in these pages. The creativity, massive amount of information, and wide scope of this book make it a must-have for ALL coin workers from beginners to experts. Highly recommended!

Click here to get your copy of volume 1 of the David Neighbors Project-Defining the Edges of the Box

Buried Treasure!

For every single popular coin routine in magic there are probably 20 hidden treasures, effects that are fantastic and look like real magic, but for any number of reasons did not make it as big as I think they should have.

Today's bit of hidden coin magic awesomeness is

"Money Doesn't Grow On Trees" from Bill Citino's Coinsomnia - The Random Conjurings of a Sleep Deprived Mind is a tight 3-coin production and vanish with a very nice bit of misdirection at the end. As the third coin is produced, it vanishes taking the first two with it!

I have been using this for my restaurant gigs lately and the reactions are fantastic! It's quick and clean and really gets people's attention. It plays perfectly as an opener for table work because you control the pace of the effect. The routine includes a reproduction of the coins, but I like to end at the complete vanish of the 3 coins then move into another effect. There is no odd hand-washing or weird gimmicks to control which gives the routine a nice pure feeling. It's everything you could ask for in a coin routine.

The link above is to show you more about the book and the awesomeness inside. If you want a copy you can get it directly from Bill for just $25 (a steal!). Email Bill at citino93 @ hotmail.com, you'll be glad you did!

Shake It Up!

Today's bit of Coin Magic Coolness comes courtesy of Coin Mage Robert Benedict! Robert found these awesome Morgan Dollar Salt & Pepper Shakers at Cracker Barrel.

So I made a quick run to my local Cracker Barrel and scoured the gift shop until I found a set. They also come in Buffalo Head Nickel, Dime, and Penny denominations.

For 99 cents, every Coin Man out there should grab a set of these! Huge thanks to Robert Benedict!

Modern Coin Magic 4-DVD set for Half Price!

Just today I have gotten so much great feedback about my Modern Coin Magic DVD set, that I decided to do something nice for everyone who hasn't picked it up yet.

All this weekend go to the SalinasMagic online store and check out my Modern Coin 4-DVD Set and enter 'Bobo' as a discount code to get 50% off the retail price!

That's right, just $5 a disc for over 170 tricks, sleights, routines, and techniques! But only for this weekend, so hit it now!

Is that expanded shell going to get you a 6x8 cell?

Coin Magicians seem to spend half their lives altering coins for magical uses, and the other half trying to find someone to watch them do the trick with their new FrankenCoin.

The question always comes up, "Is is LEGAL to make a gimmicked magic coin?" I decided to do a little, hopefully definitive, research.

I found the answer while looking up law related to using coins for jewelry-making. The art world, not unlike the magic world seems to operate in a bit of a legal grey area. Activities that would get you jail-time if done for a commercial purpose are just fine, or at least the Treasury will look the other way, if the same activities are done as part of creative expression.

According to 18 U.S.C. § 331:

“Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified, scaled, or lightened— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

That pretty much says your ass is going to jail for making a Flipper Coin. But wait! That says "fraudulently alters..." So as long as you're not trying to buy some Twinkies (Mmmm, Twinkies) with your Super Triple Coin, the police are going to let you slide?

A question on the Treasury Department's FAQ asks whether it's legal "to use coins to make jewelry, souvenirs or other items?" The answer would make Bill Clinton proud, "Those coins are classified either as not current or as mutilated. The Mint redeems mutilated coins at the value of their metal content."

But, uh, I believe my question was...but...but, my stapler!

Finally, near the bottom of the page, we get a bit more of an answer:

“This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent.”

So the answer is, well, about the clearest you're going to get from the government. But as long as they have cattle ranchers to harass and pipeline deals to stall, the government is too busy to bother with you trying to impress the Starbucks counter girl with your Dean's Set of Walking Liberties.

Holy COW!

Our friends Dave and Craig at World Magic Shop have just announced a new coin magic DVD called Holy C.O.W. (Coin of Wildness). The advertising blurb says that this is all done with no gimmicks, just sleights. Which is very exciting for coin magic purists like me!

The trailer shows so very nice vanishes, productions, and changes along with some new handlings of coin classics. You'll see a very visual Spellbound, a one-at-a-time change of 4 coins, and a coins across. The DVD appears to be an extension of Chef Tsao's technique in his Arming System DVD, a move also used by Tristan Mory on his Metal Eclipse DVD. This move is pretty angle-sensitive and I'm curious to see if Chef Tsao has addressed this in the DVD.

Until I get it and can review it. Check out the trailer!

Let's get mental!

My two greatest loves in the world of performing are Coin Magic and Mentalism. An odd match to be sure, but I've discovered, and created, several effects of mentalism with coins.

This past weekend I had the awesome experience of attending the East Coast Mind Jam and meeting some of the country's foremost mind readers. I had a great time at the lectures and got to hang out with some pretty cool fellow attendees. One of them was John Sergott.

He's a fellow Pennsylvanian and lover of all things mental. John has allowed me to share a wonderful bit of impromptu Coin Mentalism with all of you.

With just a few coins (can be borrowed), something to write on (a business card!), and some fun interaction you can show off your stunning skills at precognition! Just click here to download John's Impromptu Mental Prediction.

A huge "Thank You" to John!

Performing Silver Swindle

In the past 3 days I have performed Silver Swindle about 11 times and each time has been fantastic! The handling is so easy that I was able to expand from my original script and improve the final phase to make it stronger and more in keeping with the theme I am using.

Last night, after performing it for a friend, one of his co-workers who had been watching (and thought I was just guessing) asked me to do it for her. The effect was just as strong, perhaps a bit stronger, even when immediately repeated for the same crowd.

We're off to a formal function tonight, so I'll be sure to try it out a few more times.

If you love coins, and you want to add a STRONG bit of mentalism that you can perform almost immediately, then you need to pick this up.

Silver Swindle - A review

Like most magicians I have always wanted to add a bit of mentalism into my performances. And I love coins. So, when I heard about Romanos' Silver Swindle from the guys at Vanishing Inc Magic, I knew I had to get it.

This is a 3-phase routine where you can consistently tell whether your volunteer is telling the truth or lying. She is given 2 coins of the same denomination. She initials one. Then, with your back turned, she chooses to keep one and put the other in your hand. At no time do you ever peek at the coin in your hand, yet you immediately know which coin she is holding. Each phase builds in mystery until the big finish in the 3rd phase, where you prove beyond a doubt that you know exactly what (and ‘how’) the spectator is thinking.

The DVD is well-shot with a demo, 2 performances, then a discussion of the effect by Andy Gladwin and Dave Forrest. They go over the included gimmick, the 3-phase routine, and some tips and alternates endings. They also discuss the reasons why the routine works and why it has even fooled other magicians.

Then there is the gimmick, but it’s really quite a stretch to call it that. It’s brilliant, it’s simple, it’s bold, it’s right in their face the entire time, but completely invisible. There is absolutely no fear of the volunteer ever finding how the coin is gimmicked. Managing the gimmick is child's play. There is really nothing to manage. You know immediately where each coin is, so you can concentrate on your presentation. And no worry about them burning your hands. They could even record your presentation and still never see any suspicious moves, because there are none!

The DVD cover says: No peeks No marks No magnets No stooges No electronics No chemicals

and all of it is definitely true. No creative wording here.

The routine is extremely easy to learn. I successfully performed it twice within 12 minutes of having watched the entire DVD. At just $25 this is a steal! A ready to go, professional routine that is easy to do, packs small, plays huge, and has a wonderful ending that brings the entire routine to strong finish. You need to get Silver Swindle by Romanos today!

Highly recommended!

New Magic!

Tonight I received Vanishing Inc's Silver Swindle - Gerti 2.0. I've got the Blu-Ray warmed up and coins in hand. Tomorrow I'll have full review for you. Until then check out the DVD trailer...