Pages from apocalypse vol 13

Lotayne's $4.25

VOL. 13, NO. 1

pocalypse ISSUE NO. 145

Ihere's no way I can describe how good this looks when Gary does it. The concept began with a coin vanish based on an idea by Haruhito Hirata, which Gary disclosed in his book, The Silver Passage (published by Camirand Academy of Magic). The disappearance of the coin is accomplished using only one hand. Then, on the cover of the August, 1981 issue of Apocalypse, I ran Meir Yedid's version of, basically, the same concept using two hands; it's called The Almost Perfect Coin Vanish. (If I remember correctly, Imam [Mostly Magic, New York City] uses a similar concept for coin "vanishes.") What I want to try to teach here is Gary's change of a coin. But it's based on the vanish and you should have an understanding of that before you attempt the change. The coin ends up in your lap so, obviously, you have to be seated at a table opposite your spectators. The coin is held at your right fingertips - between thumbtip and first and second fingertips, to be exact. The move was originally used to "penetrate" the last coin during a "through-the-table" kind of routine. So, the right hand raises the coin about eighteen inches above the tabletop and brings it down to touch the table top, as you say something like, "The coin will pen etrate right here." This is the feint. The exact actions are repeated except that this time your right hand comes down onto the tabletop and is shown to be empty - immediately. The coin is gone (and eventually shown to have penetrated the tabletop). Okay; what happens is this: As your hand moves downward, the coin is released. It travels directly to your lap, and it is covered - shaded - by the continuing path/movement

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of the hand!

What happens is this: Your hand starts its downward trip - and it stops at about the level of your chin. When it stops - at the instant it stops - both right-hand coins are released. The copper coin is pushed slightly back by your 2nd finger, as explained for the vanish - and, at the same time, the finger-palmed silver coin is released to fall straight down onto your waiting left hand! (Fig. 2 is the spectators' view of the end result - the silver coin is on the left palm, the right hand is empty; and will be shown empty in the following second. Fig. 3 is an attempt, the best I can do, to show the trajectory of both coins.)

Now - the coin is not thrown backward, nor does the right hand move backward at all. The right hand starts a few inches forward of the table edge. It does the feint. Then, it moves straight upward again, and down. As it moves down — about halfway to the tabletop — your thumb releases the coin. At the same time, the second finger pushes the coin slightly backward! That's all. The hand does not stop at all. It's moving down to the tabletop at about the same rate of speed at which the released coin is traveling. The "trajectory" of the coin is an approximate 45-degree angle from about, say, your chin or neck area to your lap. (This is according to your height, of course. You will find the best area for the "release" by experimenting.) That trajectory will be shown in an illustration when I teach the change. When done properly, the coin simply isn't seen. Remember; the downward movement of your right hand is not interrupted at all - it moves directly down no hesitation - to the tabletop. The coin is released (by the thumb) and pushed back slightly (by the second, and perhaps the third, fingertip) during that downward movement. All right; I'll assume you understand this "vanish" - either from reading The Silver Passage, or from the above explanation. So, let's get into the change which is basically the same idea but more difficult to do. It will require some practice time.

The "principle" involved (there are quotes around "principle" because I'm not sure it can be called a principle) is that the eye can follow only one of two falling (at the same time) objects. I don't know how scientific or specifically "true" that is! I do know that Gary did it for me many times, and my eye followed the silver coin down from his right hand onto his left palm - I never saw the copper coin falling to his lap. The copper seemed to change to silver in mid-air.

Assume you want to change a copper coin to a silver coin. The silver is in right-hand finger palm. The copper is displayed at the right fingertips, just as for the vanish. The back of your hand is toward your audience, of course. Your empty palm-up left hand is resting on the tabletop, near the table edge, in front of you. Your right hand moves up to about the level of your forehead. (Fig. 1; spectators' view.)

It will not be easy at first; it's almost like trying to pat your head with one hand as your other hand makes circular motions on your stomach. Your right hand will have the tendency, the urge, to move backward. Don't let it. It moves straight down only a few inches — forehead level to (approximately) chin level. And that's all there is to it! Afterthoughts: At first, you may also find that both coins fly to your lap, or that a coin hits the tabletop, and so on. Once you "get" it, however, you'll be surprised at its effectiveness; you'll be surprised by the fact that your spectators do not see the copper (or whatever) coin falling to your lap. You realize, I'm sure, that you can change any small item to any other small item — a coin to a sugar cube, a sugar cube to an envelope of granulated sugar, a coin to a ball - and so on. You can drop the fingerpalmed item directly onto the tabletop instead of onto your left hand, if you prefer. Happy practicing!

You can do a feint (really dropping the copper coin onto your left hand), if you like. Then - from the position in Figure 1, in appearance, you drop/toss the copper coin down onto your left palm. It is seen to magically change to a silver coin in mid-air. And your hands are otherwise empty.

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