and let the palms extend inward behind your back. With a backward movement of the head the coin will fall into the hands behind the back, and can now be produced from behind a child’s ear.
The only difficulty you might experience with this trick is that occasionally you might not catch the coin as it falls from your head. If this happens, feign surprise, look upward and pretend that the coin fell from the ceiling.
As Wallace Lee says: “Aren’t we devils?”
VANISH WITH THE AID OF A HANDKERCHIEF
Here is an oldie, the method of which can be used to vanish not only a coin but any other small article as well.
Spread a handkerchief over the palm up left hand so one corner will lie on the forearm. Show a half dollar in the right hand, then place it between the thumb and first and second fingers of the left hand, holding it vertically through the cloth, Fig. 1.
With the right thumb and forefinger, pick up the inner corner of the handkerchief and bring it forward over the coin, then turn the left hand palm downward so the handkerchief hangs down over the coin. Make some remark about showing the coin again as you return the hands to their former positions. The coin is again seen as in Fig. 1.
The right hand brings the inner corner over the coin once more and as the left hand turns over it releases the coin which falls onto the cupped right fingers, the handkerchief hiding this action from the audience, Fig. 2. The left hand pretends to hold the coin through the center of the handkerchief. Bring your right hand up with its palm toward the spectators, the forefinger pointing upward and the second, third, and fourth fingers curled slightly to conceal the coin from their view, Fig. 3. (This subtle concealment, when sparingly used, serves as a real convincer and can be used to good effect in many other tricks.) The right hand is brought up in this position as you caution the spectators to “Watch.”
Grasp one corner of the handkerchief with the right hand and release your grip on its corner with the other hand. The handkerchief floats down and hangs by one corner from the right hand. Done properly, this is a very pretty effect because the spectators expect the coin to fall to the floor. Immediately flick the handkerchief with the right hand and show the left hand empty. Grasp an opposite corner with the left hand, spread it out between the hands and show both sides of the handkerchief. The coin has vanished!
THE “HEADS AND TAILS” VANISH
H. ADRIAN SMITH
Effect: After showing several half dollars with the heads all uppermost, the performer places the stack on the fingers of his outstretched hand and closes the hand so that the coins are pressed into the palm. When the hand is opened, the coins are all found to have the tails uppermost. Repeating the process, the performer asks a spectator to guess whether the coins have the heads or the tails up. When the hand is opened, the coins are found to have disappeared and they are reproduced from behind the performer’s knee.
Method: Four or five well worn coins are used. After showing them to be heads up, square them and place the stack near the tips of the second and third fingers of the palm up left hand, which is held out flat with the fingers together, Fig. 1. Hold the right hand palm up, fingers together and the thumb parallel to the index finger and about an inch above it. Bring the right hand over to the left at a right angle, the fingers of the right going under those of the left and the right thumb about half an inch above the coins, Fig. 2. With the aid of the right hand, which is brought up rather smartly, close the fingers of the left hand, turning the stack over into the left palm. The instant the closing movement begins the right thumb is lowered onto the coins, holding them in place as the left fingers close, thus preventing the coins from making any noise. The right hand turns over in this process as though to press the fingers of the left hand firmly. Withdraw the right hand, then open the left hand, showing the coins in reverse order, tails up.
During the repetition, all moves are identical with the above except that at the exact moment the right hand fingers are under the left to close the left hand, the thumb of the right hand, which is directly above the stack, closes down upon the coins and grasps the whole stack between the first joint and base of the thumb, Fig. 3. The whole stack may thus be gripped quietly and with certainty. The closing of the left hand is carried out, this time minus the coins. The right hand moves away casually in a horizontal position, swinging in a short arc as it drops to the side. After the spectator ventures his guess, the left hand is opened and the coins have disappeared. The reproduction from behind the knee presents no problem requiring further explanation.
VANISH FOR SEVERAL COINS
Effect (a): Several coins are shown lying on the performer’s right hand. He dumps them into his left hand, the spectators hearing them as they fall. A moment later the left hand opens to show the coins gone.
Effect (b): Similar to the above except that the coins are thrown one at a time from the right hand into the left. The audience sees and hears each coin arrive, but when the left hand is opened it is empty.
Method (a): Place a stack of coins on the right palm. Tilt the fingers downward just enough for the coins to slide forward so that they will lie in an overlapping row with the outer edge of the forward coin at the second joint of the two middle fingers, as in Fig. 1.
Turn the right hand inward and downward, apparently dumping the row of coins into the cupped left hand held below. The back of the right is toward the spectators, and the back of the curled fingers of that hand rest momentarily on the upturned left palm, Fig. 2. In sliding into position on the curled right fingers, the coins make a distinct jingle and, since the hands are in close juxtaposition at that moment, the illusion is perfect, both the eye and ear being deceived. Lower the left hand a few inches and close the fingers. Bend the second, third, and fourth fingers of the right hand inward, holding the coins, and point to the closed left hand as it then moves away to the left. Keep your attention fixed on the closed left hand for a few moments. Suddenly move the left hand upward, tossing the non-existent coins into the air. Follow their flight upward with the eye and you will be surprised how the spectators will, too. The coins have vanished.
The coins are hidden in the right hand and must be either reproduced or disposed of. The better plan is to quickly reach behind the right knee, jingle the coins, and bring them into view.
Method (b): Stand with your right side toward the audience, holding the coins to be vanished in a stack at the base of the middle finger. With the right thumb, push forward the top coin, then throw it into the left hand. As the right hand throws the coin, the left moves in unison to the right and
