Hat & Hare

First 5 tricks · No. 4

The French Drop

The classic coin vanish. Learn the move, then learn the acting that makes it invisible.

Category
Coins
Level
Beginner
Learn it in
20 minutes to learn, a lifetime to polish
Difficulty

Draft. Awaiting review by our resident magician.

  • TODO: Review the hand positions against your own handling; add photos or illustrations
  • TODO: Confirm book references and add links

The effect: what they see

You take a coin from one hand with the other. You open that hand, and the coin has melted away into nothing.

What you need

  • One coin, the larger the better (a half dollar or similar)
  • A pen or a magic wand (optional, for the ditch)

The method

The coin never leaves the first hand. Everything else is acting.

  1. Hold the coin horizontally between your left thumb and fingertips, palm up, fingers slightly curled. The coin should be clearly visible to your audience.
  2. Bring your right hand over, thumb going under the coin and fingers over it, as if to take it. For a moment, the right fingers hide the coin.
  3. At that moment, let the coin drop from your left fingertips into your left fingers. Gravity does the work. Your left fingers curl just slightly to hold it.
  4. Your right hand closes as if it holds the coin and moves away. Watch the right hand with your eyes. That is the most important part.
  5. Let your left hand relax and drop to your side, or casually pick up a pen with it. (Holding the pen also gives your fingers a natural reason to be curled.)
  6. Slowly open your right hand. It’s empty. The coin is gone.

Performance & patter

Your eyes are the method. Wherever you look, they look. If you believe the coin is in your right hand, so will they.

Suggested patter: “Coins are surprisingly shy. If you squeeze them, they get nervous.”

Squeeze the right fist gently. Blow on it. Then open your fingers one at a time, like you’re afraid of what’s inside. Let the vanish happen slowly in the empty hand, not quickly in the dirty one.

For a finish, reach into the air with your left hand, the one holding the coin, and “catch” it back.

Common mistakes

  • Looking at the hand with the coin. Your eyes give it away every time. Follow the empty hand.
  • A stiff left hand. After the drop, a frozen, claw-shaped hand screams “something’s in here.” Relax it.
  • Moving too fast. Speed looks suspicious. Take the coin at the same speed you’d take it for real.
  • Bad angles. If people are at your sides, they may see the coin fall. Learn it facing your audience first.

Where to learn more

Origin. Traditional. One of the oldest coin sleights, taught in virtually every coin magic book.

  • Modern Coin Magic by J. B. Bobo. The classic reference for coin sleights
  • Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic by Mark Wilson