Justin Kredible: Okay let me check this out, alright. We take the half dollar, I pull up the sleeve; just give it a wave with the magic marker and watch. How are you doing? I am Justin Kredible and this is Turning Tricks. This show is all about teaching you step by step how to perform the fundamentals of magic. I am going to perform the tricks and then I am going to tech you how to do them. Okay I love doing magic with everyday objects and there is no object more everyday than money magic. So that's what we are going to start.
As we go through the tricks please remember don't be afraid to pause and rewind and watch it over and over again until you really have moves mastered. So grab two quarters and a penny, we are going to turn some tricks.
Money they say is the root of all evil, well today, is the root of all our magic, money magic is one of my favorite genres because it is the most common everyday object money. And the first trick you saw me perform was the French drop, it is a classic of magic, it takes a minute to learn, a lifetime to master so grab a coin get ready to learn.
So the French drop is where we are going to begin and we are going to start with it because it is first trick that I have really learned, and my first magic teacher's name is Jerry "Dr. Magic" Hughes, and he wouldn't let me learn other trick until I master this one. I am going to be a little more forgiving with you but I think it is a great place to start because it is kind of like a Swiss army knife of magic, the possibilities are endless.
So real quick let's just go over what it looks like again and then I walk you through exactly how to do it. Basically we take a coin and we are going to take a magic marker, just give it a little wave and it disappears. Crazy, alright here is how it works. Basically use a little bit of sleight of hand, it is very simple. Obviously we are going to take the coin, make it look like I take the coin but I don't really take the coin, alright. This trick has three important elements that I think are very important in our magic. Sleight of hand, misdirection and then acting and you will see what I mean; you really want to make the people believe what you want them to believe, so you have to believe what you want them to believe.
Alright so here is the sleight of hand move of the French drop. What happens is, when my hand comes up in front to apparently take the coin, I drop it back into my waiting right hand. I act like I have this coin in my left hand. I pull up my sleeve, which is a great little misdirection, makes that kind of closed hand motion seem totally natural and I have this magic marker in my pocket and what happens as I reach for the magic marker I drop the coin in my pocket. People don't know the trick has happened yet, they still think you are just holding the coin in your left hand. You give it a bit of wave and it disappears. But the basics are you got to hold it in your hold like this. I am dominant with my right hand so I am going to use my right hand and hold the coin displaying like this. My left hand which is going to take it comes in this -- you want to have this cupping motion, basically I create a container, a little cup with my hands for the coin to fall into.
As I come with my left hand to take the coin it is hidden from view at that point, it drops in my hand. A good way to get good at this motion is to what I call tap it to take it. So, I come from above, I tap the coin with my hand, tap it which makes it fall right into my waiting right hand. You act like you have this coin in your left hand and the best way to get really good at knowing what it feels like to have a coin in your left hand is to maybe try it a couple of times actually taking the coin and you want to mimic that motion and in a lot of magic tricks that comes in very handy as to basically figure out what would it look like if I am really doing what I am saying I am doing.
Take the coin in the left hand, when it is really in the right and I reach in to get the marker as the same time I drop that coin into my pocket to grab the marker and that will happen in one full motion, it disappears and it is great trick. So let me walk you through the French drop step by step. I am displaying the coin like so, having creating kind of a cup with my right hand. My left hand comes, I create a little pocket here and I am going to tap it to take it, here we go. It drops in my right hand, I make a little fist with my left as if I have the coin to a point where I pull up the sleeve for misdirection, at this point I go into my pocket, I get the pen out, I wave it, I tap and really make this a magical moment and the coin disappears.
So that's the French drop and like I said it is a classic of magic, you don't want to underestimate it because with the right amount of practice it is true magic, it happens right in front of their eyes, there is no explanation for it, that's a beauty of pure sleight of hand. So let's review the moves that really help make the magic happen in this case. The cupping motion, tap it to take it, believe that you have the coin and then you want to remember to let some time pass from when you do the magic move to when you reveal the coin is gone and it is a miracle. Alright, and I will show you guys a cool trick with the coin, check this out, watch. Just give it a rub right here in my elbow. Hold on let me try that again. Get a rub in the elbow -- third I am trying just watch. We rub it into the elbow, there we go. Disappears, clean sweep, thanks.
I call this the elbow grease coin vanish and I love this one. It is a variation on kind of the French drop principle making a coin disappear from your finger tips anywhere anytime I know you will do it. So grab a coin, let's see how it works. Alright so here is how to do the elbow grease coin vanish and before I teach you this, I am going to let you know this is a killer way to vanish the coin. When I was first starting out as a professional magician 13-14 years old, I used to do kind of table side magic at restaurants and this is a trick that I would always do just because it is right there, right in front of them and it is very visual. And this is a great trick to learn while you are mastering the French Drop, so you can vanish a coin right away. Here is how it works, okay.
Similar element with a French drop where you look like you are taking a coin, but you are not. But this one is disguised in repetition and let me show you what I mean by that. You take a coin in your left hand I toss it to my right, I rub it into my elbow, I accidentally drop it as if it was supposed to work but it didn't, okay. That's the first time and then I pick it up again in my left hand, I toss it in my right, I rub it again in my elbow. It drops, again, looks like I am messing up. The third time I don't toss it into my left hand, I just take the coin and I pretend to toss it. You don't want to freak about making it really good because they have seen it once, they have seen it twice, the third time they are just expecting the same thing to happen, they are expecting to believe that you are really tossing that coin to the left hand.
So the third time when you don't, you just pretend to toss it from the left to the right, rub the coin and goes right into back of my neck. And what's great is, the first two times you have done this and actually drop the coin, first second time, I always just get used to people having my hand there and not being suspicious of my hand up being near my neck. So the third time when you do it, they are not seeing anything coming. Same motion this time I ditch that coin there and what I do here is I really let that third time kind of let it really be a magical moment you really kind of rub it and I take one finger away one at a time until slowly that coin is totally vanished. And they are totally hooked in at that point.
They really have no clue where the coin goes and people will be extremely impressed and then what you can do you have an altering ending. You can just have the coin be gone and that be the end of the trick and kind of get it off your neck later or you can let a little time pass and be like wait and watch. Show your hand empty, your right hand this time and come back, grab that coin and act like you are plunging out of your ear. So to recap the elbow grease coin vanish, really the most important point to remember is the repetition, make that tossing from left to right look the same three times especially the third time when you don't actually toss it and you do the magic move.
Okay, and then that last time when you are rubbing it in really make that magical moment last, take it slow, make it very mysterious because it is a strong moment. Alright, practice this trick a couple of times; you will be doing it tonight.
Alright so this is a cheap trick, it uses a penny. I am going to do this really slow, because this is going to freak you out, check this out. Look at this, two quarter. This is called Hobo's dream and what's great about this trick is if you were truly a magician, you had magical powers you probably turn pennies into quarters. Probably turn pennies in the hundred dollar bills at that, but you got to start somewhere and to learn this you go to need two quarters and a penny so grab those, you are going to figure out how it works.
To perform a Hobo's dream you need a penny and of course two quarters. Now what I love about this trick is that it uses a totally different type of sleight of hand than we learned with the French drop or the elbow grease coin vanish. This kind of a stand alone coin trick that is really awesome, it looks like real magic you can do it slow happens at your finger tips, your hands are totally empty where do the quarters come from. It is a pretty rare trick. Here is how to do it. You need the two quarters and a penny and there is a little special setup that you do in your hand to create this optical illusion that the penny is all you have, when in reality you are also secretly hiding these two quarters. Here is the preparation.
Thumb and index finger as if you are kind of going to make the OK sign, just kind of pinch these two quarters side by side right near the tip. Okay, like that and then you take the penny and you cleverly just block those quarters with the penny and you clip the penny by the end of those two fingers. So it looks like you are just trying to display this. Penny, at the tips of your fingers and that's all you have. Now, one thing to remember on this trick is it is really a kind of a one on one trick or for two people kind of a small group because you really need to watch your angles on this trick because obviously because they can't view it from the side or they are going to see how the trick works.
Here is the setup, you show both hands empty you really let this coin sink in and your hands are totally empty except for this little penny, alright. Here is where the magic happens. Your left hand comes in front as if it is going to kind of magically wave in front of the penny and what it does when it comes in front, is you turn your right hand sideways your left thumb pushes the penny behind the two quarters then you show, you can pull your hands away because the magic is taking place and then you pinch a quarter between each hand like this and you display it. Alright, now the one thing to remember is just like when you are holding the penny, that moment where you are displaying the quarters you are also going to watch your angles you don't want to accidentally do this. You want to keep both coins kind of head on you can kind of display it like this; it is kind of round motion. So here is what it looks like from the front and I will talk you through it.
Left hand empty, turn sideways, I push the penny right behind and I display the quarters like this. Now the final move that kind of ends clean and really freaks people out because they really have no clue where the penny goes is I take the quarter that has the penny hidden behind it and I just lay it flat in my left palm. You might be a little nervous doing a first couple of times but if you can just lay them down together the quarter will just lay right on top of the penny, you put the other quarter there, your hands are totally empty, that Hobo's dream.
Alright and we look at the setup. We have got the two quarters, side by side we have got the penny perpendicular to the quarters, making the OK sign, alright. I am going to show it head on to the audience like so. Head on, penny flat towards them, my left hand comes in front, I rotate left, my left thumb pushes the penny behind the quarters, I reveal and I pinch one quarter in each hand with the penny hidden behind the right one.
As you are working on mastering Hobo's dream a couple of important points to remember. Remember to watch your angles, hold the coins head on otherwise they are going to see those coins hidden. Okay, the second thing is when you do this move, really take it slow. You don't need to rush, you can take the time, make sure you get the place where that penny properly right behind that quarter. Take it slow; make that a magical moment that really hammers in on them. And then lastly this is really one of those tricks more that any that really you can benefit from practicing in front of a mirror, okay. Rewind this watch me doing over and over again. Once you get the moves down doing in front of a mirror, you will be able to see what they see and you will master Hobo's dream.
Let's go over the tricks we just learned. We started with the French drop which is a must know utility moving magic so make sure to practice that. Then the elbow grease coin vanish, a very novel way to make a coin disappear that introduces the concept of repetition and lastly Hobo's dream a really cool coin trick, make sure to watch your angles. And remember these tricks are complex, it is not going to come right away so go back watch the episode again and again that's the best way to learn and I am telling you magic especially money magic is great to incorporate in your profession I am telling you from personal experience I used to be a waiter and nothing suggest a big tip like some money magic. The other waiters hated me. That's my tap. It is cool, check this out. There we go, keep the change.
Remember never reveal the secret; never repeat a trick and practice. I have turned my secrets over to you. Now it is up to you to start turning tricks.
Watch more episodes of turning tricks, you are going to learn some great card tricks, some amazing dinner table magic and a whole bunch of killer tricks you can do anywhere, any place, anytime, like now.
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