What Happened at the meeting on Friday 21st February

Noel Clair led the meeting with the theme of Coin Tricks.  As an introduction, he started with a mathematical item that required several number inputs from a spectator, and the results were the spectator’s age and two digits of their phone number.

Steve Irwin showed us a close-up coin item.  Right in front of each person, he placed a coin openly on his palm, rubbed the coin vigorously, and it vanished.  He clearly showed us his hands and arms, and there was nowhere for the coin to go!

Neil Lynch chose a coin transposition for his item.  He displayed a silver coin in his palm, made a mystic pass, and the coin had changed into a copper coin.  Surprising !

Al Hirschel is very keen on impromptu items that a magician can do if he is asked to “Do a magic trick”.  Al did for us a “Do and Demonstrate” for an impromptu Coin through Spectator’s Palm.  Obviously anyone can carry or borrow a dollar coin, the only apparatus needed, and his impromptu presentation was convincing.

Another strong presentation was given to us by David Whitson.   He had developed a story presentation for Dynamic Coins, the classic brass coin box that many of us (including myself) have stored away, unused.  His story involved a person crossing over borders from one country to another and avoiding the theft of his money by the dishonest border guards by using the coin box to vanish his money.  We might be inspired to try it out !   David also had a novelty item of one large coin that could be split into two coins of the same diameter.

“Would you please mark your initials on this five cent piece?” asked Andrew Pickard of a volunteer.  He then showed the volunteer a pair of dishes, closed with rubber bands.  On opening these, and the enclosed pair of dishes, we found the marked coin in the centre of this nest.  A nice presentation of classic magic!

The evening was then very capably wrapped up by Noel Clair.  He used the French drop to vanish a coin,  and then produced from his knee, elbow or a spectator’s ear.  Taking a large card mat he performed a nice coin matrix (“with just a little shake of my hand one coin moves diagonally across..”).  He showed us how skilled was his manipulation as he repeatedly vanished and produced a huge coin (4 cm diameter across)  –  a coin that seemed impossible to hide !