http://www.sleightgeek.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=201#201

How would you rate my retention pass? How can I make it look a lot better?


Thanks
Lee

P.S. Please keep this here mods, no one will see it in the web section.

Lee, the quickest way to get this right is to start by actually putting the coin in your hand. Watch a clip of that a few times and you will know what to shoot for. As to what is on the clip... well I'll admit it took me a year to learn the move and another two years to get the move into effective use. I wish you a shorter journey -Jon

Thank you Jon for your comment. I will try to focus on this when learning the move.

Lee

Lee: I could say it looks just like a nice vanish as it is right now.

You might want to slow down a little bit.You are not giving it the time to create the visual retention of the coin on your L.H.

Mago Mai

Check out David Roth's volume 2 of expert coin magic. His retention pass is unreal! Watching that may help you understand the move better.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Slow down and expose more of the coin, you are covering a lot of it up with your fingers. The spectator needs to see as much of the coin and have it stand out the most for best results in the optical illusion.


Michael

Here is the new video of me doing the 'retention'. I am really sleepy so if it looks worse, I will fix it.


http://www.sleightgeek.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=201#201

Lee

Lee,
I wasn't going to post, but I like the t- shirt you're wearing in the video - have a similar one myself.

I'm afraid the retention pass still needs a bit of work. The sources provided above should be helpful.

I find that if you place the coin a bit farther into the hand than you think necessary it makes it more deceptive... try placing it over the palm at the base of the left index finger and then sliding it back towards the palm, almost like you overshot the placement a bit. Also, the covering fingers of the left hand don't need to crowd the coin so much as it is extracted by the right hand - contact causes friction and makes it look like something is happening. At first your mirror will be your best friend and will be easier than video. When you fool yourself in the mirror you will know you have it. One last thing, resist the psychological temptation many have to close their eyes just as they cover the coin.

Finally, some think a retention vanish is a bad thing because it puts all the heat on the hands at a time when the action is taking place, i.e. there is no time misdirection. However if you do the retention vanish casually without looking at your hands and then move the right hand away to pick up another coin, a purse, coinbox or whatever the routine calls for, you will make the transfer a secondary action. As a consequence you will have a stronger effect. Some will not think anything of the casual transfer; those who have burned your hands despite your best efforts will swear they saw it go into the left hand so that it must have vanished from there later...in other words, don't make the vanish the whole effect.

Hope this helps.

By the way, I have a retention of vision vanish that I came up with several years ago. It is unique in that it is a "take" vanish rather than a "put" vanish.

I'll post it in the private section in case you or someone else is interested.

Good luck!
tr

Hi,

thimblerig that was a very helpful reply. You hit the nail on the head with your remark, because it is SO important to make the action a secondary action. David Roth emphasizes this a lot on his Expert Coin Magic tapes. It is the "wand" subtlety, and I think it is very important.

Evan

Maybe I'm nuts - but I don't think so...
The "put" looks pretty good, you could loosen up a bit, but that will come with the doing of it. The real problem is that you have a GIANT tell AFTER you put the coin in your left hand. The right hand shows all sorts of tension as you move the coin to wherever it is you feel the need to move it to! Drop your right hand to a "dead" position and forget you have anything in it. You can reposition the coin as you move on. Either reach for a wand, pull up your shirtsleeve, pick your nose, or something, and adjust/palm the coin in your right hand then. The movement or tension in the right hand HAS to be justified, otherwise, no matter how perfect the illusion of the "put" is, the spectator will know that you have something in your right hand, and since the only thing you had in either hand a minute ago was the coin, it must BE the coin! That being said, you have the rudiments of the vanish down, and the process now is like editing - rough draft, edit, second edit, final revision, polish, publish! Keep up the good work...

Best, PSC

Thanks PSC for you help. I really never thought of doing any of those things.


Lee