I have been studying Bobos book, but things are going very slowly. I also have the dvd set with Ben Salinas. I've gone through the videos along with the book over and over. I have learned a few, but it is such a tedious process. I was wondering how long it took others to start seeing results. I'm hoping one day it will all come together.

Sleight of hand with coins has a hard learning curve at first. It seems that it takes much more time for people to grasp it then say card magic because of the difficulty up front. Once you get pass that initial step it becomes much easier to learn new things. It was a slow start for me and now it moves much faster.

I think the main thing that makes this book hard for people is the amount of information in it. I would recommend you play with each sleight, but you don't need to learn all of them. When it comes to routines you can do them as is or substitute things. So knowing every single move isn't a must.


That being said. I have never been a big fan of Bobo. I like it more now then I did when I was first starting out. I did what you did and tried to learn with the book. I then decided to get more info from other sources. In this day why limit yourself with just one source to learn anything? It is a good idea to try and learn from a few sources because of

1. Writing style
2. Different people will emphasize different things
3. Different media will help you (Books / Dvds/ Downloads)

Here are some sources that I found to help me out.

Books
Al Schneider on Coins
Al Schneider Fast Track Coin Magic
Amateur Magician's Handbook

Dvd / Downloads
Michael Ammar's The Complete Introduction to Coin Magic
Metal Series (1-3) by Eric Jones
David Roth's Expert Coin Magic Made Easy (1-3)

The Michael Ammar Dvd was the best in my opinion for the Dvds. It comes either single or in a set with a basic card magic and basic magic dvd. The basic magic one goes into how to buy magic tricks, joining clubs, and more. It is a good start for budding magicians.

You can always send me a pm if you need anything.

And welcome the Café.

Thanks for the advice. I have Ammar's dvd and I really like Eric Jones. I have his metal DVDs. I have watched them. I can do the classic palm and finger palm. I've been learning Down's palm. I have to put it all together. I wish there was some coin magician I could study under. I live in Northeast PA. I would probably have to travel a long distance to find someone who is back coin specialist.

Ha! I was getting ready to respond to your post, and, my pal, Andy, "beat me to it"!

I was a good friend of J.B.'s for about 50 years, and, when I was much younger, I was a real coin enthusiast. I learned the Down's palm when I broke into the business as a side show magician, when I was 15, in 1947. Shortly after, I read Walter Gibson's "The Shadow Annual", and, one of the mysteries was about magicians. One of the characters did the coin roll with four coins (in the story). I knew and could do the coin roll, so I started working on it, and succeeded in about a month. A few years later, I met Bobo at a lecture in Norfolk, Va. He did a "copper or silver extraction" from a handkerchief, and, the "Expansion of Texture". I've used them both in a routine since that meeting in 1951. In 1950, Clem Magrum, who had known T. Nelson Downs, helped me to learn the Five Coin Star, with both hands. It was great to show off for magicians! Laymen thought it was clever, but, the magicians appreciated it much more.

Frankly, I've gotten along just fine with a classic, finger, and, thumb palm, for years. A good switch, like the Bobo Switch is useful, too. Those basic sleights, will "do" a lot of things. If you get ambitious, try the Goshman pinch. Al was a friend, too

Consider the basic sleights as "tools", which you use in "building" a routine, or act.

Best wishes!

Signet -- Scroll down in this thread (link below) a bit and you'll find a study guide for Bobo.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=41

Also, you mentioned difficulty finding somebody in your area to study under. You might contact Tyler Erickson. He's a highly regarded teacher, and I know he does lessons with people around the world via Skype. You can learn more by visiting his website: http://www.strongermagic.com

Thanks for all the advice. I will definitely check out the study guide. Do you guys who do coins feel like you are drawn to them? I don't care how hard it is or how long it takes, I want to learn coins. They are calling to me.

Signet,
If you're looking to learn under another magician, look into local clubs.

There are 10 SAM assemblies and 10 Local IBM Rings in PA. You can find the info on their respective websites. I'm not familiar with the geography, but a cursory search found this:

There is a SAM Assembly in the Scranton area, below is the information from magicsam.com on the assembly and the contact person:
Region: Mid Atlantic - PA DE MD VA WV DC
3 Digit Assembly #: 160
CONTACT PERSON: burt ebel
CONTACT NUMBER: (I removed this, but you can easily find it looking on magicsam.com)
Specifics of Meeting: 1st Thursday of every month at 7:00 PM
Location of Meeting: Iron Skillet Restaurant, 98 Grove St. DuPont, PA 18641
Assembly Serving Area: WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON

Signet! Ha! I'm not getting old, I AM old!

In a moment of "dotage", I omitted a whole paragraph!

In between the 'history' and the final paragraph, I should have written:

I mention the above, not to tell you how clever I was, but to emphasize that, as a teenager, with a LOT of PRACTICE, I was able to learn some very difficult moves. I had personal help from that old carnie (Downs' Palm), and Clem Magrum (Five Coin Star). The four coin roll came from an idea of Walter Gibson, and, being highly motivated, I struggled with it, until I could do it. Bobo's lecture had the necessary sleights to do the Expansion, and the Copper or Silver. They were not difficult, or complicated!

I've been performing 20 years part time professionally, and 50 years full time. I've gotten along very well with the classic palm, finger palm, thumb palm, and the Bobo switch! Bobo's book gives you lots of variations, so you can pick out which best suits your "fingers".

jljones, and Doug Trouten, have given you some very worthwhile "specifics".

Dick, you sound the type of guy I would like to hang out with. I'll bet if I could learn ten percent of what you've forgotten, I'd be satisfied. I would love to learn the coin star, and be able to roll more than one coin. I attend meetings at my local magic shop and thoroughly enjoy them. Some local guys have helped me out alot. That's how I got this far. The guys around this area seem to be more interested in cards and mentalism. I haven't met any hard core coin magician yet. I enjoy those types of magic, but coins are what really excited me.