Hi I was wondering if anyone out there that owns a scotch and soda can tell me a really good trick you do with it that amaze people I usually put the centavo somewhere when there not looking or slip it into somebody who has a loose open pocket please tell me some tricks that you do to people that you enjoy doing with the scotch and soda.

Biggest waste of money in coin magic. Until recently I was of the belief that there was simply nothing about the gaff that made it worth owning. As it's usually done it's simply not a very good trick, compared to what you can do with regular coins or cheaper more versatile gaffs (like a C/S coin).

A gentleman recently posted a link to a video of his routine, which uses the S&S gaffed coin, a regular half, an Okito box and the bang ring (right out in the open no less). And darned if the trick wasn't actually good.

Perhaps he, or someone else could repost the link? Or you could try the Search function, when it's back online.

Well I do enjoy the trcik because I'm a teenager so I can do it at lots of partys but I will look in on the s&s gaff coin thanks

Some times its fun to produce the centavo out of your mouth. But practice talking with it in there before you do it.

That is a good idea thanks

Corey, that's how I perform it. Some may think it's sort of dumb, but it works great for me. I have two sets of scotch and soda.

I place one centavo in my shirt pocket and one centavo inside my mouth. You can talk fine as long as you keep it to the side of your cheek. Because I have 2 sets, I place 2 half dollars and 2 centavos on the table. I pick up one half dollar and one centavo and place them inside a dollar bill and then fold the bill, I snap my fingers near to my shirt pocket. Then I open the dollar bill. I show the half dollar and the centavo has vanished. When the spectator asks me where the centavo went, I explain that when I snapped my fingers, I placed the centavo in my shirt pocket. Then I bring out the centavo from my shirt pocket. I hand the spectator the half dollar and the centavo to hold.

Then I tell the spectator I will do the trick again and ask him to see if he can catch me placing the centavo inside my shirt pocket when I snap my fingers. I place the other half dollar and the other centavo inside the dollar bill and fold it, then I snap my fingers near my shirt pocket. I open the dollar bill to show the half dollar and the centavo has vanished again.

I asked the spectator if he saw me placing the centavo inside my shirt pocket. When he says no, I say that's because I didn't put it in my shirt pocket, I put it inside my mouth. At this point I slide the centavo part way out of my mouth so the spectator can see it, then I remove it with my fingers.

Well, I'll have to disagree about it being the biggest waste of money, but I do recall seeing that trick with the Okito box and bang ring recently and it was quite good and a very novel approach. The search feature is currently down, but I'll see if that thread is still within "browsing distance" from the top and re-post the link if I find it.


Posted: Feb 21, 2006 10:38pm
--------------------------------
Here's the link to the video of the routine referenced above:

http://www.infinite-image.net/gone/Houdini.wmv


Posted: Feb 21, 2006 10:39pm
--------------------------------
And here's the link to that thread in case you want to read some of the other ideas presented there:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......rum=3&15

Magic Bob, thanks for posting the URL to the Great Houdini site. This was quite enjoyable. Yes the S&S still is one of the best coin gaffs out there.

Kyle,
Perhaps I could clarify my statement. I don't think age has anything to do with it. It's just that Magic Shops like to sell the trick because it's easy to demo and it fools people. But the routine most folks use just isn't worth buying a special coin.

Greg Rostami's routine is a perfect example of how to use a gaffed coin set. It's an effect that simply would not look as good if you DIDN'T use the gaffed coins. And the effect(s) are solid.

My complaint about the S&S effect that most people do is simple: You give someone TWO coins and ONLY of them changes in their hand. A standard copper silver routine will do that and there is only ONE coin in their hand when the change occurs. If you put two coins in their hand and one changes a reasonably smart person will simply think you switched one of the coins on them. And since that's what you actually DO it doesn't seem very magical to me. Laymen are fooled and impressed but I don't think it's as strong as when they KNOW they have a single silver coin in their hand and it changes to a copper and you have the silver coin. The effect is just clearer.

And a standard copper/silver routine can be done with just an extra coin or if you want to get fancy with an eight dollar copper/silver coin.

But since you already HAVE an S&S coin set, I'd recommend learning Greg's routine. It makes the set worth having!





[disclaimer: I don't know Greg, and I"m not sure I even knew OF him until I saw his video.]

Hi guys,

Wow, Thank you so much for mentioning Houdini again. Maybe I should post a video of my signed centavo version of that trick.

The signed version is really not necessary but it's an interesting variation of my Houdini routine. The problem is that it makes the routine longer and requires more moves.

Also, since I often perform Houdini sitting at a table, I will always lap the coin after the first vanish. It just makes the first vanish look so much more fair.

thanks again guys,
Greg Rostami

Several years ago there was a prop sold that was a bang ring with a lid (I think it was called 'breakout') and I believe the supplied patter was about houdini escaping. I imagine this where the above routing got its imepetus?

Anyway, I use this also and it expands the magic effect of S & S.

I place an English Penny, a Mexican Centavo, and an American Half Dollar in the spectator's hand. Tell them to close their hand. With a story about a Mexican Pickpocket master, I pretend to pull something from the back of their hand, and place it in my other hand. I do a secret move like Le'Masque load. Then I show a Mexican Centavo in my previously empty hand, and they open to find the two coins that the Mexican Pickpocket had no interest in.

KeithP

Greg I really enjoyed your clip, boy if that doesn't show some really great uses for our old friend S&S. Thanks very much for sharing.

Jeff

In going through all my old coins, I found the SS gimmick. Then I found this thread about Houdini and escaping from a brass prison. Ah, to find little gems like this makes searching the Café feel worthwhile.

Scotch and Soda in its simplist form may be a bit overused and “not as magical” as some SOH. But, it was also the very item that took me from a young man who knew a few card tricks to the road that led to becoming a Professional Magician and supporting a family with it. Though it was just a “turning point” it was a very important one. Since then I don’t really use it as a basic routine but I use variations of the gaff all the time. One of my favorite effects is by Jon Allen called “Unique Coin Bend” and done with a dime and penny set. I have an adaption using a “Vodka and Orange Juice” Set (gold presidential Dollar coin and a quarter). If you can grab up a few Centavos coins at a coin shop cheap, grab them and you will have a very memorable version on your hands.

Keep experimenting and look into effects done with similar sets. There is a lot of dime/penny stuff in writing thru many older books. Not all can be adapted but they can certainly give you ideas.

From where we can buy this Houdini SS version? The coin looks nice. Some link?

As far as I can tell, there's nothing special about this set - it's a standard S&S, possibly with an extra ungaffed coin, but that's easy to get.

As mentioned, there's an okito box - and possibly a bang ring that has a notch on both sides - but it's just a run of the mill S&S set.

I remember Mark Mason using a m*****tic version of S&S in conjunction with a card efffect.... Penguin Live maybe ? Can't remember the title, sorry. The best use of the set I've seen thus far.

I just started reading ‘The Legacy of Don Allan”, and it has his SS routine in it. I haven’t gotten that far into the book yet, so I can’t tell you anything about it, except that I did read where he did not think much of the popular routine being used.

Back in the day (he passed away some time ago), Ken Simmons released a KILLER set of books on S&S -- those can still be found. You have to get creative on the presentation. To me, at least, most 'out of the box' instructions for tricks have the 'lowest' form of a decent effect one might ever imagine.
Also: my personal philosophy..... your patter impacts how much focus the spectator places on the props themselves.