Sponge Balls
Sticky Coins
Dots Magic
Crazy Man's Handcuffs

I have tried the following a couple of times and gotten a great reaction. It is just a slight twist on finding a selected card, but for some reason people love it. It also must be used under certain circumstances (ie my sister in law was in the hospital and could use a video to pass the time). Let me know if I'm giving too much away please.
Prep: Take a card to a video store, place it between the plastic and the title cover (I do it face down) so it is visible, and ask them to shrink wrap it.
It cost a couple bucks to rent each time, unless you know someone. I haven't had any questions the few times I've done it, the clerk just took it, looked at it for a second and said ok.
I usually make it comical and pick the wrong card a couple of times or bring the wrong card to the top. When I finally say forget it and hand them the video, they're looking at the tape saying "no.., it's not in there?!"

$100 bill switch gets my vote!

The best reaction to any close-up trick I have ever performed (for lay people) has got to be from Jon Allen's "Double Back". (The number of times I've plugged this on The Magic Café, you'd think I'm on commission, but I'm not - am I, Jon?)

"Impossible Opener" is a great close up effect. On the Doc Eason tapes. Can be done on a table or for walk around. Cheers,,,,,,,,,

Sponge Balls and Monte are probably some of my favorites.

Mark, you're definitely not on commission but your comments are much appreciated. I'll repay your kind words somehow Let's just hope people believe you!

Jon, (great website by the way).
Just wondering, is it possible to do Double Back in an kinda two card monte revelation style?

-e-

Some magicians speed up their effects to make it difficult for the spectator to follow the sequence of events or perhaps they do an usual move or flourish or other add-on activites for misdirection.

In those circumstances, I believe that a spectator often knows that something was done that they couldn't follow but they don't know what it was.

Certainly there is a place for those activities in some effects and I do them as well. However, I am most impressed with magicians who do their effects slowly with few, if any extra movements. To me that is a real strength of Michael Ammar's presentations.

TT work can often be done slowly with few, if any, additional movements and so I would vote for TT effects as some of the best close up magic, such as, Andrews' Sweet and Low (torn and restored sugar packet).

I do a little TT routine where I balance a playing card on the back of my hand, then produce a silk from the rolled up card and then vanish the silk. I present the vanish as a demonstration of how I get ready for the silk to appear in the rolled up card.

Sometimes I then do a $1 bill to a $10 bill change and Andrews restored sugar packet.

Although some magicians don't like to end with a vanish and it may put the heat on my hand to do so many TT effects, I found this routine to work very well with no discovery after many, many performances.

Advantages: one small portable gimmick (sometimes I use two gimmicks and switch them), done slowly, natural moves, with many of the basic magic effects incorporated - appearance, vanish, restore, change and defy laws of nature (card balance).

Richard

Signed bill in sugar packet
any type of animation

Many years ago Doug Henning performed an effect on Carson where he vanished a quarter that was initialed and it ended up inside a matchbook literally sealed in the cover. I cannot remember the name as it has been marketed, but I will never forget how cool it was.

Harp

Pete Biro's Hindu Cups & Balls...Class-A!

Doug

Mickey Silver's coin in the mouth ,and human Slot machine .
Are two routines that are hard to beat.

vinny

Harp-
Danny Cole performed this as a finale in a long routine last week at the Magic Castle. It was pretty cool. He utilized a coin/rattle box so I knew when he took it, but there was so much that happened after that part that the matchbook, however and when ever it was 'loaded' was a mystery to me!

"Disintegration Chamber" from Royal Magic. Sells for about 5 bucks.
All it consists of is a clear plastic box and a red hard plastic little ball. The included instructions have you removing the ball from the box, magically of course. But I have the ball resting on top of the lid, closed up with the 4 rubberbands securing the lid in sort of a tic tac toe pattern and then the ball penetrates through the lid and ends up inside the box.
You have to add your own hankie or suitable silk and 4 tiny rubberbands.

I know it is simple and sounds goofy but judging by reactions this is definitely one of my very favorite tricks. Too bad it doesn't fit inside my pants pocket or I would always have it on me.

I have a very effective gospel presentation with this trick also, if anyone is interested feel free to PM.

GlenD

Thumbslinger-

The effect is still marketed, however I cannot recall the name. It involves a coin slide and rubber cement...

Harp

This is very subjective.
In my opinion there really is no one best close up trick.
There is just too many variables involved.
Some of my favorites however are,
card warp
sponge balls
mcdonalds aces
cups and balls
ring flight

Harp, Thumbslinger,
I've seen something that sounds similiar and is fairly easy to make, in Bill Tarr's "101 Easy To Do Magic Tricks", Dover, 1992, p69-71. It's called "Coin In the Box". (This reference may sound like I'm an amateur, but that's only because I am;)) I looked in Tarr's "Now You See It..." because that seems to be more popular, but I didn't see it there.

Malloys' Ring N Wallet routine

Believe him....This is a stunning instant switch of 2 pairs of cards.....worth the price by all means......