If I'm practicing scotch n soda by myself, but there is a chance someone might wander into the room, I have one modification that I make. Each time I do the reset, I pretend to be doing a trick.

Draw a picture of a door on a piece of paper. Set it up so that we hear Elizabeth being dropped on the table behind the door. Have John knock at the door with the door knocker. We instantly find that Elizabeth has stepped through the door to greet John. When we look behind the door, we see that George has been left to mind the house. And once we see that George is minding the house, John should gather up his possessions and make himself scarce.

For obvious reasons, this should never be performed directly as a trick for others. Once someone is actually paying attention to what you're doing, then go on to something else.

... or get the magnetic scotch and soda.

Greg Rostami has a trick using the bang ring to make the copper coin appear between the silvers. He's published it.

:)

I put together an effect t hat uses the bang ring as well, specifically to reset it, but the "reset" effect is not bad either. Point being, I think that given a situation wherein you have no chance of doing the reset unnoticed, have a plan "B" In all other cases... bang the thing on a wall or tabletop and move along to next table or person or group.

Magnetic sets are nice, though the only ones that I've seen / own are technically Ultimate Copper & Silver sets, not S&S, but either get the job done equally as well. The only problem with magnetic sets is that they are only visually examinable by spectators. You wouldn't want someone handling the nested gimmick.

Best,

-Mike

Jonathon,
I'm assuming that you're talking about the routine that Greg shows at http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fo3Fj5hdbHI Thanks. Since I tend to carry normal half dollars around with me, this is a method that I am going to look into for making a reset look like a trick being practiced.

Hi ViciousCycle,

Yep . . . That's the one. You can also find the original video here:
http://www.infinite-image.net/gone/Houdini.wmv

Jonathan, thanks for mentioning the trick. But I haven't published it yet. Maybe sometime this year.

cheers,
Greg Rostami

Hun Woo of Divine Magic and Novelties in Richmond VA has the most novel routine I've ever seen where the bang ring is actually included in the effect. I've been trying to get him to publish his handling for years....hopefully one day.

Call him and maybe he'll share it with you....

http://www.divinemagicandnovelties.com