Started at 34, and still unable to do it one year later. Not giving up though! Just need to figure out where my sweet spot is. Anyone have largish palms and figured out how to palm the coin without looking like the hand that scares children?

Started at 39, and two and a half years later, it's getting there.

The big breakthrough was at a David Roth lecture. His advice was to hold the coin lightly, grip it between by its sides, not front and back (and that was the end of the 'curvy claw' look I had).

Then, David Roth put his hand flat on the table, with his fingers up and still had the coin in CP. Made me audibly gasp.

I started learning CP about 6 months ago (age 28), from Bobo. You'll notice the illustration in the CP tutorial shows the coin off-center, in the upper right quadrant of the palm. For two months I walked around with a half dollar gripped between the base of my thumb and the base of my middle finger, the picture of ignorance.

Then I saw the tutorial on coinvanish.com. Then I started looking at videos of CP. I almost screamed.

As soon as I began to hold it correctly, everything began to come together. My grip is excellent now, I feel, though I know it will never be perfect. This is not something I find sad or frustrating; I love process, especially in the arts. All life is process.

I still have a coin CP'd for roughly eight hours a day. Now it's as much a fixation as it is practice. I recently bought Roth's Expert Coin Magic Made Easy series, and realized my getting into CP move was broadcasting "sleight of hand" through a megaphone. So that set me back a little.

Realize the importance of having someone demonstrate magic to you. Early on, I received a lot of advice from the wizened and stubborn saying "Modern Coin Magic is all you need". Perhaps, but if a learned individual never demonstrates, whether it be live at a private lesson or magi shop, or in the form of a video, you may eventually become terribly confused, and likely learn a thing or two improperly. This is not a knock on Bobo; in fact, I feel that Modern Coin Magic is not only the best instructional book on coins I've come across, but maybe the best in all of magic. It's such a joy to learn from. But seek further help when you need it.

Started at age 24, I am now 37. Biggest problem. Taking it from doing it in private to doing it in front of real people (as with all effects). It still is not perfect and I build it into routines to have the attention drawn away form the hand.

"The best magicians have started as early as seven years old. There is no way you'll be a master of the CP if you didn't start early in life. I have been practicing the CP since I was 6 yrs old.

There are certain little secrets in mastering this move that only a very few of the world's best close-up magicians know about." by - Justin Style


Really? Care to share the little secrets that only you and very few of the world's best know? ... sounds stereotypical but I'm not an expert like Justin Style so guess I'll just have to keep trying

To answer your question MortenN -
42 and dry hands that cause the coin to not "stick" in the sweet spot also keeping my pinky tucked in after the coin is in place

Oh and movement of thumb even when holding thumb and first finger together

So I guess your CP must be way better than David Stone who started practicing around 18 (or I just don't get your humour )

I started at age 32. I'm 41 now. I can classic palm 4 silver dollars releasing them one at a time, or 5 half dollars released one at a time. When I started I would carry a coin in classic palm till I forgot it was there.

To follow up on my own post from 2 months ago with a progress report (not that anyone is on the edge of their seat, but):

I can now after a warmup CP a few coins in each hand and release them one at the time. I couldn't 2 months ago. I'm practicing with soft Barber Halves which probably doesn't make the process quicker.

It is still a bit wobbly. Coins still fall out now and again and the hand could look flatter. But it is coming along nicely and my conclusion is that there is nothing whatsoever that should prevent me to master this completely within a reasonably short time frame. Even though I am 40.

So it can be done, I think.

You may already be aware of this, but there is a nice routine using this technique (and description of the technique itself) in Bobo's Modern Coin Magic called the "Touch of Midas."

Good Luck
Kyle

Thanks Kyle, I'll take a look at it! I have both the regular and the nice version of Modern Coin Magic but except for a few small things I haven't read either one yet.

I was almost 16 when I began. I origionally learned from sankey's "revolutionary coin magic" which was the first coin magic dvd I bought out of ignorance (but I was actually able to learn from it quite a bit suprisingly) it's three years later and I'm quite confident with my classic palm. I think the best classic palms I've seen are david stone, giacomo bertini, and jay sankey (that's right, jay sankey).

And Justin. I think it's a load of bull that you have to start at 6 or 7 to perfect the classic palm. You just say that because supposedly that is when you started. If you started at age 10 you would say that you have to start by age 10 if you want to perfect the classic palm.

I started about 8-9 months ago in march of '08.

It's getting better, but I'm not happy with it. To me, it looks obvious. Rannie, my mentor, told me it looks pretty good. I don't think so. It seems to have gotten better (or maybe its my imagination) but I can't tell.

I can hold my knuckles down and hand pretty flat now, even though I know this is not a natural position.

I'm sure It's ok. The classic palm isn't suppose to be a hand pose. Pick up a pen, a wand, snap the fingers etc.

I started working on it in high school. I always wondered if I was doing it right since I have been (mostly) self taught. Last year I got a chance to show it to Reed McLintock at a convention and he liked it so it would appear that I am doing ok.
I think in the beginning I had the pressure coming from the wrong angles, but after I started doing tricks with it that worked itself out.

As a side note, I think that one of the 'fastest' ways to feel secure with CP is to stack coins on a table in front of you and practice picking them up and CP'ing them one at a time until they fall. Then keep doing that until they don't fall. Then try releasing them one at a time. This should all be done with one hand. Anyway, it takes a lot of work, but this method worked for me.

Critter said:

As a side note, I think that one of the 'fastest' ways to feel secure with CP is to stack coins on a table in front of you and practice picking them up and CP'ing them one at a time until they fall. Then keep doing that until they don't fall. Then try releasing them one at a time. This should all be done with one hand. Anyway, it takes a lot of work, but this method worked for me.

Thanks for the tip. Sounds like a good exercise.

I started magic at 10, 52 years ago. Never kept up with it but thought I knew how to palm a coin; a nickel at the time. I started up magic again last July and found out I was doing it wrong. So I'm still working on it.

Thanks for the thread, Guys!

regards,

Jay68

Biggest problem - getting in & out of it. Anyone use rosin to make palms tacky?

Jay68

I always use two coins in my hand when I practice CP, coin A and B. I hold coin A in CP and coin B in finger palm. I drop the coin A from CP to the finger palm behind coin B, and put coin B up with a fingertip to CP. Do it again, again and again.........and again. This training will not be static, and you will get a good control on the coins, and learn you to have a normal hand pose.

This is also a very good way to change out a borrowed coin to a gaffed coin etc. If you will do a fast change with CP you only drop the gaff from CP to your finger palm, take the borrowed coin direct from the table and put it direct up in CP and show the gaff coin in the same moment. You have change the coins with one hand so fast and directly, so the spectators have no chance to unmask you. This coin change is a "free bonus" if you are using two coins when you practice CP.

I have one question, what is so important to have a flat hand on the table with a coin in CP????? Can anybody show me a routine when the magicians hold the hand flat on the table with a coin in CP? I have a lot of DVD’s, with coin magic, but I have never seen any of the pro’s put the hand flat on the table with the thumb out, they always have a normal hand pose. No names say, no name forgot!

CP is not a competition in flat-hand-on-table-with-thump-out-and-coin-in-CP, but it is a “tool” to do magic with. If you can handle CP on a safe way in a routine you enjoy with normal hand pose, YOU are a WINNER. If you put your hand flat on the table with your thumb out, the spectators will think about what you are doing that for.....!!!!, you have lose the control..........and the spectators are the winners.

I will posit all practice have only one intention, complete control over the coins with normal hand pose. A flat hand with a thumb out is NOT a normal hand pose... use time and look at your own and other people’s hands a day or two, you will see their normal hand pose, and you will understand what I mean.

Maybe I have wrong, but it works very well for me...

-Morten-

I started magic when I was about 12. Back then I wasn't really into coin magic and learned a rather flawed CP. I didn't really find any difficulties in improving it when taking up coin magic at 31 (although it's still far from perfect...).



David Roth's version of Chink-a-Chink comes to mind, although the hand is not completely flat. And routines where you put coins through the table and don't want the spectators to hear the coin fall onto the table surface.

Nevertheless, I get your point of the CP being a means, not an end. On the other hand, trying to do crazy things while having coins in CP will give you more confidence and allow you to move your hand more freely when performing.

Another exercise is to use different size coins...smallest to largest..first going to c/p and then retrieving them one at a time...largest to smallest...
for instance USA dime to half dollar...would be five coins..

Of course you could use..2 dimes, 2 pennys and or 3 nickles...etc....

oh what fun it is to play....