Hi, I just received several American penny sh**ls and would your ideas / opinions / guidance on routines! Thanks!

Hey. I'm in the same boat. I got a few non exp [ s and I don't have any idea what to do with them.

Wow - never saw them. I don’t know what I would do with penny shells; pennies are kinda small for me to perform with. And unexpanded shells? Naturally you would need some shaved down pennies! Haven't seen any of those since... well... I was in my very early teens and a few friends and myself would file a bunch of pennies down to the diameter of a dime so we could use them in soda vending machines! Really dating myself here, aren't I?!

And no, I don’t have any of those anymore!

Jim

You could use them to change a penny in to a dime.
cant really go in to any details here though.
but you would need to shim the penny.
todd

Good idea, Todd! I guess the real question is where can we find good teaching material on using small coins? You can use a T-T for several things, even though I've never been comfortable with that apparatus. You can incorporate cards of all kinds for very visual effects. Boxes. Cases. Combine with jewelry. And, of course, "making change" out of larger denominations effects, preferably as a kicker.

I think the strong impact with small coins is their familiarity. And they can be borrowed then given back as souveniers of a magical experiece. I still wonder if the impact is greater with larger coins.

Well, I'll work on it just because I'm curious. If I ever write a coin book, I may include a chapter on using small coins!

I will have to look it up but there was a marketed effect by Tannen's that use these and there is an effect based upon the marketed item in Apocalypse.

As for changing it to a dime, go further and do a transposition - all in the speccy's hand. Briefly: Dime placed IN spectator's hand, penny on top. Tap it with a pen or whatever - instantly the visible penny changes to a dime and the penny is now in the speccy's hand.

How about a Matrix type effect that starts normally and then all the pennies have changed to dimes for and additional climax. Zanadu marketed something like this but NOT with the change to dimes.

If you give the above ideas some thought I believe you will have a few cool effects to work out and add to your repertoire!

Ahimsa,
Vlad

PS: I will do my best to find the effect I mentioned from Apocalypse. I cannot remember the name at the moment.

These are some great suggestions and I have done some similar things with them in the past - but the audiences were mostly 2 or 3 people at a small table.

As for the penny/dime transposition in the hand of a spectator - this can be done with a s****ed penny s***l, a regular dime, regular penny and a Pen Thru Bill pen (the $5 Bic-looking ones) minus its gimmick. You apparently place the dime in the hand of the spectator, then place the penny on the back of your fist. Tap it with the pen and it visibly changes to a dime, and when they open their hand they find the penny. This was a marketed effect but the name escapes me.

You can also do multiplication effects with these s***ls if you have inserts to match. There are a lot of Dime and Penny routines that do not use a locking set, and some do not even use the C/S dime/penny insert. You can find those in a book that was called something like 25 Tricks with a Dime & Penny/Scotch & Soda. I have a link to a website that sells a similar manuscript for Dime & Penny work for a $2 or $3/USD, it lists some 20+ effects and when I get a chance to look for it, I will post it here later.

You could sell some to me. Send me a PM.

Otherwise the effects referred to are Rating Pen, and Double X.

And where did you get these from?

John

I bought a small lot off of ebay that included 3. They have steel shims in them too. All tails. I'd sell you two if you want. PM me.

Here is a great trick that's has been around a long time.You can even make it "Pentro Penny" with a Match Box.

Watch This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIcavic1M7s&feature=related

This is the one with the pen that can be done in a persons hand.It's called "Elctronic Rating Pen" and this can be made to.

Watch This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQG1NDDTOO4&feature=relate

Paul

This is and other old one with a red square block.This can be done on a table or persons hand.

http://www.sillymagician.com/magicalblk.htm

Paul

Do see Ed Marlo's Fortunatus from Arcade Dreams, pp. 87-89.


Brian