I've got real thin fingers with large gaps between the bottom parts of my fingers. I realized this last night and was saddened that I may be incapable of certain palming or sleight techniques. Can anyone think of anyway I may be limited? Please add to the depression.

One hot serving of depression coming right up!!

Sorry to tell you bro but yeah, you are doomed to never do coin magic.


Just kidding!!!


Actually don't worry. I have thin fingers, not large gaps but don't worry at all man. Keep up on the practice, use misdirection, and ask people here for any problems. You should be alright.

Chris

Have you ever seen the kid that does the demo and instructional video for "Melt"??!!?? fingers don't get much thinner then that, and he doesn't seem to have any problems with coins or sleights

Just do what David Roth said to do in the ECMME series. If you have "windows" be aware of them, and keep them closed!

Best,

Mike

Hey believer, do not be saddened.... you must understand that everyone has different hands and fingers. You must understand most of all... That you are in no position to decide the structure of your own hands when it comes to coin magic. You must let the spectators decide. You say you have large gaps and really thin fingers... You also say you realized this last night! Our own hands always look worse to ourselves.

Put the coin of your choice in a deep finger palm...in the same hand at the same time hold a coin between your thumb and first finger. (Now we have two coins in one hand) show the spectator the coin you are holding with your thumb and first finger...do this by waving the coin left to right in a steady movement.
Look at the spectator’s eyes while you tell them you have one coin. You may look at the coin time to time for only a fraction of a second. While doing this, never look at your hand or at the coin in finger palm.
Do this over and over...listen to what the spectators say.... Watch the spectator's eyes closely.

This is your first lesson in coin magic...trust me you will have no problem. No more than anyone else who is starting out in coin magic. Your fingers are fine.... so are the gaps between the bottom of your fingers. You must continue on with your coin magic.... read your books, tapes DVD’s whatever you have.... do as they say, you will be fine.

I will let you and everyone else in on one of the biggest secrets in coin magic.

Remember this: The hidden coin (or coins) becomes your eyes. This is truly a secret that only a few magicians know.

I cannot explain how this works in public on the Café. (However it can be explained)

Good luck!

MICKEY

Hi Mickey! I feel like some kinda deep cosmo secret that I don't understand... : The hidden becomes your eyes!

Hmm... I got that swimming feeling in my head right now....

BTW, could I summarise by saying, use proper misdirection and body language to keep attention away from the hidden coin?

I think I understand Mickey, I'm just not sure.

Rannie

That's about the best way I've ever heard that put Mickey. I'd like to go back and delete my post if I could Believer, all you need to know is in the post just below my first one

Best to All,

Mike

And I would add to that one other important secret. If you force yourself to believe there is no coin in your hand, your mind will subconsciously change your posture and relax your muscles as well as affect the expression in your face and eyes. It's not a mystery. It's human physiology. People can sense when we are tense and that can be a "tell" that will be like hanging a sign over the hand that conceals the coin saying "Don't look here." Mickey uses this mind over body in his coin work better than anyone I've seen.

Hi Alex, how are you! That’s A very interesting question you asked ...."Do we use proper misdirection and body language to keep attention away from the hidden coin? "Yes and no.... It is extremely imperative that we use "proper" misdirection and body language to keep attention on the hidden coin as well ! Always remember the hidden coin can not be seen (it's hidden)

Here's a strong example : notice when I do a retention pass...I take a coin with my right hand and place it into my left hand ...immediately closing my left hand... Leaving my right hand with the hidden coin ..."however"...note: my right hand is partially opened…this in fact becomes the focal point of attention......the attention is put immediately on the hand with the hidden coin. It is only because of this the spectator is misdirected to the left closed hand.

Please note: a spectator is much more convinced seeing a partially empty hand as opposed to a close-fisted hand. Open the left hand...behold! The coin has vanished!


MICKEY

Hey Mickey,
You just reached 50 posts. Now you can go to secret sessions and spill all.

Believer,

I hope you're taking this to heart. You're getting advice and encouragement here from not only some very experienced coin workers but from Mickey Silver, generally acknowledged as the greatest coin manipulator to arrive on the scene in many, many years.

:bikes:

RE: "...Hey Mickey,
You just reached 50 posts..."

:baby:

Best,

Mike

Doug Henning and Gary Kurtz....thin fingers...big windows.....very deceptive magic!

Have fun, and you may want to take an elegant approach to your magic. Your fingers will already have a certain amount of inherent elegance....just learn to move them well within the magic. Who knows...you may even come up with a move or two to suit your hands.

Brian

Hi Brian! How are you! Thanks Larry and Mike...#50 Post! (thank you as well Blackwood)

Brian is absolutely on the "mark” ...Everybody has the ability to come up with a move or two to suit their own hands...to do this we must accumulate as much knowledge as we can about the mechanics of coin magic. This also goes for the hand itself. I personally have studied "kinesiology" (movement of the body) In this case: movement of the hand...
Notice how our hand performs complex and precision movements in the manipulation of coins. Today’s coin magic has introduced a greater variety of precision movements required to perform even the smallest sleight.

I incorporate Precision grips into all my coin magic...including the lumbrical grip , the pad to pad grip , the lateral grip and tip to tip grip along with many others. Please note: The study of all this has enabled me to finger palm a coin "without effort". This is extremely interesting. I call this "The Hinged Finger Palm "...allowing us magicians to finger palm without "ever” using a single muscle...absolutely amazing and absolutely natural.

Some of you may notice: On my video tape...(Manipulative Movements) The bilateral activity in the two hands working together is an important feature to many of my manipulating moves. The two hands may be performing similar movements, example: As I throw a coin through my head, going from ear to ear. At other times, one hand may provide stability while my other hand makes "precise movements”...for example while I am executing my SUV. The coordination of activity in the two hands is under control of the nervous system. The hand is represented by large areas in both the somatosensory and the primary motor cortex of the brain. Together with the motor centers of the brain stem and the cerebellum, there is the capacity to develop highly skilled movements in the two hands. For example, complex coordinated activity is required to execute many, many different coin sleights.

I understand it all sounds so boring…lol ..."however"...when we put it all together...it is then! we can create what looks like real magic.

MICKEY

Yea... what he said.

I think we should do a PET Scan and a Funtional MRI Scan on Mickey as he passes a coin through his head and see what parts of the brain are active while he is performing. I suspect the entire brain will light up and the circuit breakers will blow in all the machines!

Seriously, when I showed my wife Esther a tape of Mickey doing his opening coin routine with SUV, coins through ear and eating coins I expected her to say "gross". Instead she said "he is very graceful." I agree. Watching Mickey perform is like watching intricate ballet movements. Every part of his body is involved especially the eyes and mouth. These skills he acquired from being a true student of kinetic fundamentals and teaching himself how to apply that to sleight of hand mechanics.

RE: "complex coordinated activity is required to execute many , many different COIN SLEIGHTS"

Ummmmm... hmmmmmm? Well now that you've explained it Mickey, I'm ready to try to use the balateral activity to get the two hands working together, and use both the somatosensory and the primary motor cortex of the brain, together with the motor centres of the brain stem and the cerebellum, to create what looks like real magic...

... What might step one be then?

I can't wait for your DVD to be released Mickey!

Best,

Mike

In response to having windows.
I have quite slender fingers and I'm not a fan of finger palm close up.
the way I handle palming is don't just think that you have to use the palms that r out there.experiment.
I generally use classic, friction and thumb palm.
then I don't have to think about windows.

Hi Mickey, hmm... I need a bit of time to process the information. So what you mean is also to direct some attention to the hidden coin, but in the sense, the purpose is to 'show' that the hidden coin isn't in the hand that it is hidden in. Am I right?

Oh, By the way, I'm passing your demo tape around to friends who are thoroughly amazed by you....

Nah! You’ll be fine, however sounds like you won’t be able to dilly-dally trying to get a drink of water from the river.