I'm just coming back into coin magic after close to 20 years away, and it's so great to see some familiar names in this thread like MB of course, Vinny, Lawrence O, Manny, Tim F, The Killa from Manilla.... just opening my boxes of coin magic books and DVDs, and all those beautiful gaffs (I have quite a few Lassen beauties, some Jamie's stuff, and Roy K. too)! Roth, Rubenstein, Gallo, Latta, Cam, Bertini, Harbottle, Brewer, Kurtz, Kenner, Liwag, etc etc. A real treasure trove, and I pretty much get to experience it all again. Thank you all!

Hi rutabaga great to see you here after all these years I'm glad you remember me .....Liwag haven't heard his name in a long time. I know Marion enjoyed his work and Marion's suability I now the best lol
vinny

Good to see old friends returning here.

Hiya Rutabaga…indeed it’s been a long time. But that’s how it goes sometimes, you just one day let it go. I have done that a couple of times over my journey. The first time for years, almost long enough to forget about it. But one day while playing with metal puzzles with my sons, I remembered through some of the trickier ones that I had a real fondness for magic and all of the sudden it was back in my life. Even came to realize during that time that just a few blocks over from where I worked, the old Lou Tannen’s Magic Shop had re-established itself in another old building. When I walked in, it was sorta like walking back in time. I picked up a few things I remembered like the old Nickel to Half I used to have, and eventually got myself going again. Been with it even better ever since. And the invent here of the Cafe had a lot to do with it as well. It carries you when you need that magic interaction to throw logs on the fire…and not to mention all the friendships that go on & on here. Anyway, glad to see you back, and as the old song says, “…Right back where we started from.”

Welcome home, friend.

Thanks MB, great to see your success here. I still have your Crimp Change work somewhere.... need to dig it all out! I have some recent hand surgery, and it was my wife's suggestion that coin magic would be great physical therapy. I grabbed a Morgan dollar and well... here I am. Looking forward to seeing what new in the world!

Well, indeed it is great to have you back Rutabaga. You see, we left the light on for you. And I thank you again for checking out my work. That Crimp Change download was something a lot of people here and from around the world picked up on, along with a lot of the follow-up effects I came up with using it in a variety of ways. I remember even doing a Coin to Key with it. Man, those were the days, the ones actually that set me on my way sharing magic with so many. And happy your hand is recovering well enough to get back into some coin magic. Lots of good stuff out there, along with some old classics that have brought us all from back in the day, to here no matter the journey we took.

Again, welcome back!

Always nice to see some good SOH, and sometimes from hands you may not know about that can do it about as good as anyone. A few ways to do this but this is some of the cleverest of all. I’ve been playing again with one I came across recently, nothing as good as this but it uses the same dynamics with a bit of the same magical affect. And like I said, I don’t know this magi, but what I do know is that this is very well done, and no magic needs to be done any better than that. I was doing a bit of magic just today at my grandson’s field trip for the kids and teachers, and without a word, the crowd went wild. Anyway… oftentimes no story or patter is necessary as the magic clearly speaks loud enough for itself...

Man, when I was a kid and would travel back & forth downtown Manhattan to the old Tannen’s Magic Shop, I couldn’t afford much but sure did enjoy watching all the magicians demonstrate the tricks. Especially, I was always so intrigued by the coins showcase, just all kinds of coin magic in there. I remember just being able to get something like a Nickel to Half dollar trick, and maybe a packet card trick, but that was gold to me back then. Even remember Lou Tannen there, he would always throw a little something extra in my bag. I couldn’t have it all or even close to most of it, but I did have the old Tannen’s Magic Catalog, and man, I used to lie in bed and go through it cover to cover almost every night before falling to sleep with it in my hands, usually with my finger stuck in the coin section somewhere. Do any of you remember it? Here are some pages…Some sweet dreams are made of these…

www.fulltable.com/vts/m/magic/tan/n.htm

I also have fond memories of Tannen's. Although I didn't find the shop until later when Tomy Spina owned it. By that time their catalog had expanded to a hard cover version that was a couple of inches thick. A hulk of a book. I might still have a copy somewhere and remember reading that thing like a novel. Pre-internet days that were nostolgic yet leaving room for want. The limitations of being able to determine how good an effect was from simply reading a description and cartoon illustrations left much to be desired. I for one am glad Penguin pioneered online demos with the likes of Oz Pearlman. That in combination with online Reviews and resources like the Magic Cafe have made the ability to progress my magical skills increase to an exponential speed. I do owe Tannen's a debt for sparking the interest in this art that has entertained me for many decades. Also, I met my first magic teacher there who I think about to this day. I'm not sure any other magician could have sparked my interest the way he did.

I know exactly what you mean Marion, I first started going to Tannen's in the 80's and my first hardcover catalog was number 14 with Copperfield on the cover. He signed it for me when I saw his show around 1983. Also have 15 (Blackstone Jr.), 16 (Doug Henning) and 17 which was the "new" larger page format and might have been the last hardcover catalog they did before the interwebs came along and ruined everything (only slightly kidding).
I've not been yet to the newest Tannen's location but I'll get there one of these days-

Man, I had so much fun this morning while at the mall…Absolutely magical!

I was there with my wife, just walking around. She went one way and I went the other checking out the stores. When I came out of one of the stores, there was a guy set up doing magic for the passer-bys. He had a little crowd, so I walked over to check him out. He was doing various closeup things and then he did a coin trick. When I finished, I applauded as it was pretty good, ending with a jumbo coin. Anyway, he looked over at me and surprisingly said, “Aren’t you Mb from the Cafe?” I said, I am. He then began to say how much he liked my magic, and then asked if I had something to show to the people gathered there. I always carry a few coins and so I did my old “ReVisited.”

They all watched carefully as I took them through it (and so did he). There were gasps and oohs & ahhs at each magical turn. And when I pulled the half dollar from the hole in the Chinese coin, folks there went crazy with excitement…”HOW?” And you know, I had to also hit them with the Ringa Dinga, and that made the magi light up as he told me later that he was hoping that I did that part. I did that part for a couple that was watching and they and everybody there couldn’t believe that now the coin was surprisingly a ring. Man, what a moment!

Me and the magi exchanged numbers and I wished him well, as he said, “I hope I get that good one day.” I told him he would and gave the crowd back to him and dissapeared into a passing sea of people behind some applause. It was so much fun. And ReVisted is one of my absolute favorites as it has everything in it as to coin magic, a great story, coin vanishes and changes right up close, and then even an impossible transposition into a ring, if you want to add that part for a bit more. It’s a heckuva trick, and these same 2 coins have taken me a long way on a wonderful journey… Everytime I get a chance to do it, it feels like an old friend…:)