Difference between revisions of "Coins Through Table"

Revision as of 16:20, 28 March 2009

A popular and much varied plot in coin magic wherein a quantity of coins (usually four) is placed on a table, then penetrates to the underside, falling into the magician's hand or a receptacle such as a glass. More often than not the coins are "magically" pushed through the table one after the other, and typically under increasingly challenging conditions. Magicians commonly associated with the plot include Slydini, Al Baker, Albert Goshman and Dai Vernon, each of whom established prototypical approaches.

One of the first descriptions of this plot was in Nouvelle Magie Blanche Dévoilée written by Jean-Nicolas Ponsin in 1853, page 210, Faire passer une pièce de cinq francs à travers la table (loosely translated: To make a five-franc coin pass through the table)

Routines Published as Separate Manuscripts

• Kangaroo Coins by Dai Vernon. Published in the original Stars of Magic series (Series 2, #4 - 1946), then later reprinted in the bound volume (Tannen's, 1975). Vernon's original method of passing four coins, one after the other, through a table into a glass.

• Albert Goshman Presents Coins Thru The Table (1968). Third in a series of one-trick manuscripts released by Albert Goshman in the late-1960s.

• The Silver Passage by Gary Ouellet. Published in 1980 as part of the Masters of Magic series (Volume 1, #3). Four coins are introduced, then a small, round mirror (of the kind one might find in a make-up compact) is placed on the table, whereupon each of the four coins penetrates the mirror and table, arriving in the magician's waiting hand on the underside. The last coin penetrates by means of the Hirata Master Move (created by Japanese magician, Haruhito Hirata), whereby the coin, held in full view at the magician's fingertips, disappears in the blink of an eye as it's brought down to the mirror.

Sit-Down Coins-Through-Table Routines in Print

• The Magic Filtration of Four Half Dollars by Al Baker in Magical Ways and Means (1941). One by one, four coins penetrate the table.

• Coins Through Table, by Jimmy Ray. First published in Between the Acts (1961), then later reprinted in A Ray of Magic (Ray, 1980). Routine in which three of four coins penetrate the table and fall into a glass on the underside. The glass is then brought out from beneath the table and a handkerchief is draped over it. The fourth and final coin is placed on the handkerchief, whereupon the magician pushes down on the coin with his thumb, causing it to penetrate the handkerchief and drop "tinkling into the glass." (Ray credited this finale to Boston magician Paul Copp)

• International Coins Through Table, by Derek Dingle. Published in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (Richard Kaufman, 1982). Four coins from different countries (e.g., a Chinese coin, an English penny, an American half dollar and a Canadian Silver Dollar) penetrate the table one after the other and fall into a glass being held on the underside. Originally described in Dingle's Deceptions with Cards and Coins (Harry Lorayne, 1971).

• Han Pin Chien Remembered, by Amedeo. Published in Amedeo's Continental Magic (Frank Garcia/George Schindler, 1974). Handling for Han Ping Chien's original coins-through-table effect. Employs 16 pennies and a finger ring. Eight pennies pass simultaneously through the table joining the other eight and a finger ring in the magician's hand on the underside.

• Three Halves Through, by Al Schneider. Published in Al Schneider on Coins (Schneider, 1975). Three coins pass through the table, one after the other. Theatrical emphasis is placed on the coins above the table before (and at the moment) each one penetrates. No gimmicks or extra coins employed.

• Quick Shot, by Al Schneider. Published in Al Schneider on Coins (Schneider, 1975). An outgrowth of Milton Kort's coin-through-table routine (published in J.B. Bobo's New Modern Coin Magic) (1966). Three coins are stacked beneath an overturned shot glass and penetrate the table one by one, whereupon the shot glass passes through as well.

• Quantum Coins Through Table, by Derek Dingle. Published in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (Richard Kaufman, 1982). Uses four coins.

• Knock on Wood, by J.C. Wagner. Published in The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner (Mike Maxwell, 1987). Routine uses four coins and every move is covered by a natural action. Among the sleights employed are Han Ping Chien and the Wagner Clink Pass.

• Coins Through the Table, by David Regal. Published in Star Quality (Harry Lorayne, 1987). Two versions taught, one performed seated, the other standing. Both employ four coins and an expanded shell.

• Double Down, by Shiv Duggal. Published in Genii 2008 May. Two coins penerate the table one after the other. The handling employs Duggal's Yin Tong move, a precursor to Jay Sankey's HPC-CPH.

Stand-Up Coins-Through-Table Routines in Print

• Standup Coins Through Table, by Derek Dingle. Published in The Complete Works of Derek Dingle (Richard Kaufman, 1982). Uses four coins and an expanded shell.

• Coins Through the Table, by David Regal. Published in Star Quality (Harry Lorayne, 1987). Two versions taught, one performed seated, the other standing. Both employ four coins and an expanded shell.

Individual Techniques/Phases in Print

• The Gossamer Dissolve, by Gary Ouellet. Published in Close-Up Illusions (Ouellet, 1990). A method for causing all four coins to vanish simultaneously into the table top, thereby concluding any coins-through-table routine. Ouellet used this technique to end The Silver Passage, though it was not included in the manuscript.

• The Final Coin Flight, by Gary Ouellet. Published in Close-Up Illusions (Ouellet, 1990). A "breathtakingly clean penetration of the final coin in any coins through table routine." Offered in the book as a non-sleight-of-hand alternate to the Hirata Master Move.
• Coins Through Table Finale, by David Acer and Richard Sanders. Performed and taught on their 2002 lecture video, Roadkillers.