Here's my handling of a Curtis Kam routine called Laser Coins.

For those familiar with the handling, you will appreciate this twist I think.

Would love to know what you think...

Thanks,
Rick

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This is really nice! Good job!

I think Curtis's idea is a good one. Use of a prop, and especially using light, really accentuates a routine. My feeling though from watching your routine is that the hands look too full. If I had to reconstruct this routine, I would leave the light on the table, pick up one coin, and then pick up the light and make the coin vanish. Put the light down, then pick up a second coin. Pick up the light, and make it vanish. Do it again for the third coin. Keep the hands as empty as possible. Just my thoughts here.

Really like this... need to revisit Curtis' material!

Gary

Michael,

Thank you for taking the time to watch. I have changed nothing from Curtis's handling here except the utilization of three different coins.

I don't know if you're familiar at all with his routine, but he uses three silver dollars; three matching coins. If you've studied this, the twist lies in the use of three different coins.

Anyway, I'd be anxious to see your rendition as you've described. But I would wonder: why would you pick up a light, set it down, then pick it up again, then set it down, then pick it up again, then set it down?

Rick

Good questions. My criticism is the same for both routines. Starting with all props on the table allows you to give you hands an open look. The table is like an extra hand. Unless you are doing walk around, placing things on the table allows you to focus on the important items being put into play. So you pick up a coin, hold it in your hand, shine the light on it and it is gone. Repeat tbis for the other moves. Your hands will be more open, and the routine will look less cluttered. Same with a wand, a glass, okito box, whatever prop you use.

@Michael, Robert-Houdin had a similar approach to a coin vanish using a candle flame.

I like the idea of turning off the light to bring back the coins.

@Rick, any chance you could start with the pen in your shirt pocket and the coins in out of play? That would be to set up what's normal/natural for your hand positions. In the video your introduction brings attention to left right fingers with the coins appearing there and that might not be where you want folks looking a moment later.

I have to agree with Dr. R here. I like the premise of using a light as a vanishing tool, but there's a distinct feeling of "something just happened" every time you bring your hands together and fiddle with the coins (0:50 and 0:45 in particular, and to a lesser extent the ones at 0:16, 0:28). Your other routines didn't have this feel to me.

I also find a some of the one-handed twirling of the flashlight to be (and appear) rather cumbersome. It's especially the case in Kurtis' original routine, and your twirl at 0:38 suffers a bit from it, too. (The one at 0:26 looks good, but I believe because there's nothing else in the hand!) As someone who fidgets with pens a lot, they there's something that feels unnatural (and inefficient) about them, but it's possible I'm more sensitive to it than most spectators would be.

I realize both are a symptom of what's going on behind the scenes, but if you could actually do this with magic, it would look very different. You'd probably hold the flashlight in one hand, pinched by two fingers, and have an otherwise empty second hand drop the coin into the light.

Ideas for justification: Have multiple coins on the table, and pick them up one by one.
Use a larger flashlight, and leave it standing on its own on the table - then do a hanging coins, motivated by the light.

All that criticism said, I do like the international take on the original trick, I think it makes it much more impactful to do them distinctly. I thought the falling coins (which I hadn't expected) were perfectly places to come from the light (rather than to the side, as could easily happen), and I thoroughly enjoyed your expressions and surprise whenever something happened. Your routines always remind me how important acting/conviction is in magic, and you do it beautifully.

Question to folks performing the routine - is it sensible to ask someone to hold the flashlight?

On the patter side here's something that harks back to the old Flash Gordon black and white serial - and you've probably heard this joke before: "Two guys live in an insane asylum. And one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moon light... stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend did not dare make the leap. Y'see... Y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea... He says 'Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!' B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says... He says 'Wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!'" (Alan Moore ?) I read it in a Batman comic.

So there's your suspension of

Thanks again for checking it out everyone.

@Jonathan. I absolutely could begin the routine as you've described. I guess it was a choice in choreography to get into the action as quickly as possible, so I chose to begin with everything already in my hands.

@Tons. Thanks again for your thoughtful and detailed critique. I appreciate your participation on evrything I put up. I do genuinely take all things said into consideration.

I agree that things look "cozy", but I loved the concept. I haven't altered the actual handling; just the coins. But, it does take one small adjustment to make it work.

I have begun playing with the idea using a table as Michael suggested.But, I am always attracted to routines done all in the hands. For this to work I think the light would need to be stationary as Tons suggested. I would not want to pick the light up multiple times and set it down. I also like the reference to using a candle as Jonathan mentioned.

This may morph into a whole new thing; I don't know. But, this is why I like posting ideas and having a little brainstorm.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick, that would be Robert-Houdin from his book Secrets of Conjuring Magic. Here's a link: ( go the the next page for some ideas )
https://books.google.com/books?id=KcKpx2......&f=false

I like the update from candle to flashlight. Going all modern and doing one coin at a time into a light beam has its possibilities.

I personally don't feel like having something on the table takes away from the "in the hands" aspect - everything still happens in your hands, there's just something *also* resting on the table (like a goblet for a miser's dream routine), rather than the table being the focus of all the action (as in a matrix or coins through table). Getting a spectator to hold the flashlight would be equivalent, in my mind, and then removes the table entirely.
m
A candle could allow some neat additional effects - maybe lighting or going out unexpectedly. But it also loses the visual of the "switch off production", since you can't turn the candle upside down in the same way.

I'm also experimenting with producing the coins from the light. Tom Stone has a nice little idea that shoots a coin into view.
It would be a nice cyclical effect by the end. I can't help myself.lol

Rick, I think you've done a pretty good job with that. It's the toughest hanging coins handling I'm aware of. Even I've gotten better at it since I shot the video. So congrats on getting it this far. I especially like how you've used your reactions to motivate the displays.

As to the handling, I would suggest, especially for the camera, that you take advantage of the EG displays. I would also suggest that you start with the coins visible to the audience. Showing the audience that you can handle the light with the coins concealed is probably not the best way to start.

Also, the point of the handheld light is to replace the last coin in the Roth routine, since some people felt it was unsatisfying that the last coin didn't vanish like the others. By making the "last coin" not a coin, but rather, the thing the coins vanish "into", I was hoping to avoid that expectation. So I would rather not have the light on the table. Instead, I like to keep everything within the confines of a frame at chest height.

The twirl of the light as an acquitment is a tricky thing. I'm not sure it's optimal to spin it around like a pen. Normal folks don't twirl pens or lights, so an overly flashy and eye-catching twirl might draw attention to the action. I want the turn to look like something you could never do if there was something else in your hand, but certainly not like something you've practiced a lot.

There is an aspect of the routine that I don't think I mention on the DVD. That's the element of sound. When I perform this today, the coins and the light are in a glass. I take everything out of the glass and from that point on, there's almost no sound. I point out that when the coins vanish "into the light" they can't be seen or heard. (this motivates the displays with the light) However, when the coins reappear, they fall into the glass. The return of the sound signals the ending, and to magicians, emphasizes that these are real, solid coins. You might want to consider adding that aspect to your routine, it has been helpful to mine.

Thanks for posting that, Rick.

Thanks Curtis!
Glad you saw this. Thank you for the deeper insight on your motivation to create the routine.

What do you think about the use of three different coins?

Wise words from the master.

That's an excellent point about starting with the coins visible to not suggest too early that you're able to hold them while concealed!

I agree that you wouldn't want something over flashy to spin the pen. However, the question to me is about justification. In a coins across, it's important to justify why you'd switching the coins from hand to hand (really, for the moves), or else the moves feel unmotivated. The same thing goes for the flashlight. Why *aren't* you using the other hand? Even with the other (visible) coin around, using the second hand feels like it could help, unless the twirl is done really smoothly.

Or at least it does to me - but perhaps that's just a difference of personality/style. Everyone has actions that are natural to them, but wouldn't be to others, and vice-versa.