A friend of mine was performing close-up recently, and I was watching his rather nice coin matrix/assembly. During it, he does a retention-of-vision vanish and something struck me.

This move is totally unnatural.

Surely, if you're drawing attention that much to the simple act of placing of a coin in your hand, then it screams "something tricky's going on!!!"

His spectators loved it, but it set off alarm bells with me. How much of what we do looks like real magic, and how much like a load of tricky flim-flam?

Shirley, I almost agree. Especially about drawing attention to insignificant or obvious actions. Worse when they are unmotivated.

As to the placement (let's go with the Bobo item "A Coin Vanish" for reference here ) ...if you are counting coins into your hand, after the third or fourth coin the retention pass action of placement and closing ones hand is quite natural.

There are OTHER ways to do the thing as a natural transfer or even as a take which use the same right hand action.

Having not seen the routine, I can only guess that you feel that the ROV vanish may have been out of context in some way.

A lot of the coin sleights are exaggerated to some degree because you often need to emphasize that the coin is being placed where it's really not.

If you watch laypersons handle coin change you will see natural handlings. These don't always suffice when doing coin magic. Most often it will look like the vanishes I mention below.

Do you feel that a vanish like "Standard Vanish", "Simple Vanish" or other non-ROV vanish from Bobo's would have been better?

If he put the coin from his left hand into his right hand to grab an object on the rightish side of the table the action should fly by subconciously, because there was a reason for the action. If you don't justify the action then a "why did the magician do THAT" question arises in the subconcious.

Can I chime in and amen Ross on this one? I have not seen this particular routine, but I am seeing a trend in recent coin magic that I don't like. The trend is, "I am doing coin magic for no apparent reason other than to please myself." This is magical, but it is not very entertaining. It is magical, but it seems like a bunch of "moves" stringed together for no apparent reason. One can get by doing magic this way, but it seems second rate.

FC

Yes, especially in front of an audience. But it seems to make some magicians happy to do so. Who are we to suggest to anyone that they diminish their self gratification in life?

One might wonder if some have ever been taken aside and informed that it is gauche to play with one's coins/money in front of others. Similarly it is awkward to be seated when some in one's audience have to stand and strain to see the performance. The theme in all of this is almost plain to anyone who wishes to step back and ask what is happening. Is the magic for the magician or for the audience?

I believe you can only "get by" doing this if you only perform for other magicians. Customers are usually more polite, but far less forgiving of such boring displays.

But then I firmly believe that the vast majority of stuff released and discussed is for magicians' consumption only. Which is why many of us don't worry too much about it, when perhaps we should.

Ian

I should make it clear that no one was bored by my friend's performance; indeed they loved it and seemed suitably impressed. Thinking harder, it is maybe because his performing persona is fairly "street" which doesn't sit very comfortably with the precise and graceful moves of his ROV vanish (which is, I should add, technically excellent: he fools me with it!)

What would the Professor have done, I wonder?