Does anyone know the inventor of the trick Hopping Halves?

Please email me at tim@magicunlimited if you know his or her name and/or any history of the trick.

Thanks,

TIM ELLIS

Tim, I've always assumed that it's the creation of someone at Johnson's Products. My first awareness of it was when it showed up in a Johnson's catalog. The routine itself seems designed to do two things: 1) require no skill, and 2) burn gaffs like crazy.

I've never seen an author mentioned in connection with this routine, nor have I ever heard of anyone willing to claim it. ("Ah yes, if I have two coins in my hand and I put one away in my pocket, how many do I have in my hand--Wrong! I remember the day I wrote that....")

If your inquiry does prove fruitful, I'd like to know who it was, as well. For that reason, I've chosen to reply on the forum and keep this thread up front.

Anyone know?

I met a scottish magician who claimed to of "invented" it.
He said that he assembed it as a casual one-off effect, and then the next thing he knew it was being passed around and sold. He never made an issue of it because he felt he had lost control.
that's, by-the-way, why the trick has a half finished look. It was never finished properly nor intended for sale.

I don't of course know if the story is true ; but he is a (small) name, which I'm not going to pass on here.

Eddie

There are a bunch of hopping halves out there but the only good one is Johnson's. It's more expensive but well worth it. It uses an expanded s***l so you can use any other coins not just the ones it comes with all the other click and are crap don't get them.

Did you even READ Tim's question?

The Hopping Half set of coins were originally put out as a set of coins that could be used for many effects. They did not come with routines. Ed Mishell came up the the Hopping Half routine using all of the coins in the set.
Ed Mishell reviewed magic tricks for Genii magazine and I'm pretty sure he published his Hopping Half routine in that magazine.
Best wishes,
Steve

Thanks Steve! That really helps out. Magic Makers Inc have a trick out called 'GOLD AND SILVER COINS' which happens to look exactly like Hopping Halves, so I was curious as to whether it was 'Public Domain' or whether they should have sought permission before manufacturing and selling it as their own creation.

If we applied current intellectual property guidelines to magic props wouldn't any prop over 27 years old (the average length of a patent give or take a few years) be, if not in the public domain at least be ethically acceptable for others to produce or improve upon?

Steve - do you know who it was that originally put out the set?

Dan:
The set was put out by either Eddie Gibson or Johnson Products. I don't remember anymore but they were the two major coin sources. I don't think Gibson could make an expanded half so Johnson seems the best guess. Most of the magicians I knew at the time thought it was just a way to make money since most magicians already bought all those coins separately. They were not happy to discover they bought coins they already owned. I think the set had a different name also. It wasn't called Hopping Halves when first released.
Someone out there must be a Genii collector and historian who can check the Ed Mishell magic reviews.
Sorry I can't be of any help.
Steve

Just got an email from Jim Boyd who sent me copies of Gen Magazine to back up his claim as inventor on Hopping Halves:

As you can see from the attachments, it was first published as CONFUSING COINS in the Gen magazine in April 1967: Vol 22 No.12. Harry Stanley of Unique Magic Studios contacted me and the trick became known at a subsequent convention in Baden Baden, Germany.


For the record, I would agree 100% that Jim Boyd's name should be added when dealers are advertising this trick in future.

TIM ELLIS

This is a good information. So, Jim Boyd should be credited for the Hopping Halves.

I'll note this down.

It is a very good effect and leaves the magician loaded for other miracles.

Thank you Jim Boyd! No doubt, 1967 was a very good year. For many years Hopping Halves and Sun and Moon (Albert Goshman) were confused. The original Sun and Moon used British coins. A description is in Bobo page 440. They are different indeed.

I am sure dry cleaner employees all over the country have wondered what they found in my pockets! (I wish more had been returned for money they could use.)

Bob
Magic By Sander

F.Y.I. - 20 yrs for a patent.

…and once more we run up against the ever popular law vs. ethics debate. If we are judging magical ethics by legal standards, a majority of the un-patented sleights and gaffs out there would be public domain, and could be used without attribution or payment to their originators. But we DON’T use legal standards to judge magician’s ethics. What we can do legally, and what we should do ethically, are two different beasts.

But to get back to the post topic, I’ve always hated the Hopping Halves routine, as it tends to tip the gaffs (or at least the possibility that a gimmick can make two coins look like one). I bought my set, and promptly used the gaffs for other routines.