Hey all, I have been doing mostly card manipulations until just recently. I saw Jay Sankey at a magic lecture Tuesday night and have never seen coin manipulation done in person before and must tell you, I loved it.



I tried coin magic before, but got too frustrated because I could not overcome my palms being sweaty all the time.



Has anyone else had this problem, and how did you overcome/compensate for it?



I would really love to do some coin manipulations, but need help.



_________________

it’s all in the reflexes

I have the same problems too. My palms are dry most of the time. When its wet you can use talcum powder. There's a type of powder for bowlers that works very well also. When its too dry, try using anti-perspirant (Gillete is a good brand) to spray on the palms. Hope this helps.

The advice given in all the older books is as follows: Rinse the hands with cold water for about 30 seconds, dry thoroughly and then apply anti-perspirant. It’s supposed to work like a charm. I wouldn’t know--I have the opposite problem; extremely dry hands, so I am constantly putting on lotion and a special moderately tacky hand preparation.

I have the same problem and found that Corn Huskers Lotion works good on dry hands. It has glycerin in it and it is cheap. I can hold on to the coins a lot easier. I’ve bought pure glycerin at the drug store and mixed it with water. Don’t remember the ratio. Hope this helps.

Russ Raper

Muskogee, OK

I double that Russ! Corn Huskers is the best!

Since I work with my hands and am constantly handling exotic hardwoods, Ivory and other hand-roughing stuff, I have had to find solutions for rough/dry hands when I want to do the occasional finger flicking (like every day for 2 hours or so). I've tried all the lotions known to man - including Cornhuskers - and all the various sports-related stuff like bowlers' grip cremes and various types of rosin compounds. My friend Wesley James recommends a diluted Coca Cola solution and I've tried that too. I've had some success with the waxy salves that office workers use on their fingers to help handling paperwork; the very best choice, however, seems to be a product called "Hardworker's Hand Cream" made by the Faye Massey corporation. It works, it's cheap and it lasts a very long time.



The only downside is that it will make the edges of your cards attract dirt if you put too much on your hands, or if you use the same deck for more than a month. I do neither so I don't have that problem.



The cream works so well in fact, that some smart guy should contact the company and have them private label a version called "Cardworker's Hand Cream". You could sell the bejesus out of this stuff.



Hmmmmmm... um, please ignore the above statements. Oh, and by the way, be on the lookout for a fabulous new product from Thomas Wayne Industries, coming to a magic store near you soon.



Regards,

Thomas Wayne

I heard this on the radio this morning. Pretty extreme treatment but if you really want to get rid of those puddles in your palms...



http://www.endoscopic-surgery.com/drgarza.html



Also some guys at my gym moving the heavy weight use a product called dry hands. They swear by it.

I realize the original post was about sweaty hands and I have heard about a kind of crystal sold at health food/supply houses that help with sweaty areas. My hand are very dry and have tried most common hand preps but find Golden Touch the best hands down. It supplies a good-but dry tack that lasts a long while. I've heard that on the cover of Marlo without Tears there's a golden drop in the corner. This was supposed to be a reference to Golden Touch because Ed had dry hands. If Randy sees this post maybe he can confirm the truth or false of the story.

Harvey Berg recommends the following product for dry hands Vagisil® Intimate Moisturizer. If you don’t know what it is, that is probably a good thing, but apparently it works. Damned if I’m going to buy it though...

My hands used to sweat a lot!! But they don’t anymore and I don’t know why, but I was given the coolest remedy.

Go to an essential oils store and get some rosemary oil, put this on about an hour before your shows.

It kept my hands soft, dry and made my hands grippy. I don’t know why it worked, but it did.

I can actually think about my hands sweating and they will sweat, if I don’t think about them sweating they won’t sweat.

Try not thinking about your hands so much. and if you do, just think dry!

It would be totally funny to see a magician applying vagisil before a show.

I sometimes put chalk on my hands. That makes things easier to grip.

Calm down, do not drink much alcohol (vasodilatation) wash your hands under very cold water before starting a few times, and perform a routine you feel comfortable with... it also depends on the season (summer vs winter) and the temperature of the coins.. keep them on your body!

Just thoughts that did help me.

Exactly! This is one of the symptoms of Hyper-Hydrosis. Extreme cases are when you're either very wet or very dry. Once it gets to the psychogenic stage, you are pass external hand remedies. They might work, but not for too long. I too can think about my hands sweating and it will sweat. If you fear your hands will sweat at certain situations, it WILL no doubt sweat. But if you're in very dry mode and you need a little moisture, it WON'T sweat. Your hands act to the opposite of your wants. It's psychological and it's a bother!! I have two friends who have taken the the endoscopic surgery route and they are totally cured. The surgical procedure is below your bicep/arm-pit area.

The problem with surgery is you could end up in a much worse state after surgery. When it works, it works good, when it goes bad, it's really bad. I really considered it.

I had this problem for 40 years, then I found something that really works, besides surgery. It is a combination of prescription anitperspirants and most importantly, Tap Water Iontophoresis twice weekly. THIS REALLY WORKS! It takes a few weeks before it starts working, but it does work very well, and can be done at home and within reasonable cost. BOTOX provides another working solution, however, it is expensive, temporary, and painful.

http://www.rafischer.com/prod05.htm#Iontophoresis
http://www.drstolman.com/hyperhidrosis.shtml

PM me if you want specifics. This enables me to enjoy the magic I could otherwise not do. Now it's up to my skill..... whoops