Coins and I just don't seem to get along. Cards and I get along very well, but coins seem to hate me.

I've gone through Bobos a few times and everytime I just get more and more frustrated. I can do false transers pretty well, but concealing and handling coins otherwise seems to be a big issue.

One of the things that seems to plauge me is that I have pretty scrawney hands. The flesh between my fingers and in the rest of my hand always seems too "lean" (for a lack of a better word) to grip coins. There's just not enough pudge.

Am I making any sense, or is everyone just confused now? I wish I had a better way of explaining it.

Anyway, is it valid to blame my inability to handle coins on the scrawneyness of my hands or am I making up lame excuses?

Ckeck out this site :

http://stone.magiczoom.com/earticle1.htm

it will make you feel better and gain confidence I'm the exact inverse : love coins think card hate me... but I think I'll get some card college...

David Roth has quite small hands; it doesn't seem to have been an impediment.

Keep working at it.

Hard to know what the problem might be unless we know what type of coin effects you are attempting. Matrix routines? 3-Fly? Manipulation? If it's a manipulation kind of thing, the coins you use might be part of the problem. Old worn coins (so-called "soft" coins, or "slicks"), are useful for certain routines because they are silent when rubbed against one another. The downside is that the sides of the coins are also slick, and thus hard to hold by edges (either in display, or in a Down's palm, say). A solution is to find a friendly jeweler who, using a metal file, can recreate those "reeded edges", making them easier to hold. I found a jeweler in my home town who charged me $10/coin to do this.

I would be surprised if your fingers couldn't handle a finger palm or a thumb palm, neither of which depend on "fleshy" pads. The classic palm is another matter, but as $2000Magician says, you just have to keep working at it, and teach certain hand muscles some new "moves."

Maybe you mean that you have "windows" between your fingers? People with long or bony fingers have this problem -- there are spaces, or 'windows" when they hold their hand up to the light. These windows can reveal palmed coins and allow them to flash.

I have this problem, and thought I might be doomed to give up coin magic and perform the Linking Rings forever instead! <grin> However, I discovered that the "windows" are most visible only when your fingers are fully outstretched -- which is never the case with a finger palm. In fact, the slight curling of the fingers needed to do a finger palm closes about 90% of the windows for me. From that point on, it's just a matter of being careful. And of course, you can have all fingers outstretched in a thumb palm, and windows won't be an issue, ditto for a classic palm.

So there is always an answer if you just take your time and listen to your hands. Everyone's hands are different, and everyone will do these coin sleights in a slightly different manner. You need to discover what works for you, and that only comes with concentration and practice. Don't get frustrated and give up!

Good luck with your coin magic, and let us know how you are coming along. SETH

I have two of the smallest hands of any magician I know.

Hey at a whopping 5'5" tall I guess they fit me.

Someone told me Houdini was the same height, and interestingly, he also spoke in a higher voice range.

I am still waiting for my voice to change.

These days I work with coins as small as US dimes to old Morgan USA silver dollars.

Be safe and creative. (of course to be creative we must take risks)

Harris

Seth:

It's not $2000magician.

It's S2000magician.

As in Honda's incredible roadster.

;)

Size of Hands matters not.

Magicians have been blaming size of hands forever.

Keep practicing, use different size coins, etc.

You need to build those muscles and dexterity up.