Fig. 73.
Pass 8.—The peculiarity of this pass is, that it is made while holding the wand in the hand, a case in which none of the other passes are available. Holding the wand and coin in the right hand, as indicated in [Fig. 73], you strike the edge of the coin sharply against the palm of the left hand, and instantly close that hand. The effect of the movement is to drive back the coin (which should be held very lightly) into the position shown in [Fig. 74], in which, being behind the first three fingers, it is completely hidden. You should lose no time in relaxing the fingers of the right hand, and gently closing them around the coin, as their straightened position, if continued, might arouse suspicion. You must, however, be careful that, in doing so, you do not allow the coin to chink against the wand, as the sound would naturally draw attention to its whereabouts.
Fig. 74.
It must not be imagined that all of the passes above given are in turn used by every performer. Almost every conjuror has his favourite pass or passes, either selected from those above described, or invented by himself. Any mode by which a coin can be held in the hand without indicating its presence may be worked up into a pass. Thus, some performers will hold a coin by its edges between two of the fingers, or between the thumb and the side of the hand. Others, again, hold the coin flat against the first or second joint of the second or third finger, retaining it by slightly bending the finger. The novice should experiment till he ascertains which method best suits the conformation of his own hand. We have specified the hand to and from which each pass is generally used; but if the student desires to attain special excellence, he should practise until he is able to use each from left to right, as well as from right to left. In performing before a company of spectators, and standing with the left side towards them, it is well to use a pass which apparently transfers the coin from the right hand to the left, and vice versâ. The coin is thus left in the hand farthest away from the spectators, and the performer has the benefit of the cover of the body in dropping it into the pochette, or otherwise disposing of it.
The student will here, as in card conjuring, find great advantage in practising before a looking-glass, before which he should, in the first place, actually do that which he afterwards pretends to do, and carefully notice the positions and motions of his hands in the first case, which he should then do his best to simulate, that there may be as little difference as possible between the pretence and the reality. He should further accustom himself always to follow with his eyes the hand in which the object is supposed to be, this being the most certain means of leading the eyes and the minds of his audience in the same direction. When he is able to perform the passes neatly with a single florin or penny, he should then practise with coins of smaller size, with two coins at once, and afterwards with three or four.
A word of caution may here be desirable. These passes must by no means be regarded as being themselves tricks, but only as processes to be used in the performance of tricks. If the operator, after pretending to pass the coin, say, from the right hand to the left, and showing that it had vanished from the left hand, were to allow his audience to discover that it had all along remained in his right hand, they might admire the dexterity with which he had in this instance deceived their eyes, but they would henceforth guess half the secret of any trick in which palming was employed. If it is necessary immediately to reproduce the coin, the performer should do so by appearing to find it in the hair or whiskers of a spectator, or in any other place that may suit his purpose, remembering always to indicate beforehand that it has passed to such a place, thereby diverting the general attention from himself. As the coin is already in his hand, he has only to drop it to his finger-tips as the hand reaches the place he has named, in order, to all appearance, to take it from thence.
Fig. 75.