Quarter Bird

Ok Folks . . . this is a simple, yet very effect idea.

Effect

Magician shows a borrowed and marked coin in his left hand. He closes his fist around the coin. Holding a pen as a magic wand in his right hand, he taps his left fist three times claiming that on the third tap the coin will vanish. Instead, the pen vanishes. Of course it’s all a joke . . . the magician reveals that he merely place the pen behind his ear. He then removes the pen from his ear and taps his left hand claiming that the coin will still vanish. When he opens his left hand to reveal the vanished coin, he is quite surprised to find a small container in his hand. He opens it only to find another, and another and yet another . . . finally the marked coin is found in the “nest of boxes.”

Method

I’m going to assume that the majority of you already know exactly how this is done. However, for the sake of completeness, I’ll give you a basic run down of the method. This, of course, is a modification of the old pen behind the ear misdirection vanish. I’ve seen many magicians teach this in various resources, so I’m not sure the originator, but here’s the basic effect that I’ve based my version on:

• Place coin in closed left fist
• Tap pen on back of left hand three times
• On third tap pen is left behind right ear but the right hand comes down as if it has the pen (more on this later)
• The pen has “vanished”
• Magician turns to the right to show audience that the pen is on the ear
• Meanwhile, the coin from the left hand is quickly, smoothly and secretly ditched in the left pocket
• Magician then turns back to face the audience with the left hand still held in a fist
• Magician taps the pen on the left hand again
• He opens the left hand to show the coin has vanished

That’s the original effect. I’ve simply added one more step . . . rather than ditch the coin in my left pocket, I load it into a nest of boxes. For those unfamiliar, a nest of boxes is just what it sounds like: several boxes all nested together. There are various types of boxes used. The old Adam’s company used to make one with a medium matchbox that had a small match box inside of it, and inside of the small matchbox was a cloth bag with a rubber band sealing it shut. Inside of the bag was the marked coin. In order to get the coin in the bag, a slide was placed into it. The coin slid in and then the slide was removed.

Many magicians come up with their own. The one I use is a marketed product. There are two versions, a plastic version for 3 or 4 bucks, and various metal versions for much more. For example, the image to the left is of a Viking set for $47.00 from Elmwood Magic.

Obviously, then, the method for my version is simply to have the nest of boxes set up in your left pocket. Then when you go to show the pen on your right ear, rather than ditching the quarter in your pocket, load it into the nest of boxes; then grab the nested set and close it in your left fist. When you turn back around having just shown the pen on your right ear, tap the left hand with the pen, and act surprised as you open your left hand and find the box there.

Performance Tips

There are two major pointers that will make or break this routine. One involves the pen vanish; the other involves the revealing of the nested boxes. First, when vanishing the pen, the rhythm must be perfectly established. Hold the pen at the writing end between the right thumb and first finger. The best way to get a natural grip is to place the pen on your ear with the writing end pointing in front of you and the top of the pen pointing behind you. Now reach up with your right hand and grab the pen at the writing end with your right hand and swing your arm down in front of you as if you were going to grab the pen and throw/fling it directly in front of you. That’s the grip for starting the routine.

Once the coin is in your closed left fist, hold the pen in the manner described above. Explain that on the count of three the coin will vanish. Make sure at this point that your left side is facing the audience. Then raise the pen up and place it right on your right ear, but don’t let go of it. Bring your hand and pen down tapping the back of your left hand as you say, “One.” Then repeat for “Two.” Remember each time to “count” when the pen touches the back of the left hand. Finally, after “Two,” bring your right hand back up placing the pen on the ear again. This time, when you come down, leave the pen behind, but bring your hand down as if it had the pen. As your right hand comes down, use your right middle finger nail to flip/tap the back of the left hand as you say “Three.” You then act surprised that the pen vanished. Reread these instructions carefully. The timing and rhythm on this is extremely critical. It must be perfect.

The second tip regarding the reveal of the boxes is just as critical. I’m going to assume that you’re using the style of nested boxes represented in the picture above. That being the case, when you open your hand to reveal the first box, here’s how you proceed: first, you must act surprised. Remember, you thought the coin was going to vanish, but instead, in its place is a box. You also act as if you don’t know what the box is, so you open it. When you open it, take the top and bottom off. That is critical. If you just remove all of the tops, but leave the bottoms intact, you’ll tip the method of the load.

Next, when you completely remove the top and bottom of the first box, you are again shocked to find another box. Continue repeating this mock shock and removal of both top and bottom until you come to the coin. The other advantage of removing both the top and bottom each time is that you can pile the lids up on the table or in the spectator’s hand making a big pile which is both funny and amazing.

Finally, I will say that loading the coin can be a little tricky at first. You have to do it quickly and secretly in the few seconds you have while you’re showing the audience where the pen went. Also, I should mention that I often use a magic wand rather than a pen. I have a pocket wand that’s the perfect size for this.

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