Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

PASS 4. (Le Tourniquet).--This (sometimes known as the “French drop”) is an easy and yet most effective pass. Hold the left hand palm upwards, with the coin as shown in Fig. 66. Now move the right hand towards the left, passing the thumb of the right hand under, and the fingers over the coin, closing them just as they pass it. The effect is the same to the eye of the spectator as if you seized the coin with thumb and fingers, but, in reality, at the moment when the coin is covered by the fingers of the right hand, you let it drop quietly (see Fig. 67) into the palm of the left. The right hand you should carry upwards and forwards after it leaves the left hand, following it with your eyes, and thereby drawing away the attention of the audience from the other hand. (See Fig. 68.) Do not be in too great a hurry to drop the left hand, but turn the palm slightly towards you, with the fingers a little bent, and, after a moment’s pause, let it fall gently to your side. The hollow made by the bent fingers will be sufficient to hold the coin. This pass is available even for a sixpence or threepenny piece, which from their small size, cannot readily be palmed by the ordinary means. It is also very useful for “ball” conjuring. PASS 5. (La Pincette).--This is a modification of the pass last described. The coin is held as in Fig. 69, between the thumb and first and second fingers of the left hand. You then make the movement of taking it between the same fingers of the other hand, which for that purpose makes a kind of “swoop” down upon it, the back of the hand being kept towards the spectators. At the moment when the coin is covered by the fingers of the right hand, it is allowed to slip gently down into the palm of the left, and the right is instantly elevated as if containing it.