Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
The Sun and Moon
Having only just begun to contemplate the challenges of writing about sleight of hand without directly exposing any secrets, am realizing it might be beyond my level of writing (or interest), but let's give it a shot with this one. My feeling is that terms like Ramsay Subtlety and Goshman Pinch unaccompanied by definitions or direct context are of little interest to lay-folk, and if someone does go to the trouble to investigate their meaning, then they're well on their way to no longer being a lay person, and I've inspired someone to pick up one of the most awesome hobbies/passions/pursuits in existence.
My first exposure to the Sun and Moon coin (not to be confused with a C/S coin) was, like many am sure, via Johnson Products Hopping Half set and Bobo's Modern Coin Magic which credits the routine, but not necessarily the invention of the apparatus, to Albert Goshman. One aspect of the coin is described in Reginald Scot's Dicoverie of Witchcraft, written in 1584 and the other characteristic was invented by Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser around 1850, so we can reasonably assume at some point someone put these two elements together before Goshman in the 1950s.
I'd always done sort of a light version of Goshman's handling laid out in Bobo's. I was fine with the "Goshman Pinch," but had decided it was a bit angle-sensitive. Later I discovered the Roger Klause version in The Collected Almanac and incorporated elements into the routine.
For many years I performed it, and the Hopping Half routine, with standing spectators gathered around, looking down at my palm up hands; a very typical walk-around set up. A couple years ago, long retired from performing walk-around, I started designing an actual act (as opposed to the jazzy improvisational style I'd enjoyed during my misspent youth) it became important to perform everything in a more "stand-up" manner ie less table work, and things presented more in that 3 Fly position wherein Ramsay Subtlety becomes so useful and crucial. Around that time, this caught my eye:
In the comments section the performer Kmotonari mentions the handling is from Shigeo Futagawa and Shigeo Takagi's Encyclopedia of Coin Magic. A quick look through the Magic Castle© Library yielded nothing, as I believe it is only available in Japanese. In any case, here's the handling I currently like which, aside from some of the get-ready moves and the obvious playing to the camera, is very similar to the above handling.
My first exposure to the Sun and Moon coin (not to be confused with a C/S coin) was, like many am sure, via Johnson Products Hopping Half set and Bobo's Modern Coin Magic which credits the routine, but not necessarily the invention of the apparatus, to Albert Goshman. One aspect of the coin is described in Reginald Scot's Dicoverie of Witchcraft, written in 1584 and the other characteristic was invented by Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser around 1850, so we can reasonably assume at some point someone put these two elements together before Goshman in the 1950s.
I'd always done sort of a light version of Goshman's handling laid out in Bobo's. I was fine with the "Goshman Pinch," but had decided it was a bit angle-sensitive. Later I discovered the Roger Klause version in The Collected Almanac and incorporated elements into the routine.
For many years I performed it, and the Hopping Half routine, with standing spectators gathered around, looking down at my palm up hands; a very typical walk-around set up. A couple years ago, long retired from performing walk-around, I started designing an actual act (as opposed to the jazzy improvisational style I'd enjoyed during my misspent youth) it became important to perform everything in a more "stand-up" manner ie less table work, and things presented more in that 3 Fly position wherein Ramsay Subtlety becomes so useful and crucial. Around that time, this caught my eye:
In the comments section the performer Kmotonari mentions the handling is from Shigeo Futagawa and Shigeo Takagi's Encyclopedia of Coin Magic. A quick look through the Magic Castle© Library yielded nothing, as I believe it is only available in Japanese. In any case, here's the handling I currently like which, aside from some of the get-ready moves and the obvious playing to the camera, is very similar to the above handling.
Notes: Fred Kapps, Geoff Latta, Dave Neighbors, Barry Price, and Rob Thomson have all published interesting routines utilizing the Sun Moon Coin. Neighbors has a fucking sweet change move where you sort of tip the coin up off the table and it visibly changes.
More Notes: I've owned Sun Moon Coins furnished by Johnson, Tango, Sasco and Roy Kueppers. I'd recommend Johnson, Tango, or maybe Sasco.
More Notes: I've owned Sun Moon Coins furnished by Johnson, Tango, Sasco and Roy Kueppers. I'd recommend Johnson, Tango, or maybe Sasco.
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