What do I do if I do an appearance or a vanish and they say that it is the hand that they are not meant to know it is in?

tell them they are one crack

It's all in your routining. That's why I wouldn't do a direct "vanish" without having the coin ready to reappear somewhere else. Don't expect a big "Ta Daa" moment when the coin vanishes. Audiences are smarter than that. It's better to just keep on moving with your routine and psychologically set them up so they don't have time to suspect the other hand. By the time you're done, you should have "proven" in retrospect that the other hand couldn't have held the coin without having to actually say so.

Darwin Ortiz' new book "Designing Miracles" covers this exact problem.

lol I had this happen to me durin a birthday party and they said, hey he has a thumb thingy (TT) and I was like no i dont (while putting on the TT and openin my hand) that kid was amazed lol, but with a coin kinda distract the specatores and slip it in your pocket while movin foward and showing them I dont have anything in that hand.



-MagicTay

There's a couple things I do when vanishing coins:

1) On a direct vanish, I misdirect and call the focus entirely on the hand that supposedly holds the coin. I even misdirect more by prompty asking the spectator to blow on my hand. The misdirection is done through body language basically. Leaning forward, looking nowhere but at the closed hand, etc. While the spectator is misdirected, I easily ditch the coin into my back pocket.

2) I use classic palm whenever possible. I have been thoroughly practicing my CP so it looks totally natural. It's much better than finger-palming, although much harder to do. People hardly suspect you can actually hold a coin like that.

3) I like to start with my hands empty and secretly steal a coin from somewhere on me. This can be in a sleeve when rolling up the sleeves, from a pocket (if you the courage), or you can even reach in your pocket to grab an object relating to the trick, and secretly obtain the coin while your hand's in the pocket.

4) Gregory Wilson teaches two great concept on On the Spot: The All-Around Vanish and the Goshman Pinch. The all around vanish is a technique of showing both hands empty after a classic false transfer vanish. It's basically a secret pass to the other hand, and you show your hands empty one at a time. The goshman pinch is when you show your hand empty, but have a coin cleverly concealed.


Finally, your coin vanish could be not so good. Whether you use a french drop, false transfer, or retention vanish, you always have to make it look smooth and unsuspicious. The classic line ," I'll place this ____ into my hand" could be a bad idea sometimes. It calls attention to the transfering from hand to hand, and somebody might catch on. Sometimes, before doing the vanish, you may even want to ACTUALLY place the coin into your hand to show the spectators that theres nothing fishy. Then place it in your hand a second time, but retain it.

Final note, any sleight should be done as unsuspicious, smooth, and nonchalant as possible.

And now I have a hand cramp,
-Steve

when I do standard coin vanishes, I try to be fast, yet not to fast and smooth with my movements (but focus more on smoothness than speed), so I wont get the"its in your other hand you idiot!!" response.

if you want a killer palm, I highly reccomend downs palm (found in bobos modern coin magic). gets 'em alllllll the time.

conman54-
p.s., thumb palm is good too......