Hip Hop Pencil/Coin Vanish

This is another classic that's great to teach some of the fundamentals of magic and which works as a good rhythmical game.

Hold a coin in your left hand and a pencil in your right. tap the coin with the pencil and say that you are going to make the coin vanish. This will make everyone pay attention to the coin.

Raise the pencil behind your right ear and bring it down to tap the coin and say "one".

Do it again and say, "two"

Again lift the pencil behind you ear but this time leave it stuck behind your ear as you bring your hand down and say "three".

You can now act surprised that the pencil has vanished.

You can continue if you like by turning until every can see the pencil is behind your ear. As you reach up to get it everyone will watch your right hand. You can ditch the coin into you pocket and then close your left hand in a fist. Bring the pencil down onto the fist then open your hand to show that the coin has vanished.

This is actually a very bold trick and any nerves can put you off the rhythm which is the essential thing. Its very like a dance movement and I found myself with two dancers who were working with young people on the same day as me in Cowlersley doing the count. 1, 2, 3 - 1,2,3 and turning it into part of a hip-hop dance routine.

The trick is a great lesson in directing attention. I avoid talking about misdirection because that's too easily heard as distraction and interpreted as making people look away when the magic happens which is the last thing you want to do. People should see the magic.