Coin manipulation is the art of
manipulating coins in skillful flourishes, usually on or around the hands.
[Money Magic, pp. 175-221.] Although not always considered
coin magic
Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences.
Money Magic, pp. 175-221. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. T ...
, the tricks are sometimes used in magic shows. The difficulty of the trick ranges greatly, from some that take a few minutes to accomplish, to much more complex ones that can take months, even years, to master. One of the best-known tricks is the relatively advanced
coin walk
Coin manipulation is the art of manipulating coins in skillful flourishes, usually on or around the hands.Money Magic, pp. 175-221. Although not always considered coin magic, the tricks are sometimes used in magic shows. The difficulty of the tric ...
.
Coin walk
The coin walk is a type of
coin trick in which a
coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
is flipped over the fingers to create the illusion of a coin walking across the back of the hand. It is one of the most famous coin manipulation tricks. It is also known as the coin roll, knuckle roll, and the steeplechase flourish, and can also be performed with poker chips,
slugs
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...
, or other similar implements.
The trick is generally performed on the first
phalanx bone
The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bon ...
of each finger of one hand. After the coin has been flipped over by each phalanx, not including the smallest finger, the thumb brings the coin back under the hand and back to the index finger to repeat the trick as many times as desired.
In popular culture
Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...
's character Sam performs this manipulation throughout the 1946 film ''
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' is a 1946 American film noir drama directed by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay written by Robert Rossen (and an uncredited Robert Riskin), based on the short story "Love Lies Bleeding" by playwright John Pa ...
.''
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's character Miles Monroe also performs this trick to seduce
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glo ...
's character Luna in the 1973 film ''
Sleeper.
The characters Peter, Walter and Elizabeth Bishop perform this trick in the TV show ''
Fringe
Fringe may refer to:
Arts
* Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe"
* Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival
* Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre
* The Fringe, the ...
''.
Steve Carell
Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...
and
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...
also perform the trick in tandem (almost a "dueling knuckle walk") in the movie ''
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
''The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Don Scardino and written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, based on a story by Chad Kultgen and Tyler Mitchell, along with Daley and Goldstein. The film ...
''. In the 2017 Indian
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
film ''
Bairavaa
''Bairavaa'' is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action masala film written and directed by Bharathan, and produced by B. Venkatarama Reddy. The film stars Vijay as the titular debt collector who takes on a criminal masquerading as an education ph ...
'', the protagonist (
Vijay) is shown doing this trick several times throughout the film. Connor, a protagonist in the 2018 game ''
Detroit: Become Human'', is shown doing various coin tricks as the player progresses through the game. Actor
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
can be seen doing the trick in both ''
Tombstone'' as
Doc Holliday and in the movie ''
Real Genius
''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American comic science fiction film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei. Starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret, the film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a science ...
'', performing a double-handed continuous hand roll.
See also
*
Pen spinning
Pen spinning is a form of object manipulation that involves the deft manipulation of a writing instrument with hands. Although it is often considered a form of self-entertainment (usually in a school or office setting), multinational competitions ...
References
External links
*
{{magic-stub
Sleight of hand
Coins