The Complete Introduction to Coin Magic DVD - Michael Ammar

[Exitmat]

I've seen a couple people here on the forums looking for a good source for learning coin magic. While Bobo's Modern Coin Magic book is considered the Bible of coin magic, it can be a bit frustrating for the beginner who has no knowledge of how the coin sleights should look, or is unsure on how to use timing, attitude, and misdirection in order to make the sleights believable and achieve what looks like real magic.

When I first started coin magic I did a lot of research on good starting sources. David Roth's coin magic DVD series is fantastic--unforuntately, the set runs about $100--not something most beginners are usually interested in spending. Fortunately, six years ago, Michael Ammar made an excellent and affordable DVD for learning coin magic.

The Complete Introduction to Coin Magic
Michael Ammar

Michael Ammar
Let me start by saying Michael Ammar is the most likable performer (not just magician) I've ever seen. His audiences love and respect him and he sincerely performs magic as if it's a gift he is sharing. You can get a lot out of just watching Ammar perform for people (which he does on this DVD--every trick is peformed for a real audience before the explanation). Not only is Michael Ammar a great performer, he is a fanastic magician. For those who may be unfamiliar with Ammar, he is a living legend, World Champion magician, and has earned the moniker of "The World's Foremost Teacher of Magic."

Content
This DVD starts out assuming you know nothing about coin magic (which I didn't when I bought it). All the material is very well organized, breaking coin magic down into easily digestable sections titled Secrets: sleights; Applications: how to use the sleights you just learned to make magic; and Major Secrets--here Ammar shares his knowedge on timing, misdirection, thoughts on practicing, outs, covering mistakes, spectator management, dealing with nervousness, and more.

The major sections are:

Secrets: How To Hide Coins
Making Magic By Hiding Coins
Major Secret 1
Secrets: False Transfers
Making Magic From False Transfers
Major Secret 2
Major Secret 3
Secrets: Loading The Hand
Making Magic With Loads
Major Secret 4
Secrets: Stealing From The Hand
Making Magic With Steals
Major Secret 5

Sleights Taught
Fingerpalm
Classic Palm
Back Thumbpalm
Downs Palm
Back Clip (Goshman Pinch/Tenkai Pinch)
Finger Clip
Deep Back Clip
Simple Take
Simple Put
Schneider Vanish
French Drop
Reverse Fench Drop
Classic Fake Transfer
The Slide Vanish
Friction Palm
Spider Vanish
Revolve Load
Thumbpalm Load
Sonic Squeeze
Bobo Switch
The Palm Down Steal

There's also valuable information on palming more than one coin, the Ramsey Subtlety, Kaps Subtelty, the natural lay of the hand, and a few more sleights.

Routines Taught
Tricky Trousers - coin through pants pocket
A Sure Bet - producing coins from two freely selected cards
The Phone Home Pen - producing coins from a pen cap
Double Your Money - splitting coins into multiples
Completely Gone - vanishing coin using a silk or hankerchief
What's That In Your Ear? - producing a coin from behind someone's ear
Coin From Tie
Silver Dollar to Four Quarters
Half Dollar to Five Dimes
Coin Through Table
Coin Flurry - productions and vanishes
Simple Coins Across
Copper/Silver Transposition
Coin to Key
GONE! - complete vanish
The 1 Minute Coin Vanish - complete vanish
Coin From a Spectator's Hand - a coin vanishes from the spectator's closed hand and appears in the magician's
The Thieves, Sheep and the Barn - a selfworking coins across with a story

Difficulty
As I said above, the DVD starts assuming you know nothing of coin magic. However, even someone who's been working with coins for a while can get a lot of this DVD as it is an excellent source for not only learning the sleights taught, but mastering them. There's not any fingerflicking/knucklebusting material on here, and I think that's why I like it. As Ammar says on the DVD, "Never underestimate the power of even the most basic magic." I agree.

Closing
This is the best place to start learning coin magic in my opinion. No gimmicks are used for the magic, Ammar is the greatest teacher you could hope to learn from, the production is great (it's an L&L production), the material is well organized, and Ammar gives a lot of invaluable advice on presentation. This DVD is also packed (80 minutes)--just look above at everything taught (and Ammar doesn't rush it either--he's very detailed and clear in his teaching). There's a lot here to keep you busy.

I highly recommend this DVD for anyone looking to really get into coin magic. As I already said, in my opinion there's no better place to start.

You can order the DVD from Ammar by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/m4scr

Thanks for reading. Happy Magic.

[Keith]

I've never checked this out; I guess I should.  Sounds good.

[Andrew]

I've never checked this out; I guess I should.  Sounds good.

I'll say. Have you ever even finger palmed anything?  

[UKGareth]

I've never checked this out; I guess I should.  Sounds good.

I'll say. Have you ever even finger palmed anything?  

Yep, that why I have the DVD and aggree thats its the best thing to start with in Coin Magic

[Exitmat]

I've never checked this out; I guess I should.  Sounds good.

I've only been doing coin magic for about a year now, so for me just being able to go back and watch Ammar talk about the psychology of coin magic, or watch his misdirection and timing in the performances, makes the DVD worthy of more than just the technical sleight information or routines taught.

Not to mention this DVD is now UKGareth approved.

[Mike]

Once you have a basic knowledge of coin magic, there are some really great things you can do. I'd suggest Dan Watkin's "Coin Man Walking", Rune Klan's "Three Pieces of Silver", or a personal favorite, Chris Kenner's "Out of Control".

These are all beginner to advacned coin DVD's/Books, but the coin work is incredible. Some people (myself included) may have seen the Ammar DVD, but been left wanting more impressive applications of the sleights and principles.

[Exitmat]

Once you have a basic knowledge of coin magic, there are some really great things you can do. I'd suggest Dan Watkin's "Coin Man Walking", Rune Klan's "Three Pieces of Silver", or a personal favorite, Chris Kenner's "Out of Control".

These are all beginner to advacned coin DVD's/Books, but the coin work is incredible. Some people (myself included) may have seen the Ammar DVD, but been left wanting more impressive applications of the sleights and principles.

Thanks for the recommendations, Mike--I'll definitely give some of those a look. I was left wanting more out of coin magic after I had the basics down too, so I picked up Revolutionary Coin Magic from Jay Sankey. Killer coin work. I only do a couple tricks off it, but one of them is Mr. Clean Coins Across, and to me that's the greatest coin effects I've ever seen. I think Greg Wilson has my favorite coin magic--he works with pocket change most of the time, which is what I like to work with as well. I've always been turned off to magicians pulling out half dollars, silver dollars, hungarian pennies, etc.

Anyhow, the reason I decided to throw a review up on Ammar's DVD is I was in my local magic shop recently and I was watching a couple guys perform these somewhat difficult coin routines and it just looked--not bad, but not good either (awkward hand movements, confusing plot, and every now and then flashes). They were showing it to laymen and the laymen just looked bored and unimpressed.

Then this older magician came in and did some coin magic--really simple stuff like false transfers, simple vanishes--stuff like coin through the pocket--and the laymen had their jaws on the floor. The guy was just doing simple stuff that he didn't have to think about, and just being natural and really focusing on presenting the simple stuff like it was real magic and it was really effective. I've seen this kind of stuff happen a number of times and it's really left an impact on me. So when I came home I put Ammar's DVD in and rediscovered the effectiveness of simple coin magic.

[SportzFSU]

I will probaly be buying this DVD now. The buying lsit is growing and growing.