The setup
Stand facing your spectator, with them slightly to your left. Hold a coin on your open left palm at chest height. Hold a pencil in your right hand like a wand, point toward the coin.
- Make the promise. Say the coin will vanish on the count of three. Ask them to watch the coin closely. Everything depends on them actually doing that.
- Count one. Raise the pencil up beside your right ear in a big, rhythmic arc, then bring it down to tap the coin. Count “one.”
- Count two. Repeat exactly the same arc: pencil up beside the ear, down to tap. Count “two.” You are teaching them the rhythm.
- Lose the pencil. On the third upswing, tuck the pencil behind your right ear and leave it there. Bring your right hand down at the same speed, in the same arc, and mime the tap as you say “three.”
- Play the failure. Look at the coin, which is still there. Look at your empty right hand. “Well, that went wrong.” Let them notice the pencil is gone.
- Reveal. Turn your head to the left so they can see the pencil behind your ear. Laughter is the correct audience response.
Why it works: The first two counts make the arc boring. Attention stays on the coin, and the third arc looks identical, so nobody watches the hand that disappeared up beside your head.
The real ending
If you have learned the quiet coin vanish, do not reveal the pencil right away. Instead, take the coin “into” your right hand using the false transfer, and say you will try again without the pencil. Open the right hand: the coin is gone too. Only then turn your head to show the pencil.
Angles
The pencil behind your right ear is visible from your right side, so keep your spectator to your front-left. This is excellent for kids sitting in front of you; it is weaker for a crowd in a circle.
Next: The salt shaker through the table