# I've seen the coin through the table trick before but this guy is good. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027 "2010-05-11T09:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/1 "2010-05-11T09:04:32Z")
I can’t understand a word that he is saying but I do love closeup magic. Have a look at [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hwVy_2eOfsE). Any ideas how he does it? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/2 "2010-05-11T09:33:29Z")
I have an idea, but I’m not going to spoil it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/3 "2010-05-11T09:52:59Z")
Well to be honest the question was just a tease, I don’t really want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/4 "2010-05-11T11:09:04Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I can’t understand a word that he is saying but I do love closeup magic. Have a look at [this](http://www.youtube.comwatch_popup?v=hwVy_2eOfsE#t=78). Any ideas how he does it? The link isn’t working for me. I’m getting > [@](#): > > You are not connected to the Internet. > The website is encountering problems. > There might be a typing error in the address. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/5 "2010-05-11T11:11:35Z")
Likewise. Is Youtube being a meany with its access again? ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/6 "2010-05-11T11:16:34Z")
Try [this link](http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hwVy_2eOfsE). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/7 "2010-05-11T11:55:46Z")
Odd. The link I received still works. I simply copied it to my OP. Here is the whole thing again. **Flip Pancake** ’s link just seems to be the last trick. [http://www.youtube.com/watch\_popup?v=hwVy\_2eOfsE#t=78](http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hwVy_2eOfsE#t=78) which looks no different to the OP but - On preview this works. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/8 "2010-05-11T14:59:11Z")
I want to know how he puts his hand through! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/9 "2010-05-11T15:04:29Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hwVy_2eOfsE) > > which looks no different to the OP but - On my browser, the “/” between “[youtube.com](http://youtube.com)” and “watch\_popup?” is missing in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/10 "2010-05-11T15:08:51Z")
That’s pretty cool. I don’t think the people sitting behind him are getting their money’s worth, though… ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/11 "2010-05-11T16:56:58Z")
The magician’s name is Lu ‘Louis’ Chen by the way. I think that clip was from a Spring Festival variety show held in China in February. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/12 "2010-05-11T17:21:18Z")
I’m fairly certain I know how he did every single trick (except putting his hand through the glass). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/13 "2010-05-11T17:48:50Z")
My Dad was a magician, and this type of close-up magic is, to me, the best and purest form. A truly skilled magician can entertain for hours with stuff he or she can carry in a pocket - a deck of cards, a few coins or a length of rope. He could do this anywhere, with any table. When I was a kid, I’d travel to magician’s conventions with my Dad. There were lectures on techniques, a “Dealer’s Room” to buy equipment, books and illusions (typically a sheet or two of paper in a sealed envelope selling for $20) and official showcases. But the halls of the convention hotel were filled with magicians showing bits to each other - imagine a magician to audience member ratio of 20:1. I saw some amazing magic. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/14 "2010-05-11T18:15:44Z")
Watch when he, the magician, places ‘three’ coins in the guy’s hand. That is NOT three coins, and the magician does NOT take one of the supposed three coins. The magician, subsequently, has no coin in his right hand to magically push through the table, but he does have one in the left hand (duh) to make it appear he pushed one through. Note: when magician pretends to grab a coin from the guy’s hand, he 1) pulls the guy’s hand into a certain position, then 2) does a little extra bump before he acts like he took a coin. What he did was snap the bogus coins together, to make them look like just two coins. They are a prop, carefully positioned and carefully manipulated. So, there are NOT three whole coins in the helper’s hand. It’s a prop that looks like three coins and can then appear to be two. He doesn’t grab a coin, he manipulates the prop. The rest is standard stuff where he has a coin in his other hand that ‘magically’ appears below the table. Re-watch with this commentary in mind and you’ll ‘get it’ immediately. . ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/15 "2010-05-11T18:25:09Z")
Although I could be wrong… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/16 "2010-05-11T18:36:52Z")
He is indeed very good - I have a theory that could explain at least some of the coin trickery: Two of the coins are magnetized. When he places them carefully with like poles touching, the coins slide to the side (as happens when you try to put any two magnets together). A firm slap causes one of the coins to flip over, bringing them into alignment and making them look like a single coin, hence the various disappearances. His ring is also magnetized, allowing him to manipulate coins through the glass table. One of the giveaways (assuming I’m correct) comes at 3:33 when he dumps a coin out of the bowl. It doesn’t bounce on the table, as one might expect, but lands with a single “clack” sound, neatly overlapping another coin, exactly in the manner the coins were aligned when he started the trick. This suggests to me the dropped coin is sticking to the first, as by magnetism. As for his hand through the glassThe table is circular and the panel he is facing can be rotated. He misdirects everyone to look at the stooge’s hand holding the coins under the table and rotates the panel partly at 4:41 to 4:45, covering the hole with his unmoving left hand, completes the slide at 5:25 (the camera is very cooperative at moving to a table-level view at this point). His hands shake a little at 6:15 when he tries to hold them steady while one of the back-seat confederates rotates the panel back to its original position, where the hole will be hidden under the white teacup at his left elbow which otherwise serves no purpose in the demonstration. I cheerfully admit that these are only _possible_ explanations. Even if true, they in no way diminish my admiration for the skill behind the performance. I’m a little annoyed by zooming camera work, though, I’d rather have a fixed perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/17 "2010-05-11T19:59:17Z")
The most telling is when he drops the coing through the table without the mat covering it. His ring is a magnet, the coins are steel coins. He puts the coin on the table, puts his hand over it. The coin then sticks to the ring OVER the table. He then slams the cup of coins underneath the glass, causing one to jump up and stick. When he lifts his hand away, the coin falls into the cup. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/18 "2010-05-11T20:26:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As for his hand through the glassThe table is circular and the panel he is facing can be rotated. He misdirects everyone to look at the stooge’s hand holding the coins under the table and rotates the panel partly at 4:41 to 4:45, covering the hole with his unmoving left hand, completes the slide at 5:25 (the camera is very cooperative at moving to a table-level view at this point). His hands shake a little at 6:15 when he tries to hold them steady while one of the back-seat confederates rotates the panel back to its original position, where the hole will be hidden under the white teacup at his left elbow which otherwise serves no purpose in the demonstration. The above explanation delivers for me. The seating arrangement doesn’t make sense otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/19 "2010-05-11T20:51:13Z")
Additionally, regarding the hand-through-table trick:Even with the cooperation of the camera operator, whose movements obscure the trick mechanics as much as possible, it’s important to wipe off the finger smudges before the rotation, because they could make the rotation painfully obvious. Also, the panel he is facing is not level with the ones on his sides - this is most apparent at around 5:41 ---
**Author:** ![Improvisor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/50afbb/32.png) [@Improvisor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improvisor)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027/20 "2010-05-11T21:59:03Z")
No comment on the magic… but it’s good to know that magician’s wear goofy shirts all over the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-seen-the-coin-through-the-table-trick-before-but-this-guy-is-good/539027.md?page=2)