# Magic "Trick" - the French Roll **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545 "2004-06-22T01:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/1 "2004-06-22T01:22:13Z")
I’m not asking anyone to reveal any magic tricks because the “French Roll” isn’t really a trick. (Notice that I put the word “trick” in quotes?) I’m sure just about anyone reading this has seen a French Roll. No, not the pastry. Ever see somone get a coin (quarter, half dollar, etc) and roll it over the knuckles of their their clenched fist, index finger to pinky, bringing it back then repeating? I would like to know how this is done. Needless to say I’ve tried search engines but exact phrase searches of “French Roll” result in lots of pastry information. Yes I’ve even tried the “exclude pastry” “include magic” options but to no avail. Would anyone have a good site that teaches you how to do this? Or perhaps the SDMB has such a diverse membership, there is someone out there that could say how it is done? Remember Cecil some years back explained the cigarette swallowing “trick”? Well, maybe it is time to explain the elusive “mechanics” of the French Roll. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/2 "2004-06-22T01:40:04Z")
There’s no secret. If you’ve seen it done, you know how it works. Just move your fingers up and down smoothly to roll the coin over them. I think all that’s required is practice to become smooth. The only thing that might make it easier is finding a coin that fits your hand and makes it easier. A quarter may be a little too small. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/3 "2004-06-22T01:41:10Z")
[The knuckle roll](http://www.21ace.com/poker_chip_tricks_knuckle_roll.html) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/4 "2004-06-22T02:34:57Z")
Time. That’s all there is to it. I learned how to do this in the seventh grade after exhaustive practice 🆒. I wouldn’t have the same patience today. I found that American half dollars were the perfect size for this task. Quarters and Susan B. dollars were too small for my hands and Eisenhower dollars were to darned cumbersome. Even though I’m a righty, I find it far easier to do this with my left hand. I started with rolling the coin back and forth across the knuckles (actually behind the knuckles) until I got relatively proficient and then I began the pass-under with the thumb at the end of the run. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/5 "2004-06-22T04:32:56Z")
By “exclude” you mean “-” and by “include” you mean “+”, right? Or have I been misgoogling forever? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/6 "2004-06-22T13:02:17Z")
It is simply a matter of practice. I taught myself to do it when I was fairly young after reading a book called Sneaky Feats. The right sized coin helps. I have recently found that the gold dollar coin in the US works very well for my hand size. Not to high-jack, but when I was in Japan I saw people take a pen and “flick” it around their thumbs and grab it again. That is a poor explanation, but if you have been to Japan, you will probably know straight off what I mean. Anyway, can anyone teach me to do this? I have tried and tried and it just doesn’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/7 "2004-06-22T16:11:28Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Not to high-jack, but when I was in Japan I saw people take a pen and “flick” it around their thumbs and grab it again. That is a poor explanation, but if you have been to Japan, you will probably know straight off what I mean. Anyway, can anyone teach me to do this? I have tried and tried and it just doesn’t work for me. They can probably help you [here](http://www.pentrix.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/8 "2004-06-22T18:05:29Z")
Pretty cool **tanstaafl** thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/9 "2004-06-22T19:02:53Z")
**Wolf\_meister** is right. This isn’t a trick. It’s what we in the trade would call a flourish. Although it’s the kind of thing that is probably known by several names, I don’t think ‘French roll’ is right. I would call it a Coin Roll or Knuckle Roll. Wolf may be confusing it with ‘French Drop’, which is a basic sleight of hand move. As several posters have pointed out, there’s no trick to the Coin Roll. Anyone can do it, but it takes practise. It’s just a case of moving ones fingers until the coin rotates across the back of the knuckles in the desired manner. Any coin is good so long as it works for you. Wolf may also like to know that some people practise until they can do this with two, three or four coins going at the same time (on the same hand). In other words, while one coin is passing from the first finger knuckle to the second finger knuckle, another is passing from the second to the third and so on. Even by the standards of the magic world, I think this is taking geekery too far! ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/10 "2004-06-23T01:10:33Z")
Thanks for all the replies. (and **TJDude** don’t worry about my terminology. I was just trying to express my search methods in plain English rather than abbreviate it. And yes, I use other search engines besides Google.) **Khadaji** , I believe Val Kilmer flips a pen through his fingers (like a “flourish”) in some of his movies. > **[Val Kilmer - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000174/bio)** > > Val Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Swanette (Ekstadt) and Eugene Dorris Kilmer, who was a real estate developer and aerospace ... Scroll down to “trademark”. **Reeder** That’s a good link. Think I’ll study that one. **ianzin** I only heard the “flourish” coin trick referred just once by name. It was on the Johnny Carson show and someone (a fellow amateur magician) said that he never could do a “French Roll” as Carson could. Of course I might have forgotten the correct term OR the person who said it got it wrong to begin with. I am also familiar with a card flourish (something else I can’t do). I’m sure everyone has seen this - a deck of cards is fanned out perfectly using one hand. Please, no links for this. I’ll be happy just learning how to do a coin “flourish”. Thanks all. * * * “Well King, this case is closed” (as Sergeant Preston used to say). ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/11 "2004-06-23T01:28:03Z")
I’ve never heard knuckle rolling referred to as “French roll”. Are you confusing it with a “French drop” which is indeed a coin trick technique? ---
**Author:** ![Darklon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@Darklon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darklon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magic-trick-the-french-roll/251545/12 "2004-06-23T07:23:47Z")
wolf\_meister, If you have a copy of Real Genius Val Kilmer does the coin roll your are talking about in one scene. He’s in professor Hathaway’s class and Gabe Jarett (his roommate in the movie) comes into the class to tell him something. Val’s character just kind of looks at him and keeps rolling the coins.