OKITO'S COIN VANISH By Richard Robinson The magician flips a coin in the air and catches it in his right hand. He then opens his hand, showing it front and back with the fingers wide apart. The coin has vanished. While this vanish has probably been around forever, the first description of it in detail appeared in Okito's book "Quality Magic" published in 1921. The move is one of the more brazen in the art of what magicians call sleeving. As Okito noted it is an easy sleight to do with practice, but a difficult one to do convincingly unless the timing is exactly right. Handling The traditional heads or tails move of flipping a coin is the basis of spinning the coin up in the air, although to a greater height than the normal flipping move. The coin must travel up to a point where the arm can be extended. As the coin travels up and then begins to fall the performer turns his arm so the back of the hand is towards the spectators. The second finger of the extended hand should line up with the falling coin. The coin falls down behind the hand, at which point the spectators no longer see the coin. The hand apparently closes around the coin, catching it. The hand is opened to show the coin has vanished. The hand is then turned palm down. In reality the coin travels down behind the hand and falls into the sleeve. In learning the move, if the coin trajectory is wrong, the performer can catch it with the fingers and immediately release it to fall into the sleeve. If the shirt sleeve is loose enough, the coin can go into the shirt. Many performers prefer to pull up the shirt sleeve at the shoulder so it is snug against the arm which allows the coin to fall into the coat sleeve. Handling Details The natural magical tendency would be to flip the coin once or twice before working the vanish. However Okito implies that it is best to avoid this, simply spinning the coin up, catching it and then opening the hand to show it is gone. Performance Notes The diameter and weight of the coin will influence the handling to a certain extent. Work with a larger, heavier coin until the move can be done successfully, then decide on the coin to be used and practice with that coin.