Volume 3 | Cylinder and Coins
This is the only book of the three that is written by Tim Conover. This was a book he was almost finished writing at the time of his death about his favorite trick of all time. It opens with a Preface from Eric Mead, Acknowledgments from Tim Conover, an Introduction which covers a myriad of Tim’s thoughts about the piece, Tim’s Personal History with the effect, and a section titled Ramsay Lessons that discusses the lessons you should learn before performing the trick.
The basic effect of all of these routines is that four coins vanish one at a time and reappear under a cork that is hidden in a cylinder of leather. Then the cork is held in the hand, and the coins are kept in the cylinder. One by one, the coins reappear at the fingertips, and the cork vanishes and reappears under the cylinder. I suggest watching Eric Mead’s performance of the trick on Fool Us if you aren’t familiar with the effect.
Classic Cylinder and Coins – This is Tim’s take on the Ramsay classic, where the vanish is performed with just four regular silver dollars.
This is the full explanation of the routine, including how to handle the props, Tim’s changes, and the changes Tim has borrowed from other performers. This version uses a classic move for the first vanish, a feint for the second, the first vanish repeated for the third, and a wand steal for the fourth. The appearance of the four coins is Tim’s creation and allows two coins to appear in each hand. The moves aren’t incredibly difficult, but they are challenging to achieve without the coins making noise, which is the whole game you’re playing with this trick.
Downs Palm Cylinder and Coins – This version is done with retention vanishes and Downs Palm.
Since the whole routine has already been taught, this explanation just covers the vanish of the four coins because everything else is identical. The Downs Palm allows for the hands to look more empty, but it has drawbacks of being less angle friendly and more difficult to do. I can’t effectively do the moves for this version.
Simplified Cylinder and Coins – This version was created to be easier to perform while hiding the “talk” of the coins.
Once again, just the vanishing of the coins is taught as that’s all that’s different here. The first three coins all vanish in virtually the exact same way, and the last one vanishes in a way that leaves the coins where they need to be without any additional moves before the reappearances.
Dream Cylinder and Coins – This is Tim’s preferred method. It’s his ideal method for the effect.
Since it’s his dream version, we get a full explanation of all aspects of the routine. This version introduces a shell to help make the vanishes easier, and the benefit is huge. It makes the first two vanishes way cleaner (and easier.) This is the version Eric performed a variation of to win his trophy on Fool Us. It’s really great choreography, and the psychology of the vanishes leaves the audience thinking they’re following along, only to get the rug pulled out from under them.
Cylinder and Coins and a Ring – The same effect as the previous ones, but done with a ring instead of a cork.
Tim’s approach to using a ring is clever. It eliminates some of the convincing moves you get to do with a cork, but the benefit is that it’s a more “normal” object. Plus, since the object is metal, there’s an added suggestion of impossibility since they didn’t hear the coins arriving under the genuine metal ring. Only the beginning and end are taught since you can use any vanish and reproduction sequence from the book.
Mint Condition Cylinder and Coins – This version allows you to use “normal wear” coins. All of the others up to this point require soft coins to keep the coins from “talking.” This gets rid of that problem, but introduces another sound problem to be aware of.
Here, Tim introduces a second shell into the mix. It gives you the benefit of only having to palm two coins instead of three or four, making that even easier. It also means the first two vanishes are exceptionally clean and easy to do, with no real sleight of hand being needed until the third vanish. Tim says he doesn’t prefer this handling because you have to take some extra care to keep the shells from talking, but I actually prefer this handling. I think the extra care you have to take with the shells is better than the extra care to keep the regular coins from talking, and the benefit of the cleanliness of the vanishes makes it a worthwhile trade. I am going to begin working on perfecting this version. It’s my personal favorite.
The book ends with Tim walking us through his Presentation for the effect,
a Buddy Smith Chapter where he challenges you to “do it the hard way”, a chapter titled Uncharted Territory and Final Thoughts that leaves us with Tim’s last words on the subject, and a Bibliography.
Overall, I am happy with my purchase. Of course, the books are well produced and very well written, which is always the expectation when Vanishing Inc releases a book. I think there are 3 or 4 real gems here. If you were planning on purchasing just for the mentalism alone, I’m not sure this will be worth it to you. If you are mainly into card magic, this definitely isn’t for you. However, if you enjoy reading very well thought out, well choreographed, and well executed routines, you will find loads of those here. It’s clear why Tim has been held in such high esteem by his peers. He thinks about every little detail and structures his magic so that there is great economy. He often gets way ahead of his audiences, so that by the time they are watching closely, the dirty work is already done. I admire that the most about his approach; I find it inspiring. I also really enjoyed reading his thought process in the third book. Even if you don’t want to perform the Cylinder and Coins routine, seeing how he dives deep into a topic to find the best of the best to use in his routine and never gives up on the pursuit to make something better is a great example of the pursuit we should all be taking.
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