Magic tricks have been around for a long time and they were used to entertain people in the early times. Vanishing magic tricks are the most common ones any magician should know and they require minimal magic props. Here is everything you need to know about the French drop magic trick.
What Happens In The French Drop Magic Trick?
Before getting into the “magic” side of the French drop trick, it’s important to know how this trick goes down. A French drop magic trick is the trick, where you can use the sleight of hand to make small objects vanish. This is a very basic and common trick that a lot of magicians start with. This trick is very easy to master, once you get the hang of the hand movement and that’s why it’s important that you practice the sleight of hand along with swift speed.
So, the breakdown of this trick is that you hold a small coin on the index finger and thumb of one hand. You will show the audience the coin in your hand as well. Now, you will bring your second hand in front of the coin and conceal it, by holding the palm up. This is going to hide the coin and your fingers from the audience. Now, you will do some swift hand movement and once you remove the palm covering the coin, the coin will disappear. This is interesting and it leaves the audience in shock and awe.
This is the main gist of the French drop magic trick, but if you want, you can add another flair to it. You can make the coin reappear again in certain ways and those will be discussed in the guide later.
You can perform this trick with either a coin or you can also use a small ball or marble, but using a coin is pretty easy because it won’t roll over your hand a lot and it will stay put for the most part. Once you get better at this trick, however, you can experiment with different props and even make this trick a part of a bigger performance.
Supplies You Need
For the French drop magic trick, since it’s very easy, you’ll only need one thing, and that’s a coin. If you’re a beginner, then you can start off by using a very small coin, like a dime or nickel, and practice with that. A smaller coin is easier to maneuver and you can perfect the sleight of hand a lot easily with a smaller coin.
Once you get better at the trick, you can graduate to using larger coins like quarters for the performance. Usually, this trick is performed while sitting down, so you will need to have a small table and chair set up in front of you. You can sit on one side, while the audience member can sit on the opposite side.
If you’re willing to try other small objects for the same trick, then you can use small balls, if you don’t have a coin handy, but want to go for something which is flat and small, so that it can be “vanished” easily. For better results, get a costume from Halloween costume shop Port Jefferson.
Step By Step Process Of Performing The French Drop Trick
Now that you know how the French drop magic trick is performed and what you need for it, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty details of how you can make a coin disappear in thin air.
- You will need to start by holding a coin in your dominant hand. Remember that this hand will do most of the magic trick, so make sure that you’re using your dominant hand for this. Hold the coin firmly between your pointer finger and your thumb. You can also show the front and the back of the coin to the audience, just for drama.
- With the coin still held in your dominant hand, bring the other hand over with the inside of the palm facing the coin. You want to put the palm on top of the coin in a way as if you’re trying to make a grab for the coin. Now, this is the place where you need to perfect the timing and act quickly. You don’t want to put the palm on top of your dominant hand for too long, otherwise, the trick will give itself away and the audience might catch up to what you’re trying to do. Try to be swift during this step. This is the part that you will need to practice over and over, to make sure that your hand movements are fluid.
- While the palm is concealing the dominant hand, you want to let the coin go and it will fall into the palm of your dominant hand. You will basically cup the coin in your palm, while the other hand will conceal what you’re trying to do. This is what’s called the French drop.
- As the coin is dropped, you want to form both of your hands in a fist. This will fool the audience into thinking that the coin is on the other hand and all of their attention will be on the non-dominant hand. But in reality, the coin is still in your dominant hand, to begin with. It’s just a mind game you’re trying to play on your audience.
- While the audience is still distracted by your non-dominant hand in a fist, you want to further fool the audience by showing some drama. You can make your eyes follow the movement of your non-dominant hand, in which the coin isn’t present, while you can tuck your dominant hand away from the table, in which the coin is present all along.
- Now it’s time for the reveal. With your non-dominant hand up in the air, still fisted, you want to slowly open your fingers and the audience will see that there is, in fact, no coin present in that palm. The dominant hand, however, that you’ve tucked away under the table has the coin, and while you’re keeping the audience transfixed on the other hand, you can drop the coin in your lap discreetly, and therefore the other hand won’t have the coin either.
- You can now show both of your hands, by unraveling your fingers from the fists you’ve made and the audience will get confirmation that the coin has seriously vanished.
- This is the basic French drop magic trick, but if you want, you can make the coin reappear as well. For this, you will need to ask another audience member to volunteer. As they’re coming forward, you can place the coin back in your fingers in a way that it’s concealed. You can then bring your hand towards the ear of the audience member and flick their hair once or twice and then make the coin reappear. This is going to make the French drop magic trick even more convincing.
Conclusion
This guide will show you how to master the French drop magic trick perfectly. You will get the hang of the trick in some time and become a pro at this vanishing trick. Get your supplies from a magic store.
