Palming is a technique for holding or concealing an object in the palm of the hand. It is used frequently by magician

Magic (illusion)

Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...

s to conceal the presence of a card, coin, or other object. When done skillfully, the hand containing the palmed object appears to be completely empty.

Methods

Methods for palming differ depending on the object intended to be concealed. The most commonly concealed objects by close-up magicians are coins and playing card

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s.

Coins

To palm a coin, the coin should be held between the muscle which forms the base of the thumb, and the fleshy portion of the side of the palm beneath the little finger. Slight lateral pressure should be used to hold the coin in place. From most angles, the hand should appear to be in a natural, relaxed position. A common misconception is that the coin should sit in the center of the palm, however, this is ineffective as the hand takes on a 'cramped' and 'cow-udder' shape.

With practice, one can easily palm coins (and similarly shaped objects) of varying sizes. Smaller objects take more practice to palm naturally, however, and many people prefer to learn using the American half dollar coin.

Playing Cards

Due to their size, playing cards are considerably more challenging to palm effectively than coins. Because of this, several different methods have been devised.

Uses

Palming an object generally allows for one of three effects to take place.

• Vanishing an object can be achieved by palming it. Used properly, the object will seem to have disappeared completely, and the performer's hands will appear to be empty. The palmed object can then be skillfully transferred to the opposite hand, or secretly disposed of, allowing the performer's hands to be shown as actually empty.
• Producing an object can also be achieved by palming it out of sight of the viewer, or after the object has been "vanished" into the palm. Proper handling can give the appearance of two empty hands, and can conceal the origin of the item.
• Transposing two different objects can be achieved by simultaneously releasing one item from a palm grip, while inserting another. In this way, a card or coin can be made to appear to change into a different type or color.