Sleight of hand
Encyclopedia
Sleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation ("quick fingers") or legerdemain, is the set of techniques used by a magic
ian (or card sharp
) to manipulate objects such as cards and coins secretly.
Sleight of hand is not a separate branch of magic, but rather one of the means used by a magician to produce an effect. It can be contrasted with the flourish, where the magician intentionally displays skills, such as the ability to cut cards one-handed, which is akin to juggling
. Advanced sleight of hand requires months or years of practice before it can be performed proficiently in front of spectators. Sleight of hand is mostly employed in close-up magic, but it can also be used in stage magic. There are hundreds of different sleights at the performer's disposal, but they can generally be classified into groups such as switches, changes, and others.
There are several stories about magicians using sleight of hand in real life, such as when American illusionist David Copperfield
claimed to have used sleight of hand to fool a mugger
into thinking he had nothing in his pockets while carrying a cellphone, passport and wallet.
slœgð, meaning cleverness, cunning, slyness.
Sleight of hand is often mistakenly written as slight of hand or slide of hand. Slight descends from the Old Norse
slettr, meaning plain, flat, even, smooth, level.
Seneca the Younger
, in the 1st century CE, famously compared rhetoric
techniques and illusionist techniques.
. The guiding principle of sleight-of-hand, articulated by legendary close-up magician Dai Vernon
, is "be natural." A well-performed sleight looks like an ordinary, natural and completely innocent gesture, change in hand-position or body posture.
It is commonly believed that sleight of hand works because “the hand is quicker than the eye” but this is usually not the case. In addition to manual dexterity, sleight of hand depends on the use of psychology, timing, misdirection, and natural choreography in accomplishing a magical effect. Misdirection is perhaps the most important component of the art of sleight of hand. The magician choreographs his actions so that all spectators are likely to look where he or she wants them to. More importantly, they do not look where the performer does not wish them to look. Two types of misdirection are timing and movement. Timing is simple: by allowing a small amount of time to pass after an action, events are skewed in the viewer's mind. Movement is a little more complicated. A phrase often used is "A larger action covers a smaller action." Care must be taken however to not make the larger action so big that it becomes suspicious.
Another common misconception is that close-up magic must utilize either sleight of hand or some kind of rigged apparatus. However, as Henry Hay's Cyclopedia of Magic says,
In "The Trick Brain", Fitzkie identifies 17 fundamental effects in magic. However it is debatable that the changes in position, material, form, color, size, temperature and weight could all be classified as a change.
The given list is definitely wrong. The list is of Winston Freer published in “The Linking Rings” that was listed in "The Trick Barain" on p.24.
Fitzkee's list is of 19 fundamental effects which are published on p.25.
1. Production (Appearance, creation, multiplication)
2. Vanish (Disappearance, obliteration)
3. Transposition (Change in location)
4. Transformation (Change in appearance, character or identity)
5. Penetration (One solid through another)
6. Restoration (Making the destroyed whole)
7. Animation (Movement imparted to the inanimate)
8. Anti-Gravity (Levitation and change in weight)
9. Attraction (Mysterious adhesion)
10. Sympathetic Reaction (Sympathy response)
11. Invulnerability (Injury Proof)
12. Physical Anomaly ((Contradictions, abnormalities, freaks)
13. Spectator Failure (Magicians’ challenge)
14. Control (Mind over the inanimate)
15. Identification (Specific discovery)
16. Thought reading (Mental perception, mind reading)
17. Thought Transmission (Thought projection and transference)
18. Prediction (Foretelling the future)
19. Extra Sensory Perception (Unusual perception, other than mind)
Fitzkee groups the 19 types of effects into 3 main divisions:
1.-12. belong to the physical group
13.-14. carry a suggestion of mind dominance
15.-19. are entirely mental in character
games, in street con games
such as the three-shell game
, or three-card monte
to steal, or, in some cases, to claim supernatural powers, as in the performances of some 19th- and early 20th-century spirit
mediums
. For this reason, the term "sleight of hand" frequently carries negative associations of dishonesty and deceit, and is also used metaphorically outside the above contexts. The techniques used by gamblers, however, are often very different from those employed by magicians; similarly, the techniques used by some psychics or spirit mediums
are often different from those found in "straight" close-up magic and mentalism
. The differences, however, are due to the different working conditions and the different degrees of proximity between spectators and performer; the same basic techniques and approaches are common in all the areas of deception mentioned.
, John Scarne
, Jay Sankey
, Dai Vernon
, Roy Walton
, David Copperfield
, Tony Slydini
, David Roth
, Ed Marlo
, Tommy Wonder, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay
, David Blaine
, Teller
of Penn and Teller, Rocco Silano
, Lu Chen, Larry Jennings
, Dynamo
, Alexander Herrmann
, and Lance Burton
.
Performers often encourage their audience to believe they have used sleight of hand when they are actually using another principle or gimmick as the means of misdirecting the audience. For example, if one is performing something as simple as the appearing/disappearing coins using a thumb tip
, the trick lies in the gimmick, but the audience is led to believe that the performer has done something very complex to hide the coins. This directs them away from thinking of a method as simple as the thumb tip.
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...
ian (or card sharp
Card sharp
A card sharp is a person who uses skill and deception to win at poker or other card games...
) to manipulate objects such as cards and coins secretly.
Sleight of hand is not a separate branch of magic, but rather one of the means used by a magician to produce an effect. It can be contrasted with the flourish, where the magician intentionally displays skills, such as the ability to cut cards one-handed, which is akin to juggling
Juggling
Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
. Advanced sleight of hand requires months or years of practice before it can be performed proficiently in front of spectators. Sleight of hand is mostly employed in close-up magic, but it can also be used in stage magic. There are hundreds of different sleights at the performer's disposal, but they can generally be classified into groups such as switches, changes, and others.
There are several stories about magicians using sleight of hand in real life, such as when American illusionist David Copperfield
David Copperfield (illusionist)
David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...
claimed to have used sleight of hand to fool a mugger
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
into thinking he had nothing in his pockets while carrying a cellphone, passport and wallet.
Etymology and history
Sleight, meaning dexterity or deceptiveness, comes from the Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
slœgð, meaning cleverness, cunning, slyness.
Sleight of hand is often mistakenly written as slight of hand or slide of hand. Slight descends from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
slettr, meaning plain, flat, even, smooth, level.
Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, in the 1st century CE, famously compared rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
techniques and illusionist techniques.
Sleight of hand in close-up magic
Sleight of hand is often used in close-up magic, performed with the audience close to the magician, usually within three or four meters, possibly in physical contact. It often makes use of everyday items as props, such as cards and coinsCoin magic
Coin magic is a general term for magical performances employing one or more coins which are manipulated to deceive and baffle the audience. Because coins are small, much coin magic is considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects...
. The guiding principle of sleight-of-hand, articulated by legendary close-up magician Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon , aka The Professor, was a Canadian magician. His expert sleight-of-hand technique and extensive knowledge garnered him respect among fellow magicians. His influence was considerable in the magic world, and he was a mentor to numerous famous magicians...
, is "be natural." A well-performed sleight looks like an ordinary, natural and completely innocent gesture, change in hand-position or body posture.
It is commonly believed that sleight of hand works because “the hand is quicker than the eye” but this is usually not the case. In addition to manual dexterity, sleight of hand depends on the use of psychology, timing, misdirection, and natural choreography in accomplishing a magical effect. Misdirection is perhaps the most important component of the art of sleight of hand. The magician choreographs his actions so that all spectators are likely to look where he or she wants them to. More importantly, they do not look where the performer does not wish them to look. Two types of misdirection are timing and movement. Timing is simple: by allowing a small amount of time to pass after an action, events are skewed in the viewer's mind. Movement is a little more complicated. A phrase often used is "A larger action covers a smaller action." Care must be taken however to not make the larger action so big that it becomes suspicious.
Another common misconception is that close-up magic must utilize either sleight of hand or some kind of rigged apparatus. However, as Henry Hay's Cyclopedia of Magic says,
"Many small tricks, especially card tricks, require neither apparatus nor sleight of hand; much apparatus of the "gimmick" type does not require sleight of hand. Illusions, because they deal with objects too big to hold in the hand, are one class of magic that seldom require sleight of hand--though even here sleight of hand "forcing" may be called into play. There are successful illusionists and apparatus conjurers who can do no sleight of hand at all, but their difficulties and restrictions deserve our sympathy rather than our scorn."
Principles
Wikipedia should rectify the following information. The correct information is given below. Even the name Fitzkee is spelled incorrectly.In "The Trick Brain", Fitzkie identifies 17 fundamental effects in magic. However it is debatable that the changes in position, material, form, color, size, temperature and weight could all be classified as a change.
- Production
- Vanish
- Change in position
- Change in material
- Change in form
- Change in color
- Change in size
- Change in temperature
- Change in weight
- Magnetism
- Levitation
- Penetration
- Restoration
- Remote control
- Sympathy
- Divination (Comprising all feats of mental magic)
- Prediction
The given list is definitely wrong. The list is of Winston Freer published in “The Linking Rings” that was listed in "The Trick Barain" on p.24.
Fitzkee's list is of 19 fundamental effects which are published on p.25.
1. Production (Appearance, creation, multiplication)
2. Vanish (Disappearance, obliteration)
3. Transposition (Change in location)
4. Transformation (Change in appearance, character or identity)
5. Penetration (One solid through another)
6. Restoration (Making the destroyed whole)
7. Animation (Movement imparted to the inanimate)
8. Anti-Gravity (Levitation and change in weight)
9. Attraction (Mysterious adhesion)
10. Sympathetic Reaction (Sympathy response)
11. Invulnerability (Injury Proof)
12. Physical Anomaly ((Contradictions, abnormalities, freaks)
13. Spectator Failure (Magicians’ challenge)
14. Control (Mind over the inanimate)
15. Identification (Specific discovery)
16. Thought reading (Mental perception, mind reading)
17. Thought Transmission (Thought projection and transference)
18. Prediction (Foretelling the future)
19. Extra Sensory Perception (Unusual perception, other than mind)
Fitzkee groups the 19 types of effects into 3 main divisions:
1.-12. belong to the physical group
13.-14. carry a suggestion of mind dominance
15.-19. are entirely mental in character
Deceit
Sleight-of-hand techniques can also be used to cheat in gamblingGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
games, in street con games
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
such as the three-shell game
Shell game
The shell game is portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud...
, or three-card monte
Three-card Monte
Three-card Monte, also known as the Three-card marney, Three-card trick, Three-Way, Three-card shuffle, Menage-a-card, Triplets, Follow the lady, Les Trois Perdants , le Bonneteau, Find the lady, or Follow the Bee is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a...
to steal, or, in some cases, to claim supernatural powers, as in the performances of some 19th- and early 20th-century spirit
mediums
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
. For this reason, the term "sleight of hand" frequently carries negative associations of dishonesty and deceit, and is also used metaphorically outside the above contexts. The techniques used by gamblers, however, are often very different from those employed by magicians; similarly, the techniques used by some psychics or spirit mediums
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
are often different from those found in "straight" close-up magic and mentalism
Mentalism
Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Performances may appear to include telepathy, clairvoyance, divination, precognition, psychokinesis, mediumship, mind control, memory feats and rapid...
. The differences, however, are due to the different working conditions and the different degrees of proximity between spectators and performer; the same basic techniques and approaches are common in all the areas of deception mentioned.
Performers
Some well-known performers of sleight-of-hand and close-up magic have been Brian BrushwoodBrian Brushwood
Brian Brushwood is an American magician who performs nationwide. He is especially well known for his display of bizarre magic. He is known to perform fire-eating, escapes, breaking a cinder block over his head, sticking nails in his eyes and nose, sticking needles through his palm, reading minds,...
, John Scarne
John Scarne
John Scarne was an American magician and book author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, gambling, and related topics.-Early life:...
, Jay Sankey
Jay Sankey
Jay Sankey is a Canadian close-up magician and creator of magic effects. He has been an active stage performer since the mid-1980s. David Copperfield performed Sankey's trick "Airtight." Sankey also develops tricks for Criss Angel....
, Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon
Dai Vernon , aka The Professor, was a Canadian magician. His expert sleight-of-hand technique and extensive knowledge garnered him respect among fellow magicians. His influence was considerable in the magic world, and he was a mentor to numerous famous magicians...
, Roy Walton
Roy Walton
Roy Walton is a card magic expert from England who currently lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. First interested in magic at the age of eight, Roy Walton is a world-recognized card magician creating hundreds of card effects, including his most famous effect, Card warp. He has mentored numerous...
, David Copperfield
David Copperfield (illusionist)
David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...
, Tony Slydini
Tony Slydini
Tony Slydini , also known simply as 'Slydini', was a world renowned magician. Best known as a master of close-up artistry, he served as inspiration to a generation of magicians, including Doug Henning....
, David Roth
David Roth
David Roth is an American magician.Roth is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest living coin magicians. Roth is known both for tremendous technical mastery and for playful and surrealistic formal performance pieces...
, Ed Marlo
Ed Marlo
Ed Marlo was a magician who specialized in card magic. He referred to himself and others of his specialty as "cardicians"....
, Tommy Wonder, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
, David Blaine
David Blaine
David Blaine is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records...
, Teller
Teller (magician)
Teller is an American magician, illusionist, comedian, writer, and the frequently silent half of the comedy magic duo Penn & Teller, along with Penn Jillette. He legally changed his name from "Raymond Joseph Teller" to just "Teller"...
of Penn and Teller, Rocco Silano
Rocco Silano
- Biography :Silano was born June 12, 1962, in Paterson, New Jersey. Early on in his career, Rocco studied with and was managed by sleight-of-hand expert and Tony Slydini protege Bill Wisch. Later, Rocco was introduced to Slydini by Bill and Rocco took lessons with Slydini as well...
, Lu Chen, Larry Jennings
Larry Jennings
Larry Jennings, , was a magician. He is known for his card techniques and has eight books published by him or written about him. He is also known for being close friends with fellow magician, Dai Vernon.-Biography:...
, Dynamo
Dynamo (magician)
Steven Frayne is an English magician who performs under the stage-name of Dynamo.-Biography:Frayne grew up on Bradford's deprived Delph Hill Estate in the north of England. He first learned magic from his grandfather and developed it during trips to New Orleans...
, Alexander Herrmann
Alexander Herrmann
Alexander Herrmann was a French magician, better known as Herrmann the Great. He was part of the Herrmann family name that is known as the "first-family of magic". Those who witnessed Herrmann the Great perform considered him the greatest magician they ever saw...
, and Lance Burton
Lance Burton
Lance Burton is a stage illusionist. He has appeared on numerous television programs, and also performed for Queen Elizabeth and President Ronald Reagan...
.
Performers often encourage their audience to believe they have used sleight of hand when they are actually using another principle or gimmick as the means of misdirecting the audience. For example, if one is performing something as simple as the appearing/disappearing coins using a thumb tip
Thumb tip
A thumb tip is a magician's prop used for vanishing, producing, or switching small objects. A classic effect is to have a silk handkerchief or other small object pressed into the top of the left fist. After pushing it well in with the right thumb, the left fist is opened to show the silk has...
, the trick lies in the gimmick, but the audience is led to believe that the performer has done something very complex to hide the coins. This directs them away from thinking of a method as simple as the thumb tip.