Al Desmond – Unseen Forces

The magician displays a single playing card and an ordinary half dollar. The card is held at the very tips of the thumb and first finger. The card is shown both sides and then the half dollar is laid on the back of the card. The performer extents his arm out, holding the card away from his body. Suddenly the coin begins to rise off the back of the card. The coin moves up, over and then settles back on the card. The coin can be immediately handed to the spectator for examination. There are NO THREADS, NO MAGNETS and NO SLEIGHTS. The coin appears to float almost a half inch off the surface of the card.

During the summer of 1980 I was trying to adapt the concepts of the classic Rapping Spirit Hand to a close up, pocket sized effect. I had this little rubber hand and I wanted to see if I could cause it to tap on the back of a playing card. That September at the TAOM convention, I showed my little rubber hand and gaffed playing card to John Cornelius. Typical of John, the creative juices started to flow, and he made a number of suggestions. “Let’s use a coin instead of the hand,” …you want the edge of the card to be only one card thick…” and so on. I made the adjustments and the results were…. Unseen Forces.