Al Koran - Jackpot Coins
Al Koran - Jackpot Coins
Get hold of. about ten shillings worth of pennies and place them
on one side of the partitioned bag. Have it opened so that the
money is readily available. Place bag {containing the coins}
on a table and get a spectator from the audience to help you.
ment.
I want you to reach into the bag ..• take some coins ••• and make
sure that your fist is CLOSED before it comes into view. The
idea being that I want you to be sure that I cannot possibly
know how much you have in y ou r hand ..••. "
he has a lot there or not ... Try it with some coins yourself
to get the idea. If he HAS, Al Koran has evolved a very clever
dodge which suits your bill admirably •.. he says .. "Take about
half of the coins in the other hand ... which hand will you use? 11
Whatever they say, ask them to drop the unwanted coins back
into the bag ... making the point that they should drop their hand
INTO the bag so that the actual coins cannot be seen.
You now ask him to raise his hand {holding the unknown quant-
ity of coins} to about your chest level. Now follows a piece
of "business" which you should take advantage of. .• With your
fingertips feel their hand .. delicately ... and press gently III
different places •.. move their hand slightly up and down. Run
your thumb across your fingertips ... ruh the fingertips across
the palm of your other hand .. the i d e a is to give the impression
that you are making your fingertips more sensative for this
delicate operation of trying to l'weight_upll how much they have
in their hand! Do nt t overdo it. . but done properly, it is good
showmanship.
"Now ... I shall join in the fun and take some coins myself. 11
Put your hand into the bag ... you can turn your head aside, if
you wish, while doing this, and close your fist before it comes
out of the bag .•. to convey the impression that it is just a
casual handful.. BUT .. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TAKE A REALLY
GOOD HANDFUL for you MUST have MORE coins that they
have at this moment. Don't overdo this. , remember your
e
Speak to helper, "Turn your back and count your coins ... very
quietly to your self and make sure that I cannot hear you. , make
sure your hand is CLOSED when you face us again, and make
sure that you REMEMBER how much you have! ! 11
liNow, I have the same amount as you. , . how much have you ,
got? Ninepence? Put it back in the kitty (bag)." Open
up your own fist again showing the coins on the upturned
~
palm .•. and with the other hand pick up the coins one by
one ar.d drop them deliberately into the bag as you count.
When you have put the ninth one in .•. CLOSE THE FIST ...
"Is that correct?"
"The third thing I said was that I would have enough left
over to make your s .. how much? . ,One and Six? Now YOU
had Ninepence .•. 11 You now drop the balance of the COins
into the bag, one at a time until you arrive at 1/6d.
s Irnp l e once you have grasped the idea ... Let is take the example
we have used in the routine. It is based on the fact that you
originally picked up One and Ninepence (21 pennies) ... we
decided to use flthree" for our "ov e r s!' ..• so you deduct t his
3 mentally from your 1/9d .. which leaves you with 1/6d (18
pennies) which amount you announce as your "third!! statement.
You therefore say III will have the same in my hand as you will
have in yours ... will have THREE OVER .. and will have enough
left over to make your s 1/ 6dll. He picked up Nine Pence (you
did not know this, of cour s e ) and when he announce s this, he
then drops them in the bag. You next drop in nine pennie s , to
match his. This action leaves you with 1/ - (12 pennies). You
next say .. "and Three o ve r " .. you drop; the three pennies in to
the bag ... and this leaves you with 9d, which amount is just
right to make his original (9d) up to the l/6d you stated he would
have! So you see, you don't have to worry how much he has
picked up in the first place! You just have to make sure that
you have p i ck e d up sufficiently more than he has!
Performer carries on ... "Now I'll take some coins (take a good
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weighing business with his closed fist and say "My first st at e-.
ment is that I have the same in my hand as you have in yours ..
FIVE OVER ... and enough left over to make yours 1/9 (21
pennies). Now to prove that I am RIGHT .... " At this point,
you casually pick up the bag, as if to "settle" the money in
the bag, and when you replace it on the table ... open the bag
so that the c o iri s can now be dropped in the other side of the
partition.
IINow ... count your money ... how much have you got? .. Ten
pence? •• That's fine •.. drop it in the kitty (bag}". Open your
own hand and taking the coins one by one, you drop ten into
the bag, with his. (Close your fist) "That's correct ... I have
the same 10. I said FIVE OVER". Drop the five more
pennies from your hand into the bag with the others (close
your fist) ... and enough left over to make how much? 1/0d .•
Now, you have 10d" ... continue counting from the amount,
dropping the coins in the bag and when you come to the last
coin ... leave in the palm of your hand for a moment .•. and
then drop it in as you say the last word. This can be very
dramatic if "timed" nicely.
"Let's try something different this time. Do you know ... there
are people who might think that it is a sort of mathematical
trick, and that I cou l dt nt really tell you how much you have
in your hand ... so let's do something different.
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Please take a few coins out (he naturally does so from the
"3j _lfside) •• , ,hold them tiglt in your hand", Do the
"weighing business" once again and say, •• "This time I am
e
As you say this, you take out the balance of the 3j =~ casu.ally
count it. •. (say i t Is 2/ = (24 pennies) pick up the bag and opening
the bag so that the other partition comes into play ..• drop your
coins into the o ri g i na l partition with the other coins .•. and say. , .
"you have exactly 1/ - (12 pennies) in your hand. Please drop
them into the ba g one at a time and count t he rn as you do ao.,
You may, if de sired tip the whole lot of coins out on the table
for final dramatic effect •.. but before deciding to do this, I
want to make a couple of comments based on what Al Koran
has told me.
He has found that the people talk later of the trick with the
!Imoneyil and NOT with pennies •.. there are plenty in an
audience who never realise that "pennie 8" only are used,
You are speaking of "two shillings and threepence" ••. Ilone
shilling and ni.n ep e nc e " .••. "two shillings" ... and Jlthree
shillings leads many to believe (even subconciously) that
coins of other denominations are used!
Harry Stanley.
Publishers note ;-
When Al ~oran originally performed this effect
in his series on telivision,he used old currency
which of course was in use at that time. Since
then the DeCimal coinage has been introduced,but
the trick works just the same.