Paul Cummins - Up In Smoke

Paul Cummins - Up In Smoke

This DVD is a 2004 re-release of Paul's same titled video released in 1999. If you missed it the first time around, do yourself a favor and don't miss it this time.

Up In Smoke is one of my favorite coin videos. It represents for me, one of those defining points in my personal coin magic that made me significantly better than I was before I watched it. A coin video had not affected me to this degree since the first time I laid eyes on the David Roth Expert Coin Magic Series (which were the videos that really got me launched down this love affair with coin magic).

The video is structured to show all the performances first, all the necessary foundational sleights are then taught, and then all of the explanations are given for the routines. The filming and sound quality is top notch studio made.

Every routine on the tape is very commercial, very useable, and extremely worthwhile for any extreme close-up (meaning standing face to face with your spectator) coin magic. Of the six coin routines presented on the tape, I learned, practiced, and routinely perform five of them. I can't remember another video that contained such a high percentage of usable material for me personally.

The key to four of the six coin routines presented is Paul's handling and performance management of version of the back clip which has been published by magicians such as Sol Stone and Harvey Rosenthal. The back clip is a very specific type of back clip in that the coin is clipped between the 2^nd and 3^rd finger, between the second and third knuckles (as opposed to the deep back clip of the 2^nd and 3^rd fingers between the first and second knuckles made popular David Roth's Expert Coin Magic book). Paul's teaching of how to use this back clip (getting in to, getting out of, etc.) provided me personally with an invaluable, diabolical, utility sleight for coin magic. There is something psychologically convincing when you show your hand palm up clearly empty, compared with showing your hands empty palm down (while classic palming). When you can utilize the sleight of hand properly to show both sides empty, you have truly gained an extremely valuable tool.

The only draw back to the technique is that you have to be performing for a relatively small audience, who is very close to you looking down on your hands. In a parlor type environment, the back clipped coin would flash because of angles. Each routine in magic has its most applicable time. This coin magic is reserved for up close and personal times with a spectator.

There is one thing that will possibly frustrate you with this tape, and that is if you have lean hands without much body fat, this technique will seem absolutely impossible to use. I have thin fingers that have "windows" when held together. When I first tried to hold a coin in back clip I could not do it without the edge of the coin peaking through the windows between my fingers. Attempts to clip as little of the coin as possible to hide the edge made the coin often fall from my fingers. I shelved the tape, relegating it to something I could not do, better for those with fatter fingers.

Be not discouraged, there is hope! After half a year, I took the tape of the shelf again, watched it, proceeded to be awe struck all over again, and was maddened to the point that I HAD to learn the technique. I practiced the methods Paul taught for getting into and retrieving from the clip for weeks. The first routine on the tape is the simplest most direct use of the concealment. I strove for that goal, the Invisible Hand. I found that I could "cheat" on the invisible hand. During a crucial hand display, where the right hand is palm up, and the left hand is pointing, I let the left hand index finger point directly on top of the coin edge held in back clip. If the coin was peeking through at all, my left index finger covered this! After enough work for my hand muscles to get very used to the technique, I was finally able to hide the coin properly by utilizing advice Paul himself gives on the tape. The advice was two fold. 1) Part of the "getting into back clip" involves rolling the coin to allow it to lay deeper in the fingers (if you see the tape you will know what I am talking about), and 2) Slightly raise the ring finger as it lays against the middle finger. I think Paul could have stressed these two points even greater for those of us who have lean fingers. These two keys are 100% necessary.

Anyway….enough said on the back clip. Lets take a good look at the routines:

1. I briefly referenced above the "Invisible Hand". This is a very quick, very straight forward, very useful, and extremely surprising to a spectator in part because of its apparent simplicity. The right hand is closed into a loose fist and the spectator is made aware that the fist is actually an invisible hand! A coin held at the fingertips of the left hand is dipped into this right fist, and the coin turns invisible! The invisible coin is raised to the spectator's eye level, to show it and then it is placed in the spectator's hand. The right fist is opened and turned palm up as the left hand points to show that the coin is not there. The left hand is turned palm up, while the right hand immediately turns palm down and points to the left hand, showing the coin is not there either. Attention is brought back the spectator's hand where the invisible coin lays. The coin is picked up by the left hand, and the right hand is closed into a fist once again. The invisible coin is quickly dipped into the invisible hand, and becomes visible once again.

This routine is pure magic. When you can take only one coin, and make magic this strong right in the face of a spectator, there is only one thing to do. Learn it and use it. (This routine is the best to learn before any of the others when learning the back clip).

2. Citation Silver: A silver half-dollar and an English copper penny are clearly shown on both sides to a spectator (freely examinable). The spectator is instructed to keep track of the silver coin. The silver coin is cleanly closed into the palm down right hand; the copper coin is closed into the palm down left hand. No tricky movements at all. When both hands are turned palm up, the silver has traveled into the left hand to join the copper. The copper coin is picked up and closed into the palm down right hand. The silver coin is closed into the palm down left fist. This time as both hands are turned palm up, the coins have transposed; the copper is back in the left, silver in the right. The silver coin is placed again into the left hand, which is closed. When it opens, there are now two silver coins. One silver coin is picked up and tossed a few times back into the left hand. The left hand closes, reopens, and now both coins are copper! The right hand picks up one of the copper coins. Both hands close palm down into fists, and then turn palm up to reveal one copper and one silver, back to the way they where in the beginning. The coins are freely examinable.

Citation Silver is credited to Bob Elliot. Encapsulated inside this routine is Presto Chango from Bobo's coin magic. I always liked the stunning change effect of Presto Chango, and integrated inside Citation Silver, the routine is baffling magic to behold. I still remember the first time I saw it. My mind was assaulted by what my eyes saw. I have integrated this routine in its entirety as the start of a longer copper/silver routine. This is one of my favorite bits to perform for someone. It is sheer eye candy.

3. Pitchin' Penetration is an interesting routine. A silver half dollar is pushed right through the back of your left hand 3 times, until it is finally tipped to the spectator. You are using two silver half dollars! The one half is tossed into the spectator's hand and picked up in your left hand as the second half dollar is tossed from the right hand into the spectator's hands. The second coin is picked up and dropped on top of the first half dollar. When the left hand is opened the two coins have fused into one solid silver dollar! The silver dollar is alternately shown palm up in both hands, and then handed out for inspection.

This is a fun routine as well. Again, it is very visual, very close up, and uses the spectator's hands as a table. This is a good routine to use after you have done a few others for the spectator. If they start to ask how you are doing the magic, you can show them this one, and right as they think you are really tipping a routine to them, you completely rock them with the surprise ending. Used at the right time, this routine is loads of fun and always gets laughs.

4. Underhanded Coins Across: This is Paul's handling of a classic of coin magic. Again this magic is performed face to face with a spectator. The spectator holds out both hands, pressed together, palms up to form an impromptu table. Paul's hands are positioned left and right of the spectator's. Four coins are shown in the palm up right hand and tossed into the left. The right hand is turned palm up once more as it is stated, "One coin will invisibly travel to the right hand". The right hand is turned palm down into a fist, and both hands are turned back palm up. One coin is in the right hand, the remaining three in the left. The coins are dumped into the spectator's hands. Three coins are picked up one by one and dropped into the left hand. The right hand picks up the fourth coin and openly displays it in the palm up right hand. Both hands are closed and immediately opened to show two coins in each hand. The two coins in the left hand are thrown into the spectator's hand, and picked up, the two right hand coins are thrown into the spectator's hands, and also picked back up. The right hand is turned palm up to show two coins, is closed into a fist and reopened to show now three coins. The left hand is openly gestured and shown completely empty only for the fourth coin to appear in the right hand! Everything is examinable.

Whereas coins are usually concealed in a palm down hand display, Paul's handling is palm up, and extremely convincing. This is the most technically demanding of the routines and probably best left to work on only after you master the back clip. You have to remember; the performance segment of this tape is all at the front. When I first watched this video, I had no clue about Paul's back clip techniques. This stuff rocked me bad when I watched it. These routines just kept fooling me and fooling me, and after I thought I couldn't be nailed again, he fooled me with the next routine. This applies to Underhanded Coins Across. The palm up handling just kills. I tend to use David Roth's handling with a shell for bigger crowds, but for a more intimate setting, leave the shell in the coin purse and go underhanded!

Paul takes a break from the "underhanded" coin magic and presents two matrix type effects.

5. The first routine is called Top Billing. Four silver half dollars are placed on a close up mat in the four corners. Two different denomination bills are used as cover. They are placed on the two coins furthest away from the magician (the top coins). The coin at the bottom right is picked up and is used to tap the top of both bills so you can hear the coin clink from under both. The coin is then crumbled over top of the top left bill and it is vanished. The bill is peeled back to show two coins under it. The bill is replaced. The bottom left coin is picked up and gently tossed over top of the top left bill. Again the coin is gone, only to be revealed under the bill. For the last coin, it is simply invisibly extracted through the top of the right side bill, a tossing motion is made at the top left bill, and sure enough, as the bill is slowly pushed to the side, four coins are under the left bill. Paul mentions that he always gets accused of using another coin. Ever since that he always has, but he uses a big silver dollar to throw you off….. he slides away the top right bill to show a silver dollar there. The silver dollar is picked up and it grows into a 3" jumbo coin on the offbeat.

I don't do matrix effects. I do this one. That is how much I like it. Honestly, I rarely get to perform stationary over a table for Matrix effects. I do make a point of performing this one when I get the chance, even if I have to drop to the carpet to do it. I love it since it doesn't use cards. It uses all money. I think bills just make logical sense as the cover for a coin routine. Money covers money. A novel idea!

6. Knihc-A-Knihc is David Roth's Chink-A-Chink effect (you may know it as Michael Ammar's Shadow Coins). Four coins are placed in a square formation on the close up mat. The hands simply cover the coins and the coins begin to assemble at the top right corner. Eventually all the coins are in the top right. Paul's version has an instant backfire reversal. He simply seems to move his hands back over the four coins and away, and all four coins are back into a square formation!

This is the only coin routine on the tape that I have not learned (I know Chink-A-Chink, and the Shadow Coins Version). The routine requires a type of gaff that I do not own. I like the routine; the instant reversal is cool. I just personally like the other five routines better. If you perform barehanded coin assemblies, you will like this routine.

Paul's Bonus routine is a card routine. It is a collector's effect that I liked very much. I'll leave the card effect up to you to judge. I start getting out of my element there J

The fundamental sleight of hand that Paul teaches in his teaching segment is the following:

1. Getting into back clip.

2. The secret retrieval of a back clipped coin.

3. The open retrieval of a back clipped coin.

4. Getting two coins into back clip.

5. The simple coin pass (classic palm vanish)

6. Woodin's Click Pass

7. The Lou Gallo Pitch (this is a useful technique that can be used instead of a Han Ping Chien. Paul states in the video he considers this move one of the greatest in the past 100 years in coin magic).

8. David Roth's Shuttle Pass

9. Ross Bertram's Slide Steal

10. The Revolve Coin Load

11. The Tarantula Vanish (Paul's adaptation of Marlo's Spider Vanish)

12. The Bobo Switch

13. The Thumb Base Slide

This review would not be complete without mention of Paul's misdirection insights. The back clipping routines are a lesson of proper misdirection. We get to benefit from Paul's 25 years of experience performing these routines. There is some hand motion necessary to do the back clipping, but Paul's misdirection is so perfectly timed and pattered that it will never be seen.

Bottom line, the tape fooled me so bad back in the late 90's, provided immense entertainment value, then it paid off big time for having such great and useable content that I was able to actively use in a repertoire. Paul is actually mostly known for his card work with regular shuffled cards (FASDIU means "From A Shuffled Deck In Use"). I personally salute his coin work.

Even though I have the video, I wanted this DVD. This work will always be one of my personal favorites.