Finger Palm

A common sleight used to show your palms empty.

Pictures

1. Picture 1

Method

The finger palm is a very useful sleight used to hold out a coin. It can be used in countless applications, and is a simple but very useful sleight to know.

This will guide you on how to get into the finger palm, and a couple of useful tips.

1. Hold the coin with your index finger and the base of your thumb. Your thumb should cover 3/4 or more of the bottom of the coin. Your finger can be placed on top as you wish. (Picture 1)

2. The next bit should be done in one smooth motion. Lift up your finger and outstretch your other fingers, at this moment in time the coin will be balancing on your thumb. (Picture 2)

3. Now, lift up your thumb to the bottom of your fingers, pushing the coin into the lower segment of your fingers. Which finger this is done in is entirely up to you, but the middle fingers work best in terms of angles. (Picture 3 & 4)

4. Now simply lower your thumb and obtain a slight curl on the fingers to make your hand look natural. Your hand should usually be palm down. (Picture 5)

Points 2-4 should be done in one smooth motion.

Advice

To make it look as natural as possible, finger palm a coin all day for a few days, try and do your daily activities with a finger palmed coin, this will help to make your hand seem natural and empty.
If you have thin fingers, make sure you keep your fingers close together to avoid the coin being viewed, this is important, even if it's just a fraction of the coin that's visible, one glint will ruin your trick.
Whilst curling your fingers you can actually show your palm to be empty, but be careful while doing this, don't just say 'my hands are empty' because then the spectators will ask you to spread your fingers too. Just casually show your palm from time to time, remember, a lot of misdirection is subconscious.
The best way to make your hand look natural is to do things with it. Flip a coin with it and catch it with your other hand, pull up your sleeves, hold a 'magic wand', all these things will give the impression your hand is empty.

Comments

verybigmagic 14th Oct 06	finger palming is cool... uhm.. yeah woot first post!!!
n3xas 3rd Nov 06	thx i needed that ;)
slider 3rd Nov 06	This is one of the first things I learned.
chinesejesus 3rd Nov 06	i love the finger palm! its so effective
harpuiasp 3rd Nov 06	Looks great :)
DarkMage 3rd Nov 06	You are a legend, I love this.
LifeAfterDeath 3rd Nov 06	very effective, iv been using it for a while
blackstaber2 3rd Nov 06	i havent done this yet
slyfero 3rd Nov 06	This is the beginning to the coin behind the ear trick
lunatic5680 3rd Nov 06	EXTREMELY basic coin magic, neccesarry to know.
luckyboy 3rd Nov 06	Im good with the cards but I find this palming of coins extra difficult to get a passing grade with an audiance. It could be that I don't have any money to practice with?
pyrokinetic 3rd Nov 06	Neat tutorial, seems easy enough - definitely will need a little practise to make it look as natural as possible though.
vinks 4th Nov 06	this is a great way to palm a coin!thanks dude
shungun 4th Nov 06	it is always a bit hard to keep the palmed hand as natural as possible and my audience finds it out.how do you avoid this?
miasmagicman312 4th Nov 06	first thing i learned with coins. but its a neccesesity if you want to be good with coins. thanks for posting.
magicman222 4th Nov 06	I like palming a quarter by putting it in the denter of my palm and bringing my thumb towards the rest of my hand and arching the rest of my finger, creating a way that you can hold the coin.
cardz1 5th Nov 06	magicman222, your method of palming is called a classic palm, and has been around for a very long time. This is just another very useful method of palming a coin.
deathead 6th Nov 06	Shungun, the best way to do this is simply just to keep practising! Keep the coin in finger palm for a whole day for a few days, it'll help loads to keep it natural.
deathead 8th Nov 06	ebo9, you would use this while "holding out", i.e. simply concealing a coin in your hand. You can then make the coin appear out of "nowhere" etc...there are a large range of uses for it, I recommend you get J.B. Bobo's book "Modern Coin Magic".
millerwood 10th Nov 06	Older kids and adults expect you to palm a coin, so they want to see your hand, thats why its easier to use on small kids.
deathead 12th Nov 06	Chopzilla7, this sleight is used by professionals, if you can do it properly (with the finesses and misdirection), they wouldn't have a clue.
lunatic5680 22nd Nov 06	What are you talking about ducttape1?!? This is the easiest most basic magic! Everyone can ben their fingers without much practice!
nblan10 1st Dec 06	he means that the trick needs a lot of practise to get it looking natural, not just to do it.
vanhalen 4th Dec 06	something good to know exept when they say open your hands
foblozer93 13th Dec 06	good finger exercising and can help your hand in the future if you practice this technique all the time.
jakethesnake9 15th Dec 06	i find the finger palm much harder than classic palm.
jake22 20th Dec 06	much easier than classic palm
jaysonc72 23rd Dec 06	this is a great palm if you follow it up quickly to avoid the open up your hand comment
darklight 24th Dec 06	at first it looked awfull to me but with practice it does turn out well.
Hawk 31st Dec 06	A must have sleight for any coin worker, you will use it often, combine this with the Downs palm - thumb pinch - classic palm- and finger clip - and you will be on your way to, great coin work.
jhonny2234 4th Jan 07	I wouldn't use it as a ttrick all by it's self. But to enhance other tricks it is great!
alocin 6th Jan 07	Basic yet essential in most coin tricks
otterman4444 6th Jan 07	I've always had trouble geting the coin to go in the finger palm in the first place but this works really well.
magicalmaster 2nd Feb 07	The more you practice the more you can make it look natural. try everyday to make the curl on your fingers less curled so that you can master it and make it look as natural as can be.
Yexo 16th Feb 07	I think I am going to use this for vanishing type effects thanks for submitting this one.
lennyjojo 21st Feb 07	If interested in coins, this should be one of the first things you pick up. You should be able to palm this way and make things (coins/other small objects) appear to change in mid air. It is also a very simple way of getting a classic palmed object out to your fingers, let it drop into your fingers and then pull it out.
Snakeman 21st Feb 07	Well explained, nice for a change. (A video would be gravy though, heh) Finger palm - a necessary classic!
anbu 8th Mar 07	if you have skinny fingers like I do, then you have to be very carefull or you can see right through the cracks, making the coin visible.
peaceout 5th Apr 07	palming the coin is useful for coin tricks
cyberdoctor 29th Apr 07	Exellent with clear pictures indexed into explanation. This is a good example of how people should use numbered sections and pictures instead of just one long rambling paragraph
koolaid 13th May 07	i use this all the time now, helpful slieght, pictures helped, good trick!!!
Wobber 18th May 07	The only way to make it look natural and easy is practice and practice and practice...hate practicing.
4fingers97 10th Jun 07	Ty.I needed to know how to palm
daanavits 9th Jul 07	http://youtube.com/watch?v=b12Ej-MNhJM A demonstration video of the finger palm.
TaylorHalo 27th Jul 07	this isnt as good as palming it in ur palm
geniegeorge 18th Jul 09	that's good! :)
manager 25th Jul 09	Not bad, but the motions have to be fluid to complete the illusion.