PRO

Hopping halves is a classic of magic. This is a very nice set of coins. You hold an American half dollar and a British penny in your hand. You remove the penny and place it in your pocket. You open your hand and the two coins are still there. You can do this several times, alternating between the half dollar and the penny. In the end, you remove one coin and they are both gone.

If you are going to hand out the regular coins in the beginning, you will have everything you need in the set.

CON

This is a classic of magic. Probably the only CON is in coming up with a good presentation for the coins. You can do the routine without any patter, but I think this set of coins lends itself to a good storyline. In the suggestions section you will find my thoughts on a good storyline.

In order to hand out the coins for examination, to make your routine easier, you may want to get one extra, regular, US half dollar.

VERDICT

Excellent set of coins for a classic plot.

Suggestions

I think this set of coins lends itself to a good story. A classic story for this set is a love story. A couple thoughts: Some magicians refer to the lovers as “coins”. I think that is a mistake. Use the coins to symbolize the two lovers and refer to the lovers as people, not coins. A really fun tip is to tell the story and get your audience to finish the sentences for the lovers. You then either go with their line and remove a coin or you respond to what they say in a way that twists the story to suit the removal of a coin. In my mind, I have a set of bullet points to cover, such as “her father finds out about the two and says…” or “She asks him whether he really loves her and he says…” In this routine, you get the audience to direct the story. If you do this routine early in a show, you can use lines from this routine as humorous call backs throughout the show.