French drop

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The French drop is a well-known vanish involving sleight of hand. The magician takes a coin or small object between the fingers and the thumb with fingers facing the audience and thumb behind. The palm is face up. We'll assume the object is in the left hand though it could be either. The other hand, in this case the right, approaches and the thumb goes underneath the object while the right fingers close on the object from above. The right hand comes away with the object and the space between the left hand finger and thumb is seen to be empty. After a brief pause the magician opens his right hand and the object has disappeared. In some versions the left hand can also be seen empty, leaving no clue as to where the object went.

[edit] Method

The secret here is that the right hand never took the object in the first place. As the right fingers closed from above, the left thumb relaxed the grip so that the object fell into the base of the left fingers, while the right hand continues to close just as if taking the object. The left fingers and thumb are left in a position with a small gap between them just as if the right hand has actually taken the object. In skilled hands the illusion is perfect. Now the performer waves the right hand at the audience, misdirecting attention off the left which has finger palmed the object casually pointing at the right hand. Turning to the left the performer again waves the right hand, maybe pattering that the audience should watch the hand closely (more misdirection). At this moment the left hand is behind the body and the performer drops the object in a pocket. Another method is to openly put the left hand in a pocket to obtain a wand or some magic dust, but actually leaving the object behind.

Whichever method is used, the performer is now ready to show the disappearance of the coin or object from the right hand in the most theatrical and fitting way. The left hand can also be shown empty if the above methods have been followed. Since the object is ostensibly taken by one hand, this is known as a take vanish.

Although simple, the vanish must be practiced many times for the combination of the misdirection, synchronization of the hands, and showmanship to be fully effective. If you need additional help learning the French Drop sleight, an additional tutorial on proper technique exists here.