Three Things I Learned About No Sense

I try out as many Vanishing Inc. releases as I can as I believe that we can only truly get behind an effect when we have some hands-on experience with it. One of the joys of being part of the release process is being able to get the props early on and take a little while learning and experimenting with the routine before it is even in production.

With that in mind, here are three things I learned about Kyle Littleton's No Sense while working on it:

It's not that difficult to learn
I confess that I don't actually perform that many coin routines. Troy Hooser's Charming Chinese Challenge has always been one of my "workers" but beyond that, I don't do too much coin magic. This made me think that "No Sense" would be difficult for me. There were certainly a few moves that I had to brush on, but in general, I didn't find it too difficult to piece together. It's not easy, but it's not at all difficult. If you can perform Triad Coins, you can perform this.

The presentation adds to the effect
One of the things that has frustrated me about the way some people perform coin magic is that they forget about presentation. The presentation and magic in "No Sense" are so perfectly weaved that it's fun to perform it. It's one of the few effects I perform where I use most of the creator's scripting.

Coin purses are accidentally hilarious
Sometimes I think that magicians have created an alternate reality in which they use props that they think "normal people" use. Coin purses are the perfect example ... why would any normal person use a purse that has been shrunken down to fit four coins in it?! This was the first effect I ever used a coin purse in — I peppered the routine with jokes about the purse and it turns out they are genuinely funny props. I'll never leave home without mine again (OK, that part isn't quite true!).