Sleight of Hand - Principles

Principles

The magicians Penn & Teller have been known, as part of their act, to explain sleight of hand while demonstrating it with a performance by Teller, appearing to merely dispose of an old cigarette and light a new cigarette. Teller is, in fact, simply hiding and replacing the same cigarette without ever putting it out. While Teller performs, Penn describes what he is doing, and explains the seven principles of sleight of hand.

The seven principles are:

  1. Palm - To hold an object in an apparently empty hand.
  2. Switch - To secretly exchange one object for another.
  3. Ditch - To secretly dispose of an unneeded object.
  4. Steal - To secretly obtain a needed object.
  5. Load - To secretly move an object to where it is needed.
  6. Simulation - To give the impression that something has happened that has not.
  7. Misdirection - To lead attention away from a secret move.

This concept of seven principles of sleight of hand was created by Penn & Teller for their effect and routine.

In "The Trick Brain", Fitzkie identifies 19 fundamental effects in magic (p. 25).

  1. Production (Appearance, creation, multiplication)
  2. Vanish (Disappearance, obliteration)
  3. Transposition (Change in location)
  4. Transformation (Change in appearance, character or identity)
  5. Penetration (One solid through another)
  6. Restoration (Making the destroyed whole)
  7. Animation (Movement imparted to the inanimate)
  8. Anti-Gravity (Levitation and change in weight)
  9. Attraction (Mysterious adhesion)
  10. Sympathetic Reaction (Sympathy response)
  11. Invulnerability (Injury Proof)
  12. Physical Anomaly (Contradictions, abnormalities, freaks)
  13. Spectator Failure (Magicians’ challenge)
  14. Control (Mind over the inanimate)
  15. Identification (Specific discovery)
  16. Thought reading (Mental perception, mind reading)
  17. Thought Transmission (Thought projection and transference)
  18. Prediction (Foretelling the future)
  19. Extra Sensory Perception (Unusual perception, other than mind)

Fitzkee groups the 19 types of effects into 3 main divisions:

1.-12. belong to the physical group

13.-14. carry a suggestion of mind dominance

15.-19. are entirely mental in character

Read more about this topic:  Sleight Of Hand

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