Thimbles in Magic & Mentalism

This is a digital edition of the first edition of this book. It has wonderful photos. The later edition in three volumes published by Magic Inc. replaced the photos with line drawings. The book captures Buckingham's manipulation moves and routines for billiard balls, coins, and thimbles. It has practical advice from a successful pro and is perhaps the finest book on this subject ever published.

Here is the text from the inside flaps of the first edition:

This ebook explains some routines, that will teach you the standard moves with ordinary thimbles, and also the handling of the nested pair.

No thimbles are included with this PDF. Regular thimbles can be bought in any sewing shop. For the nested thimbles check any well-stocked magic shop.

Table of Contents

• Nested Thimble Magic Outfit
• Magic with Ordinary thimbles
  • Thimble vanish and production
  • See through vanish
  • Finger Switch Color Change
• Routines Using the Nested Thimbles
  • Thimble Penetration
  • The Roll Over Finger palm
  • Multiplying Thimbles
  • Nested Color Changing Thimble ...

A sleight-of-hand reference work for cards, coins, billiard balls, and thimbles.

Magic without Apparatus is the first English translation of La Prestidigitation sans Appareils, which has been recognized by authorities on magic as the world's greatest treatise on legerdemain with cards, coins, billiard balls, and thimbles. The French edition elicited such comments as these:

Leo Rullman (Connoisseur of magical literature): "The greatest work on pure sleight-of-hand in any language."

Professor Hoffmann (Author of Modern Magic, More Magic, Later Magic): "A contribution of the first rank to the literature...

From the foreword by Will Goldston:

A fascinating sleight-of-hand trick anyone can perform.

Here is a clever routine of real sleight-of-hand which can be performed "right under their noses" without years of tedious practice, without special equipment, and without mechanical aids. No trick thimbles are necessary and you can perform at any time and anywhere — before a large group or across the dinner table. Whether you’re seven or seventy, you’ll enjoy fooling people with this real "magic".

42 actual photographs of a professional magician's hands in action and full written descriptions show and tell you everything...

Available again at long last is this comprehensive work explaining the brilliant thimble artistry of Jimmy Shannon. Jimmy Shannon was the talk of the magic world in the 1930s and 40s, with his beautifully orchestrated thimble manipulation act. His moves were accepted by experts as the most original, most unusual and altogether fascinating of his day. When the time came for Shannon's moves to be recorded for posterity, the task was given to a young writer who was already making a name for himself: Arthur Leroy. In fact, it was felt that Jimmy Shannon's moves were so entirely different from average...

If you've ever thought of presenting magic with thimbles, this is the ebook for you. Chock full of sleights, flourishes, manipulations, routines and ideas you'll want to add to your act. Magic with thimbles is something that many of today's audiences haven't had the pleasure of seeing, which makes it new and different to them. As thimbles are small and portable, they can easily be carried in a pocket or purse, always ready to amuse and amaze, wherever you might be.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Foreword
• The Multiplying Thimbles
• Miracle Penetration
• One Hand Visible Penetration
• Instantaneous...

From the introduction by Lewis Ganson:

Here is an amazing and entertaining magic act that runs a full five minutes, yet it leaves the audience wanting more. An ebook every magician should have. Chuck Smith's routine includes beautiful vanishes, appearances and color change transformations. It looks so incredible to the audience, yet the entire act relies on only two, easy-to-master sleights. Everything can be examined (should the performer wish) before and after ... the thimbles really are ungimmicked.

If you're an enterprising conjuror, use the corporate colors of your sponsor for the color changes for even more applause. Also...

This famous book, now republished in three easy to handle ebook volumes. Illustrated with dozens of line drawings by Eric Lewis. The finest coverage of billiard ball work in print, excellent material on coins, and a large number of variety tricks in the Buckingham style and tradition.

• About Geoffrey Buckingham
• Chapter Nine
  • Loading And Stealing
  • Direct Loads From The Body
  • Pick-Up Loads From The Body
  • Substitution Loads
• Chapter Ten
  • Holders For The Manipulator
  • Coin Holders For A Single Coin
  • For A Number Of Single Coins
  • For A Stack Of Coins
  • The Elastic Belt
  • Billiard Ball Holders
  • The...

A collection of thimble magic routines, moves and tips from TOPS magazine.

Table of Contents

• Latest Thimble Magic
  • Preface
  • The Thumb Palm
  • The Finger Palm
  • Roll Over Palm
  • Front And Back Palm
  • Move and Vanish With One Thimble
  • Now You See It - Now You Don't
  • Finger Exchange
  • Penetration Through The Hand
  • Invisible Penetration Through A Handkerchief
  • Visible Penetration Through A Handkerchief
  • Two Handed Color Change
  • One Handed Color Change
  • Red And Green
  • Patriotic Thimble Routine
  • Simplified One To Eight" Routine
• Trick Thimbles
  • Thimble To Silk
  • Thimble To Cigarette
  • Miracle Thimble ...

Thimble Stars is a 4 minute thimble manipulation routine, as Stephen performs in his children's show, adult parlour, and in close-up situations.

He performs it over 250 times a year in his children's show to comedy patter, which ends in a spring rabbit production. His close-up version ends with the vanish of all four thimbles.

The routine has been devised to work around all bad angles, eliminate steals and awkward moves and make the routine as 'fool proof' as he could make it. He doesn't wear a jacket or use sleeves. The only clothing requirements are that you have trouser pockets. ...

Accenting simplicity in thimble magic, without clips or holders, gimmicked tables or devices or trick thimbles. 51 illustrations, great sleight of hand.

1st edition 1948; 1st digital edition 2013, 39 pages.

Table of Contents

5. Preface

   The Thimbles Themselves

6. Materials
7. Sleights

   Vanishes

8. The Toss Palm
9. "Cig" Vanish
10. Slow-Motion Vanish
11. Rub-A-Dub Vanish

    Color Changes

14. The Rub Change
16. The Triple Color Change
17. Twister Color Change
18. Slow-Motion Color Change

    Thimble Tricks

20. Double Penetration
21. Transposed Thimbles
23. The Educated Thimbles
24. Multi-Thimble Vanish
26. The Penetrating Thimble ...

The best parts in this publications are the work on thimbles and billiard balls. Also included are card and coin routines.

1st edition 1980, 1st digital edition 2013, 90 pages.

Table of Contents

6. Preface
7. Alfred B. Leech: Magician—Of—The Month
10. Major Surgery
15. A Typographical Error
17. Platform Wild Card
21. A Bicycle Built For Profit
24. Too Small
27. Snap Change
30. Crooked Card
33. Three Cards Across
38. The 1971-72 M-U-M Award
39. A Card Trilogy
43. Coins And Cards
45. The Coin Star
47. Ball Manipulation
49. Chicago Balls: The Chicago Ball Trick And A Routine
54. Substitution For Chicago Balls
55. Color Changes
55. - A Color...

John Ramsay was known for his clever use of misdirection. Probably his most famous quote is

"I work alone, but I have an invisible assistant—Miss Direction."—John Ramsay

His use of misdirection was so good that he often badly fooled his fellow magicians. Ramsay was a sleight-of-hand master with coins and thimbles, but worked essentially with all objects including cards, ropes and cups and balls. Lots of clear line drawings by Ralph O. Evans.

1st edition 1969 Goodliffe Publications; 2nd printing 1975 by Magic, Inc., comb-bound, 63 pages; 1st digital edition 2013, 93 pages. ...

Table of Contents

• Content
• Rehearsal
• Thimble Manipulation
  • The Thumb Palm
  • Vanish No. 1
  • Vanish No. 2
  • The Change-Over Palm
  • Vanish No. 3
  • The Back and Front Palm
• Watch and Clock Tricks
  • The Flight of Time
  • The Flying Alarm Clock
• Borrowed Watch Tricks
  • With an Assistant
  • Without an Assistant
  • The Watch in the Loaf
  • The Watch Boxes
• The History of Magic (part 7)
  • Conjurers of the Eighteenth Century

1st edition 1931; 22 pages.

This is considered one of the best, if not THE best publication for manipulating thimbles. Includes many new and original concepts.

It comes with 84 gorgeous line drawings. The original booklet had these drawings in very small size. For this ebook we have completely reformatted it and enlarged the drawings to allow easier studying.

1st edition 1931, 1st digital edition 2009, PDF 49 pages.

A Fantasy in Thimbles

Werry was an extremely innovative and creative magician, developing many new effects and founding the famous magazine Magische Welt in Germany (which continues to be published by Wittus Witt). You will also learn about Dean Metcalfe's thimble routine.

This was part of the famous Ganson Teach-In series originally published by Supreme Magic Inc. Rights are now owned by Martin Breese whom we thank for the kind permission to reproduce this booklet.

[Get the full collection of all 17 Teach-Ins at a huge discount.

1st edition 1979, original 35 pages, PDF 33 pages.

4. Contents
5. Introduction
6. The Basic Moves ...

For a long time I had the perception that magic with thimbles is at best something for kids. Then I saw a performance by a Japanese magician. And it blew my mind. It was a fast paced, very visual and beautiful manipulation performance.

In this booklet Hugard teaches all the moves and quite a few routines to build your own thimble act. One of the big advantages of thimbles is that they are easier to manipulate than other objects such as balls and coins.

1st edition, 1936 Max Holden, New York; 46 pages

3. Chapter 1: The Thimbles
9. Chapter 2: Advanced Sleights
22. Chapter 3: The First Thimble ...