Scotch and Soda is a magic effect involving a copper coin and a silver coin which appear to transpose in the spectator’s hands. The effect relies on simple gimmick and the tricks performed with it are self-working and require almost no skill. The trick is named after the cocktail Scotch and soda; the copper coin represents the “Scotch” and the silver coin represents the “soda”.
The effect is usually performed as follows: The magician displays two coins of almost equal size, one copper and one silver. The silver coin is most often a U.S. half dollar and the copper coin is usually either an English penny or a Mexican centavo. The magician stacks the coins and places them into the spectator’s hand. He then asks her to place her hands behind her back and put one coin in each hand, remarking that the silver coin is slightly larger than the copper coin, making them easy to tell apart. The magician asks to see the silver coin which the spectator produces. When the spectator opens her other hand, the copper coin has become a quarter. The copper coin can then be made to appear wherever the magician desires, such as in the spectator’s pocket or under an object across the room.
Scotch and Soda is a popular trick that can be purchased at many magic stores. The trick contains a set of two gimmicked coins and an authentic copper coin. A number of books exclusively on the subject describe different effects that can be achieved with the Scotch and Soda gimmick. Gin and tonic is a version of the trick using a dime and a penny.
Method
The gimmicks used in Scotch and Soda are a hollow coin shell made from the silver coin, and a half-copper/half-silver coin that can fit snugly inside the shell. From its obverse side, the silver coin shell looks normal. From one side, the half-and-half coin looks like the obverse side of the copper coin; from the other, it looks like the reverse side of the silver coin.
At the start of the trick, the shell conceals the quarter that will appear later. The half-and-half coin is only displayed from its copper side and the shell is, obviously, only displayed from the top. The magician must be careful to not show the underside of either of the gaffed coins. When the magician stacks the coins to give to the spectator, he actually slides the half-and-half coin in between the shell and the quarter, squeezing the two gimmicks together, thus forming one solid silver “coin” with the quarter beneath. Once the coins are in the spectator’s hands, the magician’s work is over. All he must do is ask the spectator to open his hands.
An authentic copper coin that matches the gimmick from the trick can be planted by the magician before the trick begins to be “discovered” later as the missing coin. To reset the trick, the magician must use a special tool to separate the gimmicks: A small ring shaped object that when banged against a hard surface will allow only the half copper/half silver coin through.
Posted on November 20th, 2008 by admin
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