David Roth lecturing for the S. A. M. Parent Assembly, June 5, 2015. Photo ©Herb Scher. May not be used without permission. David Roth presented a lecture to the Parent Assembly of the Society of American Magicians Friday after the group's regular meeting at Fantasma Magic. Roth delved into variations on Coins Across, teaching multiple approaches to the trick. One unusual version used a champagne glass as a receptacle for the coins, providing an opportunity for an interesting deceptive technique which allows both hands to apparently be shown empty simultaneously. Roth also spent time reviewing the classic palm and performed his Winged Silver/Chinese Coins routine which has been a centerpiece of his performances. He also spoke about his process of developing some of his more creative routines like The Tuning Fork and The Portable Hole. Since emerging in the 1970s, Roth has been recognized as one of the world's most innovative and influential coin magicians. He has performed on national television in the United States, made international lecture tours, and released a wide range of teaching material.
David Roth with Jim Boyd, creator of the trick, The Confusing Coins, which became a popular magic standard under the title The Hopping Halves. Photo: © Herb Scher, may not be used without permission. Toward the beginning of the lecture Roth introduced Jim Boyd, a magician visiting from Scotland, who created the well-known coin routine The Hopping Halves. Boyd explained that the trick was originally published in 1967 in Harry Stanley's magazine, The Gen, under the name Confusing Coins. Stanley brought the trick to a magic convention in Baden, Baden, Germany which kick-started its popularity (Boyd never marketed or profited from the trick). His attendance at Roth's lecture was serendipitous, since he only learned of the event when he stopped by for a visit at Fantasma while in town for a friend's wedding.
During a break in the lecture Boyd reflected on his involvement in the Scottish magic scene over the years, including an encounter with Dai Vernon who he once picked up at the Edinborough airport and drove to the nearby town of Dundee. On the way they made a pit stop, which Boyd recalled in a wryly recounted anecdote.
"I had Dai Vernon at my house in Scotland. It was quite funny I was at the Magic Castle one year and i sat in his seat in the Magic Castle and somebody over there objected to me sitting there, so I turned around and said 'quite honestly, he came to Scotland, he came to my house, he sat in my seat in my house drinking my whiskey--and he liked Scotch whiskey--and entertained my son, making a mouse out of a handkerchief, so I said that's why I'm sitting in this seat, here.' I'm a typical Scot. If someone says ' you can't,' I object." Boyd has run local magic clubs in Scotland and was President of the Scottish Association of Magical Societies in 1974 and 2001.
During a break in the lecture Boyd reflected on his involvement in the Scottish magic scene over the years, including an encounter with Dai Vernon who he once picked up at the Edinborough airport and drove to the nearby town of Dundee. On the way they made a pit stop, which Boyd recalled in a wryly recounted anecdote.
"I had Dai Vernon at my house in Scotland. It was quite funny I was at the Magic Castle one year and i sat in his seat in the Magic Castle and somebody over there objected to me sitting there, so I turned around and said 'quite honestly, he came to Scotland, he came to my house, he sat in my seat in my house drinking my whiskey--and he liked Scotch whiskey--and entertained my son, making a mouse out of a handkerchief, so I said that's why I'm sitting in this seat, here.' I'm a typical Scot. If someone says ' you can't,' I object." Boyd has run local magic clubs in Scotland and was President of the Scottish Association of Magical Societies in 1974 and 2001.
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