L'Homme Masque Load References please?

[erdnasephile]

I'm working on the L'Homme Masque Load for the first phase of Roth's Out with Five.

However, Mr. Roth's handling of the sleight (specifically the gesture after the load) doesn't fit me well. I've researched the Conjuring Archive and I've been studying all of the citations I have current access to.

I was wondering if anyone has any additional references for work on the move that I should look at. Also, if you have any work on the sleight, I'd love to hear about it as well if you'd care to share please.

Thanks in advance for your help!

PS: I'm also researching the Spider Grip Vanish for later on in the routine: so far Kohler's and Dingle's handlings hold promise for me.

[Richard Kaufman]

Do you have an iPhone and can you FaceTime?

[Ian Kendall]

I put some basic work on the load in Basic Coin Magic in 2004, but I've tweaked things since then. Happy to answer any questions if needed.

[Philippe Billot]

Have you read the first explaination of the load described in Magic without Apparatus (1914) by Camiille Gaultier ?

In the translation in 1945 by Jean Hugard, it's page 316, Second Method.

[Bill Duncan]

If you're conversant with the muscle pass, doing it into your hand, under cover of a wave provides an improved magical moment. It can be done as the hand is closed, or as it opens.

[erdnasephile]

Thanks to everyone who responded! It’s much appreciated. (“Magic without Apparatus” is on the way!)

I’ve been asked by someone what exactly am I looking for here. Fair enough.

I’ve noticed that when Mr. Roth does the L’Homme Masque load in this routine, the loading hand comes to the left hand, rubs the back of the left hand, moves around the left hand as the load is done, moves away from the left. Then the right hand snaps it’s fingers, then back to the left again with a wave until finally “taking” an invisible coin from the Okito Box and tosses it to the left hand. Then the coin is revealed.

If that paragraph reads long, it feels long to me. I’ve been using Tommy Wonder’s mind movie technique to work on the routine (Thanks, Mr. Stone!), and what bugs me about the above sequence is that it’s hard to work out when the magic moment occurs. Is it during the snap? The wave? The rubbing of the hand? The fake toss? I want the load to be psychologically invisible, so I’ve got justify the rubbing the back of the left hand and get those hands separated in space to move the magic moment further away from the modus operandi. That is, once the hands separate, I don’t want to go back.

That said, as the Rock has pointed out in MAGIC, this load has very little misdirection going for it in its native state. Therefore, the time misdirection that Roth talks about becomes important. I just don’t’ want to fill that up with lots of waving of the hands because it doesn’t fit me.

To that end, I think Bill’s reference with the muscle pass might fit the bill as it involves just a wave. Tom Stone’s technique is also particularly interesting with the spectator tapping the back of the hand. It perfectly justifies the move and provides the magic moment. However, if the spectator tapping is what makes the magic work in the routine, would I have to continue on with that conceit throughout the routine? Could get cumbersome.

I did find a finesse of Curtis Kam’s in print that addresses a lot of the above concerns, and allows one to show the right hand apparently empty before the move as well. I also like it because it’s a gentle way to begin to condition the audience that when my right hand is in Ramsay subtlety position, it really is empty. (As a side note: I'm also looking for points in the routine where I can do the same for the Spider Grip vanish later in the routine).

In any event, I’m looking for ways to address some of the above issues. I’m probably overthinking this move, but I’m trying to make a concerted effort to pay attention to the details to make my performances cleaner and more deceptive. I don’t want to be a hack, and I wish to do this marvelous routine of Mr. Roth’s justice.

[Richard Kaufman]

There is another version of this sleight where the coin to be loaded is in right-hand thumb palm. The left fist is palm UP. The right hand approaches from the left wrist moving outward, and the thumb palmed coin is slid under the left fingertips (of the closed fist). My vague memory is that Geoff Latta taught me this (he used it all the time), and I think it's his version of a Vernon handling. I can still do it. It takes the same amount of time as the way Roth does the L'homme Masque method.

[Denis Behr]

The handling Richard is mentioning can be found in The Chronicles, attributed to Vernon: https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/b ... ight=56636 (It is also used on page 151 of Kaufman's CoinMagic.)

(Kort also used a thumb palm, but with the L'Homme Masqué choreography.)

[Dave Le Fevre]

I think it's his version of a Vernon handling

I'd read (years ago) that it was called the Vernon Load. I use it sometimes, but I've never seen anybody else use it. (I'd like to see it, so that I could get an objective view of how it looks.)

Decades ago, before I'd ever heard of the L'Homme Masqué Load, I came up with a distant relation to it, where the coin is transferred while the receiving hand is closing. I use it a lot.

[webbmaster]

Yes it is called The Vernon Load, and there is nothing to see. It is hard to learn to not move the left fingers at all, but from then on it can look like just a small rub, or a tiny waving action, or a small tap of the left fist. There should be no "tell" from the left hand.

[erdnasephile]

Thanks for the additional references/tips!

Perhaps the best thing that's come of this discussion is that I finally got my hands on a copy of "Magic without Apparatus". What a terrific book! I'm ashamed to admit I had not read it yet, but am looking forward to studying it.

The original description recommends maintaining contact between the hands until the move is done for better cover. I think (angles permitting) I prefer some of the more open techniques discussed in this thread so far. Lots to think about...