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Etymology
Sleight, meaning dexterity or deceptiveness, comes from the Old Norse slœgð.[3] Sleight of hand is often mistakenly written as slight of hand, where slight meaning slender or frail comes from the Old Norse slettr. Apart from their pronunciation they have nothing else in common.[4]
Sleight of hand in Close-up magic
Sleight of hand is often used in close-up magic, performed with the audience close to the magician, usually within three or four meters, possibly in physical contact. It often makes use of everyday items as props, such as cards and coins. The guiding principle of sleight-of-hand, articulated by legendary close-up magician Dai Vernon, is "be natural." A well-performed sleight looks like an ordinary, natural and completely innocent gesture, change in hand position or body posture.
It is commonly believed that sleight of hand works because “the hand is quicker than the eye” but this is usually not the case. In addition to manual dexterity, sleight of hand depends on the use of psychology, misdirection, and natural choreography in accomplishing a magical effect. Misdirection is perhaps the most important component of the art of sleight of hand. The magician choreographs his actions so that even the critical and observant spectators are likely to look where the magician wants them to. (More importantly, they do not look where they should not.) Two types of misdirection are time and movement. Time is simple; by allowing a small amount of time to pass after an action, events are skewed in the viewer's mind. Movement is a little more complicated. A phrase often used is "A larger action covers a smaller action." But care must be used to not make the larger action so big that it becomes suspicious.
Another common misconception is that close-up magic must utilize either sleight of hand or some kind of gimmicked apparatus. However, as Henry Hay's Cyclopedia of Magic[5][6] says,
"Many small tricks, especially card tricks, require neither apparatus nor sleight of hand; much apparatus of the "gimmick" type does not require sleight of hand. Illusions, because they deal with objects too big to hold in the hand, are one class of magic that seldom require sleight of hand--though even here sleight of hand "forcing" may be called into play. There are successful illusionists and apparatus conjurers who can do no sleight of hand at all, but their difficulties and restrictions deserve our sympathy rather than our scorn."
The Seven Principles of Sleight of Hand
The magicians Penn and Teller have been known to, as part of their act, 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.[7]
The Seven Principles are:
- Palm - To hold an object in an apparently empty hand.
- Ditch - To secretly dispose of an unneeded object.
- Steal - To secretly obtain a needed object.
- Load - To secretly move an object to where it is needed.
- Simulation - To give the impression that something that has not happened, has.
- Misdirection - To lead attention away from a secret move.
- Switch - To secretly exchange one object for another.
Deceit
Sleight-of-hand techniques can also be used to cheat in gambling games, in street con games such as the three-shell game, to steal, or, in some cases, to claim supernatural powers, as in the performances of some 19th century and early 20th century spirit mediums.citation needed For this reason the term "sleight of hand" frequently carries negative associations of dishonesty and deceit, and is also used metaphorically outside the above contexts. The techniques used by gamblers, however, are often very different from those employed by magicians; similarly, the techniques used by some self-proclaimed psychics or spirit mediums are often different from those found in "straight" close-up magic and mentalism.citation needed The differences, however, are due to the different working conditions and the different degrees of proximity between spectators and performer; the same basic techniques and approaches are common in all the areas of deception mentioned.
Performers
Some of the most influential figures in sleight of hand and close up magic have been David Copperfield, Tony Slydini, Dai Vernon, David Roth, Ed Marlo, Tommy Wonder, Fred Kaps, Michael Ammar, Ricky Jay, David Blaine, and Teller of Penn and Teller, Cyril Takayama and Jerry Sadowitz.
Performers often encourage their audience to believe they have used sleight of hand when they are actually using another principle or gimmick as the means of misdirecting the audience. For example if one is performing something as simple as the appearing/disappearing coins using a thumb tip, the trick lies in the gimmick but the audience is led to believe the performer has done something very complex to hide the coins, this misdirects them from thinking of a method as simple as the thumb tip.
References
- ^ "Conjuring". 1911 Britannica. Love To Know Classic Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. “The employment of purely manual dexterity without mechanical apparatus may be distinguished as legerdemain, prestidigitation or sleight of hand.”
- ^ "Magician David Copperfield robbed after show at Kravis Center". Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
- ^ "Merriam-Webster On Line Dictionary". Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ Bryson, Bill (2004). Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right. Broadway. ISBN 978-0767910439.
- ^ Hay, Henry [1949]. Cyclopedia of Magic, 1st Ed., USA: Philadelphia: David McKay Company.
- ^ Hay, Henry [1975]. Cyclopedia of Magic, reprint, Dover Publications, 498 pages. ISBN 978-0486218083.
- ^ "Penn and Teller Explain Sleight of Hand". You Tube. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
