JACKPOT CO INS

Here AL KORAN releases one of his most delightful and effect-

ive presentations. You may have seen him perform it on
Television and will therefo:r-e know what impact it has on an
audience. AL KORAN also features it in his own current
act ••. you therefore have in your possession a really PROF-
ESSIONAL p r-e s e nt at i ori •.• so do make the most of it!
Although quit e easy to do, you will be wi s e to conc ent r at e
on the presentation and make sure that it is slick.
,
Apparatus corss ist s of a Special Bag (looking somewhat like the
bags used by Banks) divided In the centre, so that either one
side or the other can be used during the course of the trick.

Get hold of. about ten shillings worth of pennies and place them
on one side of the partitioned bag. Have it opened so that the
money is readily available. Place bag {containing the coins}
on a table and get a spectator from the audience to help you.

ROUTINE & PATTER OUTLINE:Indicate the bag and say,

HI went to the Bank this morning and got some of that very
necessary evil. •• money .•. with it (turn .to help~r) and your
kind a s s i st anc e , I would like to try an inre r e stmg e xp e r r «

ment.

I want you to reach into the bag ..• take some coins ••• and make
sure that your fist is CLOSED before it comes into view. The
idea being that I want you to be sure that I cannot possibly
know how much you have in y ou r hand ..••. "

He does so .•. BUT. at this point, I must tell you an important

thing .••. For the succes sful conclusion of the trick, he MUST
have less coins than you will take from the bag in the next
part of the action.

Al Koran ha s performed this trick for many years .•. and

during those years he has learned quite a deal. •• the henefit
of his experience is given to you here in a very useful
ebservation. You may get a "clever" per son who seeks to
get a laugh at your expense by taking a really big handful
or he may do it quite innocently .•• either way this is no
good for you •. You can see by the "look" of his fist whether
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he has a lot there or not ... Try it with some coins yourself
to get the idea. If he HAS, Al Koran has evolved a very clever
dodge which suits your bill admirably •.. he says .. "Take about
half of the coins in the other hand ... which hand will you use? 11
Whatever they say, ask them to drop the unwanted coins back
into the bag ... making the point that they should drop their hand
INTO the bag so that the actual coins cannot be seen.
You now ask him to raise his hand {holding the unknown quant-
ity of coins} to about your chest level. Now follows a piece
of "business" which you should take advantage of. .• With your
fingertips feel their hand .. delicately ... and press gently III
different places •.. move their hand slightly up and down. Run
your thumb across your fingertips ... ruh the fingertips across
the palm of your other hand .. the i d e a is to give the impression
that you are making your fingertips more sensative for this
delicate operation of trying to l'weight_upll how much they have
in their hand! Do nt t overdo it. . but done properly, it is good
showmanship.

As you do this .. say, "In the normal way do you think it IS

pos sible that I could know how much you have there? '", The
answer must be of course, "No".

"Now ... I shall join in the fun and take some coins myself. 11
Put your hand into the bag ... you can turn your head aside, if
you wish, while doing this, and close your fist before it comes
out of the bag .•. to convey the impression that it is just a
casual handful.. BUT .. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TAKE A REALLY
GOOD HANDFUL for you MUST have MORE coins that they
have at this moment. Don't overdo this. , remember your
e

little stratagem of getting them to discard a half of theirs,

gives you a big advantage. Practice a few times and you will
get the idea very quickly.

Speak to helper, "Turn your back and count your coins ... very
quietly to your self and make sure that I cannot hear you. , make
sure your hand is CLOSED when you face us again, and make
sure that you REMEMBER how much you have! ! 11

He doe s so ... then when he face s front again .. smile at him

and say .. "Did you make sure? II This s'h ou l d get a friendly
little titter and give you the chance to quiety count your own
 -3-
coins, casually, but quite openly. , ,there need be nothing
"secretive" about this, Speak to your helper .. , 111 am going
to make three statements ... you are not going to believe any
of them! FIRST (as you say this OPEN YOUR FIST, so that
your helper can see your coins) I have the same number of
coins in my hand as you have in yours ... (Close your fist again)
The helpers impression at this point should be one of disbelief.
The audience cannot really see yours ... and his are in his
closed fist .. so that the "situation" is nicely set! You say to
audience ... "You see, he do e s+nt believe me already! Now,
if you don't believe rny first statement. . you certainly won+t
believe my second .. which is that I have THREE OVER .. ; ..
you don't believe that either? Now for my third statement,
which is a very important one. , . I have enough left over to
make yours ONE SHILLING AND SIXPENCE. 11

"Please remember, I said Fir st. . I have the same number of

coins in my hand as you have in yours ... Second. , . I have
THREE OVER ... and Thirdly. , . I have enough left over to
make your s ONE AND SIXPENCE .... Remember that! II

liNow, I have the same amount as you. , . how much have you ,
got? Ninepence? Put it back in the kitty (bag)." Open
up your own fist again showing the coins on the upturned

~
palm .•. and with the other hand pick up the coins one by
one ar.d drop them deliberately into the bag as you count.
When you have put the ninth one in .•. CLOSE THE FIST ...
"Is that correct?"

"How many over did I say? 11 (as if you had forgotten! )

"Three? 11 You drop three coins, one at a time deliberately
into the bag. (Close your fist) "S0 my second statement is
right! 11

"The third thing I said was that I would have enough left
over to make your s .. how much? . ,One and Six? Now YOU
had Ninepence .•. 11 You now drop the balance of the COins
into the bag, one at a time until you arrive at 1/6d.

BEFORE WE GO ON TO THE "REPEATS", I'll explain the

"mechanics" of the trick.

1. You MUST TAKE MORE COINS than him in the fir st

place and the difference must be such that you can fulfill
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your subsequent statements ... This is quite easy to judge. as a
little practice will soon show you.

2. When you count YOUR coins. you mentally SUBTRACT (say)

Three .. and the amount you have LEFT OVER AFTER THIS SUB-
TRACTION IS THE AMOUNT YOU MENTION AS YOUR "Third
St at e rne nt ", The part that "t.h r ow s them offfl is the number that
you state you will have floverll. It can be changed to whatever
number you like ... "two " ... Ilfourll ... "fi v e '" ... so long as you
remember that whatever figure you say. it must be DEDUCTED
from the original amount you picked up ... and the balance is the
figure you say his will be made up to!

I hope that I h av e t nt made this sound complicated .. its quite

0

s Irnp l e once you have grasped the idea ... Let is take the example
we have used in the routine. It is based on the fact that you
originally picked up One and Ninepence (21 pennies) ... we
decided to use flthree" for our "ov e r s!' ..• so you deduct t his
3 mentally from your 1/9d .. which leaves you with 1/6d (18
pennies) which amount you announce as your "third!! statement.

You therefore say III will have the same in my hand as you will
have in yours ... will have THREE OVER .. and will have enough
left over to make your s 1/ 6dll. He picked up Nine Pence (you
did not know this, of cour s e ) and when he announce s this, he
then drops them in the bag. You next drop in nine pennie s , to
match his. This action leaves you with 1/ - (12 pennies). You
next say .. "and Three o ve r " .. you drop; the three pennies in to
the bag ... and this leaves you with 9d, which amount is just
right to make his original (9d) up to the l/6d you stated he would
have! So you see, you don't have to worry how much he has
picked up in the first place! You just have to make sure that
you have p i ck e d up sufficiently more than he has!

AL KORAN now REPEATS the trick, using a different "ov e r "

amount. He also varies the procedure a little. When they
take over their coins the second time (and after the little sub-
terfuge .. if the necessary ... of getting them to split the amount
in either hand, then using just one) he asks them if they would
like a few more or less ... giving them the chance to change
their mind, if de sired.

Performer carries on ... "Now I'll take some coins (take a good
 ---- --------------------------------------------~==~

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handful as before} ... but, this time I'll make my statements

BEFORE you count yours." While you say this. casually
count your own coins ... For the purpose of this example. we
will suppose that you have taken zt :« (26 pennies} ... you decide
that you want to use FIVE as your over s , You do the
Q e

weighing business with his closed fist and say "My first st at e-.
ment is that I have the same in my hand as you have in yours ..
FIVE OVER ... and enough left over to make yours 1/9 (21
pennies). Now to prove that I am RIGHT .... " At this point,
you casually pick up the bag, as if to "settle" the money in
the bag, and when you replace it on the table ... open the bag
so that the c o iri s can now be dropped in the other side of the
partition.

IINow ... count your money ... how much have you got? .. Ten
pence? •• That's fine •.. drop it in the kitty (bag}". Open your
own hand and taking the coins one by one, you drop ten into
the bag, with his. (Close your fist) "That's correct ... I have
the same 10. I said FIVE OVER". Drop the five more
pennies from your hand into the bag with the others (close
your fist) ... and enough left over to make how much? 1/0d .•
Now, you have 10d" ... continue counting from the amount,
dropping the coins in the bag and when you come to the last
coin ... leave in the palm of your hand for a moment .•. and
then drop it in as you say the last word. This can be very
dramatic if "timed" nicely.

NOW AT THIS POINT YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU HAVE IN

THIS PARTICULAR SIDE OF THE BAG ... In the example we
use here ... he dropped in 10 pence .. you added ten pence,
making 1/8 (20 pennies) you than added five pence .... making
2/ ld (25 pence) ... and finally counting on from his original 10d
to your stated figure of 1/ 9d .. you added a further 11 d ....
making a grand total of 3/ - (36 pennies) which amount you
now REMEMBER for it is used (unbe known to the audience)
for the final effect.

"Let's try something different this time. Do you know ... there
are people who might think that it is a sort of mathematical
trick, and that I cou l dt nt really tell you how much you have
in your hand ... so let's do something different.
 -6-

Please take a few coins out (he naturally does so from the
"3j _lfside) •• , ,hold them tiglt in your hand", Do the
"weighing business" once again and say, •• "This time I am
e

going to make just ONE statement" . and ONE statement only.

Could ANYONE po s s rbl.y know at this moment how .rnu ch you
h av e., .• I doubt very much if you. know your self ••.. II

As you say this, you take out the balance of the 3j =~ casu.ally
count it. •. (say i t Is 2/ = (24 pennies) pick up the bag and opening
the bag so that the other partition comes into play ..• drop your
coins into the o ri g i na l partition with the other coins .•. and say. , .
"you have exactly 1/ - (12 pennies) in your hand. Please drop
them into the ba g one at a time and count t he rn as you do ao.,

You may, if de sired tip the whole lot of coins out on the table
for final dramatic effect •.. but before deciding to do this, I
want to make a couple of comments based on what Al Koran
has told me.

He has found that the people talk later of the trick with the
!Imoneyil and NOT with pennies •.. there are plenty in an
audience who never realise that "pennie 8" only are used,
You are speaking of "two shillings and threepence" ••. Ilone
shilling and ni.n ep e nc e " .••. "two shillings" ... and Jlthree
shillings leads many to believe (even subconciously) that
coins of other denominations are used!

Al also never bothers about throwing the final coins back

into the original compartment as described above .•. but this
is a matter of your judgement.

I have tried to give you the principle and routine as carefully

as possible •.. it is quite simple really •.. so do your best
with it. .. it is a really grand pre s e nt at i ori,

Harry Stanley.

P. S. If you desire, you may ask him to take quite a few on

occasion ... the balance will be less for you to count, anyway.

Publishers note ;-
When Al ~oran originally performed this effect
in his series on telivision,he used old currency
which of course was in use at that time. Since
then the DeCimal coinage has been introduced,but
the trick works just the same.