FLASH THIMBLE VANISH
By Richard Robinson

A thimble resting on the tip of the magician's finger vanishes almost visibly with a slight shake of the magician's hand. The magician then reaches out to the where the thimble vanished and it reappears at his finger tips.

The Flash Thimble Vanish uses a modified version of the classic back palm. While back palming a thimble has been documented in various magic books, few thimble workers take advantage of the sleight, perhaps because it seems more risky than many other thimble manipulations.

Actually, it is quite a useful sleight and perfectly usable in close-up situations, provided your audience is in front of you. In platform or stage thimble routines it should be considered an essential technique since it creates a surprising visual effect.

The sleight has two phases. First is the masking of the get-ready for the back palm, second is the back palm itself. It is the initial masking phase that makes the actual back palm quite simple. In fact, you are getting ready to do the back palm in full view of the audience, except that they can't see what you're doing.

The thimble used should be of a diameter that is close to the width of your second finger. The second finger will hide the thimble from view during the back palm.

Handling

Performance

The thimble rests on the tip of the second finger. The fingers of the hand are pointing up, the palm is toward the audience.

The tip of the thumb is brought up until it touches the rim of the thimble. The thumb is now positioned so that the second finger is hidden from audience view. This allows you to complete the positioning of the thimble without the movements being seen.

The edges of the first and third fingers press in against the rim of the thimble. The thimble is now held in position by the thumb and first and third finger tips.

The second finger is pulled down slightly so that it is out of the thimble. The tip of the second finger curls in toward the ball of the thumb until it is under the mouth of the thimble. The first and second fingers pull down slightly until the mouth of the thimble is pressed against the back of the second finger at about the first joint of that finger.

The hand now makes a tossing motion away from the body. At the same time the arm is extended and the fingers straighten. This brings the thimble behind the hand into the back palm position.

The thimble can be reproduced by swinging up as if catching the thimble out of the air, at the same time bending the fingers down, pulling the second finger out from under the thimble and bringing up the thumb. It will appear that you've produced the vanished thimble at the tips of the fingers.

The thimble can just as easily be reproduced by swinging the arm down, keeping the palm toward the audience, until it is behind the leg, them bringing the hand out holding the thimble.

Performance Notes

The type of thimble used will to some extent determine how easily it can be manipulated. The rim around the mouth of the thimble should be roughed slightly so that it can be gripped by the pressure of the fingers in the same way the milled edge of a coin facilitates manipulation. At a short distance the audience cannot see this subtle preparation, but the performer will have more confidence if the thimble rim isn't slippery.

Once you get the knack of working this sleight it is fun to do. However it should only be used once in a thimble routine. More than that and the audience is likely to catch on.