Now with instructions for adapting to EURO and POUND currency!

Works with the new $20 bills!

“I have worked on different versions of Grant’s Slow Motion Bill Transposition for over 25 years. I have now stopped. This is it!” – Eugene Burger

This is the method Eugene uses today in his real work. This new method was created by Patrick Murphy after Eugene taught him The Twenty-First Century Bill Transposition published in his book Mastering the Art of Magic and on the L&L Magical Voyages video set.

Comes complete with special feke and two audience tested professional routines by Eugene Burger and Patrick Thomas Murphy.

Review

As a teenager, one of the tricks I always carried with me was U.F. Grant's "Slow Motion Bill Transposition" which I learned from Tarbell 3. Borrowing a $5 bill and using my own $1 bill, I held the folded $5 bill in my fist while the spectator clasped my folded $1. When we opened our hands the bills had changed places. It never failed to amaze because it had all the elements of a good close-up trick: It happened in the spectator's hand. It was a trick with money -- one of the few props we use that actually makes people's pupils dilate. And the $5 bill was borrowed -- forcing the spectators to make a temporary "investment" in your performance.

One problem, I always thought, was overcoming the fact that the routine concluded with the magician holding the $1 instead of the $5. It always seemed as though the magician should come out ahead. Another downfall was either limiting the choice of borrowed currency, or having to carry a "currency index" (which I did for many years) in my wallet.

Improvements and variations on the gimmick, handling, and plot of this trick have appeared in David Parr's Brain Food and Mr. Burger's Mastering the Art of Magic as well as his DVD, Magical Voyages, Part One. "Eugene's Last Dollar" (the first version released about two years ago) is the result of Chicago magician Patrick Murphy's learning the trick and reworking the fake. He worked out a method for the bill transposition which is better than others because...

1. The fake is easier to handle.
2. The routine now concludes with the performer holding the larger bill.
3. You can use any style or denomination of U.S. currency.
4. The effect can be done without having to carry an index of different denominations of bills.
5. At the end of the routine both bills are inspectable.
6. This latest version includes instructions so you can make the fake, which permits you to perform it with the Euro or British Pound.

Unlike the Grant version, in which one gimmicked bill does all the work for you, some palming is required in "Eugene's Last Dollar." For the serious hobbyist or professional performer, the improvements in the plot and flexibility of performance outweigh this methodological challenge. And the palming isn't hard, so I even recommend this for beginners who need to get comfortable with palming a small object and performing minimal sleight of hand. It's a good trick to learn how to master secreting the presence of an object in front of living, breathing spectators.

Don't purchase this if you hope to amaze yourself in your practice mirror. The bill change only becomes visually startling when you include the participation of a spectator and their money. This is a wonderful performance piece for the professional close-up magician and magical bartender. But the real power of this effect is for those of you who perform impromptu for friends and family. When someone says, "Hey do a trick for us," you can easily remove the gimmick from your wallet as you are reaching for a bill. Then, in a moment of a feigned afterthought say, "You know, this will be even more impressive if I use your money." Then the magic will begin as you perform what I think is the best improvement on the bill transposition to date.

TrickFacts: "Eugene's Last Dollar" Description: Transposition of two borrowed bills (even Euros or Pounds!) between the spectator's and magician's hands. Reset time: None. Guarantee: Defective merchandise only. Skill Level: Intermediate. Ideal Venue: Close-up, Bar. Ad: Okay. Apparatus: Fine. Instructions: Two variations. Very good, but no illustrations. 4 pgs. Photos show how to adapt trick for Euros and Pounds. Inspection: Yes!