How to Use Sleight of Hand in Magic
A common synonym for magic tricks is prestidigitation, which means quick fingers. A magician depends largely on sleight of hand techniques to manipulate cards and other objects secretly. Sleight of hand is sometimes called leger de main, which means light of hand.
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Instructions
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Palm. Palming is the secretly holding of an object in the palm of an apparently empty hand. It's most familiar use is with the trick of pulling a coin out of someone's ear.
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Ditch. To ditch an object is to secretly dispose of it, such as when a seated magician seems to pick an object off the table but instead slides it off into his or her lap (also called lapping).
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Steal. A magician steals an object when he or she secretly takes it from someone else. Street magicians often steal a spectator's wallet and then hand it back to the spectator's amazement.
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Load. Loading a deck of cards involves secretly putting the card that's needed for the trick in a certain position of a deck. A common way to load a deck is called "3 kings," in which the deck is placed in a specific order while still appearing to be random.
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Switch. To switch is to secretly exchange one object for another. This technique is used in the bill switch trick.
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Simulate. A magician makes it appear to the audience that something has happened when it really hasn't. An example is simulating a shuffle of a deck of cards while keeping the same card on the bottom of the deck.
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Misdirect. A staple of magic shows is the pretty assistant, who draws the audience's attention away from the magician while he or she sets up the trick.
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Tips & Warnings
David Copperfield is said to have used sleight of hand to convince a mugger that he had no wallet.
