Sleight of hand
Skilled hand movement that makes a small object seem to appear, vanish or change.
Also: prestidigitation, manipulation, palming, dexterity
Sleight of hand, also called prestidigitation, means quick and exact handling of cards, coins, balls and other small objects so that the audience misreads what happened. It is the basis of close-up magic. The skill is acquired through years of repetition, and performers compare it to playing a musical instrument. Writers have claimed that a wall painting of about 2000 BCE at Beni Hasan in Egypt shows a cups and balls trick, but the reading is disputed. Roman authors such as Seneca mention a street performer using cups and pebbles. Sleight of hand is a performing skill and not a supernatural one, and the reputations of conjurers rest on how smoothly they conceal effort. Here, as elsewhere, secrets of method are not described.