IM NEW!!!
- Thread starter DrewT99
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Hello everyone! My name is Drew and was amazed by my friends card tricks and his speed with handling the cards. Ive always loved magic and i was just looking for professional advice on how i can get started. Thanks!!!
Welcome to the forums!
As far as how to start out for magic, there's a million directions where you can go with it.
Don't let that care you, though. It sounds like you are into card magic, so I will say this:
GET BOOKS!
Actual corporeal books, not PDFs of books because technology CAN be unreliable ( I had 10 book PDFs and my laptop crashed, so all my reading material was POOF, gone).
I know one of the most stock answers to beginning magic would be Royal Road to Card Magic.
But what KIND of card magic are you into? Do you already have a character/persona in place (as that would help narrow down the magic that would best suit your character. I wouldn't suggest gambling sleights to someone who has a persona that's better suited for children's magic)?
Just a couple questions to get the ball rolling.
Welcome Drew.
I'm not the best to give advice on how to get started as I tend to do things a little different. That being said, completely agree with Brett about the Royal Road to Card Magic and you'll find that the majority of people will say start with that. The book is the tried and tested route, but if you are happy to spend the money then you can supplement the book with the Royal Road to Card Magic DVDs by R. Paul Wilson.
Start with the right tools, it's all well and good knowing how to dig a hole but if your shovel is made of jelly you ain't going nowhere. You can buy decks of cards for pennies these days, but that doesn't mean you should. Grab a few decks of standard bicycle playing cards (which you can find right here at https://store.theory11.com/collections/playingcards alongside some other brilliant decks), you'll want a few decks because you'll be amazed at how quickly you go through them if you take the practice seriously.
My two favourite pieces of advice are;
1. Have fun. If you want to get good then you have to take it seriously, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.
2. Know why you are doing what you are doing. This applies to everything, whether it be why you are doing a particular sleight, why you are using the patter that you are using, or simply why you are doing magic.
Have fun and good luck!
I'm not the best to give advice on how to get started as I tend to do things a little different. That being said, completely agree with Brett about the Royal Road to Card Magic and you'll find that the majority of people will say start with that. The book is the tried and tested route, but if you are happy to spend the money then you can supplement the book with the Royal Road to Card Magic DVDs by R. Paul Wilson.
Start with the right tools, it's all well and good knowing how to dig a hole but if your shovel is made of jelly you ain't going nowhere. You can buy decks of cards for pennies these days, but that doesn't mean you should. Grab a few decks of standard bicycle playing cards (which you can find right here at https://store.theory11.com/collections/playingcards alongside some other brilliant decks), you'll want a few decks because you'll be amazed at how quickly you go through them if you take the practice seriously.
My two favourite pieces of advice are;
1. Have fun. If you want to get good then you have to take it seriously, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.
2. Know why you are doing what you are doing. This applies to everything, whether it be why you are doing a particular sleight, why you are using the patter that you are using, or simply why you are doing magic.
Have fun and good luck!
Thanks so much! I just really enjoy cards haha (really narrowed down) But I honestly dont know. I guess its anything that blows the mind of the spectator. I love all sorts, especially those little tricks with the eye and the misdirection. Its all intriguing to me! But I am very new to the "real deal" magic so please bear with me.
I just want to be the guy that people urge to do tricks for them at little parties and get-togethers. Someone who just likes to have fun doing it and sharing that same feeling with the audience.
But i will definitely look into some books as my friend said the exact same thing.
I just want to be the guy that people urge to do tricks for them at little parties and get-togethers. Someone who just likes to have fun doing it and sharing that same feeling with the audience.
But i will definitely look into some books as my friend said the exact same thing.
Hey Drew,
Welcome to the forums. If you don't know where to start you should choose which branch(es) you want to take. You have Stage, Mentalism, and Close up. Each magic type is different in their own way.
Stage is of course done on stage to perform for larger audiences. There is very little interaction with the audience and your angles are almost always covered.
Mentalism involves doing the impossible by (giving the illusion of) getting in a spectator's mind. It is able to be done while you're performing which allows you to do it wherever you choose.
Close up usually is associated with coins or cards but can also relate with pretty much anything small that happens right in front of the spectator's face.
If you have any specific questions you should message RealityOne. He is knowledgeable in all sorts of magic books, plots, and whatnot.
Welcome to the forums. If you don't know where to start you should choose which branch(es) you want to take. You have Stage, Mentalism, and Close up. Each magic type is different in their own way.
Stage is of course done on stage to perform for larger audiences. There is very little interaction with the audience and your angles are almost always covered.
Mentalism involves doing the impossible by (giving the illusion of) getting in a spectator's mind. It is able to be done while you're performing which allows you to do it wherever you choose.
Close up usually is associated with coins or cards but can also relate with pretty much anything small that happens right in front of the spectator's face.
If you have any specific questions you should message RealityOne. He is knowledgeable in all sorts of magic books, plots, and whatnot.
Thanks for the compliment, Bryant.
Drew:
I will echo what Brett and Leigh said about Royal Road to Card Magic. It is a great starting point for sleight of hand with cards. You might also consider getting Scarne on Card Tricks. That has a lot of effects that can be performed with minimal sleight of hand. Both of those books were originally published in 1950 (Scarne) and 1951 (RRTCM), so the presentation is somewhat dated. That just means you have to come up with your own way of presenting the tricks. The benefit of those books is that they are inexpensive (less than $10 each).
For general magic, get Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic - it has a little bit of everything including cards, coins, rope, sponge balls, cups & balls, mental magic and stage magic.
Thank you...ill be sure to check out a bookstore or go online. Thank you very much indeed
Hey Drew,Hello everyone! My name is Drew and was amazed by my friends card tricks and his speed with handling the cards. Ive always loved magic and i was just looking for professional advice on how i can get started. Thanks!!!
All of the suggestions above are fantastic, and will most certainly help you get started. To echo what RealityOne said about Scarne on Card Tricks, that's a great book to get you started right away without having to worry about much sleight of hand. Another great suggestion for minimal sleight of hand card tricks would be Card College Light by Roberto Giobbi (His regular Card College series is great if you want to start learning sleight of hand with cards). Royal Road is also a fantastic selection.
Once you have gotten started with sleight of hand material (if that's what you are interested in learning), I would strongly suggest picking up The Five Points in Magic by Juan Tamariz. It will help you greatly with your performance and how you can better engage with your audience. It will also help you with misdirection if that's something you're also interested in.
Here is a free download by world-renowned card technician and master Jason England, who goes over a few books that can get you started. The only thing I would suggest is that you do not get the Expert at the Card Table yet; it really isn't necessary when you're starting out as it is very sleight-intensive. It is, however, a book to get later on because it is a classic.
Hope this helps! Welcome to the forums, Drew. Really glad to have you here!
Thank you very much. Im glad you guys are super nice and really easy to talk to!
