Buying tricks / effects

Feb 17, 2018
41
28
Hello all, I'm not entirely sure this is the correct area to ask this so i apologies now if it is.

I wanted to know what everyone's opinions are on buying tricks / effects and where to get them.

I have 9 books which vary from self working beginner tricks to more advanced tricks which cover cards, coins rope just about anything to do with magic is in these books.

Now i am still a beginner and the books are amazing, but even i know that they can only take me so far.

I would like to focus more on card magic / slight of hand as that is what I feel most comfortable with.

What would you all suggest for me to look at, places, tricks etc.

As i said i am a beginner but i like to try and learn harder tricks before the easy ones, I'm not saying that I can perform them but i always try to learn them because i feel a bigger sense of achievement when / if i can do it.

Any advice/opinions are always welcome as no one opinion is correct, (my personal opinion) If you're not sure what I'm trying to ask then please let me know as i don't always explain myself properly.

Thank you.
 

JoshL8

Elite Member
Aug 5, 2017
409
393
WA state USA
There are plenty of sites that will sell you tricks and I can list a few in a minute but first a warning; these sites will say things like "best trick ever!" "a must have for any working magician" "this will fool you!" "revolutionary new technique" and so on but the tricks and routines rarely live up to the hype. Also many tricks you can buy are also found in books, maybe the application is changed a bit or the sleight used is from an old book that has gone in to imminent domain or the magician has permission to teach someones effect, much of what you can buy was in print somewhere else at some time.

I find getting a few select lectures to have been more beneficial than buying single tricks for me because you get more than just a trick you get to see how others think or apply ideas to their magic plus helpful tips. Lectures run about 8 bucks for older ones, 30ish and up for recent ones. Not all lectures go deeply into theory that well though it depends on the magician.

I find that in general I get at least one trick from a lecture I would use with a few exceptions. I have bought single tricks too and find that it motivates me to use them more often but have found some of my purchases work well on camera but little else. Buyer beware do some research before purchasing.

As for sites to buy tricks from; I have found Theory11 to be reputable and have decent effects/teaching. Ellusionist is a bit dodgy but has some okay material from some of their magicians like Justin Miller. Penguin Magic runs the gambit of good to bad and has a large selection, have to do some research there for sure but you can get some gold from some of the lectures sold there. SansMind is pretty dodgy I hear but I never bought anything from them.

Basically do some research before you buy, don't be quick to pull the trigger on a new product especially if the effect isn't from a well known creator. Know that much of what you will buy is seen in print in some form or another.
 
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Reactions: what8006
Jun 26, 2018
3
1
Hey there, i'm new here also and not sure of what can be discussed and where but as I am also new to card magic and looking for best places to learn tricks I have some suggestions from what I have found so far to be the best places to buy/learn. Well to start.... right here at THEORY11 is by far the best place I have found for buying magic tricks, and if you are looking to learn harder tricks you can filter out the beginner and intermediate tricks from their menu when browsing tricks to buy (Plus some tricks are free). If you are focusing on learning card magic/sleight of hand specifically then I would recommend learning from the World Champion of Card Magic himself, Shin Lim!. You can also buy tricks and tutorials from his website or at superhumanz, though they don't yet offer a large range of tricks and superhumanz is only a new website I think.....there is also another new website I have found that is opening up that seems interesting and is meant to be providing access to all the best places to go for card magic, tricks, books, video tutorials etc sourced from all over the world and from beginner to expert level ( https://www.blackdragoninnercircle.com/) and you can get an access code to their website from their decks of cards (decks also meant to contain hidden secrets to card magic and one of their decks is on Kickstarter at the moment that I am backing which is how I found out about this website). As for magic supplies in general I would recommend Penguin Magic (http://www.penguinmagic.com/) and for forums I would recommend THEORY11! ;)

Hope this helps

P.S I would recommend mastering a few tricks first instead of trying to learn a heap at a time....I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times (Quote by Bruce lee). Master all the basics first so you can string performances together and entertain people with while improving your performance skills, and in the meantime have one hard trick you like that you can practice over and over until you master it before adding it into your routine to really shock people with and then move on to learn a new hard trick to add to your routine. Before long you will be a master of several harder tricks while also being able to work on your performance skills by performing the easier tricks to start off with. Also, don't perform tricks in front of people until you've mastered them to maintain the illusion so all your hard work doesn't go to waste and risk exposing card magic secrets. Once people know the secrets the illusions are ruined and you won't be able to have fun with tricking your friends and family.
 
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Feb 17, 2018
41
28
Thank you both for your input, i have looked at a few websites just to get an idea of what is on offer, i will look up tricks by specific magicians and seeing if it appeals to me if i don't think i can work on it or i believe it's to hard i won't get it until i feel more comfortable with my abilities. I am looking at a specific trick by the magician joshua jay, i like the trick and the story and it's something that i would like to do. I will be doing a lot of research before buying anything as i will be looking at how the trick works, does it come with what is advertised, what is the level of learning / skill required.

Even if it's slightly harder than what I'm used to I'll still get it as i would like to challenge myself, i don't want to be stuck with beginner tricks forever, i will still read the books i have and look at moves / slights but i want to challenge myself before i get to that level just so i can understand what i need to work on

It's easy to say i need to work on x y and z but unless i try something that requires that slight i won't know what level i am at.

Again thanks for the input so far, i look forward to any other suggestions.
 

CWhite

Elite Member
Jul 22, 2016
769
962
As a newbie.. best advice I could give is for any and every purchase you make.. do Research!!
There are some awesome magic review channels on YouTube.
@Magic Orthodoxy is one.
I'm sure nearly everyone here has a draw of "junk" ..... just do some research before spending your money.
 
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Dec 29, 2017
204
230
I would say that IT and ITR + Books/DVDs and gaff cards + how to make your own gaff cards would always be useful buys to learn. Sometime you'll just feel like levitating a ring in your hand or a lifesaver into your mouth with Tarantula, or fidgeting with your Odyssey ring too so occasionally you might want a few gimmick devices.

As for buying intellectual property tricks, if you're subscribed to a very well known magic site's newsletter.... EVERY release is a real, foolproof, easy, selfworking, worker that ends clean and lets you be inspected that will blow people's minds and absolutely crush the competition. It's like how Amazon or Alibaba just toss on a ton of adjectives in the title and you don't even know what you're buying.

I do highly recommend the magic stream. How you use it is up to you, but I found it great for zeroing in on tricks I wanted to nail.
 
Oct 19, 2015
317
220
Although I am no longer a 'young guy' I have been working on magic for only a few years. I am focused primarily on giving shows for kids, so depending on the age of my audience, most card tricks cannot always be used. That being said, I will make a few comments from my experience so far....most of the advise already given it very good from my experience....

As already noted, we all have a drawer full of junk tricks...all costly mistakes! So do you due diligence, before you lay down your money...

If you have access to a magic shop, that is a very good choice for a new magician, because you can see and touch the tricks and usually someone in the shop will give you a demonstration of the trick before you buy it!

A few fun tricks to learn that can be put into anyone's package of tricks....Sponge Balls, Rope Tricks (Professor's Nightmare & Cut and Restored Rope...don't buy these as a trick, get a DVD that shows the 'how to' then make your own), Linking Rings, Chop Cup, Cups and Balls, Scotch and Soda Coin Trick...these all required practice and presentation skill....

Like most of us when we started, it sounds like you are focused on tricks! They are generally very fun to buy and learn, BUT....the most important part of doing magic is learning the skills associated with presentation of the trick. You need to do research on this and learn about scripting a trick, practicing tricks and script, etc. Study other performers, do not copy their scripts, but they will stimulate you to find your own script, once you understand how the pro's do it!

If you do not learn to do this well, you will never be a good performing magician, so do not skip this step in you growth as a magician. Have fun, work hard at it, and learn how to develop and present each of your tricks...
 
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Jun 21, 2016
53
9
I’ve found that most tricks don’t have the revolutionary methods you’d think they have. Usually they’re things we can discover on our own by spending time with the right materials. However, buying tricks can expedite the discoveries, and build you an arsenal of methods to choose from. So if you go into buying stuff with the idea that you’re just looking for a kernel of inspiration rather than the holy grail, they become much more worth it.
 
Feb 17, 2018
41
28
Great suggestions from the people above!!! Be sure to check out the underground scene too! This means people who mostly self publish and dont really put out material woth the big guys. Out marketplace roght here at T11 features some great stuff! Some even for free!

After i had seen this comment i actually went to the marketplace and had a look around, i don't have a pc but i can still watch the videos on my phone.

I believe I actually came across one of your effects, i watched the video a few times and went and tried it on some of my family and they really enjoyed it.

What I liked about it is the deck changing color, when I tried it on my family my mum thought it had gone wrong when the prediction was read out, so i carried on finished the trick and everyone started laughing at her because it's the second time she thought a trick had gone wrong but she didn't actually wait for the ending.

It's an amazing trick and extremely well explained so thank you.

As far as replying to everyone else, i will always do research on tricks and websites as i know i can very well be stung if I'm not careful.

Also on telling a story / scripting, i have learnt a trick i believe was originally called the Chicago opener, i could be wrong about that but that a name I've heard for it, anyway that trick i use my own way depending if it's a male or female I'm performing it to, i have also come up with a a story for flash paper as i don't know any way to use it as part of a trick yet, so for now to grab the attention of people i use it as part of a story and the reaction is the same every time.
 
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